Oh no, here she goes again...

Yawn! I just woke up from my nap, did I miss anything? hahahaha!

Funny how life takes over and you feel like you are driving through the obstacles in a video game and doing it so fast that you are not pausing to see if there are any special flowers that provide magical effects to make the game more interesting and fun, right? Yeah, life gets like that sometimes.

Some major things happened this year:
 

• My mother died in September, a story so depressing that involve toxic people that I don't even want to poison my blog about it.  

• My father remarried a lovely lady named Maria that union gave me an instant 9 year old sister named Vendi.A very smart and talented younger sister to have.  I will learn a lot from her.

• I completed my Master's Degree in Health and Wellness Education in October. FINALLY! I am still having mini panics (fewer now) where I am wondering did I finish writing my paper or take my quiz? It is amazing how a 15 month program with the work so intensely routine and difficult that when it's over, the routine is so ingrained that relaxing seems abnormal. Hopefully, that it will not take as long for me to figure out what to do with my new degree after teaching as it did to find what master's to pursue (10 years about).

What is JennyMac doing now that is blog worthy?

If you remember, in May 2016 I completed my Whole30 experience.  I was happy with how I was eating however, I allowed my end result of losing only 6 pounds to hit me too hard.

I was soooooo disappointed.

The Whole30 book author Melissa Hartwig, warned its readers about using the scale as a gauge, don't use it and just to keep going doing Whole30. I am sure in time it would have been a slow loss I needed but I want/need regular feedback. So, I transitioned into doing Paleo and was happy doing that THEN work stress hits you too hard and you always go back to eating the things that you forget only give you temporary pleasure but slowly undoes what you were doing and you just don't care. Focusing on doing what makes you happy to survive because you don't want the stress to cause overtly negative things and for me.

I AM THE POSTER CHILD FOR "WEIGHT STRUGGLES." I own it and have accepted that a long time ago. I have posted many a blog entry about my long litany of diets, plan, lifestyles, etc. I still look for that magical combination that works for me (my life, my body, my mind, my wallet, my husband, etc). So I doing something now that I had forgotten that has worked for me.

What do I know?

• From my Master's work, you always have to find evidence that supports your idea, plan or theory. Two times in my life I remember distinctly reducing CARBS worked.  I lost tremendous weight both times.  
• In my first low carb experience, I remember doing something under the guidance of my Mom's nursing expertise and was using ketosis strips to check my urine I had totally forgotten why I was doing that. 
• I read a posting on FB from another FACS teacher who was concerned about her teachings of nutrition when she had been doing a Ketogenic diet and was hugely successful and pondered about the hypocrisy/difference, etc.  That was when my head tilted in curiosity and I did more research.  
• My low carb eating occurred in high school and in my 30's and with my knowledge and know-how to eat more cleanly with grass-fed, pastured, organic, no refined sugars, no grains...it all came together. 
• K-man, who you know is an avid cyclist, pretty much ate whatever he wanted now realizes that despite having totally fit arms and legs from his thousands of miles he racks up over a year that his tummy area was indicative that he can't actually eat however he wants after all,  That was a game changer for me. I always felt that my "diets" somehow were harsh and cruel punishment for my husband because the delectable and tasty treats were scarce and breads were not at every meal. Even during those days, I was sometimes fixing two meals, one for me and one for him because he was always starving! 
• Carbs are an evil thing that always trick you thinking that you are starving when you aren't really!!!
• From a Book that I read awhile back made connections again. Fit2Fat2Fit where a personal trainer wanted to connect more with his clients struggles and purposely gained 75 pounds and got fit again and his enlightening struggle= He does Ketogenic eating.
• I am fat I need to lose the FAT, I need my body to learn again how to burn fat.
• Research shows that LONG periods of exercise are not always the way to lose/maintain weight.
• My last problems that did not go away from my Whole30 experience was heel pain, which I found out that I had developed plantar fasciitis and one (of the many reasons that did not apply to me) was being overweight.  Losing 6 pounds was not enough for my heels to stop hurting and my body was "nicely" stopping me from hitting my worst ever weight (346) by giving me plantar fasciitis in hopes that I would do something about it.
• Losing weight by exercise isn't successful when you have plantar fasciitis.

 What am I doing to prepare and get rolling?

1. Purchased ketone strips
2.  Purchased Ketogenic diet for beginners 
3. Researched the similarities and differences between Paleo and Whole30 and Paleo and Keto. There is a lot of overlap but like trying on shoes that are truly comfortable and work for the function of your needs you have walk around a bit to find the best fit, Right?
4. Find a website or app that you can use as a tool to be an assistant in tracking what you are doing for you. Carb Counter site lowcarbfriends.com for finding that quick answer if a food is allowable or an App such as Loseit.com. Shown here is the web version, I have the app for free and so far I do not need to upgrade (that all apps who want to make money do) for functionality or avoid invasive ads.
   
   
5. Weigh yourself before you begin.  You may lose sleep the night before worrying about but you always need a good marker to use for growth and change.  The old excuse of I will just see how my clothes change on me is not good enough!
6. Communicate what you need for your partner/husband/friends to be a success. If they can't support that and only think of themselves and how this will effect them then you are with the wrong people. Your support system will do anything to help you reach your goals, being around the wrong foods at the start up will only make your difficult days more difficult.
7. Give up all the sodas, and sugary drinks (I accomplished that through whole30).  Black coffee, unsweetened tea, seltzer water and make sure you have plenty of safe snack around like nuts, beef jerky, pork rinds and cut and clean veggies ready at all times.

What have you made so far? 

Many things, considering we have only started this on Monday.

Monday- Keto PB smoothie from the cookbook, portobella pizzas and sirloin steaks from Butcherbox.com (I started my order on vacation and they were waiting for us when we arrived packed in dry ice-$129 got us, 2 filet mignons (sign up bonus), 2 strip steaks, 4 sirloins, 6 chicken breasts, 4 pork chops, 6 burgers (and a partridge in a pear tree!- just kidding) that is 5 bucks and some change for the cleanest, grass-fed, pastured meat delivered for free per meal per person.
Tuesday- hard boiled eggs and bacon and Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps and roasted veggies.
Wednesday- went out to lunch and ordered a Greek salad with grilled chicken and dinner was a grass-fed burgers with cheddar cheese, bacon, avocado lettuce wrapped with side of broccoli.
Thursday- hard boiled egged with 2 bacon and pepper fat bombs, grilled caprese chicken and sauteed swiss chard. Made today: Raspberry Cheesecake (I added some blueberries and some chopped macadamia nuts on top.too)

 Stay tuned and come back for my second weigh in next Monday July 10.