Third Times a Charm?

I started this blog, facebook, instagram, twitter over a year ago.  At the time, I thought I was so gung-ho that there was no way I would go back to eating carbs.  I lasted a month.  It was a camping trip that did me in, with intentions of just eating carbs while camping and going back to keto immediately afterwards.  My two days of eating carbs turned into weeks, turned into months, turned into a year.  I regretted having the carbs while camping and let carbs take over my life again.  This was the second time I had lasted a month and 'fell off the wagon.'

I would often think fondly about doing keto, but convinced myself that it wasn't the time.  To me, I didn't look like I weighed around 225 pounds and wore size 18.  So, it wasn't vanity that was pushing me.  Have you ever heard about finding your why? You know, WHY you are committing to the keto WOE?  Finding my WHY was easy.  I've had high blood pressure since having my youngest daughter by emergency c-section more than 11 years ago; plus, diabetes runs in my family.  My why has been the same since first hearing about the ketogenic diet.   

I started keto again on May 20th of this year, the day after my son's 14th birthday.  This time I chose to not weigh myself before hand (a decision I now regret.)  I have my measurements from last year when I had convinced myself that I wouldn't quit, so that's helpful for documentation of my progress.  I also still use the higistation at a local store, so that keeps track of my weight, BMI, body fat, and blood pressure from when I very first used it in 2014.

I'm not really sure why this time is so different for me.  It's my third real effort.  The first time I suddenly started on New Years because my husband was doing it- no planning- just dove right in.  I kept thinking about what I was missing out on eating.  It didn't work for me.  The second time I made sure to eat everything I knew I would crave before starting, so as to not sabotage myself.  This time I planned to start on the 20th and kept it basic.  I started with dirty/lazy keto- and am still using that method.  Because I've done a keto workshop I feel like I can judge pretty well what I'm eating.

In the past I would be hard on myself and last the month in order to reward myself with a cheat day.  This time I don't have that mentality.  If I eat carbs, its okay.  It doesn't ruin everything.  I'm not thinking 'I'm having a cheat DAY-I need to eat all the carbs.'  I just get right back to it the next day.  I'm coming up to three months.  Have I eaten things I shouldn't?  Yes.  Do I let it ruin my week or month?  Nope.  It's actually a very liberating way to think about it.

I haven't set any goals, aside from getting off of my blood pressure medication.  However, last week I made it to 'onderland'- which is something that I felt would never happen.  I'm also intermittent fasting- my feed window is about seven hours.  I will write about that in the next post.

If you have questions or comments please feel free to leave them.  I will respond and help in any way I can.

Vanilla Keto Cake

It's been about two weeks since I made the Vanilla Keto Cake.  If you read my last blog post, you saw that it started out as this post; but I got a little sidetracked.

Hardcore keto peeps will most definitely disagree with ketofied dessert-which I mentioned in my previous post.  But, presently I am doing dirty keto and greatly appreciate desserts.

I find inspiration for recipes from many different places.  This recipe is from Keto Connect.  If you have been researching keto or doing keto for any period of time you may have heard of them.  If not, check them out!  I follow them on YouTube and it is really the only keto channel I watch consistently.   They made a cake similar to this one.  When I made it I changed the recipe a bit.  The original recipe called for baking in a bundt pan.  I don't have one, but have a Mickey Mouse Wilton cake pan-thats what I used.

Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 cups vanilla protein powder
1 cup almond flour
5 large eggs
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup golden sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp pink salt
1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Spray your pan with a non-stick oil-make sure it has NO flour in it
3. Make sure the butter is very soft or melted and add eggs, almond milk, baking powder, and pink salt-mix with a hand mixer
4. Add protein powder, golden sugar,  and almond flour-blend well
5. Pour cake batter into pan and place in preheated oven 
6. Cooking times greatly vary.  Start30 minutes and add as needed
7. You know it's done when you put a toothpick into the center and it comes out clean

The reason that cooking times vary is because you can use pretty much any type of pan you want.  I might even suggest you use a mini cupcake pan because that will give you a single serving of the cake without having to worry about cutting it into specific sized pieces.  I was able to cut my cake into 20 pieces which makes each serving just under 2 carbs.  That's pretty great.

The cake is sweet enough for me to eat by itself, but my husband likes to eat it with sour cream frosting.  So, that means he adds some form of Splenda to his sour cream and puts it on top of the cake.  That will up the carbs a tad.  If you track macros this is really a manageable dessert to add into your day.  Plus, it can actually be way more manageable if you use a no carb protein powder.  I made this on the spur of the moment-which I do very often, especially when baking-so I used a protein powder I had on hand.

I'm not linking the protein powder I used because I don't recommend using it.  The ingredients are not the best (now that I am more educated about ingredients.)  Keep an eye out for fillers and insulin spiking ingredients like maltodextrin when shopping for protein powders.

This cake tastes great warm!  It got a great crust around the edges.  We stored it in the fridge after it cooled and it did loose the crispiness, but also still tasted yummy.

Do you think you will try this recipe?  Will you change it up somehow?

Ketogenic Cookie Dough

This keto cookie dough is meant to be eaten raw, since it doesn't have any eggs.  It could be considered a fat bomb, but also just a dessert.

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The recipe is as follows:

8oz cream cheese

8tbsp butter

1/4 cup Lakanto-Golden Sweetener All Natural

1/4 Almond Flour

Liquid Stevia-to taste

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp Himalayan salt

1/4 Lily's Chocolate Chips

1.  Make sure the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature and blend with a hand mixer.

2.  Add the golden sweetener, almond flour, liquid stevia, vanilla, and salt-then blend with the hand mixer.

3.  Mix the chocolate chips in gently.

4. Spoon mix into ice cube tray and place in freezer to cool.

This recipe is pretty versatile.  The reason I have liquid stevia to taste is because I'm not partial to it, but I know its kinda necessary for these types of recipes.  I tend to start with a little because you can always add more, but you can't take it away if you put too much.

Also, the Lily's are a bit pricey.  There are a few options for what you can do.  I've made this with unsweetened bakers chocolate, coarsely chopped; but my husband isn't crazy about that.  Next time I'm going to make it without the chocolate at all because it tastes a bit like cheese cake.  I let him lick the spoon and he mentioned that it was kind of like a mousse.  I really prefer it cold though.

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you think!