I TELL YOU...BUTT-A IS BETTA!!

SO....

After my last post about letting the sugar devil get the best of me, I thought I would tell ya'll about some positive progress I've made despite my little journey off-course!

Plus, sharing some of my yummy Keto approved meals I've made for my fiancé and myself in the last couple of weeks!

As of today I am another LB and a half down on the scale and fit into MOST of the pants the next size down, whoop WHOOP! :)

Feels great, I must say!

I love a quote I constantly hear Stephanie Person say "Nothing looks as good as keto feels!"---and I tell you what, I feel amazing.

My head feels clear, I can think again...no more brain fog!!

Before I was like...

and now i'm like...

I can't tell you how amazing that is! I feel confident about my choices. :)

Plus, huge PLUS ++++++++++

I'M NOT HANGRY ANYMORE!!!!! 

(you know hunger induced anger that can make you want to snap someone's neck for a Twix bar...LOL)

Yep, NO more of this>>>>

I feel like I am over the pity- party of "can't have this and can't have that" and am more like 

HELL YEAH!!! I have energy!! I feel great!!! Fuck bread rolls & pasta! LOL

and when I'm in the gym I have tons of energy and feel like a BEAST! YEAAAH!

{OK I don't look like her- but one day I will keeping up with this! Fitspiration is what I like to call it!}

So just a snippet of the meals I have been making lately that has given me all this magical "energy juice" (and with NO COFFEE ya'll! ZiP, NA-DA!)

Here are a few meals I have made lately---

 -Uncured ham, butter roasted brussels, garlic butter fresh snapped green beans and mashed cauliflower with a bit of cream cheese and sour cream for that nice and creamy mashed 'tater taste! (I always make a "fatty" tea with breakfast and dinner everyday- here's how you make it below)

Fatty Keto Tea:

-any herbal tea of your choice (I like peppermint in the morning or chai and ginger lemon at night to help with digestion) steeped in hot water for 3-5 minutes
add:
-liquid stevia to taste (I usually do 5-6 drops)
- 1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon (you can get this at Whole Foods)
-1 tbsp virgin coconut oil
stir together, remove tea bag, and add a splash of coconut milk (unsweetened) if you wish
Ta-DA! Yumminess! 

(If you use heavy cream instead of coco milk the chai version tastes like a chai tea latte without all the sugar and guilt!!!)

 Grass fed beef with mushrooms and a bit of gruyere (cooked in butter and tasted like stroganoff!) with turnip greens in MCT oil (which is the bomb-diggity if you want endless yet almost immediate energy, learn more about MCT oil here) and a "tropical" shrimp salad I made up- it has sautéed shrimp in coconut oil, diced tomato, a few blackberries, diced avocado- all tossed in a lemon citrus vinaigrette I created...pretty darn tasty!

-with my evening "fatty" tea as usual- :)

 Snack!!
Pepperoni and summer sausage (uncured) with sharp cheddar and colby with a few brussels sprouts in MCT oil and 1 tsp of KERRYGOLD butter for dippin' !

 Spaghetti Squash in Keto Alfredo Sauce!
This one was my fiancé's favorite! He now blames me for making spaghetti squash his new fav food...lol!

Here's the recipe>>>>

Keto Alfredo:


Spaghetti Squash:
-Preheat oven to 375 F
- 1 spaghetti squash divided longwise and deseeded and de-pulped- wrap in aluminum foil, place on baking sheet flat side up. Cook for approximately 20-25 minutes (or until tender enough to easily pierce the flesh with a fork). 

Take out of oven and open foil- allow to cool for 10-12 minutes. Set aside.

Alfredo Sauce:
3 TBSP Kerrygold butter (grassfed)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 Palm full of shaved parmesan cheese ( or 5 TBSP ground parmesan if you prefer)
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp ancho chili powder (I like a little kick in my cream sauces)
Himalayan Pink salt and black ground pepper to taste

-Allow butter to slowly melt in a sauté pan over medium heat
-Once the butter is fully melted add the rest of the ingredients and slowly stir
-Allow sauce to thicken and bubble, stirring occasionally
- 2-5 minutes to cool

Now take your squash halves and use a fork to get all of the flesh out into a medium to large size mixing bowl. *be sure to drag the fork down the squash longways to create a "noodle" effect*

Mix the desired amount of "noodles" with the alfredo sauce. 

ENJOY!

Serves 3-4

One of my breakfast meals! 

2 strips uncured bacon

2 cage free organic eggs cooked in butter

spinach salad with diced avocado (avocado is one of the best natural MCT fats you can eat on keto- I eat 1 a day usually), a sprinkle of chopped pecans, a few blackberries and red wine and MCT oil vinaigrette

with my "fatty" tea (recipe above) and warm lemon water to declog the liver

Remember on Keto to not fear the fat and to not freak out over calories! As long as you are staying strict and eating only when you are TRULY hungry, you will benefit from it!

* Next post I will be discussing some supplements you may want to add to your regimen and the benefits of them for specific individuals! Stay tuned and look out for my next entry!

_____________________________________________

My new year's resolution is simply...NO EXCUSES! 

No excuses to not be healthy and make the right choices, no excuses to spend time with friends and family more and keep in touch, no excuses to not follow my heart and do the things I have been wanting to do- jump head first- you never know until you try! NO EXCUSES- my resolution for 2015! 

What about you? What's your resolution for 2015?

Visit Harmony's profile on Pinterest.

Ups and Downs; Highs and Lows

Thought I would post a lil' somethin', somethin' for ya'll today!

I have been on a glorious, yet uneventful "stay-cation" (you know, where you are on vacation, but can neither afford or have the desire to do anything bad-ass or go somewhere cool...you just waste your free time doing all the lame crap like laundry and errands you don't have time for when you have to work.)

Although I have found myself in more of a keto rhythm lately and am getting better with knowing the do's and don'ts of keto-adaptation and did fairly well to stay the course on Christmas with this tasty meal of Fatty uncured ham, mashed cauliflower with grass-fed butter (yumm KERRYGOLD is the shiz-nit) with green beans sautéed in butter, of course, and a few brussels sprouts- these have a few more carbs than most  green veggies, but this was my version of indulgence for the day!

What F-in ruined me was the undying craving I had not for pasta and bread, 

but SUGAR!!

sugar.sweets.chocolate.cake 

ANYTHING with that damn crack they call sugar in it!

It came out of nowhere and hit me like a 2x4!

I tried eating more fat like to forums, videos and books said...but my brain was on sugar...literally. You think I'm kidding, look it up! Your brain reacts to sugar the exact same way as crack cocaine!! Crazy I know. Legally addicted I guess you would say. 

So, I'll admit it! I GAVE IN! I shoved a sample bag of toffee down my throat I got from a work associate as a gift that I had been hiding from myself. I scarfed it down like Scarlet O'Hara when she found that damn measly carrot in the ground....

Except I wish I would have choked on that damn toffee the way she did that lame ass carrot, because not 20 minutes later I was in a whole different world! I was lethargic and my brain felt like it had been taken over by tiny sugar aliens. LOL! 

Instead of getting hyper and running around like a 5 year old on Mountain Dew, I felt like complete SHIT! I honestly felt drugged and  all I wanted to do was lay in the recliner and take a damn 3 hour nap. I felt my blood sugar shoot through the roof!!!


THAT WAS THAT! I made myself get up and go to the gym! 


And NO MORE of this "I'll hide it from myself"shit! It goes straight in the TRASH! If it's there, I'll know it is there and it is just temptation. Even if I forget about it for a week, or three, my brain will go "ah ha! Remember that chocolate bar you put on the top shelf in the laundry closet? Yeah, that ONE! You know you want it!! Leeeet's eaa-t.." and there it is halfway gone and shoved down my throat mid thought!

I can resist soda, chips, french fries, and most any fried food, but sugar and chocolate are my Achilles heel!My ULTIMATE WEAKNESS!

Once I realized that if I have it in my home I will indulge in it (no matter how good I think the hiding place is), I made a rule for myself...don't bring that shit inside these four walls! I think it's a pretty great rule for keeping strong!

What's your food addiction or weakness that is hard for you to kick? How to you resist or eliminate the desire when it comes knocking?

Week 1!

SO FAR I'VE LOST 3LBS! IN ONE WEEK!

The best part is that I wasn't hoping for anything! Some of you are probably like why the hell is she excited about just 3 lbs??? 

Well, you would be too if you had not lost a single lb in 3 years despite every effort you made to hit the gym and eat 'right'!

This was a crazy accomplishment for me and I was feeling energetic and getting GREAT sleep for the first time in a LONG time on top of the scale going down!
For me every small victory counts and this one definitely does for me!

SO you want to know what the heck the ketogenic diet is?

Well here is a general "definition":

The ketogenic or keto diet is a  low carb, moderate protein, high fat diet plan structured to achieve a metabolic state called ketosis. Ketosis is simply a normal metabolic process in which the body cells burn fragments of fats called ketones instead of glucose (aka sugar/carbs) for fuel.

Ketosis is the state that our hunter/gatherer ancestors were naturally in due to their "lifestyle". The Ketogenic diet is a beneficial process and helps the body survive during times when no food is available. 

It has also been shown to improve disease conditions such as epilepsy, autism, Alzheimer's, cancer and others.

...so basically when you go on a ketogenic diet you are training your body to burn fat instead of sugars and cards/glucose for fuel. 

this process can be really short for some and take a few months for others. It really depends on your metabolic damage and fitness level...among other factors.

Here are a couple of great videos by Stephanie Person to help explain a little further...

I highly recommend following her on YouTube here  @ stephanie Keto person and on Facebook here. 

More next time! Just wanted to give you guys a little update!

Follow me on "the yellow brick road to keto bliss"!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...to Keto Bliss

This blog is about my journey on the 

KETO/KETOGENIC diet LIFESTYLE! 

I hope to entertain, inspire, and get people thinking! 

Follow my blog "The Great and Powerful Keto" for updates and new posts weekly. :)

SO today I decided to start blogging my journey on the ketogenic 'diet' in real time! This diet has gotten a bad rep by not-so-knowledgeable doctors and the food industry, what else do you expect when you are advising people to not eat their processed crap and finding the natural cure to your aliments instead of having a doctor do a lack-luster exam and proclaim you need this pharmaceutical and that pharmaceutical- and only leads you on a road to more problems and an unhealthier state of being!

So for starters just a little back story on me, once that is out of the way we can get to my journey on Keto!

I have been on the 'hamster wheel' of health for almost 8 years now. Trying all kinds of things I thought were healthy ways to lose weight only to go around and around on the wheel, sweating and panting like a damn fat rodent and getting no where...only even fatter and more unhealthy!


I'll admit I've lied to myself for years...telling myself "I'm doing everything I can, I'm eating healthy and working out" and blaming my genetics or thinking maybe I'm just a lost cause; always wondering why I hated my body and had low self esteem as I was getting bigger and gaining more each year. The problem was I didn't know I was lying to myself!

I believed all the empty promises that the rest of us do and took the lies I heard on commercial ads and on food labels as truth, "low fat, fat free, ONLY 100 calories"...never bothering to look on the back and read all the fine print that shows all the six syllable "ingredients" that 95% of Americans, hell most human beings, cannot understand.

As I became more cautious and cut out all sodas, chips, cookies, and candies (well most candies, I broke down and tore up a Snickers every now and then because I felt my blood sugar crashing and I'd have a BAD case of HANGRY! My fiancé would have probably gave me a chocolate IV if he thought it would keep my 'hangry fangs' from coming out!)





I felt a little bit better, but the scale still wasn't budging and I was still lethargic, fat and in constant pain from my neck shoulders and back that I had been putting up with for years. I finally told myself I could do even better and gave up sweets too, and started checking the back of every food label religiously and vetoing everything with processed junk or high in sugar.

Even with that effort still no changes! 

I finally decided to talk to my doctor. After much research I presented my symptoms and three possible syndromes (Thyroid, Adrenal aka Cushings, or PCOS) that related to the way I felt. After many trips to the doctor, practically getting ignored and getting no answers; only fed more pills that made me feel like shit and made me have sleepless nights...I was FED up!

I think the breaking point was when I tried to explain the my doctor that I cut out 95% of the processed foods and was eating whole, healthy foods he interrupted me and asked if I was counting every calorie and that I was probably just a stress eater like him and needed to push myself away from the table!

STEAM WAS ROLLING OUT OF MY EARS!! If looks could kill I would have shot a laser beam of death right between his eyes!




He knew nothing about me! I was definitely not stress eating and just to prove myself right I downloaded the LoseIt! app and tracked everything! I was right in the 1,600 cal per day range consistently without having much effort to worry about what I ate. I even got "healthy eater" and "you've eaten a grocery bag full of veggies" badges from the app.

That was the end of that doctor-patient relationship! He was now on my 'idiot' list!

So with the 'general physical knowledge' not getting me anywhere, I searched in other areas and began to self educate. When looking for "natural remedies for adrenal issues" I stumbled upon "the ketogenic diet" (or as the great Stephanie Person nicknamed it- the non B.S. Diet...I'll talk more about Stephanie in future posts).

After doing 100s of hours of research on the benefits vs any negatives from following the "Non BS Diet" and reading multiple people's success stories-like Amanda below, a 26-year-old woman that followed a Ketogenic/Keto (high fat, moderate protein, low carb) diet for a year and had this dramatic body change...  

I was INSPIRED!

I decided to follow the ketogenic diet and give it a real chance!!

Join me in motivating myself, yourself and others on "the yellow brick road to keto bliss!"

my next blog entry will be about what the ketogenic diet is in a nutshell and my progress on week 2 of my keto journey!