New Year.......new way of eating and living

Before the new year started I had made a commitment to myself to pick a way of eating and follow it.  I was not going to be held hostage by the various things the doc and I have talked about.  No food sensitivities, no Candida, no weight watchers......pick one.  I have picked LCHF (low carb, high fat); carbs low enough to be KETO.

It is hard when one focus tells you to do one thing, the next focus narrows the options even more and in the end I was so frustrated I followed nothing but so wanted to find my way to feel better, get stronger and be healthier.

Listening to some friends on what they have been doing and how they felt made me ask many questions which lead me to my own research.  I have arthritis so need to avoid grains....a carb!  I come from a family with diabetes and sugar in your body comes from carbs being converted to fuel, for a brief moment in time, before you feel the need to have something else.  I don't need to add any fuel to the diabetes fire, so I will avoid grains, I will avoid starchy veg (that turn to sugar), I will avoid any foods that don't serve me well.


What I have learned is with the LCHF way of life, you are eating GOOD fats.  You are eating real foods with no to very low sugar, no preservatives.  Label reading has gone to a new level!  Dairy is good as far as butter, heavy cream.  NO milk, NO non dairy creamers......no coffee!  I have easily gotten past this.  When I did the whole 30 some time ago I had a habit of drinking hot water with lemon then switching to tea in the morning.  Ice water the rest of the day is my habit.

I was a BIG Starbucks girl.....HUGE!  I loved the cinnamon dolce latte.  Did you know a tall still has 22 carbs?  I had googled all the components and could not figure out where the carbs were coming from until I googled MILK.  OMG!!  Lactose in milk is a sugar and is the offender.  I have tried to have the drink with almond milk or coconut milk.....blech...I will now stick to tea.  I am not saying that I will NEVER have another coffee drink but right now my priorities are to feel better.

I have also reminded myself that breakfast food is NOT just toast, oatmeal, waffles, pancakes.  Breakfast is leftovers or eggs with bacon and veggies, a cheeseburger with bacon and spinach, or any other number of things.

I like that I am eating full fat cottage cheese, regular goat cheese, some dairy cheeses.  I am eating BUTTER and coconut oil or avocado oil.  They are delicious.  I have found recipes for creamed spinach low carb (yay) and something called crackslaw!  I am making bacon wrapped shrimp, ribeye steak, chicken thighs.....yay!

I do sometimes miss root veggies.  I was the goddess of root veggies but I know that for a number of reasons they are not good for me.  They flare up the candida which could turn to gout if not monitored.

Over the next weeks I will share some of my favorites and my successes.  I am already seeing the bloat in my face is going away.  I am losing weight.  I am feeling stronger every day.  I might even head to the gym one day soon!!


Something else I did for myself was to go to a Vision Board workshop.  I told a friend mid December that I wanted to make some vision boards for things I wanted to focus on.  In a very odd, roundabout way I found a class.  IT WAS A HOOT!  I learned a lot about being intentional and finding the clarity.  I learned ways to set myself up for success.  I will look at my vision board daily and remind myself of what I want to be, where I want to go, what I want to do......who the inner person wants to GROW in to.

Until next time!   xxoo