By Courtney Wright
Hello again to you all! We are almost three months deep into the Covid-19 outbreak and as the world slowly restarts, there is still a long way to go for a lot of us. I love keto. I love how great I feel and how relatively fast my first impressive weight loss in over 15 years was achieved.
I have lost about 40 pounds since last June and I know that is amazing, but I STILL berate myself weekly, sometimes daily. I have about 30 more pounds to go to be at my goal weight. Once I reach my goal I can finally stop and rest for a while and maintain my progress comfortably. That may not happen for a little while, or at least as fast as I want it to. So, today while I sit and write this and drink my excessively large bottle of cheap wine, I am forgiving myself.
I want you to succeed
I am not a fraud. I am not scamming you with my knowledge of the keto lifestyle. I am human. I am damaged and I try every day to make myself better. I am comfortable sitting here telling you what you should be doing because I want to give you the kick in the pants I had, if you need it.
I was in trouble. I was starting to scare myself and I know my husband was terrified. He has a congenital heart condition and he was worried I would go first. That’s pretty sobering.
If you can take or have taken about four weeks to get the bloat off and cleanse your body of the carbs and sugars, you will a) continue and rock the heck out of this summer like I did last year, or b) get to a comfortable point and maintain, like I am.
Why am I just maintaining during isolation?
When this all started, at first I was mostly just relieved that I didn’t have to take public transit, be face to face with the close talkers at work and that my husband didn’t have to be out in public. So we enjoyed the first few weeks. Pizza twice, Wendy’s once, LOADS of booze for me. And some excessive online Amazon and Indigo shopping.
Once my 40th birthday passed and we entered May, I realized that although movie night was far from how it used to be, it was once again becoming excessive in the drink and potato chip departments. I was feeling sluggish and I was definitely starting to get bloated. So back to keto I crawled…ashamed and embarrassed for myself.
And that’s just not right. Now is NOT the time to be excessively hard on ourselves. Life has been both shaken and stirred. I am still in limbo with my job. I still have no clue what my future holds and I am positive there are many of you in the same boat. The key is moderation.
The key is not to be excessively naughty
If you are on keto and are just having some down time during this, don’t deny yourself the small pleasures in life. The key is portion control, a little self-control and some research.
My suggestions
- Try low carb beers (Sleeman Clear 2.0 is my choice with 4% alc/vol, 2g of carbohydrates and 80 calories per bottle)
- Savour vodka sodas for a refreshing change (there are TONS of 0 carb, 0 sugar, 80-100 calorie options at the LCBO).
- Be aware that dry wines are also not exceptionally high in sugar and calories, but will add up quickly if you’re not paying attention.
- Order a small pizza instead of a large and don’t overeat. Save some for later!
- Don’t supersize anything. Chips, candy etc. Buy single servings and eat only what you need to quell that craving.
Most of all, be as happy as you can. Take care of your mental well-being as well as your physical health. Just remember, do not eat too much fat, carbs and/or protein in one sitting and try to be as active as you can. Walks, and a little cardio will help you now and prepare you for when you are fully ready to commit to the keto lifestyle and weight loss.
Be safe and be kind…especially to yourself. Xo
I’ve added a delicious recipe below to get you on the right track!
Keto Delicious Cheesy Pizza Dough
¾ cup shredded cheese of choice
1 large egg
¼ cup butter
½ cup fine almond flour
¼ coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp of your spices of choice
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Melt cheese and butter in a large bowl in the microwave for about two minutes
- Once melted, quickly add all dry ingredients and egg and mix to form a dough. If it is too sticky, add more almond flour.
- Roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper to ⅛” thick
- Remove the top sheet of parchment paper
- Place rolled dough (still on the bottom sheet of parchment) on a baking sheet and pierce the dough in multiple places with a fork
- Bake for 12-15 minutes
- Top with your favourite pizza toppings and bake/broil until desired cook
- Enjoy! 🙂
Nutrition info per serving of dough alone (1/8th): 185cal,15g fat, 4.5g carb, 2g fiber, 2.5g NET carb, 7g protein)
Courtney Wright is a life-long Burlington resident who dabbles in writing, photography and runs Keto Delicious (ketodelicious.ca).
She is just a simple girl making keto comfort food and trying to change the world one keto convert at a time. She is not a healthcare professional.
It is recommended that you talk to your doctor before starting the keto, or any other diet.
