Author: low-carb-keto-lifestyle

I've been interested in healthy living for a couple of years and have been trying to find ways to do this myself and to share information to the public.

Taking Control of our Lives

“When we take control of our lives, the habits we adopt, and the choices we make on a daily basis, we can achieve whatever we dream and think possible.” Josh Perry

Josh Perry (check at bottom for a link about Josh) is a former Pro BMX Rider who has survived numerous brain tumors to become a public speaker on brain health, eating healthy and taking control of our own lives.

You’ve made the choice to do a low carb or a keto lifestyle. LIFESTYLE being the appropriate word here. For many of us we beat ourselves up a lot if we cheat a little or get knocked off our “DIET” by life events or stress or sickness. This is where taking control of your life comes in. It all comes back to mindset and not allowing life to change our mindset and our goals of where we want to get to.

When it comes to food that means sticking to your meal plan. But if you can’t for some reason, you start over again the next day or one of the things that I have done is meal prep. If I make two different meals on Sunday afternoon for the week, then I have something different each day for lunch and something different for dinner. This helps eliminate temptation for me because I’m prepared and not bored with my food. When my meals are already planned then I can go to the refrigerator and get my lunch instead of being tempted to go to the cafeteria and buy something that may or may not be on my eating plan and I don’t have to think twice about it.

I struggle sometimes as well with what to eat, how much to eat, being bored with my food, etc. I will say though, that one of the things that I have realized is that if I take control and have planned the rest of my day and week, I need to plan what to eat as well. This saves me a whole lot of heartache later on and I’m not as nasty to myself when I cheat a little.

We, especially us women, are extremely hard on ourselves about cheating at meal time. We know what we want as far as our goal, then we know what we are supposed to eat, but if you’re stressed or had a fight with the spouse or kids or your mom responsibilities seem like they never go away, we tend to cave and one little bite won’t hurt and then afterwards when one little bite wasn’t enough – we beat ourselves up for days sometimes. Been there done that. I can hear the old words in my head “You can’t stick to anything, you’re weak, you can’t do anything right”. STOP with this cycle and realize that tomorrow is another day or meal two of your day is another meal and go right back to your new lifestyle. Don’t spend days hating yourself and giving yourself the excuse to go back to your old habits. Be a big person and accept what you did and move on immediately.

I’m great at planning everything else in my life and sticking to it, but when it comes to food I am tempted. Even still today. But the big difference for me today is I no longer beat myself up which gives me a much healthier outlook on life and when stress comes along and I can’t say no to that one little piece of sugar free candy that turns into three pieces (LOL) I can legitimately say that tomorrow is a new day and forget about the three pieces of candy and move on.

This is when you start getting a healthy mindset toward food instead of using it as a crutch or excuse. I know I’m a stress eater, so during stressful times I have to stop and be really conscious on what I’m doing instead of just moving in a fog. And I no longer beat myself up internally for what I have eaten. When you live a keto lifestyle, if you pay attention to your body and only eat when you’re hungry, you’ll realize that most of the time when we eat – we eat out of habit, because it’s that time of day, or a I don’t want to be rude because someone brought in a special desert, or your mom made your favorite food. If you choose to take control of your life – then choose that you will allow yourself some cheat time without beating yourself up.

Yes it may take an extra day or two to get back into ketosis – unless you’re taking a supplement, but STOP with the self critique and self hate and self loathing. YOU ARE IN CONTROL!

Check out Facebook video on Josh Perry. https://www.facebook.com/JoshPerryBMX/videos/207887376676897/?v=207887376676897

So until next week, take control of your life and have a fabulous week!

low-carb-keto-lifestyleLeave a comment

Super Tender and Moist Keto Pumpkin Cupcakes

Super Tender and Moist Keto Pumpkin Cupcakes

  • Servings: 12
  • Print

These are my new favorite and easy desert


Ingredients

    Pumpkin Cupcakes:
  • 2/3 cup almond flour
  • 3 Tablespoons coconut flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 eggs lightly beaten
  • 2-3 tablespoons Swerve
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons coconut oil melted
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
    • Frosting:
  • 5 ounces grass-fed butter at room temperature
  • 5 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • pinch sea salt
  • 1/4-1/2 cup powdered Swerve
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2-3 tablespoons cocoa powder *for chocolate version

Directions

    Pumpkin Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Put cupcake papers in muffin tins. Set aside.
  3. Whisk together in a medium bowl almond four, coconut flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set aside.
  4. Add eggs and Swerve to a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, 2 minutes. Add in vanilla extract, vinegar, coconut oil and pumpkin puree and beat until just incorporated. Gradually add in the dry flour mixture, alternating with almond milk. Once fully incorporated, fold in pecans.
  5. Distribute batter evenly into pan. I don’t overfill them so I get 12 cupcakes. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes (covering with aluminum foil at 15) until deep golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the pan before removing, and cool completely on a rack before frosting.
  7. Make your cream cheese buttercream frosting while your cupcakes are cooling.
    8. Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
  8. Add the butter and cream cheese to a large bowl. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer until evenly combined, about 2 minutes.
  9. Add the salt and Swerve, one tablespoon at a time, and continue to beat until pale and fluffy (8-10 minutes). Feel free to scrape the bowl as needed and adjust sweetness to taste. Add vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated.
  10. If making a chocolate version, sift the cocoa in one tablespoon at a time and beat until fully incorporated.
  11. One batch of frosting is enough for roughly 12 cupcakes.
Modified a little from the version that gnom-gnom.com posted.

low-carb-keto-lifestyleLeave a comment

Want to Quit?

“Everybody comes to a point in their life when they want to quit. But it’s what you do at that moment that determines who you are.” David Goggins

If you’ve never heard of David Goggins check him out. This man is a retired Navy SEAL, endurance athlete and motivational speaker. He lives each day getting out of his comfort zone so he can achieve his personal best.

So what do you do to get out of your comfort zone? When we feel like quitting we may just need to stop, take a look around us, smell the roses and move forward. What does that mean for you and a low carb keto lifestyle?

Some days are difficult to say the least. We have outside stress going on, our family doesn’t want to support us – they think we are crazy, everyone has an opinion – which isn’t our opinion. How do we move forward with everything and everyone dictating what we do!?

Stop!!! Just stop for a minute and find something to be grateful about in your life. Maybe it is just that you had food in your house to have breakfast this morning! Maybe your child didn’t throw a fit this morning! You have a car to get you to your job on time! Once you have found something to be grateful for, now it is time to make a plan.

Making a plan needs to be simple. It needs to be doable on a daily basis and it needs to be written down. If you look at your schedule and you can’t fit in an hours workout – don’t stress. According to David Asprey, author of Bulletproof Diet, you only need 20 minutes a day. Maybe a quick walk everyday, then two to three times a week you do some bursts – that is when you run really fast for 30 seconds to 1 minute – in bursts and then walk the balance of the time. I think this is definitely doable. I try to walk and get 10,000 steps a day. Some days I can do that at work, but others I need a plan to get it done, especially now that it is getting dark sooner.

Meal plan. Did you know that this will completely save your life when you are trying to live a certain lifestyle? Take one hour on Friday or Saturday and come up with meal ideas to have and then meal prep on Sunday afternoon or evening. If you’ve never done it, you should give it a try. It is amazing to just open the refrigerator door on Monday morning and have meals already prepped for the week for lunches. Then for dinners make it simple – have that already planned as well and just mix and go or make it on Sunday and pull it out of the freezer for dinner.

I can guarantee you that if you do this one week you will want to do it every week. It takes so much pressure off you during the week and keeps you from wondering what you are going to have for lunch! I generally prep at least two different meals a week so that I can have leftovers for lunch of one and leftovers of the other for dinner! Or I will do a bag salad and put chicken or steak on top of that to give me some protein.

Find a way to keep yourself from quitting when life happens. We all have it. Let’s make the best of things. Know ahead of time snacks that work with your meal plan as well and always have some of them in your desk at work or in the console of your car. (Uh don’t put the chocolate in the console!!!) HAHAHAHA found that out the hard way – not even thinking.

If you need help with any of this please don’t hesitate to ask. We are here to help support you when life happens and you need ideas. Have a happy and healthy week.

low-carb-keto-lifestyleLeave a comment

Cheesy Chicken Poblano Casserole

Cheesy Chicken Poblano Casserole

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

A Mexican Inspired Casserole that the Whole Family will Enjoy!


Ingredients

  • 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
  • 1/3 cup tomato based salsa (I added a little more than 1/3 cup)
  • 1/2 cup full fat sour cream
  • 1/4 cup scallions, chopped
  • 2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
  • 2 cups Sargento Mexican Cheese mix, shredded
  • 3-4 medium poblano peppers (or next time I will use a 2 cans of green chilies)

Directions

  1. Combine the shredded chicken, salsa, sour creams, scallions, cilantro, 1-1/2 cups of Mexican cheese mix (reserve 1/2 cup of cheese for topping) in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
  2. Wash and spread the whole poblano peppers on a cookie sheet. Set under the oven broiler on high for about 3 minutes per side, or until the skin is blackened. Remove and cover with a clean towel for 10 minutes to steam and cool.
  3. Remove the towel and peel the skins from the peppers. Then gently chop the peppers after removing the seeds and pith.
  4. Mix poblano peppers into the chicken mixture and gently mix. Spoon into a casserole dish and sprinkle on the reserved cheese.
  5. Bake at 375 degrees for about 39 minutes or until bubbling. Remove and serve hot with additional sour cream, salsa, green onions and cilantro if desired.

low-carb-keto-lifestyle2 Comments

Thankful

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been doing work on self development on myself. One of the most important things I have figured out is that even though most of my life I have been thankful for things, I really haven’t been as thankful or grateful as I should be.

Most of our lives we are so busy just living life and getting through our day to day that we don’t stop to smell the roses! The roses in this case are the little things that we have in our lives.

Are you grateful for the little things in your life?

Little things like the roof over your head? a running vehicle? electricity in your house? indoor plumbing? air conditioning? a sofa to sit on? These are all things that I think we all take for granted. But we need to be thankful for where we are in life and then as we plan our goals and where we want to be we have to be thankful for where we are going.

Maybe it is a certain weight goal, or a certain financial goal. You have to see where you are now and then where you are headed. If we have a grateful attitude it makes life easier, because when issues pop up called life – we can stop and say thanks for the positives and the current things we have.

Like when LIFE happens – a few weeks ago in the heat of August, my air conditioning went out in my house. So I live in the south and August temps outside for the most part are in the high 90s. Luckily I was out of town for about 3 of the nights that the air was out, but I still had 3 nights without air. The day my air was fixed I was so thankful. It made me ask how people lived in the south in the olden days without air conditioning. We are so spoiled.

What do you have in your life that makes you feel spoiled? Ask your grand parents or your great grand parents what it was like to go to the bathroom in an outhouse? or take a bath in a wash tub? or do laundry the old fashioned way with a wash board? Or no electric lights and no tv or cell phones?

We all need to be much more thankful and grateful for what we have in life.

Be thankful and enjoy your week. Til next week – Be Awesome and Grateful!

low-carb-keto-lifestyleLeave a comment

90 Second Keto Bread

90 Second Keto Bread

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Keto bread that makes you feel like you're cheating


Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons Almond flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
    • -1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (or a pinch of salt)

Directions

  1. Pour all ingredients into a microwave safe bowl. (I use a large coffee cup that is about 4″ wide at the bottom.
  2. Use a fork or small whisk to mix the ingredients.
  3. Place in the microwave for 90 seconds.
  4. Remove from microwave and allow to cool slightly.
  5. Then cut in half. (You can then use for a regular sandwich or you can fry it or toast it)

Recipe Courtesy of Eating on a Dime.

low-carb-keto-lifestyleLeave a comment