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.

Pumpkin Pecan Cake

Pumpkin Pecan Cake

  • Servings: 9
  • Difficulty: easy
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A Taste of Fall


Ingredients

    Cake
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 3/4 cup swerve (monk fruit sugar)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt
  • 1/4 cup butter melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
    • Frosting
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 3 tablespoons swerve
  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
  4. Pour into a greased 8×8 pan.
  5. Bake for 25-27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  6. Allow cake to cool completely.
    7. Frosting
  7. Beat softened cream cheese, swerve, cinnamon and heavy cream for about 5 minutes, or until frosting begins to stiffen.
  8. Spread frosting onto cooled cake.
  9. Top with pecans.
  10. Cut into 9 servings.

Recipe Courtesy of mymontanakitchen.com

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Be Happy with the Present

How many of you have actually reached the goal that you set for yourself and then realized that it’s not quite as glamorous or as exciting as you thought it would be. You hit that 25lb weight loss knowing or thinking that you would be happy and then you went right on to the next goal without taking any time to celebrate. Yes you have to set goals and yes it is great to meet them, but you have to take time to enjoy reaching them. Most of us get so caught up in the journey, that we forget that part of loving the destination is enjoying every step it takes to get there.

Having goals is absolutely crucial for success but learning to enjoy the journey by being happy with the present is even more important. I see on social media a lot of people who set unrealistic goals for themselves and then when they don’t meet it they think they should punish themselves. Now you’ve gone 10 steps backwards by the self doubt and recrimination that you allow to set in or the negatives that take over in your head. Remember for 95% of us that it took years to get that extra weight on our bodies. Nothing disappears over night.

Remember a couple weeks ago we talked about getting rid of the negatives and how important that is. Self doubt and self hate will sabotage any goal that you set whether it is for weight loss or self development. Stop with the self abuse. Go back and reread last weeks blog and learn to do the STOP technique every time a self doubt, self hate or negative thoughts come into play. You will be amazed at how easy it is to start to change your thought process and when you do you stop listening to the haters and the self hate coming from inside your head.

So you need to allow yourself to become mindful of what is happening on your journey and in this very moment and then you will start to see all the pieces fall into place. When you can master being in the present and getting ride of the negativity you will be able to find strength in any situation. When you can do that, you will have true power over your happiness and success, because remember, happiness in life is 90% showing up!!!!

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Gluten Free & Keto Shrimp Zoodles with Pesto

Gluten Free & Keto Shrimp Zoodles with Pesto

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: easy
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A fresh, light Greek Inspired recipe perfect for summer


Ingredients

    For the Zoodles
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for cooking (I used butter and avocado oil)
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 6 large shrimp peeled and deveined
    • For the pesto
  • 1/4 cup homemade pesto or store-bought
  • kosher salt to taste
    • To garnish
  • lemon juice
  • Parmesan cheese freshly grated
  • fresh basil ribboned
  • black pepper freshly ground

Directions

  1. Cut the zucchini into noodles using a spiralizer (or buy ready shaped zoodles). Place in a sieve, sprinkle with salt, and allow water to drain for 5-10 minutes while you prep and cook the shrimp. This will ensure dry rather than soupy zoodles.
  2. Heat up oil in a skillet or pan over medium heat and add in garlic. Saute for a minute or to until just golden. Add in the shrimp, season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until pink and fully cooked. Move the shrimp to the side of the pan (or transfer to a plate) to cook the zoodles.
  3. Add in the drained zoodles and cook until lightly softened (but not fully cooked) 2-3 minutes. Don’t overcook. Mix in the pesto and serve right away with lemons, freshly grated Parmesan and basil.
Feel free to adjust the quantity of zoodles and pesto to fit your macros or your tastebuds. Recipe courtesy of gnom-gnom.com

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S.T.O.P. Technique

I was at a conference last week and listened to Joseph McClendon III. He is one of the most sought after Ultimate Performance Specialists in the industry. He is an expert in coaching business professionals to overcome behaviors and inner and outer obstacles that may impede their results and affect their bottom line.

One of the things that he taught us was the STOP Technique. The STOP technique isn’t necessarily designed to use with Food choices, but the more I thought about it the more it can help you. The S.T.O.P. Technique helps us turn any pain into an action signal. I use the STOP Technique when a negative thought arises. I don’t get too many of them, but I am still learning and working on myself along with you. Now I’m sure you must be wondering how this relates to Low Carb and Keto. Well I’m going to tell you. Every time we go out to eat or are faced with a temptation of eating the wrong things – this Technique can work.

So let’s say you are at a theme park and we all know what that food can be like. Mostly carbs and sugar and we need to make intelligent decisions as to what to eat. We can tempt ourselves into saying “oh one cheat day won’t hurt” but mainly that just turns into another and another and another. So the STOP Technique can come into play to help.

S – Say STOP! – (Pattern Interrupt) When you are tempted to eat the wrong thing then you can just say STOP. You want to interrupt the train of thought you are having of being tempted or telling yourself it won’t matter. You can say any emotionally charged word – STOP, YES, BOOM, CANCEL or whatever else you can think of. It is all to interrupt the path you are on.

T – Take a Deep Breath – (Physiology) So immediately after saying STOP or whatever word works best for you – Take a deep breath. My favorite thing is to take a deep breath while saying “WOOSAAA”. It is a stress reliever for me. Then if you are sitting you can jump up or if you are standing you can start walking. Walking in place works as well. Anything to change your thought process and get you back into your “Low Carb Keto Lifestyle Mood”.

O – Outcome – (Focus On What You Want) You know you don’t want to cheat with a whole meal or even with a few too many carbs just for that meal. So if you immediately focus on what you want then it will help put you back into the right frame of mind – so instead of selecting a chili dog with the bun and french fries – you go for chilli dog without the bun and a side salad or some fruit. Then pat yourself on the back for making a decent selection.

P – Praise Yourself – (Reward) So pat yourself on the back or shake your booty as a reward for making the right decision. It allows you to relate something exciting and rewarding to making decisions on food. Thus it takes the pain away. Stop punishing yourself for every little thing. (Go back and reread last weeks post about Negativity)

This technique is designed to take a negative thought that comes into your mind – acknowledge that you are having it, stand up, take a deep breath, put a smile on your face, pat yourself on the back and shake your booty to turn that negative into a positive. You may have to do it a couple of times to shake the negativity (temptation of picking the wrong meal choices) but get faster and faster. The next time you have a negative thought or can’t decide if you want to cheat or not. Give it a try. I guarantee that it works every time.

I like to use this technique when my mind drifts along and wants to think about how a situation may work out. Stop with that. Why worry because it will probably never even happen.

This technique can be used in all facets of your life – food choices, negative people, negative thoughts, reliving the past over and over again. Anything to interrupt the pattern of thought and put yourself back into a positive and happy mood.

If you have any questions please feel free to get hold of us. Thanks and have a great week.

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Frittata Muffin

Frittata Muffin Recipe

  • Servings: 6-12
  • Difficulty: easy
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Yummy eggs


Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz)
  • 3/4 cup chopped zucchini
  • 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 2 tbsp. chopped onion
  • 3 slices chopped cooked bacon or sausage

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350F
  2. Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper in medium bowl until well blended. Add cheese, zucchini, bell pepper, onion and cooked bacon or sausage; mix well.
  3. Spoon evenly into 12 greased muffin cups, about 1/4 cup each.
  4. Bake till set, 20-22 minutes.
  5. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from cups; serve warm.

Recipe Courtesy of Incredible Egg

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Removing Negative Energy

One of the biggest challenges that we face when we change our lifestyle to a healthy lifestyle is facing how we think. Whether it is ingrained in us since we were little – like someone telling us we are fat (and then in our mind we are fat and ugly) or something terrible happened to us and the only way that we know how to cope is to eat! (Stress Eating) Both of these are things that I have faced over my lifetime in the past.

When someone tells you – you are fat – there is a lot of stigma and negative energy surrounding that. It has taken a lot of years to get over that feeling of being fat and ugly. So we have to stop allowing destructive negative energy to dominate our minds. There is a very simple and straightforward solution for overcoming even the most stubborn and dominant negativity. All you have to remember is N.I.C.E!

Notice when your thoughts and energy take on a negative vibe.

Intervene by telling negativity to get lost and realize what kind of person it makes you.

Change your way of thinking using positive affirmations and other positive activities.

Embrace the way positive energy makes you feel.

So we need to pay attention to what we are thinking. When we have a negative thought – such as “I’m fat so I must be ugly” we need to take that and notice the negative vibe. Tell the negativity to get lost. Change how we think by thinking “I am not fat so thus I am no longer ugly”. Embrace how the positive vibe makes you feel.

Another way to face this is realize you are thinking negative, tell the negative to get lost and then get up and move or change what you are doing and do something that requires your full attention. This will help that negativity to stop creeping in. Be thankful that you have lost 2″ and feel that sense of accomplishment no matter how big or how small. A sense of accomplishment has a huge positive impact and will turn around any negative thought or behavior.

You can completely change your thinking from negative to positive by appreciating the good in your life. Be grateful for the small success of 2″ lost. Be thankful you can go for a walk – even if it isn’t very far. One of the best things I know of takes you from sitting on the couch to adding 5 minutes of movement every day for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days you could be walking for 1-1/2 hours just by increasing your time each day by 5 minutes. Maybe you need to do 1 minute a day to get started. By the end of the 30 days you could be walking for 30 minutes. Be thankful for any success. Keeping a positive attitude is very helpful in living a healthy lifestyle. Write it down so you can go back and read it once in a while. Remember those good feelings and the small successes.

Once you have changed your thoughts from negative to positive and start embracing this new way of thinking, the easiest thing to do is to SMILE with your whole face. You can practice it in the mirror. You will be amazed at how just smiling can change your whole day. Be determined to be nice to others as well, even if it’s just to hold the door open for someone or to say “Thank You” to the clerk checking you out at the store. Put a smile on for others and it will make you feel amazing.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to us if you have any questions or if we can help in any way. Have an awesome week and see you next week!

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