Keto Dinner Idea: Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

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This is just a really quick little video for a really quick little dinner. Hope you like it!

Keto friendly dinner! This super easy meals is 100% ketogenic. For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to items mentioned in this video, see below.

Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

 

Hunger? What Do You Mean, "What Does It Mean?"

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Okay. I've got to admit that I think I have this who ketogenic diet thing pretty dialed in. I've lost 95.4 pounds since I started the program whose tenets are pretty basic and straight forward: keep carbohydrate intake below 20g a day, eat only from the allowed food list and eat only when hungry. The point is that, when carb intake is low enough, the liver stops pushing glucose into the blood. Without the glucose for fuel, the body switches to burning ketones (fat). And as long as one doesn't overeat dietary fat (more on that in another post), our body's on board fat is mobilized and all is right with the world.

Yes, yes. I'm the queen of ketosis. I'm a happy fat burner. Let's go down that simple check list:

  • Carbs low? Check
  • Keeping to the allowed food list? Indeed
  • In ketosis? Always
  • Eating only when hungry? You bettcha....uh... well... Let me think.

This What is hunger on keto? What is it when NOT on keto? That is the question. For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to items mentioned in this video, see below.

Here's the thing. Figuring out what hunger actually is has been a true challenge. Several months into eating this way I was tripping along, loving life and this diet. I had lost about 45 pounds but things had really slowed up. I had an opportunity to ask a world expert on the ketogenic diet, Dr. Eric Westman, why I had seemingly stopped losing weight when I was in ketosis. He asked several qualifying questions and then got to that last one, "Are you eating only when hungry?" I replied pretty much as I wrote it above. I stammered out something and then realized that, no, I couldn't say I did. I ate when it was mealtime. Only low carb and proper 'keto' foods, but the meals were mandated more by the clock than my body needing to be fed.

This led to a practice of asking myself whether I was eating out of hunger or habit. The next trick was to figure out what hunger actually felt like. It doesn't seem like we should have to really over think something so basic as whether we're hungry or not. We don't spend a lot of time pondering whether we're tired, chilly, hot or if we have to poo. We just know.

But our bodies have been jacked up on glucose for decades now. And since glucose can't be stored in the blood (we only have about 5g of the stuff in our bloodstream) our brain keeps calling for more every couple of hours. That's when you feel the need to mid morning after having downed a gracious large breakfast of a slice of whole grain toast with a slather of fat free strawberry preserves, a glass of orange juice - which is really a slice of sugar with a slather of sugar and a glass of sugar. Ten thirty rolls around and you need a muffin (sugar). So goes for lunch, then mid-afternoon slump, then dinner. All you can do all day is think about food because your brain is hankering for glucose.

Ah, but when fat-adapted, your brain doesn't have to yell at you to eat. The steady flow of ketones (our brains do beautifully using ketones for fuel) which come from our body's fat stores, quiets all that noise. No more 'feed me, feed me, feed me now or pay the consequences!'

The thing is we can still be in the habit of eating, even long after the roller coaster of glucose induced hanger is gone. And more than that, we an be so worried that we'll get hungry, we fret about being more than 45 minutes away from our next feed.

So I've been working on being truly mindful of eating. What is hunger? Am I hungry? How much is enough? And I find the more I practice this, the less space food takes up in my mind. As I've said and written before, food is no longer the boss of me. 

While humanity has spent millennia trying to be free from hunger, we're in a position to be free from food. Maybe we can spend the extra time and brain power or solving other problems. 

Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

 

Another New Low and More New Clothes

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This is the second time that I've hit a new weight loss low and received a delivery from Stitch Fix on the same day. Maybe I should increase the frequency of my subscription! You can see my post about the first happy coincidence here.

First, apologies for the wretched sound situation on the video, if you decide to watch it. Equipment malfunctions! Second, some of the clothing pieces appear larger in the video than they do in real life. (The same can be said for me.) A couple of subscribers to my YouTube channel questioned the sizes. But it is an optical illusion. The clothes are pretty small. Amazingly small, considering where I started out. That, or I'm just not a good videographer and don't know how to stage things. 

Ignore the horrendous lighting and my puffy eyes. That's me with some 22W jeans, so smaller than those I wore when I started the ketogenic diet. The photo is from several months, and about 15 pounds ago.

Ignore the horrendous lighting and my puffy eyes. That's me with some 22W jeans, so smaller than those I wore when I started the ketogenic diet. The photo is from several months, and about 15 pounds ago.

My history with clothes was not so much of a love/hate relationship as a hate/detest relationship. I've never been one to feel bouyed by retail therapy. Just not my thing. And this goes for even grocery shopping. Don't love to go to stores. Pair that with being very heavy and the result was my clothes came from tables at Costco. I simply bought the largest jeans and cotton blouses available. See the before photo at the top of the sidebar of this site for an example. Those are 24Ws straining across my ample backside. The blouse? I believe it was a XXL. So, more than not want to shop in general, buying clothes in any manner was excruciating. The result? My uniform of giant jeans and $13 blouses was pretty much all I owned. Those and Dansko knockoffs because my very wide feet couldn't fit in the real things.

There are downstream impacts of hating the clothes you own and the body those clothes cover. Social invitations are declined. Going out with your Lovely Mate feels like being put on exhibit, a cautionary tale to anyone who fears they'll be next in the fatty parade. Formal occasions? Forget it. I didn't even buy decent clothes for my daughter's wedding. And seeing photos of myself from the happy day sent me in to a true emotional tailspin. One of the deepest and longest lasting bouts of depression I've ever had. And I felt I ruined the day. Of course, no one was paying attention to me, as is proper. But we all struggle to see things from anything other than our own perspective. And the view from mine was miserable.

But as I lost weight after starting the ketogenic diet, that began to change. I not only needed to get new clothes, the ones I had being simply too large, I wanted new clothes. Something about my self-image was transforming from self-loathing to self-love. Sound sappy but it's accurate.

A friend suggested I try the service of having clothes not only delivered to me (no retail stores! Huzzah!) but chosen for me as well. And so started the building of my wardrobe, one box at a time.

There's more to all this, but it will have to come another day. I'm preparing to meet a friend for cocktails at a nice bar, and I'll be wearing snazzy clothes and probably some sassy pumps. No more clunky shoes, dumpy shirts or humongous jeans for me. BTW, I continued to buy jeans from Costco as I lost weight, always the same brand and style, in progressively smaller sizes and each new purchase was a victory. The first one was when the size wasn't followed by a "W". The next when I fit into size 14s, that of the average US female. I don't buy them there anymore. They don't carry a size small enough, size 6 being the smallest. True story.

And, oh yeh, as of this morning I've 93.3 pounds. Maybe I WILL up my Stitch Fix shipment schedule!

Here's the unboxing.....

Another New Low & Stitch Fix Unboxing! For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to items mentioned in this video, see below.

Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

 

 

 

Keto Super Bowl Wings

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Sports, Friends, Food & Drink. But No Carbs

Apparently there's some kind of sporting event happening on Sunday. Is that correct? Some kind of team thing where people gather round the tube as an excuse to have delicious food? Yeh?

Well, here's my contribution to that great cultural happening known as Super Bowl Sunday: hot wings.

The way we do them around here is pretty simple. You take un-breaded, frozen chicken wings, put them in a cast iron skillet, pour hot sauce on top. Voilá! Hot wings!

There's really barely more to it than that. Make sure the wings you purchase are indeed zero carb (ours come from Costco - the other great unifier of society) and that the sauce has no hidden sugars. We like Frank's Redhot Sauce. The cast iron skillet isn't mandatory, but it helps. Even better if it's about 50 years old, like ours. 

Here's a short demo of how we roll in the Durango household. BTW, we save the bones in a bag in the freezer to make bone broth. That story will be coming soon.

Here's how we cook hot wings around here. No carbs, lots of heat. Yum! For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to items mentioned in this video, see below.

Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

What About Exercise on Keto?

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So, this morning, I woke up at 4:40. Bam! Just awake. For some, this is normal 'getting out of bed' time. Not so for me. Not that I haven't had times when I was an early riser. But not now that the household is blissfully clear of school schedules, jobs that require an actual starting time, puppies that need letting out before they burst and all the other things that make younger adult life different than older adult life.

Sheesh. I'm an older adult.

The thing is, I'm digging being the age I am. I don't know whether I would enjoy where I am now this much if I had  been thinner, fitter, healthier and (internally) happier ten, fifteen or twenty-five years ago and so wouldn't have such a drastic comparison to make, but I sure am pleased as punch now. Lovely, bubbly sugar-free punch. That's me.

Since losing 92.1 pounds - yes, I count to a tenth of a pound - on the ketogenic diet, things have only improved for me. I got my brains back after the hiatus they took, clouded by the fog of carbohydrates (It's a thing. Believe me) and the inflammation that made nearly every joint in my body ache cleared up within a couple of weeks of getting into ketosis. The weight loss was only the most visible result of essentially eliminating carbs. And all this came from the food. Exercise is not a required component of the plan. It's not discouraged. It's just not the point of things. So I got all these great benefits without following the decades old recommendation to 'move more and eat less'. In truth, I moved hardly at all.

Well, that's an exaggeration. I now move more than I did because I'm able to and it's certainly more fun t do so. And, not for nothing, but being seen in public is less embarrassing for me now. Consequently, I get out more. One thing leads to another....

I was all goofy laughs when with someone...

I was all goofy laughs when with someone...

But formal, regular exercise just hasn't been my thing. I gave it a real go, years before losing the weight. Trained for and participated in four sprint level triathlons. Wow. Nothing like seeing a very fat person haul herself around a swim/bike/run event.

Don't get me wrong. I admire the hell out of anyone who is comfortable at their size and who do what they want, when they want and feel confident doing so. That just wasn't me.

..This is how I felt.

I participated. But it took everything I had to emerge on the scene in a bathing suit. I only recently saw photos of myself from the first triathlon, a women's only sprint level. I'm glad I didn't see them then or there wouldn't have been enough tequila bottled to get me through it. 

The events were well run and I made a wonderful friend whilst training for them. But I sucked at it. And I was miserable most of the time. So that Summer was pretty much the last time I did any regular exercise.

But as I lay there in my comfy bed this morning, hearing the grandfather clock chime 4:45, I had the urge to run. To put on my vibrant orange sneaks and go run around the neighborhood.

So I did. Not far - 1.15 miles. And I've 'run' further before. Over the last year or so I've managed to jog about three times. But those times were more of "I've GOT to get some exercise in", not "I want to go run!". I know moving is good for me, separate from the weight loss part. We now know exercise is not an effective weight loss tool. It's a fitness tool. And I want to be fit. So those other times was me making myself do something that I hoped would get me on that path. I was proud of myself the few times I jogged. But I didn't love doing it. It was a chore.

This morning was not a chore. And it went by so quickly! With my earbuds in and Pandora on my iPhone, it was one Adele song, one Fun and one Five for Fighting. Not bad, eh? 

The bottom line for me in all this is that, just as the ketogenic diet has allowed me, in my late 50's, to lose a boat load of weight, feel better than I have in years and has convinced me I'm nearly invincible, I now see that I can become a person who likes to get up before her dogs, put on orange sneakers and run. So while exercise is not a part of the ketogenic diet, it may now become part of my life. 

Will wonders never cease? Here's a video for those who like 'the talkies'

Will wonders never cease? Life is changing, again. And it's great! For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to items mentioned in this video, see below.

Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!