Omg I just made chicken broth and it is so so so gooooood. I think you're supposed to use cooked chicken but I just chucked in some chicken thighs and leftover nibbles, sea salt, pepper, an onion, a carrot, some smoky bacon and two pieces of Dutch salami and I think it turned out superbly. I had trouble keeping the pot at a steady simmer but whatever! I just had some with a generous splash of cream and hnng so good. The salami gives it a complex kick, I think. Yum.
I am back from a trip overseas, where I had to stop doing keto because it became way too inconvenient.
Not eating keto (for the same amount of time that I had been doing keto, coincidentally) has made me realise what a positive difference it had been making to my sleep, disordered eating, and (most importantly) depression.
I gained some more weight and now total a nice even number of 150lbs, but what can ya do. I'm jumping back into keto and dipping strips of cheese into cream cheese and everything in the world shall be right again.
Hey ho let's do this.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that carby foods I used to love like pizza and noodles and bread don't taste as good as I remember. They taste just kinda like lumps of flour and weren't as indulgent/satisfying to eat as I had been imagining.
I am on a ROLL today. In a great mood and being super productive, despite only getting a few hours of sleep last night, and having work today. Usually my posts for this blog are queued and posted a bit late, but I wanted to record this. I'm just felling so great right now and this is a big deal for a girl who had suicidal thoughts maybe two months ago.
Is this the keto-induced euphoria I've heard people speak of? I don't know, but I'm not taking it for granted. :)
This was so yummy! Really simple - baked chicken thigh, with a mix of butter/pepper/crushed ginger spread underneath before cooking, and roasted green beans&broccoli (with bacon fat and butter, of course!). This was really easy to make yet super flavourful and I think I will end up eating this for a while, until I get sick of it. :P
It's been exactly one month since I began eating keto, and I am feeling great! I thought I would do a round-up of benefits I've seen from my new diet - kind of in the order in which I experienced them, but not necessarily!
No more guilt about eating. Thank the lard. I've never had an ED or been a very emotional eater, but I would still feel guilty when cooking with butter, or snacking on high-fat foods such as nuts and cheeses. But I feel very liberated now. And going keto meant that I have actually begun to educate myself properly on food, first hand. My relationship with food is getting healthier and smarter. I don't see foods as 'rewards' anymore, when it comes to things like chocolate and wine, because I value being in ketosis more than the emotional enjoyment I'll get out of it. I'm a lot more enthusiastic about vegetables now (broccoli tastes sweet to me!) and everything tastes better when I don't eat sugar, even the fake stuff.
Fat loss. I say fat, and not weight, because my weight has not changed that much (Started at 67kg/146lbs, which fell to 63kg/140lbs after Week 1, then went up again, I am now 65kg/143lbs) BUT I can now fit some clothes that I couldn't a few months ago, when I hit my highest weight. Plus my scales tell me that my bone % has moved from low to normal. I forgot to check what body fat % I was when I started, but it can only have decreased since then! :)
Feeling lighter (in general). Especially in the abdominal area, and after eating. I just don't feel as weighed down anymore.
No more grogginess in the morning. It took me a little while to realise this one! My sleep cycle is still crazy (all of last week I was falling asleep at 7am and waking up in the late afternoon - it's getting better because I have regular working hours again) but I go from being full asleep to fully awake really quickly, under a minute. I get to skip that half-asleep, half-awake groggy state, and it's great! It's gonna come in handy when I go back to study.
Depression is much more manageable, on a day-to-day basis. One of the main reasons why I started keto. I did suffer from awful mood swings (or dips, really, since I didn't get any highs) during PMS but I was kind of expecting that, for my first period post-keto. My moods are a lot more stable. It's not over for me yet, but I'm hopeful that I can beat it for good with some more time. :D
Better complexion. I can't quite put my finger on what's changed, but it's just... nicer. Brighter, and clearer. Even with the awful insomnia! And HOLY SHIT my foundation goes on so much better now!!!! It just adheres to my skin so perfectly I can't even tell you omg. My mum has noticed this too - the other day she said it even took her a several moments to realise that I was, in fact, wearing makeup! And ironically, all the fats and oils going into my system has restored the balance in my usually-oily skin, my nose isn't so oily in the mornings.
No farts, pretty much. This one is gonna come in handy if I manage to find a boyfriend, lol. My mother is one of those people who never farts around her husband/my father, and that mentality has rubbed off onto me, I guess. :P
I can go longer between meals, without feeling hungry. Once I reach that point though, it's like I NEED FOOD. NOW. I MEAN NOW. But until then, I can wait much longer, and I don't need that much food to feel full again. I'm really thankful for this, because a big part of the reason I gained so much weight through depression is because I would be up all night, and snacking constantly throughout the night.
I know this was super long, but I wanted to write this both as a reminder to myself, and as encouragement for people starting out. I'm feeling really good and hopeful today, which is HUGE for me since falling into Depression last August. There are still areas I very much need to work on, (such as getting regular sleep, practising more self-love and body acceptance, fixing my habit of eating while watching TV, and drinking more water) but looking back, this is such a great start.
If anyone has questions, or encouraging words (:D), I'd be happy to take them! My ask box is open, or you can leave a comment below, if you want?
Dinner last night :)
Baked chicken breast, with broccoli cooked in the juices + butter. I only peppered the chicken slightly, but it was still so yum! I think I'll have this again tonight.
Work lunch prepped and ready for the fridge. Oven-cooked bacon, and cauliflower roasted in the remaining fat + butter!!
I also have soft boiled eggs and some cheese in the work fridge, if it's not enough. I begin working full-time for the next month, which I haven't done since starting keto, so I'm actually going to have to put some thought into my meals beforehand now. XD
Fam bam got gelato today - I had a spoonful of feijoa sorbet but it wasn't really worth it :( It tasted SUPER sweet and the niceness ended too quickly. So I whipped up some cream with Avalanche instead. Only got through half because I'm too full, this keeps happening. I need to learn to make less at a time!
This stuff is really good, you guys! I thought bulletproof tea would be disgusting (butter? in tea??? really???!) but it's pretty good. :D :D I make the tea quite strong, then just add the usual butter/cocoa butter/coconut oil/cream and whizz slightly, just as I would for a BPC, and ta-da! Lots of fat and I don't go on a crazy caffeine high for the rest of the day. I like the rooibos tea by itself, too. :)
