Week 1 & 2

Welcome to my Keto Journey & my first progress post!  Since week 1 was a short week I decided to combine it with week 2 for a longer post!  

Ok!  Ive gotten through the first 2 weeks & have so many things to share with you!  How many things I've already had to overcome as well as how I'm feeling overall.  It feels SO GOOD to be back into my routines!!  Check it out...

Weight/Measurements

Beginning of week 1 (partial week):
Weight: 170.6
Waist: 34 3/4"
Hips: 44.0"
Thighs: 26.0"
 
End of week 2:
Weight: 164.4  (down 6.2 lbs)
Waist: 34 1/4" (down 1/2")
Hips: 43.0" (down 1.0")
Thighs: 25.0" (down 1.0")

**There is a big change that happened over these 2 weeks!  I definitely feel a difference in my body but I also know not to have this kind of expectation for results every week.  I had been eating a terrible diet prior to this so my body was full of inflammation!!  A lot of this change this past week and a half was from the elimination of that inflammation!  
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Overview

Wow!  Ive got a lot of kinks to iron out!  Like, literally!  That occasional Sciatic pain I've been having lately really showed up as I got started.  During the first warmup I couldn't bend over more than about 45 degrees without my leg buckling!! Yikes!!  But after I got going that totally loosened up and I am now able to get closer to that 90 degree bend without pain!  What a big change in just a short week & a half!  I can't believe how much better I already feel!

Recipes

OK, here is the FUN PART!!!  FOOD!!!  One thing I really love about the KETO DIET is that I can still have my rich, creamy foods!  Yummy!!  Here's what we ate for the last week and a half with recipe links and helpful ideas:

DAY 1:  Filet Mignon and Sautéed Broccoli
We have a local Pasture Raised Meat Market that has filets at a fantastic price!  My husband grills them & you could cut them with a fork!  Super yummy!!  We simply let the steaks sit at room temperature for about 20-30 min, then season with a little salt & pepper, throw em on the BBQ & voila!  Delicious steak dinner!   

For the broccoli I simply use a little avocado oil to sauté them, then add a little salt & pepper and garlic powder.  Easy Peasy!  I like my broccoli a little firm but if you want it softer just add a little water midway through then cover with a lid to steam for a minute.  (Just a little water-like 1/4c so that it evaporates fairly quickly)

Day 2:  Restaurant 
We ended up heading out to a restaurant for this meal.  I chose a chicken breast stuffed with broccoli, artichokes & cheese with a side of creamed spinach.  This is such a fantastic restaurant and easy to choose things that stay within the keto diet.   And its right by our house, YAY!!!   But not all restaurants are this easy.  If you are heading out for a meal, it is easiest if you look for a steakhouse.  They will always have meat options (and most now offer grass-fed options!!) and veggie sides.  Just make sure to stay away from the high carb sides like baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, pasta based salads or macaroni, etc....  If you find yourself at a restaurant that does not offer cuts of meat (or no grass fed options) I recommend you look for a burger without the bun or a salad with oil & vinegar (most restaurant dressings are going to contain sugar so avoid these if possible).  

Day 3:  InstaPot Cream Cheese Chicken
I absolutely LOVED this recipe!!  It was (mostly) easy-see next post InstaPot: The Good the Bad and The Ugly, lol.  There were a few changes that I made:

• The original recipe linked uses pasta to serve the chicken on but I used sautéed broccoli and green beans instead & it was a fantastic combo
• I couldn't find a good italian dressing mix so I used a garlic vinaigrette mix I found at Whole Foods

Other than that I followed the recipe and loved how it turned out!  Next time I might even add some bacon as a topping!!!  SO GOOD!! 

Find the recipe HERE

​Find more yummy Keto/Instapot recipes HERE

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Day 4:  Instapot Butter Beef

This Recipe was so good!!!  It had so much flavor & everyone loved it!!   It was only the second time I had used my instapot & I can't believe how easy it is to create such incredible meals so easily!

The recipe calls for both ranch dressing & italian dressing.  I had used the garlic vinagrette for the Creamy Chicken so I ended up making my own using this recipe HERE.  

I also could only find peperoncini peppers and even though they are similar to the banana peppers, they are a bit "tangier".  But I thought that would just add so much flavor I went for and it was fantastic!! 

I will definitely be making this again in the future!!

Find the recipe HERE
Find more yummy/Instapot recipes HERE

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Day 5:  LEFTOVERS

Here's the 2nd thing I love about my Instapot: LEFTOVERS!!!!  I had plenty of the creamy chicken & the butter beef to create another meal and I thought the flavors would actually go really well together...AND THEY DID!!!  It turned out fantastic!  Here's what I came up with:

​I found this keto/paeleo/gluten free bread mix that I wanted to try and i figured tonights meal would be perfect!  ​I found that it needs a little salt added to the mix but other than that I really liked the texture and overall flavor.  ORDER HERE

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Once the bread was finished, I made my brussels sprouts.  SO EASY!!!  Just trim, halve, toss in avocado oil/salt/pepper/garlic powder, place on cookie/baking sheet with butter on top & roast for about 15 min at 425 degrees.  While they were cooking I put the beef in a pan with a little avo oil until it was warm.  I placed the warm beef onto of a piece of bread, then repeat with the chicken.  Top with a little shaved parmesan and a side of brussels sprouts for a delicious meal!!

Day 6:  Eating at a friends house

We were invited to spend an evening with our good friends and their super adorable 1 year old twin boys!  And thank goodness they are totally on board with our keto lifestyle so this was going to be easy!  They were making smoked trip-tip (delicious!!!), sautéed broccoli & salad.  I made these super yummy zucchini fritters and they fit in really well!  

If you are headed to a friends house for dinner that might not be sensitive to your new lifestyle, always offer to bring something keto friendly so that you can at least have a side dish or salad to eat.  And communicate to them what your restrictions are so you avoid a pasta dish or something you can't easily remove the carbs from.   Otherwise you can pretty much make anything work with your side dish!
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Day 7:  Instapot Hamburger Soup

I made this in my Instapot and couldn't believe how much flavor it had!  Like, day after you made it kind of flavor!   My husband likes a little spice (or maybe like tongue melting kind of spice) so i added a few sprinkles of Cayenne Pepper to his before the parmesan cheese & he really liked it!!

I did have to make a couple of changes to the recipe so that it was keto.  I eliminated the potatoes and substituted cauliflower.  I also added little grass-fed butter for a little more fat.

​Get the recipe HERE                 Find More Yummy/Instapot Recipes HERE
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Day 8:  Insta Pot Buttery Lemon Chicken &
Southern Fried Cabbage with Bacon 
​Im going to admit that the chicken was not my favorite this week. I didn't even take the time to grab a picture.  But that probably has a lot to do with my modifications!   But I LOVED the cabbage!  Super yummy!!

Here's where I went wrong with the chicken:

• My husband HATES onions so I eliminated the onion & used onion powder instead.  The recipe calls for sautéing the onion & garlic with some of the spices in butter before searing the chicken.  I decided to add the powdered seasoning & garlic to the melted butter for a minute before searing the chicken.  this was a mistake because without the moisture from the onion I think it took a slight "burned" flavor.  If I tried it again I would sauté the garlic only then add the seasoning to the chicken.
• I used fresh lemons from my tree.  After I had juiced 3 I still only had 1/4 cup (recipe asks for 1/2 c).  But with fresh lemon I decided 1/2c. was going to be too overpowering so I went with the 1/4c. instead.  Big mistake!  I couldn't taste even a hint of lemon & I think the lemon is important to balance out the paprika.

My advice, if you decide to try it:  Don't skip out on the onion or the lemon!  They are too important to leave out here!  Let me know if you make it & what you think!!
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Day 9: Free Range

This is something we do often on weekends.  We eat leftovers & small snacks throughout the day.  Since it is a Saturday it has worked out nicely to give me a break from meal prepping, plus we eat up all the leftovers and don't waste any food!  WIN!!  

**Side note:  We also went to a birthday party today that had wasn't Keto-Friendly.  Don't get me wrong, they threw an awesome party, complete with a GRILLED CHEESE truck!  and CAKE!!!  But we ate before we went so we didn't allow ourselves to make a bad decision that we would regret!  Because, let me tell you, grilled cheese & birthday cake are like CRACK to me.  LIKE CRACK!!  lol
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Day 10:  Chicken & Broccoli Soup

I had to make quite a few modifications to this recipe to make it work for us but I am so happy with the way it turned out!  And the sauteed garlic smelled so amazing!!!  

Here are my modifications:

• remember, my husband is no fan of onions. Don't ge the wrong , he LOVES the flavor, just not the texture.  And since I thought the flavor would be important, I sautéed the onions & the garlic first, then removed them and put them in my food processor to blend them up into a puree.  Then I sautéed the carrots.
• Instead of 2 c of water I used 2 c of chicken broth.  I think this really added a lot of flavor to the soup!!
• I also wanted this to be a meal so i added 2 chicken breasts to the pressure cooking cycle & set it for 15 min instead of 7.
• I added an extra TBSP of butter after I manually depressurized it.  

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Workouts

I did a couple of different types of workouts this week.  I started with a lot of stretching & warming up before each one!  I mean, A LOT!!  My flexibility needs some serious work! Then I did some strength training, some cardio & some yoga.  I love the change everyday!   

The first workout was more weight oriented-dumbbell flys, air squats, farmer carries, etc...  Then I got to do some more heart rate increasing style workouts with the rower.  I really liked both styles and felt revitalized after each one!!  

Then I added a day of Yoga each week.  I am telling you, this was SO GOOD FOR ME!!  I get such a great workout but also feel so relaxed and free of the stresses from the week.  My husband gets together with his buddies and does a big workout every Saturday so Sunday's are mine to get out and do something good for myself!  Sometimes it has been hard to get up and go to the studio but if I can get over that part & get my butt out there it is totally worth it!!!  SO, for all of you busy mommas that are trying to balance everything, give it a try.  You are doing yourself & your family a favor by taking care of yourself!