FeelsGoodMan

Eighth Weigh In… OOPS!

5.3.12

Weight - ???

Well, balls. Here I am, entering the third month of my blog, and I’ve encountered my first oops. In the chaos that is my life (which, at the moment, is heavily involved with traveling to and from NYC and home in NJ), I didn’t have the chance to weigh myself this morning. Jumped out of bed with enough time to throw clothes on and run out the door to catch a train. I’ll have to wait for next Thursday.

However, this isn’t too bad. It’s actually the best timing I could have to miss a weigh in. In the first time since I’ve started my keto diet, I COMPLETELY  (but purposefully) threw myself out of ketosis last night. In celebration for my best pal’s birthday, I threw (lots of throwing) caution to the wind, and decided to partake in a Houlihan’s Caramel Apple Pie with Ice Cream. Total carbohydrate mode! I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that a cheat day every once-in-a-while is actually recommended in practicing ketosis. It’s all about moderation, right? I’m actually looking up the nutritional info for the pie right now, out of curiosity. Kinda scared…hmm. Well, they don’t HAVE the apple pie on their website. Weird. The ice cream was 23 carbs alone, and their Burbon Pecan Pie has 98 carbs, probably close enough. So yeah, that definitely threw me out of ketosis. The creme brulé had 23. I was almost going to get that too! Probably would’ve been easier on my stomach.

Regardless, I’ve been back in low-carb mode all day today:

• Chef Salad at Penn Station 4g
• Cocoa Roast Almonds (sporadically throughout the day) 4g
• Cheddar and Ham Omelet 2g
• Dar Chocolate Pieces 4g
• HB Eggs w/Jack’s Link’s Cheese and “Meat” 4g

Total so far today ~ 18 grams of carbs

I may (or may not) “cheat” again on the 25th of the month for MY own birthday, I only turn 22 once in my life after all! And then probably again on June 2nd for Cassie and my 1 year anniversary… and then again on July 2nd for HER birthday! Celebrations galore!

Also, since Cassie, me, and Nick are finally signing for our Bushwick apartment tomorrow (just in time for finals! at least some stress is being lifted now!), I’ll definitely be in the NY area for the summer time. Prospect Park jogs will be a must for me. I may bring the elliptical into the place too! Why not!

That’s about it for now. I’ll be sure to have my weight recorded next week. It’ll be the last Weigh In of the semester. YES.

Also, here’s a picture of dinner!

Seventh Weigh In

4.26.12

Weight - 159.8

Holy plateau Batman! Well, not really. I think that’s a little over dramatic. Last week I said that I’d been slacking in the gym department, and I’ve only just gotten out of that rut. Last night, as well as the night before, I managed to pull nearly an hour long session consisting of treadmill and strength training. In fact, my body currently feels like it was hit by a Rockaway Parkway bound L train.

I know for a fact that the reason my weight is down from last week is because I’ve been eating less during late nights. I do this every other week or so; I’ll eat less at night for a few days, but then there will be a gap in which I find myself munching on cheese, eggs, or morning star veggie patties at 1AM. Maybe this time I’ll actually stick to what I’ve been doing.

As far as last week’s apartment stress, it’s still not resolved entirely. The landlord has yet to make up his mind, so the doubt of scoring the place has caused for some low morale which is good at hindering discipline in a diet. But, we’re pretty sure there will be a decision made this weekend. Fingers are being crossed!

Not really much more to post this week. I’m really going to try and stick to the gym and the lack of eating after 8 or so at night. I’ve done it before, I know I can do it again. I just need to get over this hump of stress. Plus, it’s finals week. 15 page poetry paper on my mind. That really sucks.

Looking forward to bragging about sticking to the gym next week!

Here’s a picture of a happy Alex at his empty dorm gym. Just the way it should be. Me time!

New Recipe: Keto Cinnamon Bun

Well, it’s been a few weeks since the last time I actually cooked up a new recipe on here (unless you count the delicous ice cream from two days ago). I’m really excited about this new one. Of course, I got it from my favorite subreddit, and more importantly from this post. Basically followed his same procedure with the following:

• 4 tbsp flax meal
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 packets of Truvia
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 egg

First I added all the dry ingredients in a large mug. This entire recipe is MICROWAVEABLE. Which is insane, so make sure your mug is nuke-friendly.

After I melted the butter, I added it along with the egg and heavy cream. Then I made sure to mix it all perfectly together. I ended up using the bottom side of a spoon to make sure I got every part mixed evenly.

Okay, so before I cooked this sucker, I worked on the icing. The icing is incredible.

• 2 tbsp cream cheese
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 packet of Truvia

The cream cheese was a little too hard, so I zapped it for 20 seconds and it instantly became delicious icing.

Finally, after 90 seconds in the microwave, my mug bestowed this upon me:

Was it done? Was it too moist? Undercooked? NOPE! 90 seconds is all it takes to create a cinnamon flavored cake with only about 6 net carbs. Awesome.

With the icing on top, the total net carbs for this meal was 10 grams. Not bad for something that tastes like a real dessert. According to Reddit, there are about 670 calories, 62 grams of fat, and 14 grams of protein in total. So, be sure to be in Ketosis if you wanna try this!

2012 NYC AIDS Walk

Hey y’all, I’ve decided that I should help a good cause and help myself out at the same time. So, I’m going to walk the 2012 AIDS Walk with Cassie this year! What better way to get me motivated for working out outside? The winter is almost completely dead, and this walk will be the perfect motivation for getting me outside in the summer time.

http://aidswalknewyork2012.kintera.org/alexdsimmons

If by any chance you’d like to make any donation to the event at all, it would be greatly appreciated. I’ve donated $10 personally, so far.

Da Sixth Weigh In

4.19.12

Weight - 161.2

Yet another week of Ketosis has flown by, and I’m still keeping strong! My weight seems to be fluctuating a bit around the 160 mark. I only went to the gym for the first time in about two weeks last night, and I really need to keep at it. I only have access to it for about three more weeks.

This week has been pretty stressful, and though I haven’t gone back to carbs (still really trying to stay at <20/day) I have been eating pretty irresponsibly: eating late at night, grazing on snacks, not drinking enough water, etc. Finals in school mixed with the drudgery of trying to find an apartment in Brooklyn have drained any time and energy that I could’ve spent working out. But! I think we may have finally found a place to call home, we’re just waiting on the landlord to OK us. It’s right by Prospect Park, which is like workout-heaven. Running, biking, swimming… I really, really hope we get the place. Ugh. Stress.

I’ve been kinda lazy with thinking of new foods to create too. I need to get back into the swing of making my own food. Eating out is waaaay too expensive for a college student. Though, I do really make an effort to modify food and make it Keto friendly. For example: one of my favorite foods EVER is a burrito from Chipotle. But, the flour tortilla, black beans, and brown rice (with lime and cilantro!) are so very much out of the question for me to eat. However, a chicken salad with extra sour cream and guac (which we all know costs extra) is out of this world. I could eat that stuff every day if it wasn’t $10.

Tastes like heaven.

Anyway, the summer is approaching, and less clothing will be worn by me! I’m honestly pretty comfortable in summer wear at this point, but I still want to be less flabby. I know I can only achieve that with more visits to the gym. I still have to learn how to budget my time. Especially because I’ll be without my dorm gym in less than a month.

That should really be my motivation right there!

Fifth Weigh In!

4.12.12

Weight - 162.3

Well, here I am once again! Another week means another weigh in, and it’s not the best weigh in I’ve had. In fact, it’s a pretty bad one; I’m up three pounds in one week! I’ve definitely been slacking in the healthy eating department. But, all hope is not lost. In fact, I’m pretty optimistic about the weeks to come! For one thing, the support I’ve had is still amazing!

Yes, that’s the Easter basket my mom gave me this year. She really amazed me. Three dark chocolate bars, two canisters of almonds, and a microwave-omelet maker! What a lady!

Easter actually wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I made cauliflower mac ‘n cheese and almond buns to go with my ham and deviled eggs. I had to skip the potato salad, baked beans, and sweet glaze (for the ham). It wasn’t too difficult, though Easter dinner has always been my favorite holiday meal, so it was a little sad to have to pass some of it up. Of course, this also meant that I had an excuse to eat as many hard boiled eggs as my heart desired. I must’ve eaten at least 12 eggs that day.

It was a little hard to pass up desert at my friend’s house though. Not because I wanted to eat any (I feel as though my sweet tooth is almost completely dead…almost), but because his dad was practically force feeding me. I tried my best; I had the tiniest slice of cheesecake (ate none of the crust) and a tiny piece of tiramisu (only ate the creamy part) with black coffee. Also, I had a lot of dark chocolate (from the basket). I didn’t bother recording my carbs for Easter, but I probably ate at least 50 net carbs. I didn’t even check to see if I was still in Ketosis… I didn’t want to.

Also, I haven’t been to the gym in over a week. It sucks being a college student who is simultaneously looking for an apartment to move into! And though I haven’t been eating anything anti-keto, my decisions to eat in the middle of the night (either eggs or a LOT of almonds) and to skip the gym have seriously caught up with me. I also have been drinking a significantly less amount of water than I had been on a daily basis.

I’ve really got to get it together!

But, with the promise of 80 degree weather coming up in the week, and the thoughts of the semester dwindling down, I am confident that my stressed mood will become much improved. It’s hard to get yourself to the gym when you have a lot on your mind, but I believe that the warm weather will be just the pick-me-up that I need.

Who knows, maybe this “cheat session” will help me shed some more fat. I hear cheat days (days… not weeks) are good for losing stubborn weight. I guess we’ll see next week.

Fourth Weigh In + Easter

4.5.12

Weight - 159.4

Well, it’s been a week since the last time I recorded my weight, and it seems that I’m still dropping it! Though I’m only down .4 pounds since last Thursday, it’s still an improvement. It’s especially an improvement over a few days ago, when my weight was up to 162.2 following a weekend of excessive snacking and drinking. I think most of that was water weight though. I can’t even begin to preach about how great water is at suppressing hunger! And I still managed to stay in ketosis!

Anyway, I’m really just getting ready to prepare for the big Easter feast at home. Of course, mom is making potato salad, baked beans, and glazed ham with pineapples. I can’t eat any of that stuff (save for some of the ham… if I wash the glaze off)! I made some of the almond buns in my dorm before heading for home for the weekend, and I’m going to prepare some cauliflower mac ‘n cheese the day we eat. Maybe I can impress them with my cooking skills!

I haven’t been home since I started keto three weeks ago, so the comfort of the keto friendly dorm food I’ve been stocking up on won’t be there. I think I’ll be good at controlling myself though. I can always just make some eggs if I’m desperate for food. On a side note, I’m really excited about trying on these pants that I’ve had for the past 2 years at my house that haven’t fit me. I could manage to hike them up to my waist, but never manage to close the fly. Damn Urban Outfitters and their wonky 30” pants!

Other than that, I’ve found that the diet has since gotten super easy. I have no problem with counting carbs and calories. Now I just need to learn the proper way to work out, since all I ever really do is cardio…

I’ll save that for a future post though!