Why a Low Carb Diet is Working For Me and my Sulfite Sensitivity

Happy Monday! I hope you enjoyed a much warmer weekend than we did here in DC.

This weekend was more low key since we had been traveling overseas the last two weekends before.  It's always nice to have a weekend where there aren't many plans set and we can do what we feel like (or not feel like).

As I had mentioned in my post on Friday, I started a low carb (or as some like to call it, keto) diet last week to try to get my metabolism working and start to get some of this weight moving in the right direction (as in, get out of here!).  Things have actually gone really well so far - the weekends I usually struggle but since I am eating a higher fat diet and limiting the number of carbs/sugar I consume, it doesn't give me the option to have one thing which spirals into two things which spirals into three things....I think you get what I'm saying.

I had my cheat meal Saturday night and in keeping up with the spirit of keeping things higher fat, I did a chocolate avocado mousse with chocolate chips.  It was really great and satisfied my craving for sweets.  I was so full when I was done that I didn't feel the need to continue counter surfing for more goodies.

Chocolate Avocado Mousse (Sulfite-Free)
Ingredients:
1/2 Ripe avocado
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the Hershey's brand as it was just cocoa)
3 tablespoons organic coconut milk (I used low fat as I had an open can of this already)
2 tablespoons pure honey
1/4 cup of Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Mash avocado until smooth.  Add in unsweetened cocoa powder and mix until all of the cocoa powder is incorporated.  The color of the mousse should be a dark chocolate color.  Add the coconut milk one tablespoon at a time and mix well until incorporated.  Add the honey and continue mixing until smooth.  Feel free to taste and add in 1 additional tablespoon of honey if needed.  Add in chocolate chips.  Place in freezer for 30-60 minutes and enjoy!

Sunday, I was right back into the swing of things again.  I find that going higher fat means I am far less hungry given it's a weird feeling that I have noticed.  I am not hungry but I am also not "stuffed" like I am when I eat a higher carb meal.  I have been eating most of my carbs in the evening with dinner and then doing a 12-13 hour fast through the night into the next morning.

My current macros - the goal is to hit them every day and stay in my caloric range

Doing this sulfite-free has been easy so far - I have been avoiding whole eggs (I seem to be okay with egg whites), broccoli and anything pork.  Instead I have been having spinach/mixed greens, sweet potatoes, avocados, Rao's Homemade sensitive formula tomato sauce (no garlic and onions!), and zucchini.  I have found a smoked salmon that I can tolerate and have been eating 85/15 ground beef, top sirloin steaks, lots of coconut oil, egg whites, baked chicken, and lamb.  I'm interested to see how my body adapts to this through the month and what the final result would be.  Usually by day 3 or 4, I get tired of the restriction and binge but so far I haven't had any desires to eat carbs.  I have also been pinning recipes for things I would like to try - low carb pizza crusts, almond flour pancakes, truffles, etc.

Have you tried low carb and/or keto before?  Were you successful?

You Ain't Going Nowhere (from this blog)

Um hi? Welcome back to me?  A blog I had completely forgotten about 2.5 years ago bounced back into my mind when I woke up to a comment from someone who found my little corner of the internet (thank you Sana for the comment!).  So, a quick recap of what has happened to me in the last 2.5 years:

• When I was last blogging we were living in Raleigh, NC.  Well about 4 months after I stopped blogging, my husband was approached with an opportunity to relocate to Washington, DC....so off to DC we went where we have lived now for the last 2 years.  
• I have changed companies twice but still in the same line of business.  
• We unexpectedly lost our 4 year old lab right after we moved to DC.  The vets couldn't determine what happened but basically his heart stopped in the middle of the night.  It was a very traumatic event that still upsets me but a few months after Max passed, we adopted a lab/hound mix from the local shelter.  High energy is an understatement but Arlo is one of the best dogs ever.  
• I regained all the weight I lost.  Yes, all of it.  FML. It started the minute we moved to DC and after going to 3 allergists, an endocrinologist, 3 OBGYN's, a gastroenterologist, a GP for a year, and a holistic doctor, the third allergist has found out that I am highly allergic to the environment we live in (AWESOME!) and now I am on four prescription antihistamines.  
• I became negligent about remaining sulfite-free.  I have learned that my reactions have either lessened OR are being masked again like they were when my cortisol levels were high.  I'm going with the latter.  

So with all that said, I didn't realized I had blogged this little blog for a few months in 2012 and it was kind of a fun morning when I didn't feel like working to instead read what I had previously wrote.  Also noted, damn I was so skinny back then!  I have been working with a health coach the last month or so and she really wants me journaling.  Also my husband learned that bloggers can make fairly good money by blogging (obviously the successful ones that have sponsors, ads, etc) and his response when I told him about how much some of the bloggers I read make was, "why aren't you blogging?"  Good question (my answer to myself - because I am fairly boring).  So why not mesh my blogging and my journaling together?  Efficiency at it's finest. 

Here is where I am at diet wise: I have been playing around with different macros/diet plans with my health coach.  Last night we determined to move me over to a high fat, low carb diet to see if it could somehow jump-start my body...again.  Seriously - I am right back to where I was 4 years ago....this is the worst case of deja vu ever.  Interestingly, I found my post where I listed all the foods I avoided because it gave me issues (I have enough of those already).  While I feel like I have made leaps and bounds with being able to tolerate certain sulfited foods again (like garlic, onions, broccoli, eggs, etc) I am wondering if all my environmental allergies are masking the reactions and I just think my sensitivity is lessening but the reality is that it's not.  whomp whomp.  

To re-hash what I had previously wrote HERE, I noted a lovely list of foods that bothered me and that I avoided like the plague (or to keep this up to current times - Ebola).  Because I need to see this now, I am hitting good ole copy/paste on that list (you can just scroll through if you are like OMG Cassie NO1CURR).

My Sulfite No-No's
Wine and Beer
Colored liquor
Soda (except for plain carbonated water)
Soy
Malted anything (which is found in most breads and flours)
Canned foods
Jarred foods
Cured Meats (especially all pork products)
Grapes
Shrimp
Lobster
Corn anything (this is on the newer scale - I know I cannot have corn syrup and corn starch but I am almost finding I cannot have polenta and corn chips FML)
Pre-made stuff (like frozen meals, pre-made biscuits or pizza dough)
Eggs (if I have 1 once a week I seem to be okay)
Kale
Broccoli
Asparagus
Chips, cookies, crackers, pretzels (unless homemade)
Caregeenan (which is found in heavy cream, almond milk, and protein powder)
Pre-packaged meat (the pads they put underneath the meat helps keep it fresh and is soaked in sulfites)
Bottled juices
Onion and garlic
Bottled lemon or lime juice
Molasses
Salad Dressing
Ketchup/Mustard/Condiments
Pre-shredded cheeses
Deli Meat
Chocolate
Cortisol steroids
Ice Cream

The sad truth?  I eat a LOT of these things again.  I don't know what changed about my attitude toward my sensitivities with food - maybe I stopped giving any fucks, maybe I thought I was okay, maybe I was depressed and love to torture myself by re-gaining 30+ pounds.....honestly, I couldn't really tell you why I allowed this to all happen.  So I am putting it nicely in e-writing - starting today no more of this crud in my system.  Yes, I will cry some crocodile tears over eggs and broccoli (which have become staples in my diet) but I have done this before and I lived through it and I know I can do that again.

Now my fitness plans.....when we moved, I attempted to find a new place to get my boot camp on but holy hell doing anything fitness-related in the NOVA/DC area is 3 times as much as it was back in NC.  I was still doing HIIT when we first moved here but I could no longer do it in my living room (hello neighbors) so I would walk to the apartment gym but I felt like walking 5 minutes over there to do a 12-20 minute work out to walk back home for 5 minutes seemed kind of...silly? So I moved away from HIIT (big mistake) and started weight lifting, running outside as much as I could tolerate, and eventually moved to incorporating yoga and barre into my weekly routine.  My current plan includes barre twice a week, HIIT 2 times a week, and then 1 day where I can do whatever my little heart desires (I can lift, I can run, I can do another HIIT....or shit all three if I feel like being a beast).

I think I talked enough for a day....or maybe to fill in the 2.5 year gap.  

You're So Hypnotizing - Could You Be The Devil - Could You Be An Angel?: Clean Eating Challenge Day 12

- Katy Perry, E.T.

And now I have the Kanye rap stuck in my head.  Awesomesauce.

Speaking of awesomesauce, my friend Carrie and I signed up to do the Color Me Rad 5K at the end of October and our team name is Team Awesomesauce!  Yes, with the exclamation point.  It should be fun and I hope the weather cooperates.  I read Young House Love daily (ps - I am SUPER excited about their book coming out) and John did a color run not that long ago.  After the race, him and his wife Sherry framed his newly colorful t-shirt and hung it up.  Since I like to show off my race bibs, I thought this could be something cool to add to my race bib wall.

My race bib "wall" over the guest bed.  The map in the center is of downtown Raleigh where I do most of my races.

I used to have a TON of bibs but when I moved a few years ago, I got tired of packing so I just threw everything away.  Whomp whomp.  The bibs displayed are from the last year alone so I am excited to add to them.  I am doing this race in October, then the Turkey Trot again in November, then the Jingle Bell run in December, then the Krispy Kreme Challenge in February, and finally a half marathon in March.

Crazy, right?  I love to torture myself.

Boot camp was good today - it was a mix of HIIT and tabatas so naturally it kicked my butt.  My back is finally starting to feel better and loosen up.  I am not kidding when I say I brought my heating pad to work with me today and used it for the better part of the day.

Foodwise I am doing better - I had a small weakness and had some soy-free all natural butter (gross I know but seriously this ish is so good).  I just have to get back on the train.  My challenge is supposed to last until mid-September and I know I can make it.

One of my coworkers took me out for lunch today as a thank you for referring her to a position in our company (that she has now formally accepted) and we hit up a local cafe that is in the business park we work at.  They are a catering company that is open for lunch and they have the BEST food.  Everything is made from scratch and healthy.  You can get salads, sandwiches, and hot dishes.  They always have chicken, salmon, spanikopita, and vegetarian quiche, and then rotate through specials of the day.  When you pick a meal you get the option of 2 sides - today I got double fruit and had the mango salsa chicken (grilled chicken with homemade mango salsa on top).  Eating out isn't hard if you look for the right kind of options.  And a lot of times restaurants can answer questions (like if anything is jarred or canned in my case) and help me out or make it to my liking.

Here is what I wore to work today:

Don't you love my geek badge?

Or how about the bags of clothes/shoes for Tiff?

OH YEAH and my hair - I cut 6 inches off last Friday!

Halter Tank: H&M

Cardigan: Banana Republic

Belt: Tart

Jeans: Paige Jeans

Shoes: Navy Blue Tory Burch Flats

And here are some items I bought online.  What do you think?  

New black fitted skinny jeans from Victoria Secret

Size 2 - They're the Sexy Siren I believe

Here is my concern - they sit LOW and it gives me unnecessary muffin top.

So the jeans feel great and fit well everywhere but OMMG they sit so low on my waist that I get a little spillage if they get too low.  So I am worried what I should do.  I think if they stretch just a bit (they're not tight around my stomach but I wish they sat a tad higher) they can sit higher and then I'll be fine.  I might do a trial run and wear them during the day when I am home on Friday and see how they feel after a while.  If they feel comfy then I'll keep them but if not then I'll return them.

ASOS Gray Tulip Dress - US Size 4

Holy wrinkleness!

More wrinkles in the back.

Close up

I am seriously in love with this dress.  The last photo does it some justice but I think the wrinkles distract the eye from seeing how it fits on my body.  It's not too snug or tight (or short!) and the color is more of a periwinkle/blue-gray than a true gray which is fine because I feel like the color suits me well. I am going to plan to wear the dress on Saturday when we hit up some birthday parties and hopefully can stop downtown to say hi to some girl friends from boot camp who are going out.  

What do you think?  Do you think I should keep the jeans?  

The Forever Looming Food Guilt: Clean Eating Challenge Day 11

I almost didn't write a blog post today but then I had dinner and went for a walk and I got to thinking.  Mind you, the walk wasn't because it was nice out (it's not super hot but boy it's super humid) or because I enjoy judging snooping on my neighbors, but because I felt guilty about something I ate with dinner and figured this could at least help process it along faster.

I keep preaching how eating clean is the way to go and I stand by that firmly because the minute that something sweet or sugary hits my lips, it's all downhill from there.  Case in point - tonight's dinner.  I had one of my stuffed peppers (recipe HERE), some roasted eggplant, and then I made a little pumpkin/oatmeal cake thing so I could have some healthy carbs.

Pumpkin/Oatmeal Cake Thing
1 teaspoon pumpkin
1/4 cup oats
1/8 cup water
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
cinnamon to taste

Mix together and cook on medium heat on a non-stick pan until cooked through.

I decided I wanted something to dip in the pumpkin/oatmeal cake thing so I found some almond butter and then thought that a little raw honey would be good too.  BIG MISTAKE.  Argh - sometimes I wish my better judgement would kick in and tell me to stay away from these things.  I used conservative portions but then after, I wanted more - more almond butter mixed with honey.  So I sat there, for another 15 minutes or so taking small scoops of both, mixing together, and then eating.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???

Instantly, I felt guilty.  I'm sure you all (Tiff and my 3 lurkers - hi!) can agree with me here because who hasn't been in this position before.  And why do we beat ourselves up for it so much?  My first instinct was to go for a walk so I threw the leash on the dog and off we went for 25 minutes.  Y'all, it is GROSS outside.  But I came back feeling a little better but still not resolved.  I often wonder at what point I will stop tormenting myself over every single little pound here and there.  This morning is another example - I went up a pound from Monday.  I weighed myself Monday to see how I was doing (121.7 pounds wohoo) and then noticed i went up exactly one pound between yesterday and this morning.  I start running all the things I ate through my head wondering how that could be.  I started to beat myself up and nit pick.  But the thing is, I ate really good yesterday and had a TOUGH boot camp work out (seriously toughest ever).  But then hours later I remembered it was probably from the dentist - I went yesterday and whenever I go, I gain a pound or so, normally from the crap in the toothpaste and flourided water/filtered water they use.  For serious, I'm allergic to that shit.

Do you beat yourself up like this?  When do we draw the line and just enjoy ourselves?

Today's work out was good - 12 minutes of HIIT and then the 25 minute walk.  Here is what I did:

30 bicep curls
10 cross touch push ups (push up and then touch your left hand with your right toe, crossing to work the obliques)
20 squat overhead press
10 weighted get ups (I used a 8lb ball - hold while laying down to getting up and lift over head, then lay back down, repeat)
5 V arm squats (hold arms overhead in V position while squatting)
10 side V crunches
5 front V abs
10 tricep kick backs

Repeat 3 times.

The squat overhead press really did me in - mostly because my lower back is KILLING me after yesterday's ridiculous work out.  I couldn't even describe it if I wanted to but it was something along the lines of - 50 push ups, 30 burpees, 100 mountain climbers, 20 1-legged oblique twists, 20 cross touch push ups (full twist with butt hitting the floor), 20 1-legged donkey kicks on each leg, 50 squat overhead press with 25 pound plate, 30 tuck jumps, 20 on the toes hip thrusts, and 40 1-leg raised hip thrusts (20 each leg).  And then repeat.

Seriously.  I died.

So yeah my back hates me today.  I'm hoping it'll stretch out some for tomorrow's boot camp work out. Otherwise, I'm going to be in a lot of pain.

Get In Line and Settle Down - Clean Eating Challenge Day 6

I love the new No Doubt Song "Settle Down."  I hated it at first and then I realized when I walk around the house, I sing the chorus to myself.  Then I found myself getting excited when I heard it on the radio or it came on my spotify playlist.  Now, I might be obsessed and I might sing the chorus to the dog to get him to get the eff out of my kitchen when he's begging for his 5000th meal for the day.  Seriously.  Does your dog do this?  We feed him twice a day and sometimes he tries to pull a fast one on me and give me the sad look like, ughhhhhhh I am wasting away from the inside, please feed me and then I realize, um hell no I was the one who fed you twice today, no bueno kid get out of my kitchen!

Moving on.

Almost a week down on the challenge and I am feeling great.  No major cravings or weird headaches from lack of sugar/processed stuff I shouldn't eat but I do anyways.  My hands are a little swollen today and I can't seem to figure out why - maybe it's the humidity.  It's definitely not my allergy.

Last night's boot camp was killer!  We did mini circuits within a big circuit.  Each mini circuit had 3 stations and you buddied up with someone and went through the mini circuit twice.  The mini circuits focused on one muscle group (biceps, triceps, abs, back, shoulders, etc) and when you and your partner were done with the mini circuit, you move onto the next one until you have completed all of them.  Once my buddy and I got into the groove, we really started knocking out the exercises but I swear I can barely feel my arms today.  It's kind of difficult to type and I feel like I am banging on the keyboard just to get sentences out.

I came home last night and had a stuffed green pepper (seriously addicted!), a small homemade hamburger patty with some mashed avocado (I needed the extra protein from the intense work out), and some left over sweet potatoes.  By the time I finished it was close to 8:00pm so I headed upstairs and far away from the kitchen.  I really don't like eating dinner that late but boot camp starts at 6:15 and I don't really like to eat before boot camp because I don't want to see what I ate for dinner so I try to keep my dinners when I do boot camp on the light side and low in carbs.

In other news, I am cutting my hair tomorrow!  Can I get a resounding WOHOO!!!!!!! It's been almost a year since I have been able to cut my hair.  Normally my hairdresser cuts it to my shoulders in the fall but because we got engaged last fall and my hair was already long, my hairdresser refused to cut it until after the wedding! I might or might have not offered her $100 a week before the wedding to cut it.  She still said no!  This is the cut I am looking to get.

Oh Miley you're so smiley

Cute, right?  My hair isn't blonde (and won't ever be again, although it has been this color blonde before - see picture below) but I think it will look nice.

 

Me on the left with my best frand Lindsey

My hair currently comes down to about my boobs - I really can't remember the last time it was this long.

Italy was playing - this was the Sunday before the wedding so June 24? These are my in-laws!  They're wonderful! I'm on the far left.

Yeah so see - this was in June and look at how long it was then.  Too long for me.  My hair gets to the point where I can style it and it just kind of lays flat because it's so long and heavy.  I had the anti-frizz treatment done to it in July and I love it!  I really recommend it if you have wavy and/or frizzy hair.  It doesn't get rid of the curl but it helps it from frizzing up so damn much.  And if you're like me and live in the South, then you understand what I'm getting at.

I am hoping work goes fast (but don't we all?) and then I need to go grocery shopping on my way home from work.  I normally hit up a few stores.  I use the Awesome Notes app and I love it because I can create different folders for each grocery store and then create a grocery list of what I need from that specific store.  If one store doesn't have what I am looking for, I can move the item over to another folder!  Genius.  I used to use just one list but I found I wasted time going back and forth through my list to see what else I needed from that particular store.  This makes it a lot easier for me so I can pop in and get what I need without spending a lot of time.  I try to plan my grocery list earlier in the day or even the night before.  I ask my husband if there is anything he would like or need for the week.  My goal is to get enough stuff so that I don't have to make 8 million more trips.  But that usually never happens.  Sometimes, I realize I have forgotten something a day later or sometimes I stumble upon a recipe I want to try and I need to get a few more things.  It happens.  I try to only spend $125 a week max on our food.  It seems like a lot for two people but you have to remember that I have a severe food allergy and have to buy specific foods/brands that usually cost more money.  I also have to buy everything fresh and that usually costs us a little more too.  But it's worth it in the long haul for my health and for my husband's.

Do you have any tricks for grocery store shopping?  Do you coupon?  I have a hard time couponing because again of my allergy but I find the whole thing kind of thrilling.  How often do you grocery shop? 

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself (and Your Diet)

Can we start this post with some sweaty, nasty pictures of myself? I just finished the Bodyrock.tv work out that I posted HERE and 14 minutes later, I look like this.  EEK!

So gross and sweaty

Hey those kind of look like abs...

I didn't think smiling would be appropriate here

Ok so there are a few photos.  There are more but I just wanted to point out how much a 14 (yes I said FOURTEEN) minute work out could kick my ass and I'm in pretty good shape.  Can I just say, I used to LOVE these work out shorts.  Well I still do - I love wearing them because the band is actually like sweatshirt material so it doesn't dig into my skin but taking pictures while wearing them (with no top on and just a sports bra) is a completely different story.  They do nothing for my shape.  Whomp whomp.  

Here's some more pics for you to make fun and laugh at me.

I'm Popeye the sailor man

Some side angle....not as attractive as side boob

I like my legs.

Now that's out of the way....moving on.  

I also found some pictures from this past Saturday night that I snapped before we went out so I have an outfit to show you. YAY!  Although, this one isn't as particularly snazzy as the one I posted from last week, it is one of my faves and I get a TON of compliments on the shirt (which is surprising because I really don't think it's that special).  

Also, please note how long my hair is.....and that I am getting it cut on FRIDAY!! Whoop!  I am so excited.  I have been wanting to cut my hair for months but my hair dresser threatened to disown me if I cut it prior to the wedding.  Normally, I grow my hair out in the summer and cut it in the fall.  Well, my husband and my hair dresser must have been scheming because we got engaged in the fall and my hair was super long then.  When I went to try to get it cut, my hair dresser said no way Jose and I have had to keep my hair this length since LAST OCTOBER.  AHHHHH.  It's really pretty, I will give it that but it is such a pain in the butt when I am working out and when I sleep.  I don't know about you but I get cold sweats a lot (okay like every night) and it's so gross to wake up with wet hair stuck to the back of my neck.  blech.  

Without further ado....

Dirty mirror - I cleaned it today. 

Okay I lied, I wiped it down with a clean towel...but I will clean it tomorrow!

Shirt: Splendid

White Tank (underneath): LOFT

Jeans: Citizens of Humanity

Shoes (that you can't see GRR): Navy Blue Patent Leather Tory Burch flats

Okay so finally to the topic I wanted to talk about in this post - checking yourself when it concerns your diet.  Everyone has heard the term.  Bethenny Frankel devotes a whole chapter to it on one of her books but what does that phrase mean to me?  Well, since I don't calorie count it means that sometimes I have to sit down, write down everything I am eating day-to-day (which doesn't vary much, I am a creature of habit), go on a calorie counting website, figure everything out, and make sure I am eating within my caloric range.  I found this particularly helpful when I felt like my weight was plateauing.  Most of the time there was something I was eating that was sabotaging my efforts.  For example, a few months ago I got hooked on those LARA Bars.  They're delicious.  I bought a few to keep around the house for a quick snack or when I was out and needed to eat something quickly to hold me over. Then I started buying enough to last me through the week because I was literally eating 1-2 of them a day.  Then I did one of my caloric checks and realized those little yummy bars were 250 calories EACH!  One bar!  Holy shitballs.  Yeah, I haven't had one since.  I guess I learned my lesson.  

But it just goes to show that we all make mistakes when it comes to dieting and eating and that's okay.  This is why I check my calories periodically.  I know for a fact if I tried to keep track of my calories everyday I would drive myself insane.  And I drive myself insane every day anyways so you know, it's one less thing to worry about.  Plus, I found when I did use the calorie apps, I was lying to myself about the portion size of what I was eating.  I would look something up, see how many calories it was, freak out and then try to reason with myself by saying I really didn't have THAT much.  Yeah, that doesn't really work for me.  

This is why having food goals is appealing to me.  I eat the correct portion size but focus on meeting my goals for the day.  And then every now and again, I check my calories to make sure I am somewhat on track and not eating something that is just horrible for me (I had a similar story with pine nuts).  

So my point is this - do what works best for you.  Some people are honest with themselves and do just find calorie counting via the smart phone apps.  Some people do better on a points system like Weight Watchers.  Others do better with food goals.  I cannot stress enough that you have to find what works for you.  Obviously, what most people can eat does not work for me and I stopped trying to compare myself and my diet to others a long time ago when I realized I am a special case (never mind the fact that I am just SPECIAL) and will need to take particular kind of care with myself beyond what others might have to do.  Stressing about what diet this celebrity is doing or what this friend is doing and it's working for them but OMG why isn't it working for me will get you nowhere but face down in a pint of Ben and Jerrys.  My suggestion: start slow.  Again, this is why Jackie Warners' This is Why You're Fat worked for me.  She tells you to incorporate a few changes slowly over the course of two weeks and then tweak from there.  When you go full monty right in the beginning, you have a higher chance of failing.  Miserably.  

I didn't achieve these fitness and health goals in one day - they took almost 2 years and I'm still in "progress mode."  I probably will be forever in progress mode.  Just focus on yourself and finding a way to make it work on your schedule, with your lifestyle, with your own budget, and on your own time.  And the rest just kind of falls into place.