Real Life

Weight Loss Update

stargrace June 9, 2021 0Comment

I’m trying to refrain from posting every day about how the weight loss stuff is going, but I do think that it’s important to talk about. NOT talking about it only encourages me to hide things, and that never works out. I’m trying to be accountable and honest with myself, as well as everyone else.

April 15th I decided it was time to take my health into my hands as much as I could. I want to give my body a better chance to deal with my MS, and that’s really hard when you’re not healthy and you’re carrying around a bunch of extra weight. I decided to start with keto, and as of that date, I’ve lost 26 pounds. Yes, some of that is water weight, but a lot of it is actual fat, too, and I’m pretty happy. There were a few days where it seemed like I had gained back 3-4 pounds in a single day – but I know that can’t be the case.

I’m honest with myself about what I’m eating. I weigh everything, and measure it out. Even if I don’t stay keto (twice I had cheat days because life was just too rough and I couldn’t manage it) I do stay within my calorie count. I know it would be better to continue to eat keto and eat outside of my calorie count on those days, but I just couldn’t handle everything that was going on. Sometimes, life is too much.

Anyway, the point is that I knew I hadn’t eaten an extra 3lbs worth of food, so something else was the cause – like hormones, bloating, PMS. There are a ton of reasons your weight fluctuates throughout a given time frame. Now I’m back on track, back to losing, and I’m really hoping I can obtain my goal of getting below 200lbs before Christmas. It would be a huge win for me, and one I really need. That’s still 24lbs away, so like I said, a long way to go.

I feel confident this time around that I can do it.

Real Life

Taking the Bullet Journal Digital

stargrace June 6, 2021 0Comment

I love my physical bullet journal, but I recently got a new ipad along with an apple pencil – and I have to say, there’s really something satisfying about having a digital journal, too. I picked up GoodNotes, which is an app ($10 fee) that does everything I want it to and more. I didn’t want to spend the time designing my own journal, so I picked up a template that fit my needs and then added extra pages for any specifics that I wanted. So far, it’s working great!

Anyone else out there use a digital bullet jounal? How do you find it?

Real Life

Weight Loss So Far

I have almost lost 20lbs, and while it might seem pretty fast, I feel confident that I’m doing things correctly. I log my food properly, I figured out my macros, and I’m honest with myself and how much I’m eating. I know a lot of my loss is water weight, but I think by now some of it must be actual fat as well. Now I just need to stick with it. I’m determined to get below 200lbs by Christmas. I’ve tried to lose weight in the past and it just never stuck, I feel like this time is different, that I’ve finally hit rock bottom and it’s time.

Real Life

Keto Progress Update

stargrace May 18, 2021 0Comment

I started being more health conscience around April 15th, just after my 40th birthday. I was at my heaviest weight ever and SOMETHING had to change. I gave Noom a short try and instantly decided it wasn’t for me, and then I decided to do a bit of keto, as much as I could while living in the far North at least. Pictured above is one of my keto friendly snack plates. Yum. I actually enjoy eating most of those things, and variety has been important because I am not really a big meat person, and avocado isn’t a thing here.

I eat a lot of eggs, chicken, beef, fish, shrimp, and the snacks pictured above – I’m 18lbs down. I have a LOT more to go. I plan on doing keto until my cravings subside and I get a handle on my portion sizes, then I’m going to slowly transition to more manageable meals, hopefully still keeping the portions down. Once I lose a bit of weight I’m going to add exercise into the equation, but I’m in no rush on that since I have to take things easy in that regard. In any case, I’m happy with the progress, and I am feeling pretty good about things.

Real Life

Keto Update

stargrace May 15, 2021 0Comment

Since April 15th I’ve been doing a moderated version of keto, where I don’t punish myself if I go over my carb allowance because living here in the North sometimes things happen and foods are not readily available. That being said, I did pick up a few keto-friendly items from Amazon – one of them being ‘Carbquik’ which can be used to make pizza crust, pot pie crust, waffles, and stuff like that. I made a small mini pizza and it turned out quite good. I also used it to make chicken pot pie and that was incredible.

The concern or worry with using products like this is that it can be easy to go over your calorie allotment and it can also cause cravings. I try to limit myself to using it only once a week, and I’ve cut down on other keto friendly sweets to try to curtail the massive cravings I was developing. Still, it’s nice to have some choices available.

I’m down 16lbs since starting, and I can notice my clothes starting to fit a bit better. I still have a long way to go, a lot of that weight was water weight that naturally comes with beginning keto, but I’ve calculated my macros, started tracking my meals, and I’m determined that by Christmas of this year I will be below 200lbs. I can’t remember the last time in the past 20 years I was not overweight/obese and it is time.

Weight Loss Update

Taking the Bullet Journal Digital

Weight Loss So Far

Keto Progress Update

Keto Update

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