low carb high fat: keto diet

I am trying something new. Something more radical. Something that many people misunderstand. And already I have had excellent results. I have been eating relatively lo-carb for quite a while now. It was four years ago now that I decided I needed a good kick in the pants, and started eating healthy. I lost weight, but some crept back on. I walked, exercised, counted calories. I knew that when I ate sugar, I wanted more sugar, although to be clear here: just because I WANTED it, I didn't give in and binge. I just suffered, and wanted it. The more little sneaks I snuck in here and there, the more I wanted cookies and ice cream.

So I decided I needed to totally detox off sugar, to be free from her clutches.

Paul was doing a 30 day no sugar thing, eating high fat and lo carb, and was looking slim and trim, and feeling really good. I was skeptical, of course. I couldn't be that strict!

Then came the hot flashes. The torment, the sleeplessness. My late night computer sleuthing skills led me to some articles that suggested that going high fat/low carb would help with the whole hormone mess...so I thought I would give it a try. Ignorance is bliss, but it doesn't help with hot flashes.

So. I decided to try a bit, to eat mostly veggies and not much fruit, moderate protein...and lots of fat. MCT oil in my coffee with heavy cream, for that first cup of the morning. Spinach with a whole dollop of butter. Handfuls of almonds, a few berries with...more heavy cream. Yeah, I did think of my poor arteries. But recent research indicates that it is not the fat we consume that causes fat gain, but the carbohydrates and sugar. Ha, it goes against my grain to eat lots of fat, but I decided to give it a try.

Guess what? The hot flashes have all but disappeared. I still have one occasionally. But I sleep SO much better. I FEEL so much better. It's only been a week, but I can say this: I'm all in. If I have to eat this way for the rest of my life, so be it. I have already lost a few pounds, which is probably water weight, but whatever. I feel better.

I made cuppycakes for Jon's birthday without so much as a taste of the frosting. By avoiding sugar completely, I feel free.

Yesterday I went into the grocery store though, and my sniffer sniffed those donuts, from the minute I walked into the store. Bakeries will always attract me, and donuts will never stop being works of art in my eyes.

The fat quells the apetite, feeds the brain instead of glycogen, and makes one feel more even-keeled.

Now, I am no expert in this way of eating. I am still reading things and tweaking things, and have questions...some say to still count calories, some say just to eat more veggies with a little bit of fat if you're still hungry and don't worry about it. I have to find my way through it.

The hardest part is to reckon with the fact that I won't be eating ice cream cones this summer. I won't be eating roasted marshmallows around the fire.

But food IS medicine, and if we want our bodies to function properly, we have to fuel them properly.

Can't have our cake and eat it too.

Yesterday, I took Miss Sonja, Miss Margaret, and Miss Suzanne to a few stores after I picked Miss Marg up from work. Kohl's was fun...I found Suzanne the most beautiful earrings for six dollars, regularly sixty...and a matching ring that looks like Kate's engagement ring...speaking of Kate Middleton, isn't their baby adorable? And the name: Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. love it. Anyway, the ring was also $6, and we had to spend $50 to get the ten dollars off, so...I bought if for Evelyn, who was delighted! I bought myself a few things there, one dress with high hopes that I will magically transform into someone with enough confidence to wear it out of the house...

In Target, I found a really cute dress that had Evelyn written all over it, and guess what? It fits her perfectly and she loves it! For only seven dollars! My kids have this thing they do...stemming from one time I supposedly quietly shrieked, "SEVEN DOLLARS!!!". So they mimic me, and when something is too expensive, they say that. Anyway.

I bought myself the nicest green sweater, in such a summery color...light weight, and really pretty. It wasn't cheap enough, but it was the last one there in my size, and I knew if I didn't buy it, I would end up with a color I don't like from the clearance rack some day in the future.

Our little friend Davian is here today. He is very busy, putting together the Thomas The Tank Engine train track. Jon dragged the whole bin out here to the living room. Davian is humming to himself as he pulls pieces out of the bin, he is such a happy little boy. He enjoys life, and never seems to get bored. We love him. He lights up our lives:)

The princesses have had their cousin Dani here for a few days. They made a huge bed on their bedroom floor, sleepover! Last night they were so tired from staying up until midnight the night before, they fell asleep right after I tucked them in. These days of sunshine and running around outside have helped for a good night's sleep too.

Okay, here's something fun...Jonathan bought a quad-copter back in January, with his Christmas money. It stopped working after a while, and the company never responded. Jon was pretty bummed about it. So yesterday, he started googling, and sat there at the table with Daddy's tools all spread all over, and took it apart. It wasn't long before he came running outside to where we were with the little kids splashing in the kiddie pool....shouting with joy: he had fixed it! He isn't sure what he really did, but he fixed it. It flies again! He is so happy.

Right now, the kids have finished breakfast, and Davian is being their teacher. He is asking them what the capitals are for the states, it's hilarious.

Ah well, time to get moving....