tulipsnotroses |

My husband and I began our Ketogenic lifestyle journey about two years ago…maybe a bit longer than that. When I say journey, I do mean journey. As with many lifestyle changes, it hasn’t always been easy, and we both still have moments, days, weeks, and even months (thank you, Covid, for the quarantine, where I began to eat my feelings again) where we make unhealthy choices. All in all, though, I have lost 55 pounds and kept it off…and I have the energy I can’t remember ever having before!

highest & lowest weight — This is me at my very heaviest (size 24/26) and me at my lowest at the time (size 16).

I struggled with my weight my entire life. I grew up with a dad who, although I know his heart was in the right place, restricted the family from having processed sugar. I would get to eat it at a birthday party or as a special treat on the holidays, but nothing more than that…or so he thought. Instead of keeping away from it, I would sneak sugary sweets. It even got to the point where I would steal from stores or I would gorge out on it at a friend’s house, which would end in an entire night of puking. My aunt’s house was my favorite place to hang out with my cousin because we got to eat Captain Crunch cereal straight outta the box! Sugar was an obsession for me and I craved it all the time.

This addiction continued well into my 20s and 30s. Married at 20 and 21, respectively, my husband and I ate up carbs like we should’ve been drinking water. This was even after my husband had a terrible scare and I had to take him to the emergency room to find out that he definitely had diabetes. We were given a tiny bit of advice (in the early 2000s in Texas, if you didn’t have insurance, you were basically a nobody in the eyes of healthcare professionals) about what to eat, but that was all. We met with a dietician one time and were basically told to cut down on the potatoes, rice, and pasta, to eat servings of meat no bigger than our fist, and only buy food that was 12g of carbs or less when we went shopping. Cut down on potatoes, rice, and pasta?! That’s all we could really afford on our full-time college/work salaries!! So, our new diet didn’t last long. We simply couldn’t afford it. Heck, we rarely ate meat anyway – it was too expensive to buy. Life moved on while Hubbster and I got less and less healthy and lost more and more energy.

One day, Hubbster told me, “I want to try a new diet. It’s Keto…” and he went on to explain it to me. Honestly, I thought he has lost his mind. Plus, we had two children now and we were living on teacher salaries – how in the heck could we afford it?! he promised that he wouldn’t let it overkill our budget, so I told him to dive in. I scoffed and rolled my eyes a lot…until…

…HE LOST 35 POUNDS IN 3 MONTHS! AND HE HAD TONS OF ENERGY! ~ SAY WHAT?!

I finally jumped on board and never looked back. Ha! Who am I kidding? I dreamed about sweets and thought about sweets ALL THE TIME. After all, I was the person who, if I was ever craving sweets, I wouldn’t go to the store, I would make whatever it was I wanted – I love to bake!

After several half attempts at Keto, I decided to knuckle-down. I removed ALL of the sugars and flours from our cupboards and replaced them with Keto-friendly options. I began pouring over websites and researching how Keto baking is so much more different than regular baking. I began to recreate my favorite recipes to be Keto-friendly. I am now very proud to say that I have at least a handful of killer sweets recipes that I have perfected through much trial and error. Of course, I still have my moments where I make the conscious choice to make an unhealthy eating choice, but I know what I’m doing to myself when I do. I no longer eat something without any knowledge of what I’m doing to my body. If anything, that has been the best part of this lifestyle – knowing everything I need to know to make healthy food choices.

Keto transformation comparison — This was the very first time I felt good enough about the way I looked to wear leggings to school!

One thing that some people can’t believe is that Hubbster and I have done this with no additional “Keto” supplements. The only additional thing I added to my day has been powdered MCT oil. I can’t stand the liquid when it floats on top of my coffee each morning, so powdered it is. It keeps me regular (you know what I mean) and helps my general digestion every day. This lifestyle change can be made by anyone, it’s not just for people with money. I can’t wait to start sharing some of my very favorite Keto recipes with you all!

keto & carb faces — Look at that transformation IN ONLY 1 MONTH!

Below are the basics of the Keto diet. It isn’t for the faint of heart and truly only the first month is a bit torturous, but it’s oh, so worth it! Of course, don’t start a diet without first consulting your doctor. I am NOT a professional healthcare provider, so all of the information provided here is my personal opinion about the Keto diet and my personal story of how it helped me. There is absolutely no guarantee that this will work for you. Please do your research before jumping into any new diet or lifestyle without the guidance of a doctor.

Keto Diet Food Pyramid — This is what a Keto food pyramid looks like! Crazy, huh?!

Love One Another in frames

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. ~ Ephesians 4:26-27

If I’m being completely honest, parenting and wifing make me want to yell most days. Literally: the tear-your-hair-out, make-your-throat-hurt type yelling. The kind of yell that comes from the bowels of my soul. There is something inherently wonderful about letting it all go in one crazy swoop of anger. But there are also repercussions when this anger is directed toward someone who ends up being the fall guy for all of the frustration and resentment that has built-up over time.

So, this is where I find myself. The Yelling-Hot-Mess-Mom-and-Wife. Although I have access to a therapist who is wonderful, I find myself struggling with this problem on the regular. At any given moment of the day, some of the following thoughts flow through my brain like fire:

How many times do I have to show him how to clean the dishes before they’re done right?
That sock/piece of garbage/book has been sitting in the middle of the floor for TWO DAYS now – when is someone besides me going to notice it and pick it up?
Why does she talk so rudely to her friends when she thinks I’m not around to hear?
Why can’t they just pick up after themselves when they’re done with an activity? I’ve shown them on numerous occasions what this area should look like when it’s picked up!
I better plan out my clothes for the week. I’m not completely sure if laundry will get completed this weekend.

Interestingly enough, the majority of my thoughts have to do with people not taking responsibility or truly caring for our shared environment.

Now, here’s the deal. There is no way that I am a super-tidy person…I don’t even fall into the “tidy” category but when I pick up or clean an area to find stuff dumped in/on that area the next time I see it, I feel like I’m going to blow my top! I can work THREE HOURS on getting my kids’ play area in the living room tidied, and it’s a complete mess within minutes of them sitting down to play. THEY have even been assigned to clean spaces on numerous occasions, just to mess the area up again within minutes of being done with the cleanup!

My husband says that I’m struggling with control. After contemplating his astute observation, I feel that, in a way, he’s right (shhh…don’t tell him I said that!). It is extremely difficult for me to find the patience to tell someone to please begin or finish a task when I have already told them countless times what it should look like when complete, and when I feel it is completely within their capabilities to get the task done. It’s not that I want to control the person, however, it’s that I want to control the situation. If I assign a task, I want the task to be completed with pride.

This is where my anger has gotten the best of me. I feel as though everyone is continually falling short of my expectations.

Well…I’ve begun to realize that I can’t force situations to change, especially when people are involved. What I can do, though, is lower my expectations a bit and demonstrate grace and patience when I have to have someone finish a task they did not complete.

***insert deep breaths here***

Here’s a little painful truth for you (and me!): People will ALWAYS fall short of our expectations, and situations will always have variables we can’t control! My prayers have changed recently, as I focus on where this anger comes from. I have begun praying that God continually works in my heart to see situations through His eyes and not my own. I have also been praying that he mutes my mouth when I need to pause because anger is beginning to take over. I have begun to pray, “God, please help me see you in ALL situations and help me see myself and others through Your eyes at all times. Amen.”

Here are some scriptures that help remind me of Biblical reasons to keep my mouth shut…especially when I’m angry. For a high-quality printable version, please click on the picture below.

Author: tulipsnotroses

Why the Ketogenic diet?

My Struggle with Anger

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. ~ Ephesians 4:26-27