I wanted to take a minute to talk about the recipes that I've been using from Suzanne Ryan's Keto cookbook. You can find her link to the right under my Health Inspirations.
The main idea behind this diet is to force my body to use fat for fuel rather than sugar. It is completely safe though people (including doctors) may get it confused with ketosis which is a dangerous condition that can occur in people with diabetes. That's one reason why you should consult with your doctor before starting the diet, especially if you have diabetes.
In order to get your body to burn fats instead of sugars, you need to reduce your carbohydrate intake. Once there are no more sugars, your body starts burning fat in order to create a potent energy source for your brain, known as ketones. People who follow this diet often experience more energy and generally feel sharper.
The changes that need to be made aren't too bad, and there are workable substitutions. The foods that should be avoided on the diet include carbs (grains, rice, potatoes), sugar, some dairy (high fat is good), and beans. But all sorts of proteins and fats are encouraged! This is what makes the diet so appealing. There is so much flavour in the foods and eating fats is very satisfying. There are substitutions that can be made though: almond flour in place of wheat flour (though is a bit heavier/denser), stevia-based sugars instead of granulated sugar, almond milk instead of cows milk. Certainly, there are recipes for any meal that you would want to make, keto-ized. :) I even found one for Chicken Pad Thai!
On Friday night, I made a keto version of the pepperoni pizza. Paul brought home Little Caesar's and it smelled oh so good! Certainly, my pizza was no comparison to that! It was a bit dense, due to the almond flour, but also much higher in calories. As an example, my pizza was slightly larger than a regular slice of the Little Caesar's large, but came in at about 500 calories! Two of the ooey-gooey Little Ceasar's pizza slices would have been a bit less than that. I think that trying to take a very carby food choice and make it low-carb is not terribly successful, but it can be done only it won't taste as good.
However, there are certain benefits. For lunch I had made a keto chicken salad that was made with chicken breasts, bacon, mayo, ranch dressing and green onion. So yummy! Rather than have it on bread, I wrapped it in boston leaf lettuce. I wouldn't change a thing with that one.
So far, so good.
I ended up taking today as a rest day, as Paul made me breakfast in bed in advance of my upcoming birthday this week. I meant to rest, but after logging my calories for breakfast, found out that my three keto pancakes and sausages ran me up 900 calories! I had to go for a quick run this afternoon to burn a few extra calories. Like I said, going low-carb can be done, but calories shoot up. It takes some planning that's for sure.
I hope you all had a great weekend! Tomorrow's workout is a doozy.... just wait to hear about it. And wish me luck. :)
Nighty night,
Peach
Sunday, 21 January 2018
Friday, 19 January 2018
FHHM - Week 2 Results!
Two weeks in already!
Today was a great day. M and I took a road trip to visit mom. We managed to get our Week 3 (Day 15) workout in while there, followed up by a relaxing soak in the hot tub and pool. So relaxing...
But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to post about my week 2 results. I have to say that so far this has not felt like much of a 'diet' or challenging with respect to finding time to do my exercises. I could easily see this become a lifestyle to get and keep the weight off.
Today was a great day. M and I took a road trip to visit mom. We managed to get our Week 3 (Day 15) workout in while there, followed up by a relaxing soak in the hot tub and pool. So relaxing...
But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to post about my week 2 results. I have to say that so far this has not felt like much of a 'diet' or challenging with respect to finding time to do my exercises. I could easily see this become a lifestyle to get and keep the weight off.
| START | Week 1 | Week 2 | Value | % | |||
| Measurement | 05-Jan-18 | 12-Jan-18 | 19-Jan-18 | Change | Change | ||
| Weight (lbs) | 200.0 | 193.1 | 190.4 | ||||
| Upper chest (") | 40.00 | 39.00 | -1.00 | -2.50% | |||
| Bust (") | 41.00 | 40.00 | -1.00 | -2.44% | |||
| Midriff (") | 37.00 | 36.00 | -1.00 | -2.70% | |||
| Upper arm (") | 13.50 | 13.50 | 0.00 | 0.00% | |||
| Waist (") | 41.00 | 41.50 | 0.50 | 1.22% | |||
| Upper hip (") | 43.00 | 42.00 | -1.00 | -2.33% | |||
| Lower hip (") | 43.50 | 43.00 | -0.50 | -1.15% | |||
| Upper thigh (") | 28.00 | 27.00 | -1.00 | -3.57% | |||
| Mid thigh (") | 22.50 | 21.50 | -1.00 | -4.44% | |||
| Calf (") | 17.00 | 16.50 | -0.50 | -2.94% | |||
| Total Inches | - | 326.50 | 320.00 | -6.50 | -2.09% | ||
I am just about TEN POUNDS down from when I started two weeks ago, and have seen some overall inches lost around my body, averaging about 2% lost. I've still got a ways to go but am motivated to keep going. The results have been great so far! Woot woot!
Tomorrow I will update you all on my first couple of days in week 3 and let you all know what I think about some of the first keto recipes I've made from Suzanne Ryan's cookbook.
Hope you are all having an awesome day!
Peach
Thursday, 18 January 2018
Day 14 - Fit Healthy Happy Mum (Results tomorrow)
Good evening!
I have to say one the best things about being home on leave with the baby is the ability to be flexible. Flexible for my kids and for myself. This morning I was able to whip up a batch of banana muffins for the kids. And it just makes the house smell so delicious!
The Workout
Today was the final day of week 2. Yesterday (day 13) was a double workout but simplified. The first part was a series of squats, pushups and pullups performed in repetition. The second part was hill runs, done for 20 seconds up the hill, rest on the walk down, and repeat 8 times. I managed to do this at the nearby hill next to our public school. I happened to be at school for a council meeting last evening and so did the runs afterwards. Anything is possible, sometimes it just needs a modification. My runs up were about 12-13 seconds, not the required 20, but I still did it.
As is customary for this workout program, the final day of each week I do a 5K. Again, I set the incline on the treadmill to 0.5 to help mimic running outdoors. This time I set the pace slightly lower than last weeks in order to increase my long run time (running without stopping). I ran for 18 minutes, walked 2, then ran til I finished the 5K at 35:58, an improvement from last week!
Week 1 5K - 38:00
Week 2 5K - 35:58
So tomorrow begins Week 3. I'm so thrilled with my results so far. I do my weigh-ins in the morning, so will publish my results tomorrow.
The Food
I've been eating more Keto meals, rather than the meal plan that Sharny provided. I think that I am losing enough weight on the program that I don't need to do the 'extreme' part. My breakfast was some of the leftover Bacon Egg Cups with cucumber. Lunch I tried something new from Suzanne Ryan's cookbook - Chicken Salad served on lettuce leafs. It was so satisfying! I could easily put in the kids lunches on bread. Dinner was a bit of a fail.... I had some leftover bolognese sauce without the zucchini. But my calories have been bang on to my target in order to reach my goal body fat %.
The most important thing: I do not feel hungry and I do not feel like I'm missing out! Tomorrow I'm going to try make some Keto desserts, like chocolate chip cookies, that I can share with the kids.
That's it for now. Stay tuned for my week 2 results coming tomorrow, and the start of week 3!
Nighty night,
Peach
I have to say one the best things about being home on leave with the baby is the ability to be flexible. Flexible for my kids and for myself. This morning I was able to whip up a batch of banana muffins for the kids. And it just makes the house smell so delicious!
The Workout
Today was the final day of week 2. Yesterday (day 13) was a double workout but simplified. The first part was a series of squats, pushups and pullups performed in repetition. The second part was hill runs, done for 20 seconds up the hill, rest on the walk down, and repeat 8 times. I managed to do this at the nearby hill next to our public school. I happened to be at school for a council meeting last evening and so did the runs afterwards. Anything is possible, sometimes it just needs a modification. My runs up were about 12-13 seconds, not the required 20, but I still did it.
As is customary for this workout program, the final day of each week I do a 5K. Again, I set the incline on the treadmill to 0.5 to help mimic running outdoors. This time I set the pace slightly lower than last weeks in order to increase my long run time (running without stopping). I ran for 18 minutes, walked 2, then ran til I finished the 5K at 35:58, an improvement from last week!
Week 1 5K - 38:00
Week 2 5K - 35:58
So tomorrow begins Week 3. I'm so thrilled with my results so far. I do my weigh-ins in the morning, so will publish my results tomorrow.
The Food
I've been eating more Keto meals, rather than the meal plan that Sharny provided. I think that I am losing enough weight on the program that I don't need to do the 'extreme' part. My breakfast was some of the leftover Bacon Egg Cups with cucumber. Lunch I tried something new from Suzanne Ryan's cookbook - Chicken Salad served on lettuce leafs. It was so satisfying! I could easily put in the kids lunches on bread. Dinner was a bit of a fail.... I had some leftover bolognese sauce without the zucchini. But my calories have been bang on to my target in order to reach my goal body fat %.
The most important thing: I do not feel hungry and I do not feel like I'm missing out! Tomorrow I'm going to try make some Keto desserts, like chocolate chip cookies, that I can share with the kids.
That's it for now. Stay tuned for my week 2 results coming tomorrow, and the start of week 3!
Nighty night,
Peach
Tuesday, 16 January 2018
Day 12 - Fit Healthy Happy Mum
Just two more days left for this week!
I ended up making today a rest day since part of my workout includes doing hill runs and the weather is supposed be a touch warmer tomorrow.
I did try some of the regular keto meals today, and it was so delish! The issue I've identified is that the calories are generally higher due to fat content and protein, and my daily caloric intake based on Sharny's plan for me is quite low. This just meant that my dinner had to be simplified and really back to basics. However, since I ate such a great breakfast and lunch I wasn't that hungry this evening. I can do this; I'm flexible!
Breakfast was two Bacon & Egg Cups (bacon, egg and cheddar cheese cooked in a muffin tin)... so good! Lunch was a chicken breast with cream of mushroom soup, mixed greens with tomatoes and red onion and ranch dressing. Also yum! Dinner was a salmon fillet with brussel sprouts and butter.
The food was so good today. I really am hoping to give up a bit of deliciousness for just six more weeks in order to see the best results possible. After that I'll bump my calories back up. But I want to see what I can truly achieve on this plan and also report back to you :)
That's it for now. Hump day tomorrow!
Peach
I ended up making today a rest day since part of my workout includes doing hill runs and the weather is supposed be a touch warmer tomorrow.
I did try some of the regular keto meals today, and it was so delish! The issue I've identified is that the calories are generally higher due to fat content and protein, and my daily caloric intake based on Sharny's plan for me is quite low. This just meant that my dinner had to be simplified and really back to basics. However, since I ate such a great breakfast and lunch I wasn't that hungry this evening. I can do this; I'm flexible!
Breakfast was two Bacon & Egg Cups (bacon, egg and cheddar cheese cooked in a muffin tin)... so good! Lunch was a chicken breast with cream of mushroom soup, mixed greens with tomatoes and red onion and ranch dressing. Also yum! Dinner was a salmon fillet with brussel sprouts and butter.
The food was so good today. I really am hoping to give up a bit of deliciousness for just six more weeks in order to see the best results possible. After that I'll bump my calories back up. But I want to see what I can truly achieve on this plan and also report back to you :)
That's it for now. Hump day tomorrow!
Peach
Monday, 15 January 2018
Day 11 - Fit Healthy Happy Mum
The Workout
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from today's workout, but it was a double.
The first workout consisted of performing rounds of squats and pushups until failure. While it doesn't sound like much fun, it's really good at building resiliency. I could do lots of squats before my muscles gave out, and pushups I managed to eke out five before my arms couldn't push any more. But that's better than I thought I would do. I did my workout while M napped in her swing this morning.
The second part of the workout was for all the runners out there. It consisted of 600m runs followed by a two minute rest, and repeating that for six to eight times. I ended up going for the full 8 repetitions, which took a total of 55:00 minutes (including five minutes for warmup and another five for a cool down). Total distance traveled was 7km! Each round of 600m took me about four minutes based on my pace. It was a really great run!
Since I went to the gym to do it, I was able to follow it up with a massage in the massage chair. Those things are really quite good if you've got knots in your back. Ten minutes and I felt more limber.
The Diet
For food, I stayed on the extreme diet (meaning it's mostly lean meats and green veggies). However, I've been reading up a lot on the Keto diet which the program will eventually flow into once the 8 weeks is over. I've seen a lot about it recently, even Kelly and Ryan had a session talking about it. The lady they had on speaking about the diet was a woman (Suzanne Ryan) who tried everything to lose weight her entire life, weighing just about 300lbs at her max. She was at a total loss and didn't even think this new Keto diet would work. She touts this as being more than a diet though, because it is. It is a lifestyle change. You've got to be willing to cut out the carbs and accept eating high fats (strangely hard to accept when we are conditioned to cutting out fat in order to lose weight!).
So on this program, she lost 100lbs, then another 20lbs and she's never felt better. She's not the only person I know who has seen such great success on this program. A friend of mine also started her transformation in January of 2017, and she's also lost well over 100lbs in the past year. She exercises a lot, but also follows the Keto diet.
The difference between these two ladies is one exercised while the other didn't, yet they both saw results. There is much to say about the diet, but the biggest advantage even I've noticed so far is that my food cravings have gone away, which is one of the largest obstacles I face when looking to change my diet. The exercising part is easy, it's just physical, but it's so hard to stop wanting to eat all the yummy gooey food there is out there!
I am going to finish off this week doing the extreme. If I continue to see good results like this (being even better than I hoped for) I will look to reduce the extreme and opt for the regular keto diet. I don't need to go too crazy here! I picked up Suzanne's book which continues to provide me some inspiration to keep going, and will be happy to share my thoughts on some of her recipes as I get going.
That's it for now. Another double workout tomorrow!
Nighty night,
Peach
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from today's workout, but it was a double.
The first workout consisted of performing rounds of squats and pushups until failure. While it doesn't sound like much fun, it's really good at building resiliency. I could do lots of squats before my muscles gave out, and pushups I managed to eke out five before my arms couldn't push any more. But that's better than I thought I would do. I did my workout while M napped in her swing this morning.
The second part of the workout was for all the runners out there. It consisted of 600m runs followed by a two minute rest, and repeating that for six to eight times. I ended up going for the full 8 repetitions, which took a total of 55:00 minutes (including five minutes for warmup and another five for a cool down). Total distance traveled was 7km! Each round of 600m took me about four minutes based on my pace. It was a really great run!
Since I went to the gym to do it, I was able to follow it up with a massage in the massage chair. Those things are really quite good if you've got knots in your back. Ten minutes and I felt more limber.
The Diet
For food, I stayed on the extreme diet (meaning it's mostly lean meats and green veggies). However, I've been reading up a lot on the Keto diet which the program will eventually flow into once the 8 weeks is over. I've seen a lot about it recently, even Kelly and Ryan had a session talking about it. The lady they had on speaking about the diet was a woman (Suzanne Ryan) who tried everything to lose weight her entire life, weighing just about 300lbs at her max. She was at a total loss and didn't even think this new Keto diet would work. She touts this as being more than a diet though, because it is. It is a lifestyle change. You've got to be willing to cut out the carbs and accept eating high fats (strangely hard to accept when we are conditioned to cutting out fat in order to lose weight!).
So on this program, she lost 100lbs, then another 20lbs and she's never felt better. She's not the only person I know who has seen such great success on this program. A friend of mine also started her transformation in January of 2017, and she's also lost well over 100lbs in the past year. She exercises a lot, but also follows the Keto diet.
The difference between these two ladies is one exercised while the other didn't, yet they both saw results. There is much to say about the diet, but the biggest advantage even I've noticed so far is that my food cravings have gone away, which is one of the largest obstacles I face when looking to change my diet. The exercising part is easy, it's just physical, but it's so hard to stop wanting to eat all the yummy gooey food there is out there!
I am going to finish off this week doing the extreme. If I continue to see good results like this (being even better than I hoped for) I will look to reduce the extreme and opt for the regular keto diet. I don't need to go too crazy here! I picked up Suzanne's book which continues to provide me some inspiration to keep going, and will be happy to share my thoughts on some of her recipes as I get going.
That's it for now. Another double workout tomorrow!
Nighty night,
Peach
Sunday, 14 January 2018
Day 10 - Fit Healthy Happy Mum Update
Wow! I'm absolutely blown away by the support from you, my Facebook friends. What an encouraging bunch you all are! It really helps to keep me motivated knowing that others are in the ring with me. Thank you so much!
The weekend has been very busy with all the kiddos. I managed to make it to the gym after bringing Isaac to his soccer game. The workout was once again a great blend of running (which I love) and HIIT (which I also love). For those of you unfamiliar with the term, HIIT refers to High Intensity Interval Training which consists of short bursts of high energy strength moves which really gets heartrate up.
Today was a rest day for me. As part of the program, each week as two built in rest days. It's flexible so that I choose what two days work best for me and the family. Tomorrow's workout is a double-whammy. I can't wait to share it all with you!
With respect to food, on this 8 week program I generally follow the Keto diet however it is a bit more stringent since we are trying to cleanse my body. I'm going to try hard to stay true to it, but I can tell I'm going to miss dairy along with all the other good stuff (carbs, sugar, fruit). Just like when I did the Jillian Michael's program, I eventually adapted the meals to suit me while staying within my nutrient macros and calories. We'll see where I end up with this one. My meals generally consist of a protein and a veggie with some nuts or seeds thrown in. It really is quite tasty :) I find the flavour of food has been enhanced since paring down my food variety.
This is an example of a breakfast: Egg pies with a green salad and avocado
Very satisfying!
Hope you all had a great weekend... And kick some bum tomorrow!
Nighty night,
Peach
The weekend has been very busy with all the kiddos. I managed to make it to the gym after bringing Isaac to his soccer game. The workout was once again a great blend of running (which I love) and HIIT (which I also love). For those of you unfamiliar with the term, HIIT refers to High Intensity Interval Training which consists of short bursts of high energy strength moves which really gets heartrate up.
Today was a rest day for me. As part of the program, each week as two built in rest days. It's flexible so that I choose what two days work best for me and the family. Tomorrow's workout is a double-whammy. I can't wait to share it all with you!
With respect to food, on this 8 week program I generally follow the Keto diet however it is a bit more stringent since we are trying to cleanse my body. I'm going to try hard to stay true to it, but I can tell I'm going to miss dairy along with all the other good stuff (carbs, sugar, fruit). Just like when I did the Jillian Michael's program, I eventually adapted the meals to suit me while staying within my nutrient macros and calories. We'll see where I end up with this one. My meals generally consist of a protein and a veggie with some nuts or seeds thrown in. It really is quite tasty :) I find the flavour of food has been enhanced since paring down my food variety.
This is an example of a breakfast: Egg pies with a green salad and avocado
Very satisfying!
Hope you all had a great weekend... And kick some bum tomorrow!
Nighty night,
Peach
Friday, 12 January 2018
Fit Healthy Happy Mum - Beginning photos and stats
I am embarking on the Fit Healthy Happy Mum program in order to get this mama bod back into hot-mama condition!
For details on the program, please visit: http://sharnyandjulius.com/fitmum
I will be chronicling my successes and weight loss journey here on this blog. I'd love for you to join me and share with me some of your inspirations and successes. Have you done this program? If so, what did you think of it?
I'm slightly embarrassed to share these... but here are my starting stats:
| START | Week 1 | ||
| Measurement | 05-Jan-18 | 12-Jan-18 | |
| Weight (lbs) | 200.0 | 193.1 | |
| Upper chest (") | 40.00 | ||
| Bust (") | 41.00 | ||
| Midriff (") | 37.00 | ||
| Upper arm (") | 13.50 | ||
| Waist (") | 41.00 | ||
| Upper hip (") | 43.00 | ||
| Lower hip (") | 43.50 | ||
| Upper thigh (") | 28.00 | ||
| Mid thigh (") | 22.50 | ||
| Calf (") | 17.00 | ||
| Total Inches | - | 326.50 | |
Looking at these numbers I know that I am larger than when I was completing JM's Body Revolution. I have a long road ahead of me, but I am so motivated to reach my 175lb goal weight by March 2!
Now for the pics...
And there we have it! Feast your eyes on the delight that once was! In the pics above I am at the 200lb mark. I'm looking to lose 25lbs by March 2nd (when I go back to work) which is coincidentally at the very end of my 8 week program. After that, my plan is to achieve a 21% body fat percentage (I'm currently at 44%) which will bring me to 141lbs. My goal is to reach this within 6 months, so, by Canada Day 2018!
Thank you for sharing in my journey... Let's do this!
Peach
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