October 6, 2019- Keto begins...

Here We Go Again

Trying this blogging thing again as I embark on my new journey with Keto.  I should probably just call it low carb, because my goal isn't Ketosis.  I just want to eat better in order to lose weight, and most of all feel better. 

This year has been a bit crazy, health wise.  I was diagnosed with Ideopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in February, after passing out in my bathroom.  Yeah, the symptoms had been there since Summer 18.  Shortness of breath was the biggest. I couldn't walk a my driveway without stopping to catch my breath, or I would get dizzy/lightheaded.  Climbing stairs was almost impossible, I had to stop in the middle at the landing, and catch my breath.  I thought I had just gotten too sedentary after starting to work at home.  It was embarrassing.  I felt tired and fat and lazy.  Little did I know, that I actually had something wrong with my lungs that was causing the right side of my heart to go into failure.  Something that is super rare.  They say only 2 diagnoses a year in the US. That's crazy!  I've done a lot of research on the subject.  While I try not to focus on this being a Terminal Illness, because there is no cure.  I focus on how much better I am feeling today thanks to my wonderful Pulmonologist and the life saving medications that I am on. 

So here we are... my wonderful husband of now 10 years and my daughter, reluctantly, will be eating more Keto/low carb recipes.  

My husband, Jarrod has been on this diet for about 3 weeks.  I've been making meals that fit his diet, and he hasn't cheated.  His goal isn't Ketosis either, but trying to stay away from carbs.  He has success when going to the extreme, so trying not to add any healthy carbs for a while, until his body has properly detoxed.  It hasn't been easy.  Ava and I have had pasta, rice, pizza, and even cake and ice cream in front of him.  I have been eating better, mostly, for a bit, but to tell you the truth- I feel better when I'm not eating all of those heavy carbs.  Last night, I knew was my last night before starting Keto, full throttle, I had decided the night before, after eating pizza and feeling my stomach so heavy, to eat my last day on Saturday with whatever I wanted.  We got wings.  I got the breaded tenders, and some fried mushrooms.  Last night, I had to get up in the middle of the night for some Pepto.  Not worth it.

Today, I got up and made applesauce from a peck of Macintosh apples.  I used Stevia in the raw as my sweetener with a few sprinkles of Honey Sugar.  Some cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and a tiny bit of salt finished off the applesauce.  12 Quart Jars, and 1 pint in the fridge. Yeah, apples probably are not the best Keto food as it is a sugar and it is starchy/carby.  But come on, apples are still good for you!   An apple with some peanut butter is the perfect dessert these days.  We headed to Snells Farm this week to get some Macoun and Crispin apples to munch on, as we know the Macs would be for an applesauce.  

Yeah, so I just looked up the carbs in a medium apple... it's 25g.  4.4g of fiber.  So total carbs to count is 20.6.  Goal for Keto is no more than 50g of carbs per day.  So yeah, like I said, we're not really Keto. But we try to look up great Keto recipes and ideas for snacks.  I should probably just stop saying we are Keto with all the apples we have in the house :-D.  Either way, we're not eating breads, processed junk, pastas, or white rice.  

Wish us luck!