Month: February 2021

Keto Chaffles with Sugar Free Pancake Syrup

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, ketoLeave a comment

I am so happy that I bought this Dash waffle maker for making Chaffles. When I wasn’t really focused on not eating carbs like I am now, I was eating Eggo waffles with sugar free pancake syrup, we switched to sugar free because I was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. The sugar free syrup, no matter what brand we bought, always made the Eggo waffles soggy. I got to the point that I hated to eat them because I don’t like soggy bread type food, and waffles are basically bread that you pour syrup on to make them sweet.

The chaffles that come out of the Dash waffle maker are pretty much exactly the same size as an Eggo waffle. I don’t have a lot of ingredients to get fancy, so I’m just mixing 2 eggs in a bowl with some shredded cheddar cheese and today I added cinnamon to it and a sweetener packet just to give it a little more sweetness and flavor. With those ingredients I get 3 chaffles. When I was eating regular waffles I was eating 3 for breakfast, so I’m getting the same amount of food. The sugar free syrup doesn’t cause these chaffles to become soggy at all, mainly because it’s mostly egg. I’m loving breakfast again.

They say not to live to eat, but eat to live, but you also have to love what you eat, otherwise you’re gonna have a horrible experience. With just the right recipe, you will have an awesome experience.

The next thing on my list is to buy ingredients to make my own Keto Maple Syrup because number 1 they are expensive at the store and number 2 they have carbs, and this keto maple syrup recipe has no carbs. The recipe makes 32 teaspoons, so I can make a batch whenever I run out so it doesn’t go bad, although it probably won’t since I’ll be eating chaffles for breakfast every morning. I have Ball glass jars for canning, so I can put some in my pancake syrup dispenser, and the rest in ball jars, and transfer it to the dispenser when I need more. I don’t know how many batches of syrup I can make with the ingredients I have to buy, but I will find out when I run out lol. I’m sure whatever it is, it will be much cheaper than if I had to buy from the grocery store.

My Keto Diet Issues

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, ketoLeave a comment

I’ve been doing the Atkins diet as per doctor’s orders on January 12, 2021 so I can have surgery to remove polyps that could not be removed during my colonoscopy in September 2020. In one month I managed to lose 11lbs.

There have been some difficulties throughout my quest to lose weight for surgery. For one, I’m not going to the bathroom as often as I would like, and I looked it up and apparently it’s a thing. Here is a quote from Keto Krate.

When you produce less waste, you poop less often–and on Keto, you’re going to poop less often. The body is very efficient at extracting nutrients from meats and fatty foods. The result is less waste. So don’t mistake fewer bowel movements with constipation.

Keto Krate

There was another website, and I can’t find the source, that said that during the time you aren’t going to the bathroom, the digested food that is still inside your body will start to putrefy, which will cause terrible smelling farts and bowel movements. Well, I do not want that lol. They said to fix this, add Psyllium Husk to your diet. I went on a search and discovered Metamucil, Psyllium Husk Powder Fiber Supplement 180 teaspoons for $25. We actually found this at Albertsons, but I believe it was 110 or 120 teaspoons for $22. So I think I got a better price on Amazon. I hope that will help me go to the bathroom more often.

I think it’s odd that my body would not want to remove all the food I am eating. I mean sure, extract all the nutrients, but shouldn’t there be some waste? I do eat a lot of veggies, broccoli and cauliflower to be precise, so I’m just confused as to why that isn’t coming out.

I drink 96 fluid ounces of water every day after I finish drinking my coffee. I have a Blender Bottle that I just drink water from. The bottom of the bottle says 28oz, but when I fill it up with water it’s 24oz. I know this because I weighed the bottle, then tared it, then poured water in it from a pitcher and it was 24oz. and it was very close to the top of the bottle. They say to drink 8 cups of water, which comes out to 64oz, so I think I have that more than covered.

I have another 2 weeks until my doctors appointment, so in order to be approved for surgery, I need to continue losing weight, and I’m not sure that will happen at the rate I’m going. I am getting frustrated because I am eating all the right things, but not losing weight as fast as I would like. I hope I can drop at least another 5lbs before my appointment, but we will see.

Oh and I bought a Dash DMW001BK to make chaffles. One recipe I found makes an oreo cookie chaffle. The guy in this video shows 2 recipes, the first one he says tastes exactly like an oreo cookie, and the second one he says tastes like a hostess cupcake. I want to make the second recipes because I want to eat a hostess cupcake, especially for my birthday.

Why I stopped going to the gym

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, gym, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I stopped going to the Planet Fitness gym more than 2 years ago for various reasons. And… I’ve been paying for it all this time.

One reason is I have an overactive bladder. I would go to the bathroom before I even started exercising just so I wouldn’t have to run to the bathroom. I would get on a machine and in 5 minutes the overwhelming feeling to urinate would hit and I would have to literally run to the bathroom because I had to pee NOW. I’d go back and in 5 minutes it would come again. I would get on the treadmill and literally walking for 5 minutes and I had the urgent feeling to urinate again. It was too much.

I spoke with my doctor and she said it’s probably a urinary tract infection and to drink cranberry juice, which I absolutely hate, but I did it anyway and it didn’t do me any good.

At home I have to go to the bathroom at least 20 times in a day. That’s been going on for more than 2 years and nothing I have done has helped. Until now.

I started drinking water and the feeling to urinate has dramatically gone down. I’ve been drinking Crystal Light for many years instead of drinking soda to help with the weight loss, and I’m not positive it has helped, but I’m almost certain it has contributed to my overactive bladder and I say that because when I stopped drinking it, the problem went away.

Now that I don’t have to constantly urinate, I’m going to try going back to the gym to help me lose the weight I’m supposed to lose to get my surgery.

Zero net carb bread!

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

We went to Aldi yesterday for some low to no carb groceries to help me lose weight for my surgery, and also just in general to help me lose weight.

I found a website that has 81 of the BEST Keto Finds at ALDI and I know they are less expensive than the other grocery stores in our area, so I figured I would find some of these things, and just hope they tasted good.

Some of the items we bought were actually my lunch today.

The carbs from this lunch was from the Foster Farms oven roasted turkey breast. This turkey was $4 for 1.75lbs which would have cost probably around $11 or more at the Albertsons deli at around $6 per pound. We buy it from Albertsons all the time, and it never lasts more than a few days. Now that I’m watching what I eat, this will last longer than a few days because I will only eat 2 slices, which is the serving size, with my sandwich, or if I decide to make a salad and chop this up into pieces.

I was so worried about eating sandwiches because I was afraid I would have to buy a waffle maker, and I almost bought one on Amazon for $40. They have those small Dash waffle makers, and I almost bought those, but I really just wanted to find a zero carb bread. I also don’t like the thought of spending a ton of money on ingredients, like almond flour and baking powder and Swerve sweetener and many more things. When you are on a limited budget due to the fact that you are disabled, it’s better to buy inexpensive foods rather than spending $30-$40 on ingredients just to make 2 slices of bread at a time.

And being on this limited income is the reason why I gained so much weight in the first place. Back when hamburger meat was cheaper, I was making Hamburger Helper all the time, especially when they were on sale for $1 a box. Everything I was buying for our meals were inexpensive, and I can’t help that I have to buy cheap food.

I will be eating zero to low carb foods until all this weight comes off. I bought a NUTRI FIT rechargeable food scale to help me weight all the ingredients that goes into my meals so I know I’m not eating too much. I was just eating a whole bunch of broccoli and cauliflower and chicken for dinner and logging it all as the wrong amounts because I was guessing. Last night I discovered I was eating too much chicken. I was eating an entire chicken breast and logging it as 6oz. Then I discovered I’m only supposed to be eating 3.5oz of chicken. The broccoli and cauliflower I was eating I was weighing and it showed it was less than 8oz, which is a cup, right? Well, actually, I discovered 1 cup is supposed to be 91 grams, which is a lot less than what I’ve been eating. I wondered why I wasn’t losing any weight.

Anyway, knowledge is power, and hopefully I will be back on track. I have 1 more month until my next appointment with the surgeon who wants me to lose 15-20lbs. I had lost 9lbs, then plateaued, and now hopefully I will start losing again. I’m back to that weight that I was the last time when I plateaued. I also plan on going to the gym again. More on why I stopped going in my next post.

NUTRI FIT Rechargeable Food Scale

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet1 Comment

This will be the third food scale that I have. The first one that we bought years and years ago wasn’t digital. You can’t really see the exact measurement other than the line going on the number like the old scales that you would stand on. I prefer digital, it’s easier.

The second food scale that we have was actually given to me by a former friend. I don’t know what’s wrong with the scale, but you put batteries in, weigh something, put it away for a while, maybe a couple of hours or a couple of days? I don’t know. Anyway, the next time you go to weigh something, the batteries are dead. So that’s why I bought a new scale from Amazon for $15.

I like that the scale plugs into the wall and it only took 90 minutes to charge. I’ve been using it all day to weigh not only what I’ve been eating but also what I’ve been drinking. I am keeping track of all of my food on the Atkins app, and I want to make sure that I’m putting in the correct measurements of weight, because I want to know exactly how many calories I’m eating. I’ve been guessing all this time and apparently I was way off.

I mentioned that I was not only keeping track of what I’m eating, but also what I’m drinking. This thing has different units of measurements for food and drink. So like if you’re measuring how much water you’re drinking or how much creamer you’re adding to your coffee etc. It has grams, lbs and ounces, fluid ounces and milliliters. On the back you can switch between unit measurement preferences but I like that I can choose on the device itself.

Oh, this scale also came with a dough scraper, which I kind of get, I guess if you’re making bread, but I’m not going to, but you never know, I might decide to lol. Although I don’t think so because that has too many carbs.

So on Amazon, this is called NUTRI FIT rechargeable food scale. The title is actually longer than that, but you get the idea. The image at the top is a link to the listing on Amazon.

Easter box cards in my Etsy shop

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, CricutLeave a comment

I posted about my Valentine’s day cards, and I also have Easter box cards available in my Etsy shop.

These Easter cards are a bit smaller, so they don’t cost as much as the Valentine’s day cards. They are also the cutest cards to give away.

Check out this item in my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/939492310/easter-3d-box-cards

I’ve made 4 of each card, but I can make more if someone wants more. The only reason I only made 4 of each is because the agreement I made with SVGCuts.com, which is who designed these cards, was that I could sell them in my Etsy shop, but I can’t sell them in bulk. But I wouldn’t want to sell them in bulk because I’m just one person making cards in my bedroom, and I don’t even know if anyone will even buy them, so I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch.

So if you like these, please take a look at them in my Etsy shop. Share with friends.

Valentine’s day box cards in my Etsy shop

On By Michel McDonaldIn CricutLeave a comment

Before I got my Cricut Explore Air 2, I was never really a card person. I don’t know, it just seems like paying several dollars for a greeting card is a lot of money for something that’s 2 dimensional. Something someone is going to put in a drawer or even toss when Valentine’s day is over.

Box cards pop more because they are 3 dimensional. They fold flat and open like a box and stand on their own. Every person I’ve given a box card to has kept it. Some even keep them on display. The doctor’s office displays my cards every year for that particular holiday. The pharmacy has every holiday on display all year.

I made some Valentine’s day cards last year, and I only have a few left. I can make what I don’t have in stock. The reason I’m not making more is because I couldn’t find the right paper this year at Michael’s. But I do have the Easter paper, which means I can make a box with the pink paper. I do have plenty of the pattern paper, it’s just the solid paper that I couldn’t find. It’s just always out of stock.

Check out this item in my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/780596321/valentines-day-box-cards

This is the listing for my Valentine’s day cards in my Etsy shop. I would love if you could just take a look. Thank you.