Category: keto

Blaze Keto Pizza

On By Michel McDonaldIn ketoLeave a comment

There is this new pizza place here in Bakersfield. Well, I should say new to us, honestly, I have no idea how long they’ve been in business since their website’s about us page doesn’t say. They’ve actually been in Bakersfield for a few years, we just never went there because I’m always on some diet, and pizza is never something I can eat, until now.

A few days ago I was thinking about Keto breads, so I thought to myself, I wonder if there is a keto pizza crust recipe, so I went to Google and the first thing I saw was Blaze Pizza. I went to their nutrition calculator and I chose these options. Keto crust, white cream sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, and olives, and this is what it shows. It’s basically 2g Net Carbs and 130 calories per slice, and they slice it up into 6 slices.

We went to the mall today for shoes and while we were out there, we decided to go to Blaze and have lunch. The pizza is small at 11″, and they said they normally make personal pizza’s for people, but come on, this is too much for me because even though it is low cal and low carb, it’s still 390 calories for 3 slices. I am not putting 780 calories into my stomach for 1 meal. So my life partner and I shared it. Also, it wasn’t cheap. It was $18 and change for 1 pizza and 1 fountain drink. I’m not sure we want to spend $40 for lunch for both of us.

Anyway, it was good and the next time I want pizza, I know where to go.

Smaller Appetite After Surgery

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health, keto, WeightLeave a comment

I have always had a huge appetite since I was at least a teenager. At dinner, my mom would always make enough so everyone could have seconds, and I was typically the only one who would actually take seconds. I was so skinny and my mom never understood where that food went because I never gained any weight no matter how much food I ate. I kind of hate my younger self right now lol. I was also active, and when I say active, I mean like gym class, running from the school to escape bullies, then walking home from school. You know, typical teenage angst lol.

So the time of my life I’m referring to was when I was around 13 years old and I was 150lbs. Fast forward to when I was 26 and I was still 150lbs, then I quit smoking and that all changed. Suddenly I was gaining weight because I was discovering how wonderful food was. Before then I was eating to survive on what we could afford. After, I was eating for pleasure, and I wasn’t holding back. I was getting a lot more food than normal and within 2 months of quitting smoking, I had gained 50lbs. So there I was 200lbs with a fat belly all of a sudden and my appetite was out of control, but I was trying not to go over 200lbs.

Over the years I’ve gained weight because of my enormous appetite until I was at my highest last year at 267lbs. I bought a Fitbit Charge 4 watch and a Fitbit Aria scale and I tried working on my weight. When I got the scale I was 265lbs and by January this year I was 254lbs, then the surgeon told me to lose 15-20lbs for my surgery and then I went down to 230lbs. Now after surgery I have gone down to 225lbs.

And now to the subject of this post. I had my surgery where they reduced the size of my colon, which is a nicer way of saying they removed a section of my colon to remove the possibility of colon cancer. But ever since I had my surgery, I haven’t been very hungry. They fed me 6oz of soup and some other things like pudding or jello and some juices and milk. Well, that tiny amount of food and drinks made me feel so full. When I came home from the hospital I was still getting full from such a tiny amount of food. I left the hospital on Thursday and today is Sunday and I’m still getting full from 6oz of soup. I made myself tomato soup, a 3oz glass of sugar free Jell-O and a chocolate pudding cup and I couldn’t even eat the Jell-O or the pudding. It was literally too much food.

This will be to my advantage to help me reduce the size of my stomach. If I eat and I get full fast, then I won’t have the chance to make my stomach too big again, and that will help me lose weight, especially when I go back to eating my Keto food. This will also prevent me from even wanting to go to a buffet because if I’m not hungry for such a huge amount of food, then I won’t be tempted to go, thus I won’t overeat and gain weight again. So I see this as a huge win for me.

How long do you think it will take me to get down to 200lbs if I am 225lbs now? I pretty much lost 22lbs from mid-January to the end of March. So do you think I will be down to 200lbs by June or July maybe? And if I get down to 200lbs by then, I will just keep going and lose all the weight I can possibly lose. I really would like to get back to 150lbs, but I will be happy if I can get down to 160 or 170. When I finally get down to the weight I want to be, I’m going to continue to maintain my weight by eating Keto foods, and if I still lose weight, well then good for me.

I’ve been approved for surgery

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, ketoLeave a comment

Let me just backtrack just in case someone is reading this post and they haven’t read any of my other posts. I had a colonoscopy in September 2020 and they found and removed several polyps. There were also several that were lying flat that they could not remove, so the only way to remove them is with surgery. They sent me to a surgeon who will do the surgery, but I’m overweight, so he asked me to lose 15 to 20 lbs so things are loose to make the surgery easier on both of us.

I went to my follow up appointment today with the surgeon, and he approved my surgery because I had lost 18lbs. So the surgery will be in 3 weeks and it isn’t exactly what I had expected. I thought he was just going to make me do the colonoscopy prep and then he would go in and basically do another colonoscopy, but with scrapers that could scrape the tissue to remove the polyps. Instead, he has to remove a section of my colon. I will still have to do a colon prep, but it’s a little different. I will have to be on a liquid diet for 2 days and take some medication and I will be in the hospital for 2-3 days after the surgery to make sure I don’t get an infection, which will just make things worse because I could end up with a colostomy. I. Do. Not. Want. That.

Even though I don’t technically have cancer, he is treating the surgery as if I have cancer. The polyps could turn into cancer if they are not removed, and they couldn’t be removed from a colonoscopy, so this is the alternative, and removing this section of my colon will keep me from having cancer. I’m not sure if I want to cry or not. I know it’s not cancer, yet, but, I don’t know. I’m just a little emotional I guess. I just didn’t expect to hear what he has to do to remove these polyps.

My paternal father died from cancer, so it was very important for me to get this screening done as soon as I turned 50. They wouldn’t give me a colonoscopy until I turned 50, so I had to make the appointment as soon as I could after my birthday last year. I’m glad they found it early enough and they will be able to take care of it.

After my surgery is done, I’m going to stay on my Keto diet and it is possible I’ve already decided this is it for myself. No more bad carbs. No more fried foods or fast food or junk food. I have learned while on this Keto diet that I can still eat the food I want to eat, I just have to go about it a little bit differently. I can still eat bread and tortillas, they just have to be carb free or low carb. Aldi has bread that is 0 net carbs and tortillas that actually taste good that are 5 net carbs. I can still eat a burger, I just have to use the Aldi bread, or I can make a chaffle. And speaking of chaffles, I love eating chaffles for breakfast with the sugar free pancake syrup. And I don’t have to worry about candy bars because I have the Fiber One snack bars that are pretty close to a candy bar. Atkin’s sells candy that is like M&M’s, so if I get hungry for that, they sell them at the grocery store near my house. Everything I like is available to me, I just have to find a way to make it healthy. There are also tons of recipes for making things I love, like egg nog.

I made some hamburgers with my mini dash waffle maker and made a big mess, so I bought another Dash, but it’s a griddle that will make pancakes and eggs and it is also for making hamburgers. So I can eat a burger guilt free any time I want.

Yes I’m a little sad at what has to happen, but I’m happy that I’m not going to have cancer and this has helped me work on my weight loss finally. And as always, I will follow up after my surgery.

I did it! I lost 15+lbs for surgery.

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, ketoLeave a comment

With all the struggling that I did during the last couple of months trying to lose 15 lb, I never thought that the weight would actually come off. I’m so happy that I finally lost 15 pounds and now I can get my surgery.

I still have four more days until I see the doctor to check my weight. He said 15 to 20 lb, so who knows how much more weight I might lose until then.

My appetite is under control and I am only eating breakfast, lunch, a 3:00 p.m. snack which is a 70 calorie Fiber One snack, and dinner at 6:00 p.m. I’m drinking coffee from when I wake up until a little after noon and then water for the rest of the day.

Like I’ve said before, I’m going to continue losing weight after my surgery until I get down below 200 lb. I would like to get down to 160 or 170, but I guess I’ll see what happens when it happens. Got to just keep going.

My weight loss update

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health, ketoLeave a comment

I started my Atkins Keto diet on January 12, 2021 at 253lbs per my surgeons request. On February 17, 2021 I had lost 11.6lbs, but then the weight stopped dropping and I had gained a few pounds and I got extremely frustrated.

I wasn’t sure what I was doing wrong. I was always hungry, so I figured I needed a supplement, so I went on YouTube to find out what works, and someone said Apple Cider Vinegar, so I went on Amazon and found something in pill form called Apple Cider Vinegar+KETO in a bottle with 120 capsules. Instructions were to take 2 pills in the morning with food. I did that and the first couple of days it helped me to suppress my appetite, but then it stopped suppressing my appetite and I was always hungry again. So then I bought a bottle of Metamucil with Psyllium Husk Powder and the instructions were to take 2 rounded teaspoons with 8oz glass of water before every meal, and that actually helped to suppress my appetite. I took it for 3 days in a row and started feeling horrible stomach cramps, but I took it for a 4th day and I regretted taking it. I looked on Google for how long you should take Metamucil and it said maximum of 7 days. Well, 4 days was too many for me. Perhaps 7 days if you only take 1 rounded teaspoon before meals.

Yesterday and today I didn’t take anything. No apple cider vinegar, no metamucil and I seem to be doing fine with my appetite. My stomach is still cramping up a lot, but that’s going away. I don’t feel hungry between meals and that’s pretty much the whole point of me doing that, to help shrink my stomach and to help shrink my appetite. I weighed myself this morning and I was 239.4lbs.

My goal is to lose 15-20lbs for surgery, and my appointment with the surgeon is on March 11, 2021 to check my weight to see if I have lost anything to be eligible for surgery, which is in exactly 1 week from today. I am hoping to get down to 233 by then, but I will be happy if I’ve only lost 15lbs. Then of course there will be from the day of my appointment next week until the day of the surgery, and I may possibly have gone down to 233 or lower.

I have to lose weight for surgery, but I want to lose weight for my health sake. I have sleep apnea and I have bad knees, and I’m guessing is due to the fact that I am, or was 100lbs overweight. I’m still at least 90lbs overweight. I was 150 before I quit smoking and gained all this weight, and I don’t expect to go back down to 150lbs, but I’d at least like to get down to 170 again. I know I can do it if I try hard enough, but that all depends on my appetite. I’ve always had a huge appetite since I was a kid when I was skinny and couldn’t gain any weight even if I tried because I was very active.

Of course I will keep this blog updated when I go to the appointment next week and when I have the surgery, and when I lose more weight beyond the surgery.

Oh and just to make it clear, the surgery isn’t for weight loss as someone thought on Facebook. The surgery is to remove some colon polyps that they couldn’t remove during my colonoscopy in September of 2020. I need these extra polyps removed before they turn to cancer. Even if it was for weight loss, I’m sure I do not qualify for weight loss surgery because I am not an extreme case like you see on tv.

I finally found my groove

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, ketoLeave a comment

Ok. I’ve been on this Keto diet to lose weight for surgery for 7 weeks and I’ve had a lot of trouble losing weight. The first 2 weeks I was on this diet I lost 8lbs. I think because I was eating less, and I had almost completely cut out carbs. I mean, you can’t cut out ALL carbs. There are foods that are low carb, but they do have carbs. Then a few days after I had lost 8lbs on the scale, it dropped another few pounds for a total of 11lbs. But then I think I got cocky because the weight stopped coming off and I couldn’t lose any more weight to save my life.

I’m back on track now. I noticed I wasn’t going to the bathroom, like at all. I finally bought some Metamucil with Psyllium fiber. That helps me go to the bathroom and it also helps to control my appetite after my meals. I’m not eating as much food as I was and I’m losing weight again. I’m finally back down to that 11lb weight loss. I have 9 more days until my appointment with the surgeon to check on my weight loss, then he will schedule my surgery. And then of course I will have to stay on my diet until the surgery date, so I will hopefully lose more weight before then. I will also continue this diet until I’ve gone down to at least 200lbs. I’d like to keep going and lose all my weight, but I also don’t want to put any pressure on myself to lose weight.

My daily routine so far. I will drink the metamucil and then make my breakfast which is usually always chaffles. 2 eggs with some shredded cheddar cheese in the mini Dash waffle maker. For lunch more metamucil, then I will make a turkey sandwich with Foster Farms turkey that we buy from Aldi, L’Oven Fresh Zero Net Carbs Multiseed Keto bread also from Aldi with a little bit of mayo. Then at 3pm I’ll eat a Fiber One 70 calorie 5g net carbs brownie. For dinner more metamucil, then I make a chicken and cheese wrap thing. It looks more like a taco though, but I bake it like a quesadilla lol. The tortilla I’m using is called Fit & Active low carb tortillas that are 4g net carbs also from Aldi, and of course more shredded cheddar cheese, 28 grams to be precise and 3oz of chicken. That’s pretty much my whole day. Sometimes I will eat chicken and broccoli instead of making a wrap.

I’m sure someone’s going to say I’m doing everything wrong, but I am losing weight again, so I’m just going to do what works for me. But I don’t mind suggestions if anyone has any.

Edit: I Googled how many days you can take Metamucil, and it said do not take for more than 7 days. I’ve only taken it for 4 days, and my stomach is cramping hard today. I think I will stop taking it after today and then start up again in about a week I think. I didn’t know it was going to do this. I also didn’t know it was a laxative lol.

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.