Learning From My Mistakes

I have no recipe, which is very different for me.  I just wanted to take a second and “talk”.

First of all, to those of you who may have missed a few posts.  I started a new way of eating eight weeks ago.  It started as a low-carb diet but I have phased it into the keto diet.  I have read books and blogs on this subject.  I quickly learned that for every book and for every blog there are just about that many opinions on how to do it.

When I was still “low-carbing” I picked up a couple of keto cookbooks simply for the recipes.  However, as I got to reading them the whole concept made sense and I decided to give it a try.  My favorite book to explain the diet is The Keto Diet by LeAnne Vogel.  I like some of the other books better for recipes, but if you want to learn about the diet I suggest LeAnne Vogel’s book.

I’ve always considered myself a visual learner.  I was in a little bit of a fog when I read through the book for the first time.  It has taken applying the diet to my life and rereading the book for me to understand it.  This being said, I still have a lot to learn.

I’ve always heard that you learn from your mistakes. If that’s the case, I should be learning a ton right now. Eating for a better life has me puzzled at times. I am losing weight. As of this morning, I have dropped 15.3 pounds. I am more than thrilled about that and I feel great. In all of my 54 years, this is the FIRST weight loss attempt I have tried that I did not feel hungry, grumpy, jealous of what others were eating, or cheated because I must have ended up with the bad genes.

I’m not perfect at getting the macros on point every day.  I struggle daily with getting all of my fat. I know, I know, I know…I have read to eat fat bombs, eat avocados, add olive oil, and so on. It’s all well and good, but I still struggle with it.

Another thing that blows me away is nutrition labels. I want to say NO sugar but do you realize the number of things that have sugar? I have a recipe coming out later this week for Keto Taco Seasoning because I just realized that the little packets of taco seasoning that I always have on hand contain sugar!

I posted a recipe recently where I went on and on about the Chipotle Rotel.  In all honestly, it is one of my favorite things in the whole world! I could open up a can and take a spoon to it. While working on a new recipe this morning, I decided to look at the Chipotle Rotel nutrition facts. It’s still not a habit to look at every single nutrition fact before I purchase…I am learning though.  I knew there would be carbs, but I was not expecting to see sugar! After comparing it to the Original Rotel, it appears there is a “one” carb difference. Not a lot unless you are trying to stay at 17 or under for the day.

I have friends on the same diet. We are there to cheer each other on and share recipes. It’s great having someone you can talk to about all of this. I have stayed positive, and I have not hit a pothole during the entire eight weeks. This Chipotle Rotel has me shaking my head though.

So, do you think if it’s a life change that you have to go at it like raising kids? Do you pick your battles? Do you eat the Chipotle Rotel, loving it and not stressing? I think maybe you do, but I’m surely not an expert.

This post was probably pointless to most of you, but maybe someone is reading somewhere that can relate. Please do not take your “life change”  or keto advice from me. If I find a recipe that we enjoy I will share it but please use your judgment to figure out if it fits into your macros. It’s clear that this gal has a lot to learn!