My Noodle Experiment: Agar Agar Noodles

Before I did low carb I was a rice lover. But now after being on it for awhile, rice just doesn't do it for me anymore. I see it as it truly is, a mere extender. So I've been able to avoid rice, easily.

Avoiding noodles is such a struggle however. yes, I said "is" because I would still have it now and then. When I was in college, I ate instant noodles three times a day. They were cheap, simple and fast and those three matter a lot to a college student. My metabolism must have been better then (well this was like 10 years ago, too) because with this eating habit I was actually at my lowest weight as an adult, 102 lbs! But I didn't like the way I looked. I only have one picture of that time and I think I've misplaced it.

Shiratake noodles have been quite popular in the low carb circle. I tried looking for it here but I couldn't. So I kept lusting after noodles and giving in to it at times. Then just out of the blue I remembered a smart trick that my family's cook would do.

Buko (Coconut) Salad is a very popular dessert here. However coconut can get expensive especially if you want to use high quality, tender and sweet coconut. What our cook, Inday, would do is she would extend it by using gelatin strings. So I asked her how she made them. Since she used gelatin, I decided on using agar agar instead because its melting point is higher than gelatin and I could use warm sauces on it.

I bought one pack of agar agar bar which is 50 g. I kinda tore it up and soaked it in cold water. Then I boiled 2 cups of water and while it was on a rolling boil, I added the softened agar agar (squeezed out all the cold water). I boiled it until the agar agar dissolved then poured it into a plastic container and let it set. once it was set, I used a melon grater to grate noodles out of it.

Now there are tons of sources online about making agar noodles. Mine isn't as pretty as the pictures I've seen but I don't mind. It totally works for my purpose and I will make it whenever I get the craving for noodles.

Please forgive the poor quality of the pictures. I used my phone and I wasn't expecting to post it on my blog. Maybe when I make it next time, I can post step by step pictures.

I've only used my homemade alfredo sauce. When I had it the second time I added some shrimps and scallops to the sauce. It is quite filling and I would definitely keep working on this.

Like It's The Only Pizza Crust Recipe You'll Ever Need

I woke up this morning with a HUGE pizza craving. So I went to my best friend Google and looked for a recipe that I had the ingredients for, easy to make and fast. I found it. It was delicious.

Ingredients (as quoted on the youtube video)
4 eggs

1/2 cup of coconut milk (or full fat milk)

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup flax meal

Add any spices or flavors you'd like to get a tasty crust. You can also cut the crust in strips and use as breadsticks.

I personally add:1 tbsp oregano 1 tbsp basil garlic powder (i don't measure, i just add til i think its awesome)

Tweaks I did

• I couldn't find our oregano so I used basil, garlic and salt. Next time we'll try without seasoning.  
• Instead of milk I used 1 T of heavy cream and the rest water. 
• I added one more egg and a tad more water to get it to a runny consistency. 
• I didn't have parchment paper so I just made small pizzas and flipped after 10 minutes. I made four out of the recipe and I can only finish half of one. 
• No parchment paper so I greased my baking sheet with lots of olive oil and used a hamburger flipper to flip the pizzas. They stuck a little bit but that was okay with me.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Comments: Very easy to make and fast. No more grating of cauliflower and cheese. Cheese is so expensive here so I like that I only need a tiny amount for topping. I can actually hold the pizza. It was really good and will make again definitely. I think I've found the only pizza recipe I will ever use.

IMPORTANT: If you don't have coconut flour, don't use this recipe. In other words, don't sub coconut flour with other flours. Coconut flour is a very thirsty flour and the ratio of wet to dry ingredients is very specific to the recipe. If you use nut flours the liquids would be too much.

You can find out more about this recipe from Mark's Daily Apple and from Ben's site.

BodyRock Challenge Day 3

How did I sleep? What an interesting question. For the past few weeks I've been setting my alarm to go off at 8 am. I hate sleeping late and oversleeping in the morning. I lost a lot of days doing that before. I really want to stabilize my sleeping habits.

So I went to bed at 12:45 am. I know, pretty bad but I was so tired that I almost immediately went to slumberland the moment my head hit the pillow. But then I awoke to snoring. No matter how much I nudged my hubby and begged him to stop it, he was still snoring! After about thirty minutes of moaning, groaning, tossing and turning (in the middle of this I had gotten up to get some ear plugs that proved to be useless) I decided to just get up and start my day. It was 6:35 am. Double UGH!

Despite this I continued with my BodyRock challenge. Even though I've seen a lot of Zuzana's videos, I always thought that it will get easier. But to be honest, her workouts are so intense that even she get winded sometimes. Which is kinda awesome because it means that the workouts will always be hard, even harder. But anyway, I stupidly thought that Day 3 would be easier than say Day 1 or Day 2. I wasn't prepared to be wrong.

For Day 3 I decided to do Balance, Strength and Agility Workout and it's supposed to be four reps of four exercises and you're supposed to time yourself. Zuzana likes to re-do her past workouts to see if she can beat her personal best, hence the timing of workouts. So I did this. I failed horribly. I was able to complete one rep of the exercises. ONE. ONE! Uno! Itchi! ISA! Can you spell PATHETIC? Not only that but between lots of breaks to catch my breath and stop from falling over and dying, it took me 13 frakking minutes to complete ONE rep!

Yo! Working out is hard y'all!

My fitness level is so beyond zero it's laughable. It's the distant cousin of zero that zero hardly ever sees but writes to when Christmas time rolls around. 

The only thing I'm looking forward to is doing this exercise again sometime during my 30-Day challenge and hopefully doing just a bit better. Maybe I can do one and a half reps next time. I'd take that. I really will.

Here's to hoping you're fitness level is better than mine. Have a great day!

BodyRock Challenge Day 2

For Day Two of my BodyRock challenge, I picked an exercise challenge on the site. I'm such a newbie to the whole exercise thing (well, generally the whole getting off my butt and doing something other than being on the computer scene) that I just halved the challenge duration. I sure hope I can do better in the future and last longer.

Workout Mode

I did this challenge Hot Curves - Bodyweight Exercise Challenge. Instead of 10 minutes I did 5 with 15 seconds doing the set and 15 seconds rest. I swear to you I wanted to die. The regular challenge is to just do as much as you can in 10 minutes. As you can see I didn't do much. I didn't even bother counting. But calculating it, I probably did ten sets. Horrible, I know.

Then I did the skipping. Actually not skipping since I don't have a skipping rope (one of my rewards if my survive this first week) I did high knees. Ten rounds of 40 second high knees and 10 second rest. I had to pause more than twice. This really made we wish I would just collapse, wither and die.

My Non-Muscles. Wishing for some "guns" soon!

But I survived it. Yay! I'm proud of myself so far.

BodyRock Challenge

Hello everyone!

I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. I've been having some issues personally and mentally and emotionally that I decided to take a step back from all of the low carbing and weight loss and figure out what I want.

It's quite easy. 

1. I want to walk and NOT have my thighs rub together.
2. I want to have a flat tummy.
3. I want my thighs to not look like the huge Chinese hams you get for the New Year's Eve party.
4. I want to look good.
5. I want to feel good.

But I wasn't doing anything that will help me achieve any of those wants. I would be very strict and on plan for three days then when I step on the scale and I see that I haven't lost weight or, in fact, have gained, I would lose it. I would start making bad choices food-wise. I started getting depressed and loopy. I'm not kidding. Ask my husband. On second thought, let's spare him my crazy hahaha.

So I had to sit down with myself and really figure out what I want out of my life. Do I want my thighs to be forever rubbing together, looking like a pair of hams in skinny jeans? NO! I have admitted before that I am as shallow as the kiddie pool part in a water park. And as much as I don't want it to be so, my looks greatly affect how I feel. So I guess for my mental and emotional health, I am going to give this another go around. And this time I will be doing it.

No excuses. No results. I have to choose one or the other because it's not possible to have both.

A few weeks back I stumbled upon this website bodyrock.tv and I really admire Zuzana, half of the couple who runs the site. She is so inspiring not just because of the way she looks but how confident and grounded she is. Now if you Google her, you might find out some things about her past. I did but I didn't care. Everyone has a past, right? So just ignore those. and when you watch her workout videos you might think it's a bit too sexy for a workout video but... well... she can't help it. Zuzana is really sexy. 

Anyway, I adore her attitude and her verve for life. So I decided to include her workouts in my daily life. Now I am such a couch potato. I probably spend up to 12 hours on my butt. I know that's not good, it makes my butt even wider. I started today with her Absolute Beginners workout. It was tough for me, I was sweating so much and had to pause more than twice. But I kept pushing myself.

Here are the videos I did today:

Warm Up

Pt 1

Pt 2

Pt 3

Pt 4

Pt 5

Pt 6

Stretching

Her workouts are 10 to 30 minutes long and easy to follow. You can really see she works hard when she's doing the workouts, too. She's not perfect and sometimes she pauses as well. I like this about her. Also her accent is so cute.

This is my BodyRock challenge. To do Zuzana's workouts on her site by following her workout schedule. Wish me luck!

Coconut Flour, Finally!

My coconut flour order finally arrived today and I didn't waste any time at all. I used by best friend Google to find recipes and decided on Candice's Low Carb Cupcakes. The thing I like about Candice is she has a recipe for 12 cupcakes and another one for 6 cupcakes. I made the 6 cupcake recipe because I didn't wanna waste ingredients in case it didn't turn out well. Oh but it did! Look at my cupcake!

Eat me! It's okay! I'm Low Carb!

Isn't it beeyootiful? I'm going to make more! And lots of other things! So yummy and the texture was very cake-like. The frosting is a simple cream cheese frosting using Splenda and stevia. 

Have you tried coconut flour? What other recipes would you recommend I try?

Deelicious Meatballs

Forgive the pun. I couldn't help it.

A few months ago I bought an old (probably 1980's) cookbook just because I liked how the recipes looked inside. It didn't have colored photos, just drawings of the dishes. I found it charming so I got it. It was cheap, too. It has quite a few interesting recipes that can be tweaked to low carb. What I liked about the meatball recipes in this cookbook is that they were rolled and coated in coconut flakes. I've never heard of that before and I thought I'd incorporate it in this recipe.

The addition of coconut made these meatballs really interesting. I didn't put a lot of seasonings in them but it's perfect because the mild flavor allows you to make whatever kind of sauce you want. I added a tablespoon of Italian pizza sauce over mine and more parmesan cheese. It was delicious!

Deelicious Meatballs

Ingredients

3 cups ground beef

2 T flax meal

5 T ground parmesan cheese

pinch of Italian seasoning

one egg

1 cup coconut flakes

Directions

1. Beat egg. Add flax meal, ground parmesan and Italian seasoning.

2. Mix ground beef with egg mixture well..

3. Form balls and roll on coconut flakes until covered.

4. Bake at 350 for 10 - 15 minutes, turning once.

I also made a recipe card for this, so it can be printed out. Click on the picture below to see the large image.

Cashew Chicken and Lemon Cilantro "Rice"

Ever since the lovely Jessica of How Sweet It Is posted her recipe for Cashew Chicken, I knew I had to give it a try. Her food porn (yes, that's a real phrase. You don't believe me? Google it!) has always inspired me to drool and make something but since I'm doing low carb I really can't and shouldn't indulge in the delicious sweet treats she would share. So when this cashew chicken recipe debuted I was happy. Finally! Something I can make and enjoy and stay on plan. Yipee!

If you checked out the link for her Cashew Chicken, it's not like what I made at all. I had to make do with whatever fresh vegetables I could find at my local grocery store. I also skipped the cornstarch because I wanted to save carbs. 

For the side dish, I settled on Lemon Cilantro "Rice", again using the cauliflower rice I have come to love so much. The two paired very well together. The chicken was flavorful and the lemon in the rice brightened it up some more. The cashews were chewy and soft and oh so nutty delicious! Try this meal if you can because it is amazing and easy to make.

Cashew Chicken

*Adapted from How Sweet It Is

This is basically a stir-fry so remember to make your vegetables the same size so they cook at the same time.

4 chicken breasts, sliced into bite-size pieces (I didn't wanna throw away the skin so we just used it)

1 cup snow peas, sliced 1/2 inch pieces

1 cup young corn, sliced diagonally into thin pieces

1 cup red bell peppers, sliced into small cubes

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons sliced onions

100 grams cashew nuts

Olive oil

Soy Sauce

Splenda 

Salt 

Pepper

1. Salt and pepper chicken pieces. Heat olive oil in a wok or pan. Cook chicken in batches until browned. Set aside.

2. Add more oil and let it get hot. Saute garlic until fragrant then add onions and saute some more.

3. Add the vegetables. I did the corn and peas first because they're tougher. Add the cashews and stir while on medium high heat. 

4. Put the chicken back, stir frying some more. Lower heat. Mix 1 packet Splenda into 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and pour over chicken and vegetables. Depending on your taste, add more Splenda or soy sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Let everything cook together for another minute or two, stirring to coat the vegetables and chicken with the sauce.

5. Serve.

Lemon Cilantro Rice

1. Prepare cauliflower rice. After cooking in microwave, add a tablespoon of butter and stir so the butter melts and coats the "rice".

2. Add chopped cilantro onto the "rice" and the juice of half a lemon. Salt and pepper if needed. Toss.

3. Serve.

Mexican Dinner

When The Hubby bought a new oven we both agreed that it was the best oven we ever owned. It had five stove top burners, a large oven that I can fit 24 cupcakes in at a time (big whoop!) and most of all it came with a rotisserie and drip pan. We love to cook so this oven was really worth it.

However we haven't really used the rotisserie yet and over a year later we finally did. He just rubbed oil on two whole chickens and salted and peppered them, stuck them into the rotisserie and two hours later we had roasted chicken. It was very good and the skin was crispy delicious. We had tons of leftover chicken though so I asked on Twitter what I could make with leftover chicken. Chicken soup, chicken stir fry, chicken salad, these were just a few of the suggestions I got. But when Jamie of Your Lighter Side suggested her recipe for Chipotle Burrito Bowl I got a Mexican bee in my bonnet that I couldn't shake. I had to have something Mexican!

Hubby LOVES Mexican food. When we went to Boracay we stayed at this lovely hotel and they had pretty good Mexican food. If there's one thing he misses about the US the most, it's Taco Bell and he can only get it when we go to Manila. So I looked for recipes and researched high and low and finally decided on my Mexican Dinner : Chicken Enchilada with Spanish Rice.

It took a lot of prep work since there's basically three phases of this dinner: the Enchilada Sauce, making the Chicken Enchilada and then making the Spanish Rice. I did it all in three hours, not my best day in the kitchen. But everything turned out so well. Hubby made his own Spanish rice using Jasmine rice but I made cauli rice and it tasted wonderful.

Phase One: Enchilada Sauce

I looked for a good recipe and didn't have to look far. Linda Sue took care of that for me with her easy Red Enchilada Sauce.

Phase Two: Chicken Enchilada

Saute onions, red and green bell pepers in butter. Then add shredded chicken. I had about four cups of chicken. Then mix in a cup of the enchilada sauce. Pour into a baking dish, grate cheddar cheese on top and broil until cheese has melted. Top with sliced green onions if preferred.

Phase Three: Spanish Rice

Prepare cauliflower rice as usual. Saute a cup of "rice" in butter and add half a cup of Enchilada Sauce.

This dinner was very delicious. We still have leftovers which I am sure we will take care of. It definitely curbed that Mexican  craving. So if you love Mexican food, why not give this meal a try? Let me know what you think of it. 

    

Meat & Egg Fast

I've heard about the "Meat and Egg Fast" on LowCarbFriends.com before but I never thought I could do it. Eating just meat and eggs? No veggies? Cheese? Noooooooooooooo!!!!

But my friend Melissa of Less of Mimi did it for SIX DAYS and even though it turned her into a vegetable craver it really worked for her. So I figured I'd give it a try. I really liked it. I only had like two meals a day and never got hungry. I did this for two and a half days. It was supposed to be three but I miscalculated and in the middle of Day three I have ran out of eggs and edible meat. so I cut it short.

The best part was I lost 2.6 lbs since my weigh in on Monday when I began the fast. That's awesome, I know but I hope the loss sticks. If it does then I will do M&E three days a week and I am free to eat off plan for a day. I'm thinking Monday to Wednesday M&E and Saturday could be my free day.

Have you tried a meat and egg fast? Any kind of fat fast?

Monday Weigh In 2

Happy Monday! Happy last day of January! Can you believe how fast the days flew by? It's insane! Another month has passed.

I continued my low carb journey the day after my nephew turned 1. It was January 4th. On January 7th, I weighed myself and I was devastated to find out that I had regained 19 lbs and weighed 149 lbs.

Pictures and mirrors are my only truth, I'm afraid because in my head I am 115 lbs of hotness. LOL Yes! I am THAT delusional. But pictures and mirrors never lie, I've come to find out. No matter how hot and sexy I think I am the moment I see the truth I get devastated.

Cooking Spree!

Top Chef is one of my favorite reality shows. I just love watching all these talented chefs create dishes and fly high or crash and burn. The only thing I hate about Top Chef is it makes me wanna eat something after watching an episode. My favorite cheftestant right now on all Stars is Angelo Sosa and I really hope he wins. Sheesh! I hope I didn't jinx him.

Anyway, for the past three days I have been on a cooking spree. Not only a cooking spree but a SUCCESSFUL cooking sprees. See, I don't consider something I've made spectacular if the leftovers live in the fridge for more than two days.

So on Monday, I made an Asian style dinner with pork tonkatsu(which brought memories of being in Japan), warm Asian slaw and garlic "rice". It was such a filling meal and I just adore the tonkatsu sauce.

Tuesday had me hankering for more fried rice but this time I wanted the kind The Hubby and I used to make when I was still eating white rice mindlessly. We would go down to the kitchen at like 2 AM and make this fried rice and devour it. It's just rice with peas and corned beef, a touch of soy sauce for color and flavor. Since I had cauli rice left, I used that to make the fried rice. Then I wanted to put something very saucy and delicious and spicy on top. So I made Bicol Express, a local dish which is basically pork cooked in coconut milk with shrimp paste and lots of chilies. I wasn't able to find fresh green chilies so I used my chilies in oil. This was absolutely divine. The spicy sauce mixed with the "rice" was soooo good I almost forgot I was eating low carb.

Bicol Express

2 pork chops, deboned and cut into thin strips
1 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons shrimp paste
2 chilies cut thinly
2 cups green beans, french cut

First put the pork chops in a pot and heat it until all the oil and juices are liberated.Then add the coconut milk and let it simmer. Once the milk has reduced, add the chilies and shrimp paste and mix well. Lastly add the green beans and let simmer until the beans are tender crisp. Serve over cauli rice.

Since I wanted to push my luck, today I decided to go three for three and decided to make a low carb vanilla ice cream. I used David Lebovitz's recipe right here and since I didn't have an ice cream maker, I used the instructions he gave here. It took a while to make but oh my goodness, it was the best ice cream I've ever had... Seriously. It's so creamy and the flavor stays in your mouth even after the ice cream has melted.

The ice cream recipe left me with five egg whites so I decided to make Swiss Meringue Butter Cream which was something I used to make when I baked cakes. It's a very light frosting that involves making a meringue and then adding butter to it. I really love this frosting even though it's such a pain to make. I didn't follow a recipe because I've made this lots of times so I kinda know how to guesstimate.

SMBC (Swiss Meringue Butter Cream) Low Carb Style
5 egg whites
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sweetener, I used granular Splenda

I could type out the instructions but I don't wanna forget anything as this is quite finicky. So I will link to a video that taught me how to make it.

1:2:3 Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Now for tips... don't give up. My butter was being a little brat tonight and it didn't wanna melt and mix with the meringue. So I took the mixing bowl and heated it on my stovetop's smallest burner on its smallest flame for less than ten seconds. Then I started beating it again and the butter cream came together gloriously. I'm telling you, it's like witnessing a miracle every time I see butter cream coming together. If yours come out soupy, don’t fret. Stick the mixing bowl in the fridge for a few minutes then start beating again.

What am I gonna make tomorrow? I don't know yet but I'm kinda scared of ruining my streak. I have to be fearless!

Asian Style Dinner

This was a very delicious meal indeed! I am very proud of myself and if I could do it, I'd pat myself on the back LOL

How I made it:
Pork Tonkatsu
I marinated the pork chops in calamansi (lime will do), soy sauce, chili oil and ground ginger for about an hour. Then I dipped them in a beaten egg, dredged with coconut flour, dipped in egg again and another coating of coconut flour. Fry the pork chops in vegetable oil for at least five minutes each side. I love the "breading", it smelled wonderful while cooking and it didn't slide off. Yay!

For the sauce, I low carbed this recipe on Tess' Japanese Kitchen. It is addictive and it really goes well with the pork chops. It made the pork chops sing. Seriously.

Warm Asian Slaw
I had a head of cabbage so I low carbed this recipe on Epicurious.com but only used cabbage as the veggie. The sauce is delightful and quite addictive. Very interesting mix of flavors, too.

Garlic Cauli Rice
I made cauliflower rice then fried it in butter. Added salt and minced garlic. Fantastic!

All in all this dinner was a huge success. The Hubby hasn't had it yet but he says he will undoubtedly love it. I hope you're having a great dinner, too!

Just Another Manic Monday

Monday is considered by many as the beginning of the week. A lot of people start their diets on a Monday. It’s the perfect day to do it because it comes right after a weekend. Maybe you’ve decided to do a diet on Friday but since the weekend is coming up, you can tell yourself to indulge during the weekend and come Monday you’ll be stricter. Monday means business, start of yet another work week. It is a start of something new.

For me Mondays will mean weigh-ins and goal setting. Every Monday, I will stand on my digital scale (we bought a new one, by the way) and force myself to look at my current weight. Then I will measure, take body pictures and, finally, GASP! I will report everything here. I will call Monday my Accountability Day. In the blog entry I will also state what I plan to achieve in the coming week regarding activity. I’ve retrieved my copies of Zumba and Callanetics from my old laptop and there is actual space in our office that is not covered by unpacked boxes now so I have no more excuses.

So, let’s begin this week right:

Starting Weight: 149 lbs

Current Weight: 142.2

Measurements

Bust: 38

Waist: 33

Hips: 47

Thigh: 25

Arm: 13

I’m quite happy with the weight loss so far. I am not even on Induction levels of carbs but I am still getting results. That’s very encouraging because it means I don’t have to limit my eating habits too much in order to lose weight. However, it enrages me that my thigh can wear a 25-inch-waist jeans which means I need two pairs to look decent. ARGH!

WARNING: Picture time!

Goals for this week would be to do Zumba Basics and Cardio every other day for half an hour each session. I could probably increase when my fitness level gets better. I have to confess that I am a big couch potato. I spend my entire day in front of my computer, something I plan to lessen as well.

I’ve already done my Zumba for the day and wow! It made me sweat and upped my heartbeat and that was just from learning the steps. So, I’m looking forward to doing more of this and maybe if I can look half as good as the instructors on the DVD I will be a happy woman.

So that’s all for today. What are your goals for the week? Are you doing weigh-ins? Please share in the comments.

Preparation is Key

For most of us, doing a low carb diet not only changes what we eat but how we live. In some cases this can be a little stressful as lifestyle changes often are.

When I began low carb almost a year ago, I didn’t go out to eat in fear of eating off-plan accidentally. This stopped me and my husband from doing one of the things we really enjoyed. We loved restaurant hopping and trying out new dishes – come to think of it, I partially blame that for making my weight balloon like it did. But when I was finally brave enough to try a restaurant, I realized it was only a matter of reading the menu carefully, not being afraid to ask questions and special requests.

Another thing that helped me was making a large batch of a dish and keeping the leftovers for those times when I didn’t feel like cooking. Trust me, that happened a lot. Mini cheesecakes are perfect for a grab and go breakfast with a nice cup of coffee. I made more than three meals out of Lindasue’s Coney Island Chili recipe. SugarFreesheila’s Amazing Induction Friendly Pancakes were a must have in my fridge because it was not only delicious but I could eat with just butter and cinnamon or go crazy with cream cheese mousse and sugar free jam. Whenever I manage to convince my husband to make his awesome burgers, he would make ten to twelve patties out of two pounds of ground beef and I absolutely LOVE these burgers and have been known to eat one for every meal!

These were timesavers and also lifesavers. I’ve been in that situation where I just didn’t wanna prepare something and to have leftovers in the fridge helped me out big time because it prevented me from eating off plan.

Planning and preparing for the week ahead will stop you from making poor choices when it comes to eating. This is very important and the key to succeed in this way of eating (WOE).

Tips:

1. Make sure you have space in your fridge or freezer.

2. Invest in small, one-serving microwaveable plastic containers and zip lock storage bags to store your food in properly.

3. Make a recipe you LOVE. By love, I mean something you wouldn’t mind eating more than once in a week. For me it would be burgers and SFS pancakes but I am willing to try out other recipes. I’ve goofed up and made large batches of things I only liked and I didn’t eat it so it was very wasteful. Shame on me.

4.Portion control is very important! Just because you have 24 mini cheesecakes in the fridge doesn’t mean you can eat three for breakfast, two for lunch and two for dinner. Stop yourself! I know it’s difficult especially with low carb desserts like the cheesecake or those yummy cream cheese balls but do practice portion control. Personally I allow myself ONE mini cheesecake every day, not every meal. If I want two, I wait until later on in the day to see if I still want it. If you are one of those people who feels like portion control is impossible, then I suggest you don’t do low carb desserts or sweets for this exercise. A nice stir fry with beef and vegetables might be a better choice.

5. Eat. Don’t forget to eat what you have painstakingly prepared. Don’t be wasteful. When you open your fridge to look for some grub, really look at what you’ve made and decide. Oftentimes, I would open and close the refrigerator lots of times because I “couldn’t” find anything to eat, which is not true. So eat!

So arm yourself to protect against off plan eating by planning ahead and preparing your meals ahead of time. This will make our journey bump-free and stress-free and I don’t know about you but that’s the way I like it.

A Necessary Evil

Moving is probably one of the most stressful things a couple has to face together. First there's looking for a place to move. Once you've found that "perfect place" you have to pack up your stuff, everything you own into boxes. Then you have to haul those boxes into the new "perfect place" which, once you get used to, you'll call home. But the delightful journey doesn't end there. You also have to unpack. But no matter how many times you unpack your stuff you always see, to be digging through another one to find a tooth brush, or a universal adapter for your air conditioning unit or for tissues.

In the close to two years that we've been married, my husband and I have survived two moves. The first one just a block away after six months of marriage. After a year and a half we've moved to yet another house. A smaller one, in fact, that couldn't hold all of our possessions. My mother thanked us for the "new" wardrobes we gave them plus a generator set, a counter top, plastic tables and chairs and a sofa with two foot stools. Despite this, our new place is still in shambles. Our entire ground floor is dedicated to kitchen and dining room. We have no living room furniture down there. Our two fridges, standing freezer, stove and counter tops filled up more than half of the floor space. I already desperately miss my make shift kitchen. Many people has told us I could film my own cooking show there. Watch out Giada de Laurentis! Alas, we had to get rid of one of the counter tops that made up our "island".

This long introduction is not an excuse. I am telling you this right now. It is not an excuse that I've eaten off plan for two days. I take full responsibility. But when you're so stressed and cannot find cooking utensils and all the fridges are taped close, what can you do? So yes, I ate off plan. I am saying this out loud, to the few who will read this so I can take responsibility for it. There. It is out there. I can start again.

Because isn't this low carb journey just like any other? We all take it one step at a time. Here's my next step: grilled chicken with calamansi and soy sauce. No rice, please.

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New Look

Check out my new style! I'm loving it. I like the simplicity of the black text against white background but I also adore the whimsy from the font I used.

New Page
Check out the new page I created to thank all the people who kept me from going insane this past year. I don't even wanna know where I'd be now without these people... probably 50 pounds heavier. I don't even wanna imagine that! So thank you! Thank you!

More Updates
We are in the middle of moving to a new apartment. It is smaller but closer to places like grocery stores, pharmacy, church, etc. so life has been a little crazy around here. We've been packing and moving stuff.

How can two people accumulate so much stuff in less than two years, you ask? I honestly have no idea. But here we are with two fridges, a standing fridge, dining set that can sit six people, a couch, two footstools, two wardrobes, a recliner, a HUGE generator set... it goes on and on.

Moving day is less than 48 hours away. Wish us luck.

Eating low carb has been a challenge with the move, by the way. Tonight I had to cook eggs with sour cream and cheese using a plastic fork to move the eggs around while they cooked. I packed away all our cooking utensils including knives. Thank God for plastic forks. Thank God for take out.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and here's to an awesome week ahead!

New Year, Old Blog, Same Me

Realizations

When I moved my blog to a different site in October 2010, I didn't know that I would take a step back from my low carb journey.

What began as a week-long birthday celebration turned out to carb loading and cravings and bad feelings all in all. I realized a lot of things about myself. I realized that eating carbs makes me depressed and a witch with a B. My sleep cycle was erratic. I was practically in sugar comatose almost all the time. It depressed me even more that I had everything I needed to hop on the low carb wagon ANY TIME I wanted yet I chose evil sugary food every chance I got.

2010 In Review

It was in February 2010 when I started this blog. I was 155 lbs and felt like a big fat ugly slob. I didn't like myself. I didn't like the fact that my thighs rubbed together every time I took a step. I didn't like that I couldn't wear the cute outfits I owned. I didn't like that I felt so lazy all the time, needing naps in the middle of the day.

I've always known that my self-esteem is largely rooted in how I looked. Some might call me shallow and I would agree. I liked looking good. I took pride in my appearance, a lot of pride. It's not only because I wanted to be noticed but because it made me feel good to look good.

So that Saturday night in February, I decided unequivocally to do low carb. And it worked. The first two weeks I was on Atkins Induction,I lost 14 pounds! The loss wasn't visible but I could feel my clothes loosening up, giving me space to breathe. The weight loss slowed down but I didn't mind.

In July, my husband and I went on a trip to Singapore and even though I promised not to do hard core low carbing, I was still mindful of what I ate. When we got back from that trip, I was back on track.

My downfall was the October trip. I was out of control. I would order dessert with every meal, sugary cakes and cookies, ice cream, cheesecake, anything I wanted. When we got back from the week-long trip, I tried getting back on track but I couldn't. I would still make low carb meals but I would eat off plan during the Saturdays or when I go out with my family. I welcomed donuts and spaghetti, white rice and other sweets like they were long lost buddies of mine-- with arms wide open I embraced them. I embraced the evil.

Towards the end of 2010 I tried desperately to get back but the Holidays were coming and I just piled up excuses and more excuses on top of my already high in carbohydrates plate. I wanted to get a grip. I wanted to stop. I was in a downward spiral and instead of holding on, I find myself letting go. I was back where I started, depressed, feeling bad about myself and, worst of all, I had gained back 19 of the 25 lbs I've lost.

Moving Along in 2011

Today is Day Four of my Low Carb journey. I didn't go back to Induction levels in fear of failing disastrously. But I plan to lower my carb counts and avoid the stuff that make me crave evil sugar.

It is disappointing to be at almost the same weight as I was this time last year but I did this all with open eyes and didn't stop myself. It is all my fault. And only I can fix it.

I'm still thinking of my goals for this year but for sure it will include exercise and activities. I really would like to spend less time on the computer and quitting Facebook games will really help with that. I would like to try Zumba and walking at least 30 minutes a day. Once I have finalized my goals and action plan, I will post it here again.

Happy New Year, everyone and may this year be kinder to all of us!

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health:



The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 4,400 times in 2010. That's about 11 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 51 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 132 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 71mb. That's about 3 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was October 31st with 167 views. The most popular post that day was SugarFreeSheila's Amazing Induction Friendly Pancakes.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were lowcarbfriends.com, lowcarbpinay.blogspot.com, lusciouslowcarb.blogspot.com, networkedblogs.com, and facebook.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for low carb peanut butter pie, low carb pinay, deep fried bacon wrapped scallops, low carb pie recipes, and crustless peanut butter pie.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

SugarFreeSheila's Amazing Induction Friendly Pancakes April 2010
12 comments

2

Crustless Peanut Butter Pie November 2010
10 comments

3

About Low Carb Pinay October 2010
2 comments

4

OMG It's OMM! September 2010
1 comment

5

Weighing In October 2010

 

Here's to a better 2011 and more lost pounds AND exercise! What's your resolution?