The Keto Coach

So when I was pregnant with my littlest, one of the biggest cravings I had was grits. I'd never been a huge fan of grits before, but all of the sudden, it was all I wanted to eat. I would make cheese grits, top it with crumbled bacon, and that made unborn Hannah and I both very happy. 😂 Ever since, things like that have been a nostalgic kind of comfort food and one of the things I miss since starting Keto. When I make certain meals, I wish there was a kind of starch that would pair well that wasn't cauliflower rice or mash. I don't mind either of those things, but the texture of pre-made riced cauliflower has never been my favorite (I know I'm not alone). I've learned to make mashed cauliflower work, but only after a good bit of working on it do I really find it palatable. Anyway, the other day I was thinking, and I asked my husband if he thought I could make a "grits" knockoff by finely shredding cauliflower into granules and cooking it as if it w...

About a week ago, my friend sent me a video to let me know that one of her neighbors had given her some huge pepperocinis that were massive and that she wasn't going to use, and she wanted to know if I wanted them (gotta love when people think of you when it comes to weird food, right). Well I was super happy to accept her offer because of course, when life gives you massive pepperocini's, you make a Mississippi Roast with them. Now, if you don't already know, a Mississippi Roast is a famous recipe in the Keto community, I can't take any credit for it whatsoever. I actually don't know where it came from, all I know is that it's been in the regular dinner rotation in our household since the first time I read about it on Pinterest. It's SO easy to make, as it just cooks in the crock pot all day and makes your house smell AMAZING, and there's always leftovers to warm up throughout the week. Just make sure you give it plenty of time to cook, because the...

So, you have gathered the information you need to prepare you for success with a Ketogenic diet, but still need some guidance staying on track? Today, I'm listing my best tips for success with a Keto diet. 1. Water, water, water! Drinking a lot of water is an important part of any weight loss process, but it is especially important on Keto. Keto is a diuretic diet, meaning, it gets rid of your excess water stores (yay for getting rid of water weight!). However, this can mean dehydration, an imbalance of electrolytes, and generally feeling crummy overall. Sometimes, this can cause your body to crave sugar or salt, and can cause you to get knocked off track. You should be aiming to consume half your body weight in ounces, daily. For example, a 200 lb person should drink 100 ounces of water. 2. Do your research While I was getting ready to start Keto, I read all the blogs, articles and resources I could find explaining the Keto diet, what I could eat, what to avoid, how Keto ...

So, this is going to sound RIDICULOUS, but I am actually starting to get a little tired of pizza. I literally, never in my life, thought I would say those words. It's not so much PIZZA that I'm tired of, as much as it is keto-pizza-replacements, probably... but since those are my only options right now, we'll act like I'm tired of pizza. However, our family's weekly tradition is pizza-movie Fridays. I usually will have a couple of frozen pizzas in my freezer, and will cook one of those for my kids, and then make a Fathead pizza for my husband and I. Anyway, I was starting to get a little bit "over" it. That, and the fact that I've been re-watching Parks and Rec and the character "Ben" mentions his love for calzones every few episodes or so, gave me the idea to try and make a Fathead calzone. If you haven't made a "Fathead" dough yet, it's basically cheese and almond flour. Some variations add an egg, some do not. For th...

The first time I ever stepped foot in a gym, I was at least 100 lbs overweight, and to say I was "intimidated" would have been a VERY generous way of putting it! I felt like EVERYONE was fitter than me, everyone was staring at me, and everyone was secretly laughing at me behind my back. I was so out of place, I didn't even feel comfortable looking at my reflection in any of the many mirrors. I was afraid to try anything new, to gravitate from any of the "easy" machines, or to ask for help. The thing is, none of these feelings had to do with anything that was actually going on, and had everything to do with what was going on in my head. Even though I may have gotten a couple condescending glances here and there, no one was opposing me and my workouts more than the voice in my own head! I had heard before "we wouldn't worry so much about what others think of us, if we realized how rarely they did," but it was difficult to put in practice in m...

So yesterday we had a surprise stormy day here in Tampa, the kind that makes you want to go home and curl up in your PJ's and eat something hot. We had church in the morning, I worked a few hours, dashed home for lunch and came back for the kid's last night of Awana and parent night. The whole thing was a bit much, I don't really enjoy large, crowded children's events and the evening ended with me being yelled at by a random dad who accused me of cutting in line because I sent my six year old to stand in line with my husband who had been holding a spot. I was accused of being entitled even though we were all standing in line for free ice cream... so, that was fun. We came out to a pretty bad storm and driving home took twice as long as normal because the road ahead was white with the rain. Anyway, all we wanted to do by the time we got home was put on pajamas, sit on the couch, eat some comfort food and go to bed. I was so grateful that I had chosen this day to experime...

So, April has been a bit frustrating. I came into the month super excited! I just knew this was going to be the month that I FINALLY hit my "onederland" goal that I have (literally) been working towards for years now. I am right past the halfway point of my ultimate weight loss goal (which will ultimately be 120 lbs) and as of now, I have lost 62. More than half way there! All I want is to get to the 190's. It's not too much to ask! I lost 17 lbs in February, the shortest month of the year! I even got a pedicure for the "look I finally did it, here's my feet on a scale that says '199' on it!" picture (no, I'm not kidding).  BUT alas... Here I sit at 203. In the past, if I plateau'd for more than a few weeks, I would just throw in the towel. A BIG part of that problem was that I was thinking of my diet as something that was a punishment, and deprivation that was unfair. I was CLEARLY sacrificing so much by abstaining from junk food an...

So, it goes without saying that I love bacon (and duh, who doesn't?). Bacon is basically a "staple" to a Ketogenic diet as it has the perfect fat-protein ratio with zero carbs. BUT, there's just one problem. I HATE cooking it because it makes such a mess! The grease pops all over my stove, on the clothes I'm wearing and makes everything greasy. The leftover grease is a pain to dispose of, and it often gets way too crispy and hard for my taste. A while back, I saw someone post their "twisty bacon" to Instagram, so I figured a way to make it in the oven, and every time I have posted it, I have gotten a super intrigued response from people who also want to learn how to make it. It's super easy, doesn't make a mess, and gets the texture just right. So, what you're going to do is take your cookie sheet and thoroughly cover it with aluminum foil. Take your raw bacon, one end in each hand, and twist it into a spiral! Bake it in a...

If I told you that I was in a toxic, codependent relationship that was [literally] slowly killing me every day, you would tell me to leave! If I told you that this relationship had been an unhealthy part of my life since adolescence, and that I was too deeply entrenched to break free, you would probably tell me to get help. If I told you that this relationship was chipping away at my self-esteem, self-worth, mental health, ability to get through the day, immunity, physical health and well-being, you would (hopefully) again, urge me to GET OUT OF IT. Unfortunately, the relationship that I'm describing is not one that I could divorce myself from completely, nor was it a thing I could live without. I was not only completely obsessed, I was completely dependent. This may sound ridiculous, until I tell you that this relationship was my relationship with food. I couldn't end this relationship gracefully, because I couldn't just stop eating! The first few years of my mar...

When I first started my weight loss journey, I honestly had absolutely no idea what I was doing or where to start! I kind of had a roller-coaster couple of years with lots of wasted time, because I didn't know how to motivate myself or to cultivate self-discipline. I had let myself get to a place of weak resolve and was very easily led off course from my fitness goals.  Maybe you're standing at the beginning of your weight loss journey and are in a similar place; you don't know where to start or the goal looks too big. Today, I want to share some tips that I wish I really understood a few years ago that could have helped me not waste so much time. - Decide on an attainable goal, and put it in writing. In my closet, I have a list of weight loss goals I would like to accomplish, and the dates by which I would like to accomplish them by. Since I know that I am not a "lose 27 lbs in a month" person, I've set most of my goals at an average of 5-6 lbs ...

So, I've had a rough couple of days hormonally... the kind of days when you are crampy and bloated and feel like you could eat a small country, you get my drift. I have been wanting dessert something AWFUL so today I decided to do some experimenting in the kitchen and create these Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are sugar, gluten, and grain free. I had about a half a bag of Lily's Chocolate Chips in my pantry, plus some uneaten Lily's Milk Chocolate Bar. I used both for this recipe! The two different chocolates add a nice flavor contrast! You can find the Lily's chocolate chips at Whole Foods, or you can order them  here!  (They're a bit cheaper at Whole Foods). Recipe for Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies: 1 1/2 Cups Almond Flour 1/2 Cup Salted Butter (softened) 3/4 Cup Erithritol Sweetener 1 TSP Vanilla Extract 1 Egg 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 Cup Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Chips 1/2 One Lily's Chocolate Bar (optional) ...

One of the most problem reasons why people don't end up sticking to their diets is because they feel deprived and hungry! I know this personally because when I was doing carb-heavy calorie-restricting diets like Weight Watchers, I felt like I was starving to death every day. I would lose weight at first, and then when I was exhausted by the constant feeling of deprivation, I would say "SCREW IT!" and pig out, usually gaining all my weight back and resigning to the fact that I would always be fat. It took me a long time to figure it out, but what I was doing by eating often and eating a diet rich in carbs, I was causing my blood sugar to rise and fall all throughout the day. My body would get a "hit" of glucose in the morning, spike my energy for a short period, and then crash in a couple hours and feel even hungrier than I did when I woke up that day. An average day of eating looked like this: Morning: Coffee with sweetened creamer, a bagel or oatmeal wit...