The Spring Low Carb Challenge just kicked off today! 🙂 You can get all the details at that link, or on the low carb challenge page.
If you participated in the 1st Quarter Challenge, you’ll find the Final Weigh-In here. You can also weigh in right here instead of on Facebook by leaving a comment below.
I really struggled the first few months of this year, due to being sick with a lingering flu and a new medication that caused weight gain. Ugh! 😛 I’m off to see my doctor this morning, so I’m hoping to finally get WELL.
I’m not sure what my starting weight is this Monday morning, as I’ve been off schedule and didn’t sleep enough to get a true weigh-in. But my weight on Sunday morning was 146.2 pounds – so we’ll just go with that for now. 😉
I am SO glad to be off the med that kept me from getting and staying in Ketosis, and hoping (FINGERS CROSSED!) that I can finally drop this 10 pounds that creeped on over the last three months. That’s been so frustrating.
Here we go then, together, hitting our goals HARD for the next 90 days… just in time to look and feel AMAZING all summer long! 🙂
I’ll give you a quick photo tour of all my low carb meals for the last three days, to give you some easy low carb food ideas – including a GREAT new recipe you’ll LOVE…
Friday’s Low Carb Meals
I started my day off simple: 1/2 cup (60 grams) of raw pecans.
That comes to 2 net carbs and 420 calories, so its a very LCHF food that fills you up – but it’s super portable and not messy. Which is why I *love* pecans for a quick meal/snack on the go, in the car, or at my desk. 🙂
My low carb lunch WAS mess, lol – or looked messy at least. 🙂
It was delicious though! This was leftovers from my low carb meal at Ruby Tuesday: tilapia, zucchini, green beans, broccoli, parmesan cream sauce…
My friend Caroline came over for the weekend, so we tested out that Thai Shrimp recipe from the March Keto Krate using Eliot’s Spicy Thai Peanut Butter.
We served it with roasted vegetables with a little low carb rotini pasta mixed in.
I loved it, and cleaned my plate. 🙂
NOBODY else at the table liked it though – just to let you know;) lol.
Peanut butter in my dinner was definitely an odd experience 😛 but I *did* enjoy the meal. If you get the Keto Krate too, have you tried this yet??
Saturday’s Low Carb Meals
We had a big hike planned for Saturday, so we had a quickie fast food breakfast that morning. I had “2 fried round eggs and 2 sausage patties, please” from McDonald’s:
We packed light for our hike but I knew we’d have to feed 4 while we were on the trails, so I packed lightweight nutrient-dense high calorie foods in our packs.
Our awesome low carb lunch spread on top of Horsepound Falls included: raw pecans, Cello Whisps, seasoned beef & beef jerky, Pili Nuts, an LC Snack Pack, salami bites, string cheese, Rawxies Smoked Paprika and cocoa roasted almonds.
That made for 4 HAPPY hikers after a strenuous trek. 😉
We had to make dinner for four when we got back too, and I *knew* we’d be totally wiped out after THIS particular hike, so I had a quick & easy low carb meal in mind…
It started with a huge pan of roasted veggies, which made for a super fast but delicious low carb side. The broccoli was frozen, the green beans and zucchini and cherry tomatoes and garlic clove were fresh. It was all doused in olive oil and garlic powder real quick – then you bake it at 375 until desired doneness (lol).
Here’s what it looked like before it went in the oven:
I love my veggies roasted CRISP but for the men we didn’t cook them as long as usual. They were more “sauteed-like”, without having to stand over the stove. 🙂
I had pulled out chicken to thaw before we left, with intentions of making that popular low carb parmesan/mayo chicken recipe you see all over the web.
Except I wanted to make it with a little KICK. 🙂
We used the Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo and Parmesan, baked that for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, then topped the breasts with Organic Tomato Basil Sauce & mozzarella – and stuck it under broil for a few minutes.
It turned out DELICIOUS! 🙂
You can see the nutrition facts & ingredients at these links:
Organic Low Carb Tomato Basil Sauce
Of course my friend Caroline was doing the cooking. 😉
We only had 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 pounds) so she butterflied them in halves to make four. This quick “throw it all in the oven after FAST prep” meal fed all four of us really well!
Caroline is an executive chef and caterer, by the way. 🙂 We calculated that this beautiful low carb meal came out to around $3 per plate.
Sunday’s Low Carb Meals
Caroline got up the next morning and made one of her famous GIGANTIC omelets for breakfast. 🙂 This big beautiful ham & spinach omelet fed all four of us!
I had about half my serving for breakfast (below) and the other half later in the morning after everyone left.
Once the house was quiet I settled into dishes, laundry, editing the photos from our hike, and prepping my work for the week.
I had my favorite “low carb cereal” for lunch:
1/2 cup pecan pieces, 1/4 cup Daisy Brand cottage cheese & 4 small strawberries. That comes to 5 net carbs and 85% healthy fat.
For dinner I just finished off some of the hiking foods we brought back with us: Johnsonville salami bites, Pili Nuts and the rest of the Rawxies Smoked Paprika:
I absolutely LOVE Pili Nuts! They were a HUGE hit on the hike too. 🙂
Check out EatPiliNuts.com to learn more about them. They’re an amazing nutrient-dense food, and buttery soft!! If you decide to order some, use coupon LOWCARBTRAVELER (all caps) for a special discount from me to you. 🙂
Here’s my MyFitnessPal Food Diary for Sunday:
Macronutrients: Simple Explanation Of Low Carb Macros
How To Get A Net Carbs Column in MyFitnessPal
Net Carbs: 21
Total Carbs: 36
Calories: 1745
Protein: 69 grams
79% Fat / 16% Protein
Water: 52 ounces
I got an AMAZING workout on our hike this weekend. 🙂
I use a Fitbit Charge 2. The “floors” are calculated as 10 feet of climbing UP (only) – not down. So we did well over 1,000 feet of inclines on our hike. And again, that doesn’t include any of the climbing down that we did.
We had such a GREAT time on our group hike. 🙂
Not only did we hike HARD over crazy terrain, we also did a lot of climbing on our off-trail adventures. It was an amazing day!!
You can see a fun photo tour of the hike here:
I’m planning another adventurous “outdoor workout” (hike!) on Wednesday. I’m aiming to get my body back in amazing shape during this challenge! 🙂
I’m also hoping being OFF the meds will help me get back into ketosis so this weight will melt back off of me during this challenge. 😛
Wherever you are on your own health & weight loss journey… we’re all in this together. Whether you have more than 100 pounds to lose, you’re currently in maintenance mode, or you’re struggling through a plateau – I’ll be right here with you every step of the way!
How are things going for you?
Don’t forget to weigh in, for the last challenge, the new challenge, or both!
Are you feeling MOTIVATED and excited about reaching your goals?!
Leave a comment & let’s talk. 🙂
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
p.s. They’ll be shipping the April Keto Krate box soon! I can’t wait to see what we get this time. 🙂 🙂 Are you signed up to get one? If not, you should try it out!;)
Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER
Monday, April 3 Weigh-In 176lbs
Signed up last night for the challenge! I don’t have a Facebook anymore though (hubby and I deleted ours when we got married lol) We do have a joint instagram, and I do have my own IG for fitness/beauty, etc, but that’s it (TheDaileys or FitFaithBeauty) How can I do weigh ins and participate? Thank you!
Lynn,
It is really dangerous to abruptly discontinue an SSRI like Lexapro without tapering or medical advice. I also think it is really irresponsible to cavalierly announce that you would rather suffer those consequences than continue to not lose weight. I’m sorry, I have enjoyed your posts but I am unsubscribing.
That’s cool Terry, that’s totally up to you. 🙂 I think I DID mention that I cut it down to half a dose first, which is the week I lost 5.2 pounds in 7 days (finally!).
The problem is… my side effects were getting worse by the day. I was going blind to the point of not being able to read a speed limit sign – and the last full moon, I saw TWO of them.
Anyway, I tapered down, then quit. The side effects were BAD for me. It wasn’t just about the fact that I couldn’t get or stay in ketosis (due to the effect on glycemic index and blood sugar) – but I was literally going blind, swelling up, and having a severe reaction to it.
I would rather go back to the insomnia and anxiety – and deal with that some other way. For now. I’m seeing my doctor next week regarding the options.
Looks like a fun weekend and great food. I had intentions of getting out to hike with my friend but ended up doing housework all day and just going out to dinner with her. But that was lovely, I got the seafood platter at a restaurant nearby (inspired by your Ruby Tuesday dinner that I just had to have something similar to) …both her and I were proud of myself for only drinking water while we were out. That’s always a struggle for me but it’s important to me right now that I don’t drink…its hard…but I’ve been doing really good with it so even when I fall I’m still proud of myself for the efforts. I weighed in at 149 on Saturday and another goal of mine is not to way again until May 1st so that I stop with the scale Obsession since I kind of have a problem with that as well. I’m going to focus on keeping my net carbs closer to 15 than 20, drinking LOTS of water and exercising a minimum of three days a week. I’m about to jump in the shower to warm up and then do some sit-ups and push-ups (which isn’t quite enough but at least it will get my day started with)… Hopefully I will squeeze another exercise in later today. Maybe I just need to admit that mornings aren’t the time that I like to exercise but that’s the time that I want to do it so I have to push. Good luck to you and thank you so much I’m excited to weigh in a month and see where I’m at. Thank you so much for all you do for all of us. Please come hike with me 🙂
Sounds like a fun filled weekend! It’s great now that the weather is warming up. I spent all day yesterday getting my garden ready and planting some early spring plants. I’m feeling it today!
I’m restarting your challenge today. I did really good for a month and only lost 4# and 1″ and it frustrated me. I thought I can lose 1#/week by eating whatever I want and just watching calories. Well I’m slowly gaining the 4# back! I need restrictions! I am going to weigh more often because I wonder if dairy was causing me to lose slowly or maybe age!
Loved the pic of your guy!
I have been following you now for about a month. I’m excited to start the challenge today. Years ago I was very successful at low carb but put weight back on. I’ve still kept over 70 pounds off but I want to get back down to where I was when I got to my lowest. Being over weight my whole life I got cocky when I lost weight and started getting attention. I’m finally ready to get back on track. Starting weight today 293.
Here’s to a great 90 days!
Starting weight: 231.4
Already down 15 lbs from the last few months but I had a tragedy in March and couldn’t think of keeping up with LCHF. Looking forward to getting back on track.
Hello! I am excited to start this journey. I have been stuck at 140lbs for a while and would love to get down to 125lbs. I have also been on some crazy meds due to rheumatoid arthritis. Off of some of those now but am now swelling. Need to figure it out with my Dr to find meds that help me both stay in ketosis but not swell. Looking forward to getting down to my goal weight by this summer which also marks my 2 years on this journey.
Ok, I am in this……I have a habit of starting off very strong and then a dang cookie or brownie will take me off course—-big time!!!!
Starting weight 325.7
Oh my goodness, I actually am admitting that!!! To my shame!!! I need to lose this and I need all the encouragement that I can get just to start true to LC.
what a great weekend!! I’m jealous of all that fun!! LOL
I’m in for the new challenge…. I ended your last challenge with a 16 pound loss, wish it was more but March was a hard month….kids got sick, busy crazy schedule and well not good planning on my part!
so lets do this!!
starting fresh today at 258.4
thanks for all the motivation on IG, FB and your emails!!
I am ready to do this. Starting weight 174
Keep us updated on your doctor visit!
I’ve been following you for a few months now and I’m glad you’ve figured out it was the Lexapro that was causing the issues, but a quick taper down would be a much better choice over quitting cold turkey – I know from experience. I know you weren’t on it for very long, but for your many followers, please remind them to consult with their doctors before stopping ANY medication abruptly, even if they think it could be stalling their weight loss. It can be very dangerous. 🙂
You’re right Erin – I did mention that in previous updates, but some people may have missed that part of the story. I was negligent not to include that in this post, considering some people are new here.
I did lower the dose by half first, then by more, THEN quit taking it. And not JUST because I wasn’t losing weight. It affected my vision dramatically, to the point that I couldn’t read a speed limit sign as I was passing it even, among other strong reactions, which were MUCH worse than the weight gain.
I thought I was having a severe allergic reaction to it as well. The nurse gave me a steroid shot this morning, but said she thought it was just an upper respiratory infection – lingering from my bout with bronchitis at the same time they put me on the Lexapro – instead of an allergic reaction.
So we may never know. Because I’m not taking it AND she put me on another round of antibiotics (too). Either way, hopefully I’ll get WELL now. 🙂
Thanks for clarifying, and for explaining your reasoning. Those sound like very scary symptoms, and I probably would have done the same thing!! I took Lexapro for quite a while (over a year) for my depression, and even with a very slow taper the withdrawal was brutal. I hope that you are on track to getting better as well. Keep on keto-ing on!!!
222.2
Needing to regain control and focus
Morning start sausage eggs cheese and coffee
Water since then breakfast was about 815 am
Started last challenge very late but starting this one on time! Starting weight 165lbs.
My weight had stalled at the end of last year and with the last challenge I did drop about 5 lbs. My mom was diagnosed with some some (stressful for me) health issues and needless to say I fell off the LCHF WOE wagon & put on about 18 pounds since the end of January (She also has Alzheimer’s which I am her caregiver for about 29 months so far)
My starting weight as of Saturday was 228 & I said enough is enough! No more crap!!! I cannot control all the extra stuff happening in my world but I can control what goes into my mouth!! In April 2016, my first challenge I weighed 262 & I hope to lose 30 pounds by the end of this challenge. Would love to get into
One-Der-Land!!!
Lynn, I’m sorry people are chastising you for being honest about your decision. You obviously never told anyone else to do the same thing….hope you can brush it off your shoulders and know that not all of us took that so sensitively. You did it because you thought it was the best choice for you, so good for you. I hope all is going well.
Damn, lay off her people.
Starting the spring challenge. I keep falling off the wagon, but here I go again. Monday, april 3, I weight 150.1. My goal at the end of the 90 days is at least 140lbs. I’m going to FL this summer and I DO NOT want to buy a larger swimsuit, lol
Hi Lynn,
I was on Lexapro and felt great too but the side effects outweighed the benefits. I am now taking Viibryd and that seems to be working well and No weight Gain!
Good luck to you.
Starting weight is 165. Looking to lose 30 lbs! Good luck everyone. Lord knows I need it.
Starting weight is 320 and staring 4/3/2017
Ready 2get fit & lose 10-15 lbs. Due to a health issue I am now salt restricted, so will be reading labels very carefully.
Thanks for all the hard work you put into your posts, makes me want to walk & hike with ya’ll. We can do it!!
I started yesterday, but starting weight is 249.8. I’ve done low carb before but got overwhelmed trying to make complicated recipes with uncommon ingredients. I LOVE your website and appreciate all the work you put into helping people like me 🙂
Im so pissed. I just wasted 5 days on extreme low carb foods, except, i just found out I blew it because I was eating imitation crab meat!.. I thought it had like 1 carb in it!
A little late, but here goes….
Starting weight this Monday, April 3rd, was 78,8kg (173,7 lbs). Looking to lose 20kg (44lbs). I’m pretty short and curvy, and that is the weight I’ve felt most comfortable with, so that’s my goal 🙂 Have a great day, thanks for setting up the challenge.