Saturday, 20 January 2018

Low-carb January - 20 days in

Hi readers,

How are we doing this week?? Are you well? I’m sending love!

If you’re reading this, you survived Blue Monday and a week of sleet, hail and scraping the car windscreen, and it’s now the weekend! Our third weekend of January 2018 – possibly the best yet?? Who knows! Let’s hope it is.

I’m checking in, firstly, to report on my progress with low-carb January. I’m closing in on three weeks low-carb now, readers, and feeling much better now. I have more energy than before and I don’t get palpitations walking uphill now (well, any more than I did before taking on the diet).


And my spots have cleared up – hurray! Also, I’ve notice I bloat much less than normal on this diet. Previously, I’ve never ever used the term bloating as I haven’t once noticed it happening. Normally, I roll my eyes when people refer to their stomach / food baby as bloating because it’s just FOOD and VITAL ORGANS inside you.

But, yeah, suddenly I’m eating low-carb and I don’t find my jeans pinching my belly bar. And I don’t have to undo them half way through the day – it’s a revelation. I think I’m just not bloating! Which is pretty cool. How are you doing, readers, if any of you took on a low-carb January too? Are you doing okay? Feeling good?

Hang in there!! Eleven days to go.


The only things I’m battling this week, readers, are vivid dreams. I’m dreaming proper film plotlines – they’re elaborate, emotional, complex. Then I wake up feeling a bit dazed and I spend the drive to work trying to piece together the full plotline and remember all its details. Puzzling what it could possibly mean.

I can’t say it’s the low-carb diet giving me such a wild dream life. Honestly, it’s more likely to be anxiety over how broke I am. But they’re certainly making life interesting! Have you been having any perplexing dreams, readers? Or maybe you just have a sense there was a big dream you had, but you can’t remember it now? Perhaps it will come back to you.

Who knows. This week, readers, I’m recommending my new fave song, IDGAF - Dual Lipa. I’m listening to this basically on repeat and learning all the words – it’s such feel good music! I relate. Also, a bit of an odd one, but By My Demon Eye – This Is The Kit. Because I like singing the part about gypsy wives. And I’ve rediscovered Changes – Tupac, which is a great track. Always worth a listen.


And, do go see Three Billboards Outside Epping, Missouri at the cinema, readers. If you liked Manchester by the Sea, if you enjoy dark humour, if you want to watch something which may have you laughing and crying. And will likely have you contemplating life still, days later, then I do recommend.

Also, recipe time. This week I write to you, readers, to recommend the Quick and easy keto plates section of the Diet Doctor website (click HERE). For anyone looking to eat low-carb without spending an hour in the kitchen each evening, this is a page full of recipes for plates you can throw together in no time at all.


I’m finding these recipes to be a godsend. After a long weekday at work, readers, then commuting, gyming, showering and washing my hair… turning the oven on just seems a hardship. I want to be enjoying my evening! And eating food before bedtime.

So, to be able to cobble together a plateful of colourful, flavoursome, low-carb foods in 15 mins max – this suits me perfectly! Take a look at some of the keto plates I’ve bene enjoying recently…

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RECIPES

Keto halloumi cheese and avocado plate



Click HERE for the recipe. 

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Keto fried salmon with asparagus


Click HERE for the recipe.

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Keto mackerel and egg plate




Click HERE for the recipe.

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Keto Tex-Mex burger plate



Click HERE for the recipe.

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Keto shrimp and artichoke plate



Click HERE for the recipe.

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Keto salmon-filled avocados




Click HERE for the recipe.

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Keto crab meat and egg plate



Click HERE for the recipe.

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Keto salmon and spinach plate



Click HERE for the recipe.

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Honestly, I wasn’t sure about the mackerel plate. But I don’t like fried eggs so I should have seen that one coming, really! And all the others I greatly enjoyed, readers. I cheated a little with the Tex-Mex burger and grilled a Quorn burger, instead of making one from scratch, but otherwise the recipes were all easy to follow and achievable in quarter of an hour.

What do you think? Would you give these keto plates a try, readers? Do they give you any fresh ideas for flavours you could pair together on a plate, perhaps?

These recipes can be lifesavers on a weekday! I’m predicting it’s going to be tough these next ten days to keep up my motivation for low-carb January, as we near the end. But, with some good recipes on my side, I’m sure I’ll battle on! Watch this space for some further inspiration for low-carb cooking.

Take care, readers, and have a wonderful rest of your weekend. Make it count.

Sing with abandon,


Hayley



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