Keto, Chia & Girls

Hi Nae!
You didn't call yesterday so I assume you were busy. I'm going to try you a little later today though unless you'll be busy.

Chia Pudding Recipe

You can change it up and add cocoa powder or whatever flavoring you wish. It kind of has the texture of tapioca with crunchy seeds, so if that bothers you, you can grind up the seeds before hand or blend it.
Extremely high fiber, 2g net carbs as long as you use soy/almond/coconut milk. Sometimes I make a bowl and just take a few bites throughout the day to spread the fiber out. Completely painless way t get fiber if you ask me.

Also at Walmart/Kroger they have low carb tortillas, same thing, 6g net carbs but like 12g of fiber. I don't usually have both the pudding and the tortillas on the same day, so it gives some variety and keeps your tummy happy.

As for keto - the only differences between that and regular low carb is keeping your daily carbs under or between 20-30 net grams a day, and most of your calories come from fat (low carb, normal protien, high fat). Puts you in ketosis (NOT ketoacidosis) and makes you burn fat for energy. Your body makes the little bit of glucose it needs for brain and organ function, everything else runs on your fat stores.

At the beginning, Gary was really worried about this diet worsening his cholesterol/heart disease/blood pressure issues, so a lot of the links I have are geared toward that. For any other questions you can google it probably, like "keto diet and mood benefits" or "keto diet and PCOS" etc. But here's some to get you started.

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq#wiki_welcome_to_the_.2Fr.2Fketo_faq
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/sugar-heart-attack_b_4746440.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/saturated-fat/tips-tricks-for-starting-or-restarting-low-carb-pt-ii/

Some are just written by laymen, some are written by actual MD's. If you're interested in looking into the science (Gary wasn't :p ), then try here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience

The keto/Atkins diet has a very bad wrap because many people think it is a high protein diet (proven dangerous), but its not it's normal amount, and also because people have been previously taught that high dietary fat = high cholesterol & heart disease (it doesn't, but the science is new).

Keto diet is recommended treatment for epilepsy and several other brain conditions, fatty liver disease, & PCOS.
Obviously you should discuss this with your dietitian, because you do have other health issues that might make a difference. We had blood tests right before we started, and will be getting more at the 3 month mark.

Really important things to remember if you start this - you NEED a high amount of sodium and electrolytes each day (explained in a few of those links) and you have to drink tons of water, no exceptions. Neither of us ever got the "keto flu" (low electrolyte symptoms).

If you have any questions you can ask me too, I've been reading up on it almost every day of the 20 we've done so far, so I either know the answer or can point you where to find it! :)

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Now for the fun stuff! Cutie Pies!

 Looks like an angel, acts like a devil!!

 I was trying to take a picture of my eye shadow, 

but she wouldn't let me put her down. :p

 We are Texan, after all...

 Cute Willow after getting her hair cut.

 Gary's Mom cutting Maggie's hair in our kitchen.

 What can I say, it's in her blood?

Willow bought a pair of clear play glasses to be like me & Gary, she loves them, 

looks goofy & adorable. Actually wore them to school a few times!

She is leaving for Texas for spring break + 1 day. :( The entire sprink break....gone for Easter... I hate this and sometimes, I hate them (Tim & Jenni). *sigh* Going to be super lonely and low, because my Malaysian friend (Izzy) is going on vacation at the same time, so I'll either be posting here a lot or bothering you on the phone!

I hope you're feeling better, and please let me know if there is anything I can do if you're not.

 Gary and I were talking just this morning about that time we met you guys in NM and how fun that was, and how good of a time we could have had if we had had longer, and that we would like to see/visit you guys again. Hopefully with our income stabilizing and yours increasing, we can make that happen in either 2015 or 16! We love you, talk soon!

This week

Today this afternoon my friend Amanda is going to pic me up. I'm not sure what were doing to hangout but later I will goto my first rope class with her and will probably get tied up nice and good and I can't wait to try it.

She has an early morning so she will drop me off at Wills house. Will never has any concrete plans so I'm not sure whats on the agenda.

Talking to a new friend lady and she says I'm beautiful in my floor pic.

Me and Steve will hangout good on Thursday and then Fri and sat I will see Will and Sunday I will see an old friend Noufou.

I would like Keto links and chia pudding and more pics of girls!

shoulder now, scars still turn purple in water but 3/4 are almost invisible the big one is less raised now but still big

Hi hi swiss miss

I'm glad your feeling better sissy. I love low carb diet to me that and eating veges makes the most difference out of anything.

Your glasses do look super trendy, you could be a gap jeans model lol I like them :)

What is your class combo on diablo 3??

I have been playing minecraft and I wish you could join me some day. Mutts world is the best free server out there other than mine lol

Soon I'll have to show you some pics of my building when it's done. This is a different one so I do have like 3 in progress lol

"As for too many solo interests; I think that just becomes necessary when you are the one who stays at home. To stay sane, to keep from being needy and so there is not so much pressure on your spouse to keep you happy when all they want to do is come home and tune out. You have to find things to do alone to occupy your time and mind besides chores so that your relationship stays strong. Sounds counter-intuitive, but it's true!"

This is very true but then what do you do when. They never ever tune you back in?? Or if you forget how to deal with other people? Or if you grow apart into different people? Guh being an adult is pure frustration sometimes lol

I was doing really well for a few weeks ummm 2 weeks ago. But last couple weeks have been pretty shitty. Insurance is refusing to cover all my meds, Not on my 55,000mg of Vit D anymore so I'm having mood and pain issues, No Victoza so I'm having sugar, stomach, gut, hunger and pain issues. Not insurance fault but stores are out of Farxiga so no major sugar meds. Insurance won't cover Actos either so I'm off that. They also canceled my welbutrin rx. So I'm also having MAJOR mood issues as well as withdrawal symptoms. I'm a fucking mess. But I see Meg soon so hopefully by the end of the month I might see a light at the end of the tunnel. Please cross fingers for me though honestly it is so hard for my mood to be so depressed and be in so much pain, and so sugar sick :(

My stomach shrinking still seems to be working even though I am without stomach injections. I occasionally fall off the wagon but I get full and so it's hard to force myself to eat too much. So hopefully if I keep being cognizant of it Ill never get to the point where I need to eat an entire large pizza to feel satisfied ever again.

Girls and Willow especially look so pretty.

Please give me recipe for chia pudding?!?!?!

I apologize for the massive picture dump, I've been trying to keep my mind occupied!

Learning how to cook steak and omg my love of squash is unabated lol

My creme brulee recipe is working really well but not my crust :P

Creme brulee uses egg yolk so I made a egg white quiche 

Been playing collapse on the phone.

Got some yellow eye liner again and I love wearing it. It looks kinda weird but everyone agrees it works for me. I look like a fairy with it on lol

Made orange edamame, pork chops and pot stickers for Steve.

Made ribs for steve with new Bonjour recipe that I changed up and OMG was it good and I was full, less than half lb of meat and half bag of veges.

Got 15$ to goto hobby lobby, and bought these earrings

Bought the things to make these neat earrings

and heres how they look worn

I made new lotion bar recipe. Starts out hard but I made new recipe with even lower melting point for cold skin, used new colorant on it and got new mango scent.

M

Melts before your eyes!

I also got the rest of the paint for my lamp so Ill have to post another pic when I hang it.

I made your potato leek soup with 3 leeks! Big batch!

I also made homemade pink lemonade from scratch.

Good dinner but there was so much left I had toasted english muffins the next day with eggs on them and leek put on top like gravy. It was actually super good!!!! And way better then that so....shingle stuff lol

Loves you

Big, enormous update!

Hi Sis! I'm glad you're better. Bronchitis seems to be your kryptonite while sinus/throat is mine! Every year I can expect to get horribly sick with the same thing at least twice, and it sounds like you are the same with bronchitis.

The weather here is still just....awful. Yesterday it snowed 3 inches and then sleeted and rained on top of that, creating a slick hard shell over the top of shifting frozen sand. It was like walking in thin glass!! Super slippery and sharp as heck. That was just yesterday...the weather has been deep hard winter now for months. In a picture I have to show you further down, if you look in the background, that's what we have every day. I know all about cars frozen to the ground, and doors frozen shut, and locks frozen, and mountainous piles of snow you can only get half over! We have a permanent one in our driveway we have to accelerate over without sliding down and hitting the other car. :p

She found a piece of chocolate muffin in the car and stuffed her mouth! Cute picture, but look at the background. It is like this all. the. time.

My glasses HAVE finally come, pictures to follow!

 Maggie trying on my old glasses. She's way cuter in them than I was!

Forgive the illusion  of so much cleavage, I had a shirt on underneath! I was trying to take an attractive picture, it was just framed bad, or perspective I guess?? 

I'm still not used to how I look in the mirror, and haven't decided whether I like them or not. I never intended to be trendy, but it looks like I'm trying too hard to be so.

We have beaten Diablo and are now on the paragon levels.We are on the hardest mode it will allow. and it's still barely a challenge. I mean, it seems like they barely made it difficult at all!! I've probably died less than 10 times in 90 levels. Maybe our combination is just super powerful or we got lucky with drops or something. Nevertheless - it's still the funnest part of my day. And sometimes, I find that sad.

As for too many solo interests; I think that just becomes necessary when you are the one who stays at home. To stay sane, to keep from being needy and so there is not so much pressure on your spouse to keep you happy when all they want to do is come home and tune out. You have to find things to do alone to occupy your time and mind besides chores so that your relationship stays strong. Sounds counter-intuitive, but it's true!

My diet is in the toilet, I don't know why, and I almost feel like giving up. I have been constantly making better choices at every meal, eating more protein and fewer carbs, more vegetables, less sweets, etc. Yes we got pizza this week, but I convinced Gary to get thin crust veggie with light cheese, and we didn't have any bread sticks or boneless wings or all those other things that add up to an 800 calorie meal...and despite all those changes that feel very big, I have not lost any weight. I know calorie counting and portion control are probably the culprits. So yes, I am VERY interested in your stomach shrinking program.

About the painting, you'd never know that the reflections are literally the easiest thing in a painting to paint. Literally, it's like magic. I agree with everything you said it needs, however I don't think my skill level is quite there to make the clouds look better yet. And to get more practice, I need to get more paint....and paint costs money! Bleh. I do love your suggestion though and will certainly do another westernish/prairie painting, but the reason I won't put one in this painting is because it is a very specific spot from real life and memory, in Buffalo Lake State Park, that we visited and drove past almost weekly. I know it doesn't look that special, but when I look at it I see the real thing, and to me that's worth not changing. Well, other than making look even better of course!

Your pictures of recipes look amazing, as always! Tonight I made a recipe from my Malaysian friend, and I must have done something incorrectly because it was so salty, GARY couldn't eat it, and that's saying a lot. I did eat a lot of it, because I hated the thought of it going to waste, but I had to keep mixing quinoa in with it to tone down the salt and ended up overeating. Gave myself a tummy ache with all the salt and protein. I was very, very sad. The flavour was super good, a lot like General Tso's, had a nice amount of heat.....just was super damn salty. Oh well, if Gary ever lets me try it again, I'll know that it's got to be done a little differently.

I feat that this post is going on way too long to ever hope for you to reply to, but I guess I'll keep going anyways....!

Saturday Willow and Gary had their Daddy/Daughter Dance. I'm pretty sure Willow had a great time, but Gary ended up being super uncomfortable because most of the dads were in tuxedos (!) and giving him bad looks. He did get professional pics of him and Willow while there, but sadly he looks just like he felt, so I won't show that one.

Pretty, pretty princesses. Maggie thought she was going, so I had to dress her up too.

 Take a moment and really absorb the look on Maggie's face. That's what I'm dealing with 24/7....

Ready for the dance.

I have several more cute pictures from the dance

 that I'll have to edit in right here when I get them off Gary's phone.

At Christmas time, Willow got a porcelain place setting painting kit. We did it the other day and I decided to paint one of my plain plates for fun, and I really love the way it turned out. I only have a picture of mine and not the others, because apparently I am selfish and vain. :p

And to finish it all off, another picture to show the girls if they grow up disliking each other. Right now they are as sweet to each other sometimes as they are horrible! Ha!

Hi sis sorry I fell off the map. I've had a pretty bad bout of bronchitis. I'm glad the kids got to go back to school. We had a giant snow storm here also. It was worse in some places than others and when I was visiting Will I had to stay an extra day as the snow was a foot and a half deep and weather service said do not drive.

Drove after this melted but then came back and it was so icy I got a ride in  4 wheel drive. Then when I went back I had to work an hour to get my car unstuck. It was frozen to the ground and high centered on ice. So I've been without car a week but at least it didn't really matter since I was sick.

At a restaurant I saw this and took a picture. Be cause then I took off the long ones and had sword fighting lol. Then the entire thing got broke off so no one would get pierced through the skull :P

I'm sorry your glasses haven't come have they now??

Mouth feels much better but I do need a crown so I'm saving and I have a loan to pay back for the first part so we'll see.

Haha yea I've played me a bit of diablo 3 too. It is hack and slash but on PC it does depend on difficulty level for strategy. You start getting physical resistant mobs and so you have to use more magic and magic weapons or you get a mob that can cast lightening ball and then you have to have resistance, fought a mob once that cast an aura that toughened up all the mobs around him. So I had to pull him out and a few other also and run around while Steve killed the rest and then he had to pull individual mobs off and then we were able to kill the aura guy.

I to truly like feeling bad ass and I love games and things that are fun for the two of us. I'm definitely someone who has too many solo interests sometimes lol

Steve has been playing minecraft with me. I also play wow with him. Really slooowwwly so I don't lose the fun. Im 97 and I love transmogging all kinds of outfits.

My diet is ehhh. I can't seem to find any activity even though I'm eating good. The good news is my set point seems to be 297ish now. So I'm staying under 305 a lot.

My diet is hard because of my blood sugar. I have to take meds so its not high but with enough meds in me I HAVE to eat or I literally could coma or die. So sometimes people and circumstances keep me from getting meals and I get sick. Then I eat too much or fall off the wagon for a few days. If I have to eat chocolate because I'm low its so hard to decide to deduct that from the next meal when I am still shaky. I know its a fear and scarcity thing. But it does make it difficult when you have to keep blood sugar low and have to eat but not too much.

The good thing is my whole stomach shrinking program seems to be doing wonders. I cant eat more than a plate and a half EVER. I frequently do things like have 4 little cal-zones on my plate and eat 2, get Chinese food and eat it and take it home and eat off of it twice and then still leave enough rice and stuff that some guy then eats it too lol. I even whet to an all you can eat and my tiny friend Rhonda put away amazing portions. Meanwhile I daintily ate one plate and a little dessert and I was stuffed. Its worked well enough that I have friends who say they want to know how to do it and Steve says he is trying it.

I absolutely adore and am vividly jealous that you get to paint and what it looks like. Its awesome and I think I love the reflections the best. I think it's just great the way it is.

However if you want to push it and accomplish more I do like the idea of a fence, some birds, maybe some cirrus clouds in the top left. I think the clouds could be made to be more 3 dimensional too. Clouds have a dark grey blue base and go to white with grey making them look lobey and fluffy. You could fill in the wood of the windmill more and make it look more 3d.

I think my favorite idea is maybe put one of those oil pumping horses in there on the horizon at a distance.

But I think it's so neat right now and so you could leave it alone and work on another or work on it!

Maggie is cute and willow looks so much like you as a kid its startling but it seems like shes starting to look a bit more like me too.

I've done a fair amount of cooking lately.

Swiss steak, pineapple, saffron rice.

Chicken spinach calzones. I ate this for two meals!

Panang coconut curry chicken and mucho veges,

Hopefully me and Steve will have a good time today.

House we are working on