Tag Archives: book

How to plan meals and lose weight – Part 3/3 – (Starting a very low carb and high fat diet)

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Friends and family have been excited for me since I’ve lost weight (over 20lbs!) and a few have even been motivated to start a lifestyle change as well. You can read part 1 and part 2 here about why I’m eating low carb. Of course there will be questions like “what have you been eating?” or “Can I still have variety when reducing carbs?” While the details of an effective eating plan can be found in the books I’ve been reading, The Rosedale Diet and The Art and Science of Low Carb Living, I will lay out a couple days of meals and snacks that I have been enjoying. There is no shortage of good low carb foods to keep life interesting!

Day 1

  • Breakfast: Fruit Smoothie (from The Art and Science of Low Carb Living) 6 carbs
  • Lunch: Caesar Salad very few croutons (6-10 carbs)
  • Dinner: Meatloaf, green beans, mashed cauliflower (19-22 carbs)
  • Snack: Small bowl of cashews (9-18 carbs)

Day 2

  • Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs (2 of each)
  • Lunch: Mini Filet Salad (6-10g carbs)
  • Dinner: Zucchini Lasagna (12-16g)
  • Snack: Almonds (1/2 cup) 4.5 effective carbs (total – fiber)

Day 3

Day 4

  • Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs (2 of each)
  • Lunch: Chipotle Burrito Bowl – No Rice, Half Bean, Steak or Chicken, Veggies, Salsa (no corn salsa), Lettuce, Sour Cream, Guacamole, Cheese
  • Dinner: Stuffed Green Peppers
  • Snack: Fruit Smoothie

Day 5

  • Breakfast: Green Pepper and Ham Omelet
  • Lunch: Tuna Wrap
  • Dinner: Cobb salad with Guacamole
  • Snack: Small bowl of cashews

As you can see there are many options for eating low carb/high fat. I have only touched the tip of the iceberg. There are so many websites that have low carb ideas. I have frequented http://www.reddit.com/r/ketorecipes recently which has a constant flow of new recipes. Just search low carb recipes and you will be overwhelmed with options.

I will re-emphasize that eating low carb/high fat diet does not have to be boring! I have heard of people eating lobster bisque, soups, salads, seafood, steaks, and more. The goal is to reduce the carbs. Not the fun!

As an aside I will mention that most days I will also have a Cafe Americano with heavy cream (or half and half) with a Splenda. Or a coffee (iced or hot). This will add a few carbs to the daily intake but only a few from the Splenda and half and half if they don’t have heavy cream. I’m not one to live without the occasional caffeine.

Hopefully this has inspired you to try out some new recipes and begin a change in your life for the better. Do you have any recipes you like or foods you enjoy that are low carb? If so please post in the comments or send me an message on your social media of choice. I will make a follow-up recipe post with everyone’s suggestions.

Missed the first two posts in this series?
Read Part 1: How I lost 20 pounds in 3 months – Part 1 – (Starting a very low carb and high fat diet)
Read Part 2: How my wife helped me lose 20 pounds in 3 months – Part 2 – (Starting a very low carb and high fat diet)
Read Part 3: This post!

How I lost 20 pounds in 3 months – Part 1/3 – (Starting a very low carb and high fat diet)

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I wasn’t looking for it, I hadn’t planned for it and I certainly didn’t want to do it but I’ve started a lifestyle change.

Maybe you can relate. Everyday I woke up starving. I felt hungry at 10:30am, 2:00pm and 8:00pm and was never satisfied with just a snack. I wouldn’t feel energized after eating. After a large lunch I was unmotivated to continue the day often getting distracted from work tasks.

Then I listened to a podcast from Steve Gibson that changed my life (of all places on the amazing SecurityNow podcast). He talked about not being hungry, having more energy and losing weight. I thought this was to good to be true. He mentioned a couple videos (see below) he and Leo Laporte had done specifically about what he had been trying. I watched the video podcasts not expecting anything. But it happened. I was convinced that if I didn’t change my eating habits not only was I going to spend the rest of my life hungry, unmotivated and energy depleted but overweight. I knew I had to make a change. Steve mentioned a couple of books but ultimately I settled on The Rosedale Diet as a good well rounded start. I didn’t have time to devour the kindle book immediately so I checked out the Rosedale diet website. It had the full list of what to eat and what not to eat. I think the most important part for me was I didn’t start cutting all carbs immediately but began one meal at a time. Cutting out small things like snacking on candy, chips and the like that is always in the house because of the kids was an easy start for me. As I got more familiar with foods that are low in carbs and high in fat I started to incorporate more of those foods in my daily diet. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the high fat part of the Rosedale diet. Good fats can help rid the body of the bad ones but keeping track of what is good or bad fat is a work in progress for me at the moment.

I started digesting all this info around January 10, 2012. It has now a little over 3 months since I really started to cut out carbs and introduce more fat into my diet.

Currently I have lost about 20lbs. Going from 196-200 down to 176-178 has been amazing. However weight loss was never my goal. My main motivation in this life change was to feel better and have more energy. I now feel like getting work done in the afternoon after lunch. I want to wake up in the morning. I want to play with the kids in the evening. I literally feel like a new person. You can feel this way to. Everyone is different but if nothing is working for you then follow the steps below that I made to make a positive change in your life today.

  1. Change your attitude towards you. You are worth it. Make a statement to yourself that you want to change. I love the verse in the Bible that says “Love your neighbors as you love yourself” (Matt 22:39). You have to first love yourself before you can love others. So true.
  2. Start slow! Don’t over do it. One meal or snack at a time. I started by substituting cashews and almonds for snacks instead of chips. Then moved to eating low carb, high fat one meal at a time.
  3. Read and research. Knowing more about how your body works helps you make decisions about your own health. I read The Rosedale Diet and in the process of reading The Art and Science of Low Carb Living (which has some great smoothie recipes in it!)
  4. Keep going even if you fail. I failed many times but kept going. There were days when I ate cookies because I really wanted them. Eat the cookies and move on.
  5. Start a life change. Not a diet. The term diet makes me cringe. A step by step process on how I should each everyday. That just doesn’t work for me. Start taking positive action to change your behavior not your diet. That revelation made my world change.

One thing to note isI have done little to no exercise. Yes you heard that right. I wanted to experiment with my body and see if I could feel better with diet alone. Understand I do have 3 kids who I play with in the yard and I play the round of golf here and there. So while I’m not a bump on a log I do not go to the gym, take time out of my day or otherwise expend energy on purpose.

Hopefully my journey will have inspired you to make a life change and help you feel better about yourself. Stay positive and as always post comments with questions or insights to help everyone out. Thank you!

More information from Steve Gibson on the Low Carb choice and the video that really gave me the motivation I needed to change:

Missed the other posts in this series?
Read Part 1: This post!
Read Part 2: How my wife helped me lose 20 pounds in 3 months – Part 2 – (Starting a very low carb and high fat diet)
Read Part 3: How to plan meals and lose weight – Part 3/3 – (Starting a very low carb and high fat diet)

Update: For some reason my math was off when I calculated 4 months. January 10 to April 17 is not 4 months only 3! So I updated the title but not the site link as it is already on other sites. Oh well. Measure twice cut once fail on my part!

The Shack – Book Review

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My wife started reading The Shack not to long ago and wanted me to read it as well so she could talk about what she was reading. My typical reading/listening is mostly filled with podcasts, self help, business and technical books. Novels work there way in my reading list but not often and not ones that are less than a year old from an unknown author. I was skeptical at best and had only heard short explanations of its contents from my father in-law and brother in-law that made the book seem less interesting. Everyone who talked about it had mentioned its controversial view of God and shock of their core belief system so when my wife asked me to read it I was reluctant. But knowing my wife she would not allow me to just put off such as request so I told her I would read it if it was on audible.com. It was. I have an audible.com account which had a couple credits queued up, so I downloaded the book to my iPhone that night. The next day I began listing to The Shack on the way to a clients two and a half hours away. I was hooked. The story was moving and captured my attention so much that I was disappointed at every interruption as I was driving in the car. The ride home was no different and I spent most of the evening at home with one or two earbuds in my ears. The book has some suspense so that evening when a transformer popped and made a bright light outside our bedroom window I was startled (you can read more about that on my wife’s blog). The day after I finished listening and all I can say is “Wow”. If this book doesn’t move you in a way to become a better person I don’t know what will. I won’t spoil the book for those who didn’t read it, but the main characters connection to God was so real it made me want to be familiar with God in that way. I can’t say it challenged my view of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as much as others, but it made me want to be a better person and to connect with God in a deep and new way. If you strive for those things you should get a copy today. You won’t be disappointed.

For more info on The Shack you can go to http://theshackbook.com/. If you want to find more info on purchasing check out amazon.com‘s reviews and more.

Fill your marriage: Love and Respect

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After seven years of marriage I still find myself falling into the same bad habits that put my wife and I in the “crazy cycle”. Occasionally though a book will come along that gives a different perspective on marriage. The book Love and Respect by Dr Eggerichs transformed my outlook and brought my focus back to were it belonged. I can’t say I’ve worked the “Energizing Cycle” or the “C-O-U-P-L-E” principles to a T but I can honestly say they do work. Filled with fun examples of different communication styles and stories of couples who have attended the Love and Respect conferences keeps the book fun and interesting while hitting home on so many topics. I find my self laughing and then saying ouch all at the same time.

If you need a little marriage pick me up, some new techniques to apply in your marriage or just want to fall more in love with your wife then I encourage you to pick up this book. Your marriage needs you to make it work! Don’t let the everyday drag get you down.

Integrity – being a success

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I love the NewLife radio show and book series so when I heard that Dr. Henry Cloud, one of the hosts, had written a new book I knew I had to get it. Fast forward to today, months after I got the book for Father’s Day of last year, I started reading the book. I’m only 19 pages into the first chapter, but I can already tell that this is a book for me. The core of this book is in explaining six essential qualities that define being a success. Starting out it explains how being a person of integrity does not in itself alone make you a successful person. Already I’ve learned some things on how to run my business, questions to ask future employee’s references, and much more. I highly recommend this book and I’ll continue posting tidbits I find as I continue my reading.