Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies Second Attempt

I am a sucker for a chewy peanut butter cookie, and with fall on the way all I want to do is bake! Well... As much as I love baking delicious treats, my waistline doesnt. Instead of avoiding baking all together, Ive decided to try and make low carb alternatives to my favorite fall goodies. So, first up: Peanut Butter Cookies!

Just as a disclaimer, this is my second attempt at these cookies. The first one was using coconut flour and honey instead of flour and sugar. The cookies were wayyyy dry and had a very different texture.  I didnt do a blog on those because I felt like there had to be a better recipe, I just needed to figure it out. So,  the recipe Im sharing today is my second attempt. This one is flour-less and uses stevia as the sweetener (the only stevia I like is Trulicious. No gross after

taste and its blended with monk fruit!)

This one is MUCH better than the coconut flour recipe, but if you want to try the coconut flour

recipe, just post a comment and Ill give it to ya. Im still working on perfecting my recipe, but this is a good start. :) They are kind of dry and crumbly, but the flavor is awesome!!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup Trulicious powdered stevia
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Mix ingredients together in a bowl. At first your dough is going to be runny, just keep mixing. Its going to stiffen right up. If youre not worried about eating a little bit of raw eggs, taste the batter to make sure it tastes sweet enough. If not, add a little more Trulicious. Roll the dough into melon baller sized balls and flatten with your fingers on the cookie sheet. I got about 24 cookies out of my batch. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet.

Pro tips: Dont store cookies in a Ziplock bag, lay them flat in a container. :) These little guys crumble pretty easily. Also, try sprinkling additional Trulicious on top of the cookies before you put them in the oven.

Nutritional Info:
These are actually a healthy option when you need your peanut butter cookie fix. One cookie has 127 calories, 3 net carbs and nearly 6 grams of protein (this is based on a batch of about 24 cookies).

These cookies are much better than my first attempt, but hopefully next time I make them I can figure out a way to make them a little more moist (sorry for using the M word). If you have any suggestions on how I can do that, feel free to post them in the comment section! Happy baking everyone!

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Low Carb Cauliflower Pizza Casserole

I am a pizza addict. There. I said it. I love cheese, I love pepperoni. I LOVE pizza. But Im trying to watch my carbs, so pizza is usually a craving that goes unfed. I have tried low carb pizza, and it was pretty good, but Im always looking for pizza recipes that I dont have to feel guilty about eating. So last week I stumbled across a recipe for a pizza casserole. I looked it over and it looked pretty tasty. I made some adjustments and decided to give it a try.

Ingredients:

Puree 
1 medium head cauliflower
1 tablespoon butter
6 tablespoons light whipping cream
6 low sodium pepperoni
garlic powder to taste
onion powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
12 slices low sodium Pepperoni
12 small slices Canadian Bacon
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:
Chop broccoli into small florets. Place in a microwave safe bowl add two tablespoons of the whipping cream and a tablespoon of butter to the bowl. Microwave for 10 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir to coat cauliflower in butter and cream. Mircrowave for six more minutes. In a blender combine cauliflower, the rest of the cream, pepperoni, garlic powder, onion powder and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.

Spread cauliflower into the bottom of a small casserole dish. The dish I used was about 6x8. Top with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, pepper, and cheeses. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

This recipe makes four servings. Each serving is 270 calories, 7.5 net carbs, and 17 grams protein. If youre trying to cut down on fat, use skim milk instead of whipping cream, and cut down the cheese by half. You can also use turkey pepperoni instead of original.

Recipe adapted from: IBreathImHungry.com

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2012 LOW CARB MEET GREET

2nd Annual Low Carb Meet & Greet last year in 2011

Yesterday, I traveled four hours to the home of Dana Carpender for the 3^rd Annual Low Carb Meet & Greet.  After my drive through the record-breaking 100+ degree weather, I found that the party had been moved indoors, and what a relief that was!  Even so, with fifty low carbers in Danas house, it was still pretty warm, and I snagged the spot over the air conditioning vent more than once while I was there!

It was so fun to get to meet some of the movers and shakers of the low carb movement and get to ask questions about their views, their health and progress and the ways that their blogs, podcasts and websites are impacting the state of the health here in America and even around the world.  They are such a fun group and so giving of their time to effect change for the good of all of us, healthy and struggling alike.

Me with Dana Carpender and That Nice Boy She Married, aka Eric Schmitz

You will recognize Dana Carpender from her website Hold the Toast.  I added Dana to my blog roll last year and have learned so much about the low carb movement from her.  I did have the chance to have a long discussion with her yesterday, and got to sample some of her favorite low carb dishes, too!  What a neat thing to do to open her home each year to host a party like this.

Me with Jimmy Moore and his lovely wife, Christine

It almost seems silly to give Jimmy Moore any introduction at all, but in case you are new to low carbing, Jimmy is an American blogger and author who is best known for his Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb books and blog. He has appeared on numerous television and radio programs promoting a high-fat, moderate protein, low carb diet plan.  I had the honor of being a guest on his podcast in 2010 (which you can listen to here), as a result of being a "success story" in the newest Atkins book, The New Atkins For a New You, which was published that year.  Jimmy is a hoot and it was so fun to finally meet him face to face.

Dana Carpender, Gracie the Incidental Beagle and Jimmy Moore

If you follow his blog, you will know that he has started a new n=1 experiment involving nutritional ketosis, which you can read about here.  After losing almost two hundred pounds and then gaining a portion of it back, his struggles with trying to find "the magic bullet" that will take care of his weight problems in a permanent way have been well documented by Jimmy himself on his blog and in his podcasts.  I admire his transparency in this matter, and I have always tried to emulate that honesty here in my blog.  I must have done a good job of that, because my detractors seem to have memorized all of my failings! 

I think that everyone there wanted to hear a first hand account of how his latest experiment is going, and I was no exception!  Jimmy graciously took 15 or 20 minutes explaining to me what he is doing and how he has started losing weight again (yay!) as a result of tracking the ketone bodies in his blood with a specialized meter, similar to a blood glucose meter.  After hearing more about it, I will be getting The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, and trying out this experiment for myself to see if I can whittle off those last pesky 10 pounds!  I am very anxiously awaiting Jimmys next report of his progress.  Onward and downward, Jimmy!

Me with Amy Dungan

A new person on my radar is Amy Dungan, the author of the Healthy Low-Carb Living blog.  I had heard her name a few times, but just checked out her blog a few days ago.  I added her to my blog roll (look right and scroll down) and Im very interested to start trying to keep up with her and her posts.  Like me, Amy has had her ups and downs with low carb living, and I admire her stick-to-itiveness and resolve to never give up.  We also got to talk one on one for at least a half of an hour, as she shared her journey with me and the hopes she has for her blog.  One fun thing - Amy looks so much like my daughter, Emily, and I could not resist telling her that and showing her Emilys senior portrait.  Not only did Amy say there was a resemblance, but showed me photos of herself at a younger age to show how much she really did look like my daughter!  (Amys husband John was there, too, but was absent at picture-taking time.)

Andrew DiMino

As the party was winding down and most of the folks had departed for home or hotel, several of us lingered in the living room and chatted.  There was a nice gentleman sitting in the chair next to me, and presently, he extended his hand to me and said, "I dont think weve met.  Im Andrew.  And how do I know you?"  I was so happy that I could at least say I was in the new Atkins book!  And, lo and behold, he was none other than Andrew DiMino, president, founder and publisher of Carbsmart.com.  He told me about how he started in the business, and how he has recently made the decision to discontinue the online store at CarbSmart and focus on the online magazine.  We also got to share before and after photos of each other, which was fun.  Of course, I had to show him my morphing weight loss video on youtube.

Andrew was very patient to listen to my woes concerning my struggles with my weight and the attacks I came under writing this blog, and encouraged me to press on.  Thanks for that, Andrew!  Here is a little funny thing - earlier that day, I needed to test my camera, so I pointed it at Andrew (whom I had not yet met) and asked if I could snap his picture.  And then I ended up having a great conversation with him a few hours later.

I was wondering what was going to offered in the way of cold drinks at the party.  I have been off of diet soda for a while (although, I must admit I have one rarely as a special treat), so I was thinking I would be drinking water all day.  I was so pleased to find out that Zevia had sponsored the party, and provided a ton of free cans of their all natural soda.  I sampled the grape, orange and dew flavors, and I really liked them!  Learn more about Zevia here, and where to purchase it in your area. 

All in all, it was a great time, and was surely worth the trip!  Im sure I will attend next year, if Dana and Eric decide to continue this tradition, and maybe I can find a friend to bring.  Maybe my husband!

In closing, I want to share this photo I took of Amy and Jimmy.  Amy found these shirts at Walmart and could not resist buying a couple for herself and Jimmy, and, of course, they had to model them and have their picture taken!  Both Jimmy and Amy have their detractors,  but have managed to keep a positive and upbeat spirit about the whole thing.  Obviously! 

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The Unintentional Branding of a Widow

As my Aunt Christine said, you feel like you walk around with a big W tattooed on your forehead, where everyone can notice it.

I dont think that people do it intentionally, but you still do it. You look at us like were lepers. A big W tattoo on our foreheads makes us untouchable, yet you act so sympathetic too.

And I hate it. I hate hate hate it.

Do you know how irritating it is to hear "Im sorry", "How are you?" over and over and over and over, again and again? The sound or sight of those words are like nails on a chalkboard to me now. I dont want to hear them. Saying "Im sorry" is not going to make me feel better, its not going to bring Barry back for the kids and I, its not going to make dealing with life insurance people and hospital bills any easier. It doesnt do anything but annoy me now. And how do you think I am? I just LOST MY HUSBAND. Sorry I cant be Mrs Happy Go Lucky anymore, but Im a WIDOW and IM GRIEVING.

And while Im on the topic, why not say hello instead of just staring at me? Am I that untouchable that I seem contagious? Why not just carry a yard stick with you so you can just poke me when I come too close.

Not everyone has been this way, but I have noticed it. Its hurtful, and frustrating. And if you do know me personally, please, please, think of some other way to talk to me other than saying youre sorry, or asking how I am.

That is all.

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Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna Recipe

Lately I have been craving marinara sauce like CRAZY. I could seriously eat a can of Prego with a spoon. As far as my research has shown, I most likely have an iron deficiency. Working on that (hello multivitamin)... Anywho...

I got this recipe from Skinny Taste and then I kind of adapted it in a couple of ways for my taste (made it saucier). If you havent checked Skinny Taste out and you are a low-carber, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Before I jump in to the recipe, a couple things: I wish it had more zucchini, I also wish it had a little less cheese ( Sayyy what? For real. It had a lot of cheese, dont get me wrong I love cheese, but it would cut down on the calories if you only use about 3/4 of it).

So here is my version of the recipe. 

Me and my puppy, cooking up some low-carb lasagna

Ingredients:  

• 1 lb 93% lean beef
• Garlic Powder
• Dried Onion Powder
• Dried Basil 
• Dried Oregano
• Dried Cilantro
• 1/2 onion
• salt and pepper
• 24 oz can Marinara sauce (make your own if you are avoiding added sugars)
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced 1/8" thick
• 15 oz part-skim ricotta
• 1 large egg
• 16 oz part-skin mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice zucchini into 1/8" slices. I used a mandolin slicer and it only took about 5 minutes to slice all three zucchinis. Set zucchini aside on a plate. 

Brown hamburgers with spices and onion. While you are browning the hamburger, turn a skillet on medium heat and place zucchini slices in a single layer and cook each side for 2 minute or until zucchini slices are slightly browned and tender.

 In a small bowl, mix together Ricotta, the egg, and the same seasonings that you used on your hamburger. Set aside.

 Once hamburger is browned, add in your marinara sauce and stir together. And now, youre ready to layer.

 In a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish, pour down a thin layer of meat sauce. Place a layer of zucchini on top of the sauce, add a layer of ricotta, then a layer of mozzarella. Continue this pattern until your casserole dish is full. Add any additional cheese to the top of your dish. 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. I put my dish on a cookie sheet just in case it bubbles over a bit. 

This recipe makes 8 servings. Each serving is about 596 calories and 20 g carbohydrates. 

I consider this a more indulgent meal for low-carbers because its still pretty high in fat and sodium. This isnt something that you should eat everyday, but it is definitely a great meal for when you are craving pasta. This definitely kept me full and it tasted amazing. I would actually prefer this over regular lasagna. All of the taste is there, but the carbs arent.

Have you ever used zucchini in place of traditional pasta? Tell me about your experience below. 

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Low Carb Zucchini Boat Recipe

I went to my parents house yesterday and they have so much zucchini from the garden, and the tomatoes are coming on too! I wanted to help use some of it up, so I made us these low carb zucchini boats. They are delicious and easy to make. Heres how:

Ingredients
2 medium zucchini, cut long ways in half
1 lb lean ground beef
2 tomatoes, diced
1 green bell pepper,  diced
2 cloves garlic, diced and separated in half
1/2 tablespoon dried onion
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3/4 cup shredded cheese (optional), separated in half

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and set aside.

Use a metal spoon to scrape the center pulp out of the zucchini halves. leave about a 1/4 of an inch worth of zucchini in the peel, dont scrape too far through! Set the boats and pulp aside, youll use them later.

In a pan, combine ground beef, tomato, green pepper, one clove of garlic, dried onion, oregano and Italian seasoning. Brown ground beef completely. Add half of the shredded cheese to your ground beef and combine.

In a blender or a food processor, blend zucchini pulp and garlic together until it is a smooth texture. Pour pulp into hamburger mixture and mix well.

Place boats on lined cookie sheet and spoon mixture into each one. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Each boat counts as one serving, this recipe makes four servings.

This recipes is low in carbohydrates. The sugars are primarily coming from your vegetables. If you are looking to cut down on the fat, eliminate the cheese and switch to ground lean chicken, turkey or your favorite vegetarian crumbles. 

Have you ever tried zucchini boats? What do you fill yours with? 

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Low Carb Thai Stir Fry With Chicken and Shrimp

I dont know what my deal is, but Ive been craving Thai food like CRAZY lately. Oh the carbs. I love massaman, and panang, and pad thai, and this week I was determined to find a yummy protein and veggie packed recipe with some thai flavor. I ditched the rice and noodles and stuck with Spaghetti Squash. <3 Good ol squash. :) Check it out fellow fit-meal foodies.

Ingredients 

1 pound Boneless skinless chicken breast
1 pound shrimp, pre-cooked and deveined
garlic powder, to taste
onion powder, to taste
1 large spaghetti squash
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 carrots, shredded
1 bunch green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup cilantro

Sauce
1/4 cup low fat, low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 fresh lime, squeezed
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup Tamari*
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cut spaghetti squash in half longways. Remove seeds and pulp. Fill a glass casserole dish with an inch of water. Place spaghetti squash middles down in the dish and microwave for 15 minutes, or bake on 350 for 45 minutes.

While squash cooks, chop chicken and cook in chicken broth and season with garlic powder and onion powder in a LARGE skillet. When chicken is mostly done, add in shrimp. Cook until chicken is done and shrimp is thawed.

While the chicken and shrimp are cooking, combine sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and heat on low heat (it does not need to boil.)

Add the red pepper, carrots, onion, garlic and cilantro to the chicken and shrimp mixture.

Once the squash is done, use a fork to scrape it out of its skin and into a large bowl. Add meat and veggie mixture, top with sauce. Mix together and enjoy!

This recipe makes about eight 1 cup servings.
Each serving has 257 calories, 31 grams protein, 16 net carbs

*If youre watching your sodium, use low sodium Tamari.

This recipe was adapted from Hello Healthy.

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Low Carb Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Im a fan of anything cheesy and meaty. While I try not to over do it on cheese too often, every once in a while I like to indulge with a gooey, cheesy, low carb recipe. These low carb* stuffed peppers are amazing! Instead of using rice, they us quinoa.

Ingredients

4 large green bell peppers
1 pound hamburger
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 c. fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 c. shredded cheese, divided
1 c. uncooked quinoa

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Slice tops off of green peppers and remove seeds and core. Place in boiling water and boil for about 7 minutes or until tender. While peppers are boiling, combine hamburger, tomatoes, spinach, Italian seasoning, salt and 1/4 c. cheddar cheese. Cook until hamburger is done. In a small sauce pan, add two cups of water to the quinoa and cook until quinoa is translucent and tender. Add quinoa and beans to hamburger mixture. Remove peppers from pot and place in a baking dish. Fill each pepper with the hamburger mixture and sprinkle remaining cheese over each pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
 *Note: I added pinto beans to mine in this picture because I had gone on a long run that day. :) To keep it low carb, I cut them out of the recipe.

Serving size is 1 pepper. This is a filling meal, and it makes great leftovers, too!

You can dress these up with sour cream or hot sauce, but they are also just as good plain. If you want to cut out some calories, cut back on the cheese by excluding it from the hamburger mixture.

If youre looking for more cheesy, delicious recipes, check out this low carb Pizza recipe. Its the BEST!

Whats your favorite cheesy, low carb meal? Share a link in the comments section below!

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Low Carb Broccoli Salad Recipe

I have been completely obsessed with broccoli salad lately. The crazy thing is that Im not even that big of a fan of broccoli, but for some reason this salad is like a heavenly chorus of random flavors that is perfect for adding a little fiber into my life.

Its easy to make, and its pretty low carb. I make a big bowl and eat it through the week when I dont feel like making anything.

Ingredients:

4 cups broccoli
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup Turkey bacon, cooked and diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup mayo
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoons Trulicious powdered stevia
1 gallon Ziplock bag

Directions:
Wash broccoli and cut into small pieces. No need to keep long stems, you can cut pretty close to the floret. Put chopped broccoli in a large Ziplock bag and set aside. In a small bowl, combine mayo, apple cider vinegar and Trulicious. In the large Ziplock, add the currants, turkey bacon, red onion and sunflower seeds. Pour mayo mixture into Ziplock bag, seal and shake it up. pour into a large bowl, cover, and chill for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings. Each serving contains 363 calories, 10 grams net carbs, 9 grams protein.

This is a simple recipe, its usually featured on salad bars. My dad makes a version of this that I had fourth of July weekend (he is a diabetic and loves experimenting with food). He used regular mayo and it definitely had a creamier flavor than this version, but I made a couple ingredient swaps to make it a little lighter. For instance, I used Mayo made with olive oil, I used unsalted sunflower seeds, stevia, and I used turkey bacon. If you ask my dad, he will say that this recipe has to be done with REAL Mayo, but I was pretty satisfied with my version. :) What is your favorite way to use raw broccoli?

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I am Blessed

The last few weeks the kids and I, and Barry, were very blessed by our community, our friends and our family.

While Barry was in the hospital, I had some meals brought to us, and families at the kids school provided us with many, many, gift cards for various restaurants and grocery stores around the area. I have only used one of the gift cards, and am saving them for when we need them.

After Barry passed, my friends set up meals for us. This was just incredible. My MOPS group, the Kids school (via a friend of mine), and my Meet Up group each took a week. I dont have to cook until November 1st. And actually, much later than that because we have so many left overs in the freezer. At Barrys service, I came home with TONS of lasagna, 3 are in my freezer, plus an additional few meals that we had leftovers from. Ladies from my MOPS Group fed us at the reception too.

Also, my oldest friend Rina, over at GottaLittleSpace set up a Pay Pal donation fund for us, family members, friend from school, and many other friends have donated to us as well.

I have made new friends during this time, and lost some. You really do see peoples true colors during times like this. I have to say though, I am so very incredibly grateful for EVERYONE that has donated food, time and money to the kids and I. You really dont know what it has meant to us. I dont think that I could ever find the words to express our thankfulness, because there just arent enough words to express what I am trying to say. I truly wish that this didnt have to happen, I would give it all back just to have Barry back, but unfortunately that is not an option. I am still thankful though.


Thank You a million times over!

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MY LOW FAT DIET REALLY WORKS!

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So what is The Fast Diet

The Fast Diet is a simple concept on paper. It is written by Michael Mosley and in basic terms it sets out the concept of significantly reducing your calorie intake for 2 days every week. He states that on a fast day, you should cut your calories to a quarter of a normal calorie intake.

• As per RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) men should consume no more than 2500 cals per day which would mean on a fast day, no more than 625 cals should be consumed.
• For women, RDA suggests no more than 2000 cals should be consumed per day which would equate to no more than 500 cals consumed on a fast day.

Sounds easy?

Well to be honest, yes it does, and the best bit is yet to come. Mosley also states that when not fasting, you are allowed to practically eat what you want, when you want. Providing you stick to the 2500 / 2000 calorie guideline, then you are allowed to have a free rein for the rest of the week.

Please keep reading my posts though as along the way I will be discussing some exercise techniques / tips and will also be posting about super foods which will help speed up the metabolism...

D x

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Life After HCG Countdown to the Dirty Dash

I have been running 5Ks like crazy these passed few weeks trying to get ready for The Dirty Dash. I am so excited to run the fall Utah race this Saturday! As weird as it may sound, the Dirty Dash is kind of near and dear to my heart.

You see, this muddy race has been a big part of my weight loss journey. On my very first day of the HCG Diet, I did The Dirty Dash for the first time. At 285 pounds, I stumbled through mud until I finished. It was insanely hard (you can read about that here).

Then in the Fall, after losing 60 pounds, I ran the Dirty Dash again. It was still hard, but a little easier (the blog for that race can be found here).

 Spring 2013 rolled around and I was 100 pounds down. I did it again.

Typically I get to do the race with the staff here at HCGDiet.com, but they decided not to do it this year, but thanks to the amazing Dirty Dash staff, I am so excited to say that my roommate and I will be running the race together!

The Dirty Dash was something I never imagined myself doing. What started out as an obligatory work event turned into an incredible self-realization: My body can do hard things. And trust me, when you are trying to lose weight, there is nothing more powerful than this realization.

 Losing weight is difficult, and while we are transforming physically, a lot of the roadblocks we encounter are mental ones. Its important to be able to remind yourself that your body is more than capable of pushing its limits, you just have to convince your mind first. The Dirty Dash is like my annual reminder of this. Each year it gets a little bit easier and I can do  more and more of the obstacles.

So, to you dear reader, remember that. Your body can do hard things. If you are trying to lose weight and trying to stay motivated, put your trust in yourself and decide that you are going to push your limits. Maybe your powerful reminder wont come from running muddy races, but there is something out there that will help you realize how much potential you actually have. Get out there and find it.

When Saturday rolls around Ill be the same weight I was last time I raced the Dirty Dash, but this time, I know I will be able to run faster and conquer the obstacles with a lot more confidence. Ive put a lot of hard work into running and a large part of my motivation for doing that has been the Dirty Dash! Ill post pictures as soon as I have them. Dont forget to find something that motivates you to push your limits. Go out and try something new!

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HEALTHY LOW CARB LIVING AMY DUNGAN WELCOME TO MY BLOGROLL

      Real Amy Dungan                Less Real Amy Dungan

As I posted here, I had the great privilege of meeting Amy Dungan this past weekend.  She is a great girl and we had a good time talking about our low carb journeys and struggles.   That is Amy in her logo above, holding what I suspect is one of her favorite foods.  The artist is Amys teenage son, and after meeting Amy, I must say that its a pretty good likeness!

Amy Dungan is a low carber, writer and photographer residing in Illinois with her husband and two children. Having written for a variety of internet publications, she currently serves as Webmaster and Features Editor at CarbSmart.com. She also writes for Examiner.com and runs the popular Healthy Low-Carb Living website. In her free time she enjoys embarrassing her kids in public, spending time with her husband, and contemplating the true meaning of bacon, according to her bio over at CarbSmart.  I have been busily trying to catch up with her blog, because I only found her last week and I must know everything!

Welcome, Amy!  Im looking forward to getting to know you better!

To find my blogroll, look right and scroll down.

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Low Carb Pumpkin Fluff

Pumpkin season. Love it or hate it, its still gonna happen. I am a pumpkin lover. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice Oreos, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin spice lattes, but all those carbs? Im gonna have to pass. So heres my way of getting a pumpkin fix without getting all the carbs that traditional pumpkiny goodies bring. LOW CARB PUMPKIN FLUFF topped with stevia whipped cream!

Pumpkin Fluff

8 oz low fat cream cheese
8 oz pumpkin puree
1/4 cup Trulicious Powdered Stevia
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine ingredients using a handheld mixer. Refrigerate 10 minutes.

Whipped Cream
1 pint whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Trulicious Powdered Stevia

In a separate bowl, whip together ingredients on high until light and fluff. Spread on top of pumpkin fluff and refrigerate 10 minutes before enjoying.

This recipe yields 8 servings. Each servings is about 286 calories, 5 grams carbs, 4 grams protein.

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Woah...More Food Ideas?

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Celebrate Your Victories Even the Dirty Ones

Last week I blogged about how excited I was to do the Dirty Dash for the fourth time since starting my weight loss journey and as promised, here is a race re-cap and some pictures!

Saturday morning rolled around and it was race day. I was incredibly nervous. I wasnt sure if I would be able to do all of the obstacles, I was nervous that maybe I hadnt trained enough. With all the nerves, the hour long drive up to Soldier Hollow seemed to take for-EVER.

Luckily my roommate Mattie was coming with me. This was her first Dirty Dash, and I wanted to make sure it was a good experience for her. Shes not really into running, so I told her she would control the pace and we were just going to have fun.

Pre-race:

I gave Mattie all  my Dirty Dash advice: make sure your shoes are tied tight, stick to the edges of the start line, its less muddy, ect.. We were both pretty nervous, but we were also ready to conquer the course.

Readers Who Read This Also Enjoyed: I Lost 100 Pounds With The HCG Diet

During the race, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to do all of the obstacles with relative ease. We jogged parts and walked parts. Since its not a timed race and since there were so many people, we didnt feel pressure to rush. A lot of the times the groups of people made it difficult to walk anyway. Even though we didnt do too much running, I felt like I could have run the whole thing. With the Dirty Dash, you have the option to do a 5k or a 10k. By the time we ascended the final hill before the 5k/10k split, Mattie was pretty wiped out. She did incredible too! She did twice the amount of obstacles I did when I did it for the first time. We opted for the 5k and made our way to the giant slip n slide. With a running start, I supermanned down that slide SO FAST. :) It was pure joy.

Post-Race:

I kept thinking the whole time how proud I was of my body. I  felt strong and empowered through the whole thing, and it was a major confirmation to me that my working out is paying off.

Readers Who Read This Also Read: A Note About Health From One Curvy Girl To Another

Sometimes I get frustrated with myself because I dont feel like Im where I need to be weight wise, and then things like this happen and I realize that there are many different types of progress, and the scale is only one of them. For me the victory of seeing how much easier this race is this year compared to last year was worth celebrating.

What small victory can you celebrate today?

Ive come so far. My weight will most likely always be a work in progress, but as long as Im not stagnant, as long as I take the time to celebrate my small victories, its all going to be worth it.

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Low Carb Cheesy Cauliflower Bread Sticks

Bread. The heavens supervised its creation, and just when we think it cant get any better, top it with cheese and BOOOOOM. Love. 

As heavenly and lovely as bread sticks are,the carbs are a little too much sometimes. 

Ive heard about cauliflower bread, but Ive been hesitant to try it - mostly because Im lazy and it seems time consuming. However, the other night I was desperately craving some cheese bread dipped in marinara, I had three different kinds of cheese in the fridge and a head of cauliflower. Maybe it was a sign, or maybe I was just hungry enough to work through my laziness... Whatever it was, I tried a recipe for cheesy cauliflower bread sticks and it was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be.

Cheesy Cauliflower Bread Sticks

1 large head cauliflower
4 eggs 

2 cups mozzarella, shredded

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp Italian seasoning
Topping: 

1 cup mozzarella, shredded

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 cup Parmesan shredded

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Chop cauliflower into medium sized florets. Rice cauliflower (place in a blender or a food processor and use a low-medium speed or a chop setting). Your cauliflower should look like rice, and not have any large pieces in it. Remove from food processor and place in a microwave safe dish. Cover and microwave for 10 minutes. Add eggs, 2 cups mozzarella, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Mix well using a fork.

You Might Also Enjoy: Low Carb Pumpkin Fluff

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. I was out of parchment paper so I used aluminum foil. I was still able to get remove them, but it was kind of tough. Spread mixture onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, top with additional mozzarella, cheddar, and Parmesan, and bake for another 5 minutes. 

Slice with a pizza cutter and serve with warm tomato sauce or marinara.

This makes about 6 servings of 2 bread sticks each. Calories: 297, Net Carbs: 7 grams, Protein: 26 grams

I had leftovers and I was kind of nervous to reheat them, but they were actually even better reheated. I just laid them flat side by side and microwaved them for about a minute and a half. They were awesome! 

Recipe adapted from jcooks.com

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INCREASING CARBS FROM VERY LOW TO MODERATE

Back when I first started Atkins in March 2009, I did Induction for three weeks and then moved to Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) for an additional four and a half weeks.  During that time, I:

Lost a total of 11-1/4", which included:
3/4" around my neck
3/4" around my bust
1-1/4" around my midriff
1-3/8" around my waist
2-7/8" around my navel
1-1/4" around my hips
1-1/4" around each of my thighs
1/4" around each of my calves

Lost 0.022 off my waist-to-height ratio
Lost 0.010 off my waist-to-hip ratio

Lost 2.2 points off my body fat percentage
Gained 2.2 points onto my lean body mass percentage

Lost 4.1 pounds of body fat
Gained 2.1 pounds of lean body mass
Lost 2 pounds on the scale

Looking back on those numbers now, they look pretty darn good.  But all I saw was that I had only lost 2 pounds on the scale in seven and a half weeks, which is a total of only about a quarter of a pound per week.

I talked to Colette Heimowitz, the Atkins Nutritionist, told her that I had only lost 2 pounds, and she suggested that I reduce my food intake.  Together, we came up with this plan:

1400 calories
106g fat (68.4%)
91g protein
19g total carbs
8g fiber
11g net carbs

Over the next 15 weeks, I slowly started adding in more fat, protein and carbs, and was steadily losing scale weight and body fat.  At the end of that time, my food basically looked like this:

1637 calories
122g fat (67%)
101g protein
30g total carbs
15g fiber
15g net carbs

During that 15 weeks, I:

Lost a total of 11-1/2", which included:
1/4" around my bicep
1/2" around my bust
1-1/4" around my midriff
1-1/8" around my waist
2-5/8" around my navel
2-1/2" around my hips
1-1/4" around each of my thighs
1/4" around each of my calves


Lost 0.018 off my waist-to-height ratio
Gained 0.019 off my waist-to-hip ratio


Lost 4.4 points off my body fat percentage

Gained 4.4 points onto my lean body mass percentage


Lost 9.6 pounds of body fat
Gained 0.4 pounds of lean body mass
Lost 9.2 pounds on the scale

This was better progress, but then everything fell apart, and I started gaining again.  If you read this blog with any frequency, you know that I have been gaining and losing and gaining ever since, usually with no rhyme or reason.

I have been reading a lot lately about how staying very low carb for a long time can have a detrimental effect on thyroid function.  Obviously, this is not true for everyone, but it might be true for me - my thyroid function has been decreasing and my metabolism seems to just be shut down.  I gain weight very quickly, and it is really hard to get it back off again.

I have decided to try to increase my carbs up to a moderate level, rather than the low level that I have been at for the past couple of years, to see if it will help my thyroid function and metabolism.

I am going back to a modified version of the plan Colette gave me over two years ago, as far as the total calories go, but I am going to increase total carbs by 2 per day and decrease fat enough to keep me at 1400 calories per day.  I am also lowering the protein to the lowest level that is recommended by Atkins for my height - 71g of protein daily.  I started on this plan on August 9, 2011.  Below is the starting point and the ending point, which will fall on September 8, 2011:

August 9, 2011
1401 calories
106.3g fat (68.3%)
71g protein
40g total carbs

September 8, 2011
1401 calories
79.6g fat (51.2%)
71g protein
100g total carbs

I have completed 5 days of this new plan, and my food today will look like this:

1401 calories
101.9g fat (65.4%)
71g protein
50g total carbs

One of the other considerations of this new plan is how it will affect not only my body fat, but my blood glucose.  I have started testing my blood glucose on a regular basis, and so far, it has not gone out of normal ranges eating this way.

When you only eat low-carb vegetables, it is a challenge to get those carb numbers up.  So I have started having a serving of fruit per day and also full fat Greek Yogurt.  As the carb numbers climb, I will start adding starchier vegetables, like squashes, and even an occasional tuber, probably yams.  I ate a peach the other day, and it was like heaven!

Here are my beginning stats:

August 9, 2011
Total inches - 286.375", which includes:
12.25" neck
11.5" bicep
36.5" bust
31.5" midriff
32.25" waist
36.625" navel
40.25" hips
22.875" thigh
14.125" calf

0.512 waist-to-height ratio
0.801 waist-to-hip ratio

53.4 pounds body fat (36.2%)
94.2 pounds lean body mass (63.8%)
147.6 pounds on the scale

Because I love charts, I have decided to track my progress on this new plan with charts.  And here are those charts since I started this five days ago:

I tracked my food five days this past week on Fitday.  Here is the breakdown of what I ate:

I take my full measurements every Sunday.  In the past 5 days:

I lost a total of 1", which includes:
I lost 1/8" around my neck
I lost 0" around my bicep
I lost 0" around my bust
I lost 1/8" around my midriff

I lost 3/8" around my waist
I lost 1/8" around my navel
I lost 0" around my hips
I lost 1/8" around my thigh

I lost 0" around my calf

Lost 0.006 points off my waist-to-height ratio

Lost 0.009 points off my waist-to-hip ratio

 Lost 0.3 points off my body fat percentage

Gained 0.3 points onto my lean body mass percentage

Lost 1.3 lbs. of body fat

Lost 1.1 lbs. of lean mass
Lost 2.4 lbs. on the scale

Days Completed - 5

Days To Go - 28

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