Tequila, LaCroix sparkling water, lemons and limes stirred.
It’s low-carb and yields a healthy buzz. Not for faint palates, this drink punches your tastebuds in the face. Yum.
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Category: FATboys
We love fat. Welcome to our low-carb, keto life.
Back on Track
It’s Saturday! And I’ve managed to successfully stick to my set fasting windows. This was the reset I needed. The beer last weekend was delicious, but my body KNOWS when intruders – carbs – are strolling through my system.
Outside of sticking to fasting windows, ranging from 16-37 hours this week, I’m patting myself on the back for making every planned workout. As of late, I’m unable to pop right up and be gym ready in the morning. Lifting weights before work was convenient because I like to go STRAIGHT home after work. I’ve never been a fan of errands or veering too far off any scheduled plan; and yes, a scheduled plan includes my drive home (haha).
This week I decided to step outside of my stubborn-overly-scheduled mindset and just wing it. If I wasn’t hungry, I didn’t eat. This is largely due to keeping my healthy fat intake at 75% and my protein and carbs at good ketogenic levels. I had two, half-hour lifting sessions this week, and did yoga for 25 minutes two mornings. Every workout was focused, calm, and productive. I say calm because my body felt rested; even in the act of ripping my muscles apart and working on inversion poses.
How much a sweat comes out of a workout has never been a marker of success for me. With that being said, however, I’d never sweat so much during a workout. TMI, sorry, but I’m not sure what that could mean. Maybe it means nothing. I’ve never been a heavy sweater in the gym, but could working out in a fasting state be serving as some form of detoxification for me? The day after each lifting or yoga session, I felt as though I’d worked out, but the recovery period was much faster.
This morning we made these amazing breakfast sandwiches. Almond flour biscuits, egg, ham, extra sharp cheddar, jalapeno, and a bit of mayo.
They were so bomb. It’s been ages since I had a breakfast sandwich and we were both too excited to eat them. S and I are looking into local butchers so we can level-up on healthy fats, our cooking, and culinary creativity. Whatever you eat, you’ve gotta have fun with it. Can you imagine this sandwich with some freshly sliced, thick-cut bacon? My weekend has been made already 🙂
Alternate-Day Fasting Journal: Day 1
Fasting for any period has always been difficult for me. I believe the main cause of my up-and-down scenario in the world of fasting is the inability to get out of my own head. Before S and I became extremely busy – and exhausted – I was doing exceptionally well sticking to a regular intermittent fasting schedule. By eating between the hours of noon and 8PM, I was able to break my fasting period around lunchtime at work, but was also able to make sure I wasn’t eating too late in the evening.
In the past, I could successfully fast – only consuming green tea, coffee, and/or water – I could last two and a half days. Fasting for long periods does not work well for me and that’s okay. You’ll notice at one point I began a fat-fasting journal, but never got past the first entry here on the blog. At least on a fat-fast you could eat, but it became really difficult to do that type of fasting once I cut dairy from my diet. After two years of exploring the ketogenic lifestyle – almost three full years low-carb – I feel I can openly move forward with this fasting experiment.
Today went surprisingly well for coming off a weekend where I consumed more carbs than I’d like to admit. Thanks to the low-carb, keto pumpkin cheesecake we made last night, I didn’t wake up hungry. Skipping yoga this morning, I went right into work where I made it through the day with no temptation or fear of collapsing under hunger’s heavy pressure. There were a couple moments of mild stomach cramps, but drinking plenty of water calmed that symptom. Immediately after work I hit the weights and had a productive lifting session. Lifting after not eating for about nineteen hours was an interesting experience; but more on that later.
It’s been just over twenty-three hours since my last meal. There were no headaches, I feel strong, my mind has been pinging and alert all day, and I don’t plan on eating until tomorrow morning. All it took, so far, was keeping a clear head; even smelling all the food in and around the breakroom at work today didn’t phase me. Focus is it. Focus is what’s been missing from my past attempts at exploring fasting. I’ll most likely break my fast with some eggs scrambled in coconut oil and spinach. Did you know the term “breakfast” comes from one breaking their fasting period? Breakfast doesn’t have to be in the morning, but I’m sure mine will come before lunch tomorrow.
Savory, Sweet Truth
“CHAI TEA MUFFINS WITH CINNAMON GLAZE” by You Thyme, fellow WordPress blogger, spoke to me as a person that doesn’t follow the standard American diet. You Thyme talks about feeling shame for indulging in foods that aren’t actually terrible for you and the struggle of adjusting to a paleo lifestyle.
S and I have been low-carbers for coming up on three years and we have both had tempting moments and slip-ups here and there. It’s completely normal and human. When you restrict yourself so greatly, to the point you can’t stop at the tiniest taste of whatver… You’re already too far down a tough path.
We enjoy beers when we’re with our brew buddies, which isn’t often, and who can’t resist a bomb margarita in the summer?! We never feel like we’re on a diet and beer has really been the only thing we miss. We LOVE a good brew. I appreciated You Thyme’s honesty in this post and I’m excited to try the recipe!
You can be healthy AND enjoy life.
Maybe after the new Harry Potter…
He may be annoying AF at times, but we’ll keep him😄
I still need to read The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz. I hear it’s some good low-carb, ketogenic reading.
Squishy Fries? A+
These bad boys were so delicious! We simply sliced the avocado in frylike pieces and wrapped them in bacon. On medium heat, we cooked and rotated each bacon-wrapped avocado in a pan.
We didn’t add any seasoning this time, but I imagine some cayenne pepper and a dash of salt would set these off just right.
The texture is very interesting. The outside is gloriously proud and crunchy, while the avocado center washes over your tastes buds like an intoxicating avocado elixir.
This dish is great if you’re craving bar munchies and want a fun conversation-starter at your next cookout. Prep time is minimal and you cook the outside until each side has that awesome, fried bacon glow.
Buttered n’ Grilled Chicken. It’s What’s for Dinner.
S and I recently bought a new grill and decided to have some fun with it tonight. We melted real butter – you know the kind with only two ingredients and no hidden sugars or random chemicals that are, pretty much, sugar? – and added seasoning to the melted butter. We placed 6 bone-in-with-skin chicken thighs in a large bowl and worked the seasoned butter mixture around the chicken until it solidified; making it easy to manipulate and cover every side of the thighs in a glorious explosion of healthy fats.
I’m pretty sure the neighbors thought we were burning the place down. Some weeks back we had a good friend over who covered his steaks in a sugary marinade that flooded the bottom of our new infrared grill. This resulted in the grill smoking like a bomb had just gone off until the last of the marinade burned off. At just below medium heat, the chicken was ready to sizzle and dance on the marinade stained grates.
I like to keep it simple, so I added some spinach to my plate with some homemade keto Dijon sauce on the side. The sauce was made by mixing a couple tablespoons of Dijon mustard, a dash of full-fat mayo, and a couple teaspoons of MCT oil. The oil is tasteless and is an easy way to add some healthy fat to your meal. Be careful though! Too much of this and you’ll be running to the toilet.
Everything is better on the grill. There’s no arguing that. Putting the damned thing together was a pain in the ass, but I’m thrilled now that we can do a little more than our stove-top or baked creations for dinner. Summer may be coming to an end, but you’d better believe we’ll be grilling our low-carb-high-fat hearts out until the snow arrives. But then again, growing up in Alaska, my parents often grilled with snow on the ground…
Power Packed
A powerful LCHF (low carb, high fat) dinner. Breakfast for dinner has always been a family favorite. Bacon, a couple sausages from the local butcher, eggs scrambled in bacon grease and tossed with spinach and jalapeño. I’m already full.
And Don’t Forget the Hot Sauce…
Pork shoulders fried in bacon grease has become one of our favorite ketogenic meals. Not only is it easy and quick to cook, it’s delicious and filling. I couldn’t wait to tear into this glorious piece of meat after snapping this photo. Paired with spinach (tossed in spicy guacamole), this keto treat will keep me full until lunchtime tomorrow.
3 Reasons Why I Dig A Smith Machine
1. I don’t need a spotter. When it comes to lifting weights, I’m fairly antisocial. I workout just before work, and am the king of keeping a schedule. I don’t have time to switch out between sets and chat leisurely during this time.
2. Focus and awareness. Because smith machines only allow vertical motion, I’m forced to pay extra attention to my form while lifting. It’s extremely easy to sacrifice your form on a smith machine because of the built in spotting design. Just because the bar is supported by a giant metal frame, does not mean you get to let your core slack off, or your feet chill wherever you’d like. Bend those legs, get that butt down, and let the bar touch your chest before you push that weight back up. Stay challenged.
3. Variety. Three out of my five lifting days, I follow a stronglifts routine. Lucky for me I get into the gym early enough to hog the smith machine – knocking out the first few lifting sequences in peace and undisturbed. I always start with squats (because they suck), then bench, and finish with some barbell rows; this takes me about thirty minutes. If I can sweat my ass off without having to move very far, I’m all in.
