Keto Diary: Day 19

I have now completed over two and a half weeks on the Keto Diet. It has actually been a blast trying out different recipes. 

So, here is an update...

Week 1: I lost 3 pounds. I was drinking a gallon of water a day, eating a bunch of eggs and had even drank protein shakes when I could not get a meal in and intermittent fasting. I also worked out maybe 3 days out of the week.

Week 2: I lost 5 pounds. I calculated my macros this week using the Carb Manager app and realized I was taking in way too much protein so my body was burning that over fat the first week. I cut the protein and amped up my bacon intake. I also cut the water to half a gallon. I noticed my ankles swelling and the less water I drank, they stayed normal so I assume I retained water. I did not work out at all besides walking through the grocery store as I shopped for groceries for my job and I started taking Keto Drops that help with burning fat. I also continued with the intermittent fasting.

These few weeks have been good. Not always easy, as I craved some junk food but, I found alternatives that curved my cravings. I also had a couple yummy keto friendly meals that were so delicious and satisfying (fathead dough pizza and low carb pancakes). Photos below!

So after 2 weeks, I am down 8 pounds. I didn't measure inches at the beginning (which I should have) but I am taking weekly photos and can tell a difference). Now, to finish out week three and keep going!!

Keto Diary: Day 2

Today, I might be experiencing a little of what's called the Keto flu. Basically, my body is not used to the lack of carbs and it's going through withdrawals. It's not as bad as some experience though. I just had some slight stomach issues and a light headache. Nothing major. Still drinking my gallon (and some) of water. Eating plenty of bacon and yummy chicken breast. I even made Keto cheesecake clouds (pictured below) to help with my sweet tooth!  It's just cream cheese, vanilla extract, lemon juice, 3 packets of truvia and a little heavy whipping cream. So good! Pop them in the freezer and they're a nice little sweet treat when you need it!

I do need to add in leafy greens and keto friendly veggies. I'm going to get a few things tomorrow to help spice up my recipes! 

My food for today was;

Breakfast: 4 eggs and 5 slices of bacon and water. 

Lunch: 3 Turkey butter burger fat bombs and a side of guacamole. Of course more water. 

Dinner: bacon wrapped cheesy chicken breasts. (I didn't prep so I had no veggie sides 🤦🏾‍♀️).

Played outside with my girls and jumped rope for 10 minutes plus some light squats and jumping jacks for exercise. 

I'm getting sleepy a little earlier than normal and besides being awakened by tiny people in the middle of the night because they're climbing in my bed, my sleep is pretty okay. I know it's only the second night but I definitely feel some changes. 

I'll check back in on day seven with a progress report and any updates that occurred in between time. 

Until then, thanks for joining me on this journey back to me, but even better! 

#Day2Done!

#GreaterIsComing

Keto Diary: Day 1 (Join me on my journey)

6/1/2020

Today is the first day of the best of my life! Today I embarked on my second attempt of the Keto diet. The first time I tried the diet was in 2016, a few months after I gave birth to my first daughter. I loved the diet and lost 14 pounds in my first month! I was so excited. I wasn't sure how safe this way of eating was for my breastfeeding baby, and I also had some unusual things start to happen with my body, so I decided to stop after month 2. I really wish I hadn't. I decided to pick it up again 22 months after my second baby. After my second pregnancy, my body seemed to continue to get bigger and bigger and I have had enough. 

So many things have come into play with my excessive weight gain over the last few years. I married my husband in 2015. We just recently celebrated our 5th year anniversary and it was so beautiful, even with having to stay home and stay safe. Just to give a background of how life can happen so fast and stress can build up; after we married, we had our first daughter together exactly 9 months later (not quite in our plans but she is certainly a blessing to our union). During my entire pregnancy, my husband (who had left all he had in another state to come get me where I was, starting completely over from nothing) was working different jobs to bring in money. I already had a stable enough job to support us both until he was back in his rightful position but it was still nonetheless quite stressful. A few months after our first baby girl was born, he landed his career job with the U.S. Postal Service! An absolute blessing! The following year, we purchased our first home. That process in itself takes a lot out of you but we did it! The following year we gave birth to our second baby girl! 

Are you following?? In a span of 4 years, we got married (2015), had a baby (2016), new career, bought a house (2017), and had another baby (2018)! Although these are wonderful things, they still cause stress and they occured back to back! Not to mention we live 2 hours away from most of our family support, so work for me was becoming more stressful due to the fact that we didn't have help with childcare and we had to work to pay for daycare. Can anybody relate? With all of these things going on, on top of new mom lack of sleep, on top of post-partum anxiety, on top of emotional eating, on top of some other familial stresses, it's no wonder how I gained about 60 pounds since we exchanged vows! 

Then in 2019, I decided to leave my state government job of 10 years for a local government job, taking a very significant pay cut but doing a job I absolutely love. Still needing to pay for childcare, now for 2 children, and taking on a different level of stress as now I see clients, build relationships and empathize deeply. The stress of how we'd pay for childcare weekly weighed heavily on me, so much so, I'd privately cry and just beg God for help. He sustained us the entire year miraculously!

The beginning of 2020, my husband and I decided that it would be best for me to leave the workforce for a while to stay home with our girls, in an effort to keep from drowning with childcare bills. That decision has changed my life completely! Although scary at first, it was the best decision I could have made! I am able to work part-time doing grocery delivery (which I love). I can choose to work when I want and I set a goal amount of how much I want to make for the week to help with some of the household bills.

Doing this has greatly decreased my stress level, I sleep better and I am enjoying my family so much more! What better time to finally get back to me!! I am much more motivated to be better, not only for myself, but for my family as well!

I have been so excited to start my keto journey once again! I can see where I want to be and I am confident I will be able to reach that goal! I prepared myself to begin strong and I plan to stay strong throughout my 3 month journey!

Here are some of the things I started today and plan to continue:

My breakfast was 4 scrambled eggs with cheese, a sliver of cream cheese and 5 slices of bacon. I had about a liter of water to wash it all down.

Lunch was a couple turkey butter burger fat bombs (pictured below) along with more water. Great thing about these little yummy balls of goodness is that I can store them and reheat them quickly either to go with a meal or as a quick snack!

For snack I had 3 turkey snack sticks that I dipped in a to-go container of Wholly Guacamole and a string cheese. Water was the drink of choice.

Dinner was tacos with 2 shells made out of melted and hardened cheese with more water of course!

I have not felt hungry at all but this could be from the excitement of day 1...or because I have basically drank over a gallon of water. 

I am also including intermittent fasting with my diet to help get my digestive system properly regulated, so I eat between the hours of 12:30pm and 8:30pm then I fast until the next day at 12:30pm.

I am starting out with very light exercise. 15 squats, 45 second planks, 15 crunches and 45 second jumping jacks along with running around outside with my babies for playtime. 

It's only day one but I am so excited to continue sharing with you my journey! I'll share with you my highs and lows, my victories and set backs then at the end, I'll share my before and after photos. All of this in hopes of encouraging and inspiring other mamas  like me who feel they've lost themselves. Its time to get our groove back ladies! Day 90 will be wonderfully mindblowing! Will you journey with me??

It's Been A Long Time: New Brand Alert!

Greetings!!

I hope you haven't forgotten me! I haven't forgotten you! I'd like to start this post off by saying thank you to my loyal followers and supporters.  Your stories of victory and encouragement keeps me so excited to continue to transparently share with you!

I know it has been a  loooong while since my last post so I will use this post to bring you up to speed!

You have followed me from heartbreak, to healing,  to marriage and starting my own family with the man that I truly believe God handpicked for me . He is definitely not like any other guy who was in my life before. He is the water that helps me grow.

We are coming up on 4 years of marriage and we have even added another sweet baby girl to our loving little family this past August 2018 🥰.

On top of giving birth a second time, I also birthed something else.... my very first children's book!! Along with the book, I started a business!!!!

My book is titled My New Big Family. It is a book showcasing the different feelings a child might experience as his family transitions into a blended family.

The purpose of the book is to be a conversation starter between parents/adults and children. So many times, families go through difficult situations and children are often the last thought of when it comes to allowing them to express how they feel about what's going on.

With my background in social work and interviewing children in tough family situations, I realize children often don't know how to identify how they're feeling and it is my hope that my book will give children (ages 6-11) the opportunity to connect with my main character,  Jrue (pronounced Drew), as he expresses his feelings in each scenario in Jrue Stories (the series). It's also my hope that parents/adults will use the book to help start the conversation because a lot of times it's hard for us as well.

I'm very excited about the book as well as my new business and brand, Kid Conversations LLC! My vision for this whole thing is to continue to author books in the Jrue Stories series and beyond!!

You can purchase my book at www.kidconversations.org as well as learn a little about my business!

I'm so happy to share this with you all! As I continue to believe Greater Is Coming, God continues to blow my mind!! I have so much more to share but I won't overload you in one post. I am happy to be back and plan to share more and more with you from now until eternity!!

All my love!!!

Keya <3

My New Big Family is also available on Amazon. 

#GreaterIsComing

But God, I Don't Want To

Am I the only one who's been here before? God will keep tugging and tugging, sending you little conviction notes and reminders of what He needs you to do but you just don't want to do it? Sometimes it just doesn't even seem fair. Maybe you weren't the one in the wrong; maybe you actually deserve the apology. Or maybe you made the wrong move/decision/choice and God told you to correct it and make the right one. Whatever it may be, it takes some humility to do it.

I sure know this feeling all too well. Because I have a constant desire to please God and I love Him with everything in me, I am often the one who is convicted sooner or should I say, broken down by His word sooner. I am sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and I am grateful for that. I don't always want to follow the instruction right away though. I fight and  fight. I try to justify why I shouldn't have to do it. When all in all, I am likely just prolonging the process for what God is trying to do next.

How often do you think we hold up blessings, promotions, or prayers all because pride won't let us complete the one (humbling) task God is pushing us toward? How much do you think we hinder our own spiritual growth and bring to a halt some of the plans/ideas God has placed in our hearts to bring to pass, all because we cannot get past "it's not fair, I shouldn't have to..."?

I am currently reading in the book of James. Take a look at James 1:2-3 (really, open your bible and read it. Then you will be able to say you read your bible today...you're welcome :P). I am reading out of a bible featuring notes and commentary by Joyce Meyer. In her Life Point (commentary) she says the following:

The bible talks about purification, sanctification, sacrifice, and suffering. These are not popular words; nevertheless, if we are to be Christlike in character, we must sometimes go through difficult circumstances to learn His ways. I struggled with this process for a long time, but I finally realized that God was not going to do things my way. He placed people and situations in my life that caused me to want to quit this whole process, and He did not want an argument from me. He only wanted to hear, "Yes, Lord. Your will be done."

There's that tag line again. YOUR WILL BE DONE. And I wasn't even searching for it! I know I can relate to the way she felt about struggling and wanting to quit. Especially when you feel like you're always the one getting the slap in the face and having to turn the other cheek. In all though, we have to stand on God's promise to give us hope in our final outcome (Jeremiah 29:11 AMP).

So, as I am encouraged by the Holy Spirit and I encourage myself, I encourage you to pull yourself together, push that pride, fear, shame, etc. aside then go ahead and do what God is telling you, even urging you to do. Do it, so that you can move forward in the promise because He is definitely a promise keeper!

#ThyWillBeDone
#GreaterIsComing

Functioning in Dysfunction

Is there such a thing as a functional family? It seems that all families, no matter how perfect they may look or try to look, have some form of dysfunction and each family members is taught by one another how to get along in the midst of the dysfunction.

I'm sure it's probably hard for the members to recognize the dysfunction because, in all actuality, it's been their normal way of life. So when someone else points it out (intentionally or unintentionally), what do you do??

At this stage of my life, I have come to understand more and more about myself as well as see things I may not have seen before. These things are revealed to me through different avenues but nonetheless, revealed. The challenge is taking these things to God and allowing Him to either guide me or work out what he needs to work out in me.

This whole week, the word GRACE has arisen on multiple occasions. God uses so much grace with His children and we are to mirror Him. Honestly, sometimes I just want to throw grace out of the window.. maybe I should say most times, and I want to move forward the way that I want to move forward. When I do it my way, I'm continuing in the dysfunction, whether it be within family, friendships, the work place, etc.

I am then, again, brought back to THY WILL BE DONE. As hard as it is to show grace, it's even more detrimental to recognize the dysfunction and continue to function in it because of my own fleshy desire. It may take some prayer, some fasting and maybe even a little time to get out of the flesh and just be obedient to His word but we must press on.

Remembering that it's all for God and removing either the actual person or situation can make the obedience a little easier. Overall, we desire to please God and want His will to be done.

Thy Will Be Done

Here I am, once again, starting over. As long as I never give up on the blogging, I will continually begin again!

I am at a very different stage in my life since the initial post in this blog series. And in this stage, my constant tag line is "Thy Will Be Done". I have to seek God more on behalf of my family, my friends, and myself and all I ever want is for God's will to come to pass.

These last few days have brought about such eye opening clarity. All things happen for a reason in my belief and boy do I see clearly! God recently placed something in my heart and I definitely received the confirmation that I need to make a move on it!

Sometimes, we have situations or confrontations that occur in our lives that the enemy tries to use as a weapon against us but guess what?! No weapon FORMED against you shall prosper! There will absolutely be weapons with your name on it but it WILL NOT do what it was intended to do.  I am just even more excited to be obedient and follow God's voice!

Look for God in all things. I am more than grateful for His love that reigns supreme in mine and my family's life and I pray that I can share that same love with others!

My encouragement to you:

Hang in there! Don't let the meaningless attacks of the enemy knock you off course. Keep your eye on the prize and maintain Thy Will Be Done.

Greater is still coming!!