How are you coping?

Today is our last day of mandatory quarantine.  Tomorrow we can finally venture outside and attempt to do some food shopping.  It's been an experience we somehow managed to get through.  We've been in lock down since March 10th.  We had no opportunity to stock up because we were told to stay home, not asked...told by the Health Dept.  I want to take this opportunity to thank a few people for their concern and offers to shop for us.  First, my son Tom who did his best to fill our list of needed things.  Second, my niece Bonnie who offered to send me anything I needed.  She lives in Florida but knowing her, she would have done it.  Two of my neighbors here in NJ said "let me know if you need anything", Barbara and Agnes.  My friend Tina who also offered, even though she would be putting herself at risk to help us.  My daughter and Son-in-law who live an hour away also offered.  There's one person I barely know who also offered, thanks Ellen.  Thanks to my brother, Bob, My friend, Rho and my niece, Sherry for checking on us.  If I've learned one thing it's who your friends truly are.  I know who those people are and I love them for caring about us.  I don't hold any grudges for the friends that didn't step up, I'm sure they are scared, as we all are.  For those that bullied us, I'm sure you were terrified we would somehow infect you.  We never had any symptoms and we were transparent about our situation.  Maybe that was a mistake but I still believe it was the right thing to do.  I can't forget to thank my Son, Don who kept me laughing just by being himself.  This would have been much harder if I had been alone.  💖💖

I pray this crisis will end and be just a bad memory.🙏  I pray my family remains safe and well.🙏  I pray our leaders put aside their politics and do the right thing. 🙏  We're all in this together and now is not the time for bickering.

Personally, my immediate wish is to find most of what I need at the grocery store☕🍅🍗🍞 (no emoji for toilet paper). 

The first time in my life

I haven't posted in a while because I have more pressing things going on in my life right now.  I never saw this crisis coming.  It all happened so fast, and I wasn't prepared.  Aside from just figuring out how to survive, I am also deeply saddened by the selfish actions of others.  I mostly live pay check to pay check and rarely have any extra money put aside.  I buy just what I need and don't stock up on anything.  What I find to be ironic is that now, I have received my Social Security; but there's no food to buy.  Because people are binge buying and hoarding.....crazy.  As the title above says, this is the first time in my life that money is useless.  

My son and I have been quarantined since 3/10 and we have another week to go before we can leave the house.  I'm praying that by then the grocery situation has improved.  I'm trying very hard to stay positive because things could be much worse.  We could both be sick because we were exposed to the virus.  People my son knows have died. 

I'm old enough to remember what the world was like just after the second World War.  Things were still being rationed and people had to make do with what they had.  But with the passing of time, everything got back to normal and the Country thrived.  So just be patient and do whatever it takes to get through this trying time and most of all be kind and considerate of others.  

Random thoughts, not Keto related

I've had a lot of time on my hands lately and my mind has been in overdrive.  Like everyone else, I've been listening to the Talking Heads on TV, maybe a little too much.  I've spent more time then usual on Facebook as well.  The news media has been scaring me and Facebook is all about making jokes about Covid 19.  So who do we believe?  Is this all just a hoax perpetrated by politics?  I've seen it said that this is another attempt to influence the 2020 election.  If that's true, how do you explain Italy and what they are going through?  Everyone  is saying don't panic, but how can we not when we see what is happening in Italy.  For me, this all became more personal when I found out my Son has been exposed to someone that tested positive for Covid-19.  It started when he told me he knew the Man in NJ who was the first death from the Virus.  Ok, that's very sad news but he wasn't with him lately.  Nothing to worry about.  Later that day, he was informed that one of the people where he works had been in contact with the deceased.  He was tested and the results were positive.  My son was told that even though he is not showing any signs of the virus, he should voluntarily quarantine in place for the safety of others.  He was also told to take his temperature periodically.  If his temperature went up to 100.4, he should call his primary care Doctor and be tested.  This also means I am quarantined because we live in the same house.  Both of us are in the group of being at a higher risk.  Me because of my age and Don because he has pre-existing lung issues with Asthma.  For now we are fine, but that balance between panic and calm has swung toward panic.  ⚖😷

I'd also like to say that my blog is a way for me to express myself.  I like getting my thoughts and feelings out of my head and down on paper.  It's sort of a form of therapy for me.  That being said, If I have offended you in any way with something I've posted here, just let me know.  I would rather be informed then have anyone assume something I said was directed at them.  Case in point, my blog about Lent.  The whole point of that blog was Satire not literal.  When I said I liked the idea of giving up people and giving up being nice, it was directed at people I have had to deal with in my life who are rude and hurtful.  I would never "give up" on my friends.  Friends should care about each other unconditionally even if they don't agree with each other all the time.  That doesn't mean there won't be conflict but true friendship should be able to weather those storms.  I've told you all before, comments are encouraged and I look forward to them good or bad.  So, let me have it!  Just try to be kind to each other. 😍

A hard truth to learn

I've talked about a lot of things so far when it comes to being successful on Keto.  Yesterday, while reading some posts on Facebook, I saw someone talking about being Diabetic and keeping their blood sugar levels down.  They went on to say that they needed something sweet to satisfy a craving.  They thought eating some fresh fruit was the answer.  Early on in my own journey to lower my A1C, I found out that most fruit should only be eaten in moderation.  In fact, you  should only use fruit as a garnish on something else.  What do I mean by that?  An example would be the dessert I made last night, "Cheesecake in a Jar".  The recipe called for 12 ounces of chopped strawberries.  I looked up the Carb count for 12 oz.(19 gms. of carbs) and thought it was entirely too high.  I cut the amount down to 6 oz. (9 gms. of carbs).  I could have substituted blackberries or raspberries both are good choices.  Blueberries are not a good substitute because they contain three times more carbs for the same amount.  

Please take the time to really study the chart above.  I know I was pretty naive when I began Keto.  I used to eat oatmeal every morning for breakfast.  Back then I was still working and took those packets of flavored oatmeal to work because it was easy to make from water in the break room and the microwave.  Little did I know that what I though was a healthy breakfast was a horrible choice.  One packet of Maple and brown sugar has 30 gms. of Carbs.

Even the regular kind in the round box has 23 gms. of Carbs.  So, you get the idea, you have to do your homework and be aware of what you think is healthy but actually it's not.  Did you know that milk has more carbs than heavy cream?  Regular full fat ranch salad dressing has less carbs than fat free.  One Tablespoon of regular has 1 carb.  The same amount of Fat Free has 4 carbs.  I can't stress to you enough that when you do your shopping, you have to read the labels.  It will take you longer to shop, but it will be worth it until you get used to the better choices.

  

I hope this has given you some good information that you didn't know before.  I am always happy to answer any questions.  Enjoy this beautiful weather. 😎🌞

Willpower, where did it go?

I read an article yesterday that claimed you can eat Carbs and still lose weight.  I thought that sounded pretty darn good.  The idea of the claim being, eat protein, vegetables and fat first before you eat any Carbs.  Supposedly your body is fooled into thinking you're only eating non carbs, so eating that cupcake  won't ruin your state of Ketosis.  I find that very hard to believe.   For me it would be getting permission to cheat.  Not only that, but I know for sure I'm a sugar addict.  Adding sugar back to my diet would be a disaster.  I'm not saying I never fall off the wagon, I do.  I'd love to hear from you if willpower is hard for you too.  Do you have any good tips on how to get over those "Won't power" urges.  When I start thinking about all the things I crave, I try to find an alternative.  Sometimes just waiting twenty minutes helps the urge pass.  Another thing I do is take the dog for a walk.  I've even emptied the dishwasher to take my mind off eating.  It's also a good idea to keep things in the house that won't sabotage you.  I buy cheeses, pepperoni, nuts, olives, dill pickles and sometimes protein bars.  I'm always looking for new products that are Carb friendly.

I try to not take myself too seriously.  Humor helps any stressful situation.  I do know one thing for sure, I can't buy something low in Carbs and stick to the serving size.  I bought a box of Sociables Crackers because the Carbs are 9gms. for 5 crackers.  That's almost half of my daily allowance of 20 carbs.  Did I stop at only 5, no.  So those won't be in my house anymore.

I hope you at least got a few smiles from my blog today.  We're in this together so let me know if you have any questions or comments.  I'd like to leave you with my thought for the week:

Some Things I find useful

The picture above is my favorite Air Fryer.  It's more like a mini convection oven.  It does so much more than just fry.  We use it to toast, broil, bake, roast and it even came with a rotisserie attachment.  I have 3 air fryers but this one is used the most.  Here's the smallest one that I have and it was my first one as well.                                                  

I still use the red one when I have something already cooking in the blue one.  Like maybe I'm broiling some steaks and need to fry up some veggies in the red one.

Another product that I use daily are the parchment paper liners.  I buy  them from Amazon for less than $6.00 for 100.  They are excellent for use in the air fryers and make clean up easier.          

As you can see, they're perforated to allow air to circulate around your food.  They are also available in a square shape, which would work better in my blue air fryer oven.

Another product I could not live without is my Keurig.  This is the one I have, and believe me, it gets a workout everyday.

I hope sharing some of the tools I use that make my life easier, gives you some useful information.  That's really the whole point of this blog.  I'm not selling anything or trying to get you to buy a product I use.  I am just sharing my experience.  I've said this before and I'll keep saying it, comments are very much appreciated.  There's a button at the bottom of each blog for that.  Thank you for visiting my blog. 👍💘