the great low-carb experiment

are you on reddit? it's the "front page of the internet" and my husband is on it a lot. i mean, A LOT. they have threads on every topic under the sun. it's like the beyond of bed, bath & beyond.

well, phil kept talking about keto. he read the threads and kept saying "i want to try keto." it's an extremely low-carb diet where you train your body to use fat for energy, rather than carbs. it is common in the body building world (oh, you know, totally us) and also used to treat epilepsy. i had seen several reviews of the "wheat belly diet" book and decided to read it. i LOVE diet books. i don't usually follow them, but i started reading them in early high school (dr. weil). i love the idea of detox and cleansing, too, so i agreed to try the wheat-free, sugar-free thing and see how i felt. i had done the clean cleanse a couple of years ago and felt great, but it was hard to maintain alone. if phil is doing it, i can certainly succeed! i had one last hurrah: maple fest : ) i ate maple until i was sick, but it was so worth it!

so three weeks ago we took the plunge. this is not a cheap endeavor. i did some menu planning (i follow several natural food blogs and supplemented with pinterest, reddit and low carb friends) and made a B-I-G whole foods run. many of the foods are no different than what we typically eat: lots of green veggies, cheeses, grass-fed beef, chicken, milk from grass-fed cows (dairy and meat from the milk delivery). however, i bake. we eat pasta a fair amount. one of our sides at dinner typically includes potatoes, sweet potatoes, quinoa, beans, or rice in some form. i had to find stevia, coconut oil, almond flour, garbanzo bean (gram) flour, unsweetened cocoa... expensive staples to re-stock a keto-friendly kitchen. i'm trying not to go too crazy, but it is fun to experiment. i do love wandering the grocery store. and ordering off amazon : )

the first week, i stuck to safer recipes. salads for lunch (with leftover meat from the night before on top) or a chipotle burrito bowl/salad if i went out. for dinner, i made a lot of hashes. that's where i basically cut up lots of veggies and a meat (say, spicy sausage, kale, onions, squash, garlic) and brown them all in a big skillet. then i put a poached egg on top. we also ate lettuce-wrapped burgers at five guys. one night, i made pecan-crusted chicken with kale and mashed cauliflower. not a huge fan of the cauliflower.

by day five, i felt horrible. i was really weak and couldn't keep down food. i assume it was the change in diet, but i had also gone to a work event the night before and had wine without a real dinner (very few low-carb options). i broke down and had a slice of toast and orange juice. but i went back to my low-carb diet the next meal. i also learned that i need to eat meals and try to get to my calorie goal every day. i'm struggling with not being hungry (never thought i'd say that!).

the next week, phil felt bad. he felt sluggy and tired. and he had a stuffy nose (this one actually hasn't really gone away). but we got a little more adventurous with our meals. i learned how to make chickpea flour batter and used it to make wraps, tortillas, and flatbreads. very good! we upped our fat intake and started feeling much better. we have switched to whole milk and eat lots of avocados. i also eat olives and phil eats nuts.

i was able to make turkey, avocado and bacon wraps for lunch with this great recipe. a single serving wrap is 2 tablespoons flour to 2 tablespoons water and i don't use nutritional yeast, because i don't ever have it. i made a couple extra wraps and they kept pretty well for lunch the next day. not as good as hot off the skillet, but totally passable. especially with some mashed avocado : )

we tried a taco night with ground beef (which became taco salad the next day). same chickpea flour batter, poured thin to make tortillas.

lazy night was a flaxseed meal foccacia eggs benedict. the flatbread holds together well and even goes in the toaster! i topped a couple of slices with bacon, a poached egg and a sprinkle of cheese. then a quick salad on the side: spinach, red onion and clementine slices. yes, i know that fruit is not low-carb. but i LOVE it. and a tiny clementine isn't that bad : )

and we even had pizza! phil found this great recipe and i topped it with a tiny bit of tomato sauce (look out for added sugar), fresh mozzarella, parmesan, salami, prosciutto, lots of spinach, and basil. it does not taste like pizza, but it's good.

will we stick with it? maybe a bit longer. the greatest thing is that it has re-set my palette. i don't crave m&m's and coke in the afternoon now. fruit is sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. but i think my body functions best with a few more carbs. i'll try to stay with complex carbs and not slip back into bad habits. i did feel amazing on my last run - super light on my feet. we'll see...

lately...

where have i been??

testing. did i mention i'm going through the examination process? becoming an architect is hard. i've completed my apprenticeship hours, but i have to take seven exams covering different topics. i passed the first three. then failed the next two. failing is hard. i'm so down about it. especially because they are more closely related to what i actually do at my job every day. i passed two of the hardest exams (structural systems and building systems - mechanical, electrical, plumbing engineering) after lots of studying. the other pass was about site planning and design. so, basically, i should be an engineer. my two fails are schematic design and construction documents and services. the hard part is that i failed the drawing portion. ummm, what? i draw for a living. good news is that i passed my sixth exam. i'll take one more next month in a couple of weeks... and then i'll start the re-tests. i can't wait to finish and be a registered architect!

planning. phil and i are going to peru in april! it's been on phil's list for a really long time to go to machu picchu. so we're going! planning is taking a lot of time. we're researching a TON. but i cannot wait. it looks so gorgeous. and exciting. we're not hiking the inca trail, which was my original plan. i have a bit of a fear of heights. the trails are steep. S-T-E-E-P. they are slick stone steps. without railings. yeah, that's not happening. so we are doing a guided tour of the ruins. and then lima, cusco, and the sacred valley. can't wait to share what happens : )

dieting. we decided to try a low-carbohydrate diet to help jump-start some weight loss. so far, so good! it's tough - my favorite food is bread and phil LOVES pizza. but we were beginning to rely on fast food and processed junk in our business. the best part so far is the resetting of our palettes - i don't crave coke and m&m's in the afternoon now : ) i'll definitely be posting on some of our experiences. i'm experimenting with chickpea flour (current favorite thing!) and other low-carb recipes.

traveling. i have been lucky enough to take a couple of trips with my girlfriends in the past month...

first, i spent a long weekend with three sweet girls (jennabeth, alycyn, and beth) in palm springs. it was AMAZING! the warm weather. the sun. the giggles. the swimming pool. the wine. the food. the friendship. we had a blast just goofing off around town and being the youngest people in every room : )

then, i went on the annual maple fest pilgrimage with my book club. this was my third time and we were lucky enough to stay at a gorgeous estate near staunton, virginia. we wake up early to eat pancakes and maple syrup in highland county, then go wine tasting around the area. it is so peaceful and beautiful in that area - you can see the mountains from almost everywhere. there were 12 of us and beth's sweet parents came over and made breakfast sunday morning! i overdosed on maple (followed by a little too much wine), so i didn't partake in the wine tasting on the way back to washington, dc. it's one of my favorite weekends every year.

things i'm most looking forward to this spring: going to west texas for to see my nephew!!! and peru (duh!)

checking in on resolutions

happy february! things have been a little crazy around here. we came back from texas, i've been to nashville twice, taken an exam, went to an inaugural ball...

yep. my incredibly cheap husband decided we could go to the black tie & boots ball : ) merry christmas to me! and it tied into one of my resolutions - to hang out with my friends and say 'yes!' we were on the fence for several months about going. but in the end, we decided we have no idea where we'll be or what we'll be doing in four years. and a ton of our friends were going... so we went! it was a blast. basically a big, fancy concert.

my exams are still progressing. my count is now three passed, one fail, and one pending (i should hear any day). i'm really bummed about the fail, because it was on the "easy" test. but i've scheduled the final two and will re-take the last one as soon as i'm eligible. i will throw a huge party as soon as i pass all these monsters!!

my other resolutions are not really progressing yet. i started on a couple of organization projects. i ordered glass containers for our dry goods in the kitchen. my thought is to move the food from the cabinets into the hoosier cabinet. i didn't get very far yet... i washed the glass containers and got rid of all the old/expired food. oops. soon. i just don't want to start emptying cupboards and then have to leave it. until i decide to dedicate the time, our kitchen is a bit of a mess!

the other project i've started is our entry. inspired by apartment therapy's landing strip concept, i've been searching high and low for the pieces to create a calm, organized first impression. there are so many choices! i've really enjoyed researching and creating an idea board. i found a flat-weave rug in an after-christmas sale on gilt and picked out hooks for coats. my struggle so far has been finding a shallow bench. the vision is a skinny wooden bench with a place for shoes underneath and hooks with art and/or mirror above. i'm hoping the bench will turn up soon! 

my promise to see family more is hard, but i've been saving my miles from work trips to nashville because i miss this little face!! march can't come soon enough - my sweet little nephew, everett, will be dedicated over easter : )

obviously, i'm already failing on some of resolutions. regularly posting on the blog - nope. exercising - ehhh. but i can always save them for next year : ) just kidding! i'm going to keep trying.

promises for 2013

i'm in a funk and it's time for me to take some action! i love new years' resolutions, self-help books, and diets. i do not love finishing projects. let's hope santa left me some perseverance in my stocking, because this year i have goals that NEED to happen.

1. our house is a wreck. phil is amazingly patient with my messy self : ) as a jump-start, i signed up for the january cure through apartment therapy. best i can tell, it is an email challenge with daily tasks to get me moving. i have too many things and next to zero organization. i'm open to anything! and i want a clean slate for finished rooms in this house. i'm not just talking about the kitchen and bedrooms. i mean the crazy office and even the garage. i've got 12 months, right??

2. i have been a total slump in the wellness department. eating relatively poorly and really letting the exercise fall off. i used to run. i've completed two (!) cherry blossom ten-milers; don't get too excited, it took me two hours. the trails near the house are gorgeous, wooded trails in a safe park. but i'm still not comfortable running them alone. so when phil twisted his knee, i used it as an excuse to stop running, too. not okay. my sweet friend kristen suggested a workout class instead of happy hour one night and we went to the bar method. yikes!! so difficult (i'm a total weenie), but i love it. i would like to go at least once a week and then pick up the running and/or yoga on the other days. exact goals to be determined. my experience is the more i exercise, the better i eat. and the weight gain is back. with trips to south america and key west planned for this year, i'd like to lose it. but more than that, i just want to feel good again!

3. i need to finish my registration exams. there are seven. i've passed two. i'm waiting to hear back on two others; one i feel very VERY poorly about, the other i have no idea. that is so frustrating - not knowing. and i am really hating the studying. signed up for another in mid-january... we'll see! this is the only goal i feel confident i can finish this year.

4. i haven't painted in what feels like a million years. once upon a time (high school), i took private watercolor lessons. i learned color theory and painting from a wonderful woman with the most amazing independent spirit. sitting at her kitchen table as she taught me to never use black or brown paint (mix your own!) was a retreat from AP classes, multiple choirs, and my family and friends. i also took lessons with a small group when i studied abroad in italy. my teacher was a local artist - gabriele - and he had us over to his house once a week to paint a piece or two within a couple of hours. we had a smallish paper, about 4x6, and travel sets of paints. then he would encourage our experimentation in broken english to capture the local landscape. i haven't really painted since. it's time. i'll start in watercolor (and sketching with chalk and charcoal, my other loves), but want to experiment with acrylics. maybe oil. hmmmm. maybe not.

5. complete a major sewing project. i would love to make a quilt. will settle for some pillows. *major* might be a bit strong...

6. find new ways to keep in touch with my family and friends. i'm not the greatest at keeping up relationships. in all honesty, i'm a bit of a flake. that's embarrassing to admit. i forget to call long-distance friends and i don't initiate plans with nearby friends. i like emails and texts. but i have four precious nieces and nephews. three born just in 2012. they can't email or text! i need to find ways to let them and others know they are loved and missed. and to initiate and keep plans with local friends. don't over-commit in the first place so i stop canceling. choose grabbing coffee over sleeping in on saturdays and skyping instead of mindless internet surfing after work. i'm going to be frank; this one is going to be the hardest for me. i have to decide to make it a priority because i decided to move far away from so many loved ones. well, now is the time!

7. post regularly on the blog! i have really let this slip. i started this not only as a project to document our first house, but also for my family and friends. when i write posts, my target audience is my granny zelda (hi, granny z!). she lives in north texas and we don't see each other very often. i don't know if she'll ever get to come visit us in dc. and if she did, the steep stairs and single bathroom would make for an uncomfortable (if not impossible) visit. but the blog is a way for me to show her what we're up to and share photos and projects. i promised her a gift every month of 2012 - this blog is an ongoing gift for you, granny z! but i need to keep it up : )

i'm sure i'll have more ideas. and more things i need to work on. my hope is that posting this publicly will help keep me accountable. hopefully i will achieve number 7 while posting about working on numbers 1 through 6.

cheers, 2013!