Wow, It’s been a while.
I’m sorry I haven’t been writing lately. My schedule has been so crazy lately with school out, the holidays, and getting ready to move.
I thought I’d make my first post of the year my goals for 2018.
-To make a 4.0 GPA
-Make Volunteering a Priority
-Post twice a week
-Spend more time with my family
-Lose 40 lbs this year
I know that these goals are achievable with just a little bit of hard work this year.
Last night I had a dream that I was on vacation, and there was a lot of food, and everyone was eating a lot of whatever they wanted. I had two bites of a donut, and then I felt awful. I just remember thinking, “Madison, What Have You Done? It’s not worth it. There’s gluten in this. Your face is going to be red for the next two weeks. You’re going to be so bloated and uncomfortable that you won’t want to do anything and you just ruined your entire vacation. You paid so much money for this vacation and now you ruined the entire thing.” I guess you could call that a nightmare.
Today when I hopped on the scale it read: 224. 9
That makes my weight loss this week of -2.7 lbs.
Some things to celebrate this week are: I’ve lost 25 lbs total. I did not go over on my macros at all this week. I meal prepped this week.
My Struggles: Maybe I ate two bags of chocolate covered almonds this week. I definitely did not drink enough water this week, again. One day I had two Hershey’s Chocolate Kisses. I had a few sips of my friends gluten free beer, which was absolutely delicious.
Only 8.9 more lbs to lose until I get a reward or cheat, and I think I’m going to make some sangria!
When I tell people about my way of eating, the first thing they ask me is, “But what do you eat?”
Bacon Wrapped Buffalo Chicken Dip Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers
I absolutely love these things so much. I make these about once a week and and they are by far my favorite keto friendly meal. I bring them to parties, and barbecues, they are always pretty quick to go and no one realizes the only reason I bring them is because its keto friendly.
I used to chop, gut, and wash the Jalapeños myself, but I would just end up with burns on my hands and coughing so much that I would end up on the floor of my kitchen barely escaping with my life. So after calling around to a few of my local grocery stores and comparing prices, I found a few that would chop, gut, and wash the jalapeños for me. I found a local grocery store, Harter House, That will do 3 Jalapeños for a dollar. If I am making them for a party, I’ll purchase 30 Jalapeños, which makes 60 poppers. Harter House always has Jalapeños for 99 cents a pound and I spend 10 dollars on them chopping them for me all together. It’s not bad considering that it saves me about two hours of time and a lot of coughing.
You’ll need:
3 bricks of Cream Cheese (8oz each)
1 Rotisserie Chicken
Franks Hot Sauce
2 cups Cheddar Cheese
Jalapenos
Bacon
Toothpicks
Aluminum Foil
Gloves
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425
Pick apart the chicken without the skin, in a large bowl toss with franks hot sauce. Add cream cheese, and cheese. If I’m being honest I put on the gloves and just mix it all together by hand.
I spoon the buffalo chicken dip into each jalapeño and wrap it with 1/2 a piece of bacon, and stick it with a toothpick to hold it together. I cook them for 25 minutes on 425 on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
This should fill about 60 Jalapenos, but even if I’m not making that many- I still make that much dip and just eat the rest throughout the week with celery or raw bell peppers, Or my non- keto family members eat it with chips!
Macros Per Popper:
Calories: 94
Fat: 7g
Carbs: 3.5g
Fiber: 1.3g
Protein: 4g
As I have briefly touched on earlier and I am sure you can tell with my recipe posts, I follow a pretty strict gluten free keto way of eating. I know this isn’t something a lot of people talk about openly, and I feel like a lot of the weight loss blogs I have seen are like “Look at My Fabulous Transformation,” -Which is awesome, way to go guys! I don’t have an amazing before and after picture, or any before and after picture really. I have only just started my journey to the version of myself I would like to be. I invite you to follow along while I document it. I weigh myself on Mondays, and I’ll be checking in on here every Monday just to update my progress, the kind of week I’ve had, and my struggles and triumphs. Something I know for certain is that I want my Monday Check In’s to be incredibly honest about the entire process, I’m not trying to convince anyone that this is easy breezy and glamorous.
Today when I hopped on the scale it read: 227.6.
This was the first week in over two months that I hadn’t lost any weight. In fact, this weigh in was 0.7 lbs higher than last Monday. This was absolutely devastating to me at first. This made me want to throw my hands up in the air and resort back to my old habits today. What was the point anyways?
The point is that my 0.7lbs is nothing considered to my 22.3 lbs total lost since starting this journey. It’s nothing considered to the difference I feel in my energy, or the fact that I get to actually live my life now that I am no longer held back by migraines. The point is that while I still have a long way to go on my Journey To A Better Me, I am proud. I am proud of this body that I have worked so hard for in the recent months and the progress I have made towards a healthier me- inside and out.
My Struggles: My sweet tooth was fierce this week, I feel like all I wanted was treats. Water Intake, I know I definitely did not drink enough water this week. My gym schedule, I unfortunately did not stick to my schedule I had planned and only made it to the gym twice this week. My cousin sat next to me on Thanksgiving and ate a cupcake with sprinkles, it smelled great. Today, after my disappointing weigh in, I almost stopped at my favorite restaurant for nachos to go when my grandma sent me to the store across the street.
My Triumphs: I made it through the entire holiday without eating anything not keto friendly or going over my macros. I made it through the entire week without eating anything not keto friendly or going over my macros. I tried a new recipe, and it turned out delicious. I did not give up today, even when I was frustrated.
I am working my way through a list of things to blog about- kind of as a challenge to myself to answer each prompt honestly. This was the first one on the list, and after a lot of reflection, I think I finally have the answer. I unfortunately did not enjoy High School very much. While I always got along with everyone, I never felt like I had many friends. I felt like I was always just lost in the crowd. While High School is not exactly a time that I love to reminisce about, I never really had an incredibly horrifying or defining moment. However, while trying to think of the moment that “Pretty much changed my life forever,” I could only really think of one thing: The day I got brought my dog, Callie, home.
Callie, My CalPal, is a Shih Tzu and I got her for my 16th Birthday when she was only a puppy. My life would definitely not be the same without her. I love that little nugget so much, I could go on and on. She really has changed my life forever. I love all animals more because I know her. It is hard to believe that she will be turning 9 soon. I know what you’re thinking, “Could that perfect looking angelic yet sleepy baby in that photo REALLY Abe Madison’s dog?” Yes, my friends, it’s true. That’s her.
My friend shared a recipe with me a few months ago and I had completely forgotten about it until a few nights ago. I got a little creative with it. It turned out absolutely delicious and it was so easy.
Ingredients:
1 Cup Shredded Provel Cheese
1/2 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
2 Medium Eggs (The Eggs I used were really pretty small, One large egg may work.)
Garlic Powder
Stir the ingredients together and bake on a Baking Sheet covered with Aluminum Foil. Make sure to spray your Foil with a bit of Pam.
Bake for 15 minutes on 350.
It kind of makes a big blob of cheesy bread and you have to use a pizza cutter to slice it, but It’s delicious with some marinara sauce.
The Macros for the entire thing are listed below, but I would guess that it makes about four servings as an appetizer or side.
768 Calories
56 g Fat
12 g Carb
55 g Protein
Enjoy!
Wow! This post has taken a complete 180 from when I first tried to write it. I recently made a few lifestyle changes. When I say lifestyle changes, I mean I have completely rid myself of sugar, carbs, and gluten. On March 22, 2017; I decided I was sick and tired of being sick and tired and that it was time to make some changes for myself. I started paying attention to what I put in my body and how I felt when I ate certain things. I have been following a gluten free ketogenic way of eating since then and weight loss is just one of the benefits I have seen. I have lost about 20 pounds and have a long way to go, but I have almost completely rid myself of my vestibular migraines and have improved my energy levels dramatically. I would like to see this blog become a place where I can come for accountability, but honesty as well. I am so proud of the progress I have made and the changes I have made for myself. I have a long way to go, but I know I can do it now.
It’s been a while since I have journaled or written much and I have been wanting to try something different. I have tried taking up blogging in the past and it never really stuck. I want a place that is unapologetically me, and I thought “The One With The Coffee” could be just that. My favorite TV show, and something that holds a very special place in my heard, FRIENDS. I really hope that you have seen all 236 episodes, but Incase you haven’t, each episode title starts with “The One With The…” In addition, each and every day for me is, without exception, the one with the coffee. Hot coffee? Iced coffee? I don’t judge, I love it all. I would like to post at least three times a week. I would like to post about things that make me happy, so stay tuned, because there’s a lot of them.
The One With The Coffee 