Wow, still going! Very pleased with self. This is the meal plan now. Partner said he really misses bread so am going to try cloud bread. Hmm. Picked up a huge bag of Byron Bay jerky at Costco, so going to try that for snacks.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Brunch	Pizza stuffed capsicums	Mushroom egg muffins	Bacon cheeseburger casserole *marinate chicken*	Mushroom egg muffins	Salami and cream cheese rollups	Salad with ham	Mushroom egg muffins
Dinner	Green chile chicken skillet	Keto beef ramen	Meatballs with cloud bread	Tandoori chicken with baked cauliflower	Bacon cheeseburger casserole	Pizza stuffed capsicums	Sheet pan burgers
Snacks	Jerky	Twiggy sticks and cheese	Cream cheese cookies	Jerky	Twiggy sticks and cheese	Cream cheese cookies	Twiggy sticks and cheese
Drinks	Electrolyte Water Coffee HWC Avalanche HWC	Electrolyte Water Coffee HWC Avalanche HWC	Electrolyte Water Coffee HWC Avalanche HWC	Electrolyte Water Coffee HWC Avalanche HWC	Electrolyte Water Coffee HWC Avalanche HWC	Electrolyte Water Coffee HWC Avalanche HWC	Electrolyte Water Coffee HWC Avalanche HWC

I thought the new Asics runners-for-fat-people would help me out with my foot pain. That was a no 😦

So today I went to a podiatrist who praised my toenail cutting technique! I like getting something right for a change. He trimmed my big toenails as they are frankly behemoths, and then set about examining my feet and gait etc.

Was quite interesting, and evident from the wear pattern on my old shoes that I don’t really engage or use my big toes when walking. He has added some padding to my left shoe, and I am hoping it will help a lot. Going back in 10 days time to check it out, anyway.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Brunch	Pizza pie Mad creations egg fast p 28	Turkish meatloaf with lettuce  and yoghurt	Sliced ham and salad Make cheese puffs	Turkish meatloaf with lettuce and yoghurt	Cauliflower hash browns with lettuce and yoghurt	Pizza pie Mad creations egg fast p 28 add ham	Turkish meatloaf with lettuce and yog
Dinner	Keto cheese omlette	Mustard chicken tray bake	Taco bowl	Sesame chicken and broccoli	Sausages with salad	Spring roll in a bowl	Keto chicken with herb butter
Snacks	Zucchini nacho chips	Cheese cubes and twiggy sticks	Cheese cubes and twiggy sticks	cheese puffs	Cheese cubes and twiggy sticks	Cook Zucchini nacho chips AND Turkish meatloaf	Cheese cubes and twiggy sticks
Drinks	Water	Electrolyte Water	Electrolyte Water	Electrolyte Water	Electrolyte Water	Electrolyte Water	Electrolyte Water

Sausages are a terrible idea, My Fitness Pal says no. Had them, but won’t have again. Variations so far – have decided to bake the zucchini chips at 110 for 2 hours instead of fry them. Used lamb mince and parmesan in the meatloaf, which I mixed in the Thermomix.

I have not enough sleep the past two days, and the yelling from me was correspondingly increased.

Sunday night I could not sleep because a) I had an almond milk latte on the way home, and b) I was all fired up over my plans to join a gym. I had the whole essay to the gym owner prepared and everything. Couldn’t shut my brain up. I was also planning my road trip. Anyway, the bottom line was that only got about 4 hours sleep at the most.

Then last night, Monday night, I was at the hospital with a child until 4am. Probably slept 5-6am, then 6-7.15am and was awake after that.

My brain hasn’t worked today, and my capacity to keep my temper evaporated at 7.40pm. Not proud of my behaviour.

But I do have a post about gym joining coming up hopefully.

So, I’m working on a couple of goals in making these better choices.

First, may have mentioned, we have to go to the theatre at the end of February 2019, as my partner bought me tickets for my birthday. It is an old theatre, and I was immediately worried I wouldn’t fit in the seats.

So my first goal is to know that I’ve done all I can to work towards fitting in that seat when we go to the theatre in February.

It will be 4.5 months since we began on 12 October. I sincerely hope I will have been able to notice some changes in my body by then.

The second goal is that I am planning a road trip in September 2019. It will be a 16 day round trip Melbourne to Perth with the three children.

I don’t want to go on such a long road trip without knowing that I can walk through parks and scenic footpaths etc keeping up with three very active children. We will also meet with friends and family over there, and I want them to see a version of me that represents the better choices I am making now and not my previous ones.

The road trip will start at 11.5 months into this process. With any luck I will be feeling a lot more mobile and energetic.

A third possibility is that we may need to fly to Canberra in July next year. I am currently terrified of flying in case I can’t fit in a seat, even though I would have the children next to me so wouldn’t need to worry about squashing a stranger. But not being able to use the seatbelt gives me palpitations. Not sure if a flight will be required at this stage, but it’s certainly a possibility.

As it says in the title:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Brunch	Cauliflower hash browns with lettuce and yoghurt	Bacon and egg cups *cook chicken fritters*	Chicken fritters with yoghurt *make tex mex seasoning*	Bacon and egg cups	–free– please choose keto if possible. No rice, no pasta no chips	Bacon and egg cups	Cauliflower hash browns with lettuce and yoghurt
Dinner	Broccoli and beef	Tuscan chicken lasagna (mad creations beginner 2)	Chorizo Shakshuka (mad creations simply keto)	Tex mex burger plate	Cauliflower Chicken Alfredo	Meatball salad (mad creations beginners 1 – freeze half meatballs)	Chicken Carbonara Baked Mushrooms (mad creations budget book)
Snacks	2 seed crackers 6 cheese squares	2 x lemon almond shortbread Twiggy sticks	2 seed crackers 6 cheese squares	2 x lemon almond shortbread Twiggy sticks	2 seed crackers 6 cheese squares	2 x lemon almond shortbread Twiggy sticks	2 seed crackers 6 cheese squares
Drinks	Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk

This plan actually went really haywire, with a trip to my parents thrown in, a failure to shop and a trip to the hospital exhausting me at one point. I am really pleased that I managed to keep keto the whole week, even refusing chocolates from overseas at my parents.

Still here! Still sticking to everything very obediently.

Last night my partner expressed the urge for a ‘cheat meal’ or junk food or something, anything. I explained he couldn’t have a ‘cheat meal’. He knows, he knows that you need to stay in ketosis etc. I have told him that he can have whatever he likes on Friday for lunch. I won’t be there to see it, but I have reminded him no pasta, no rice, no potatoes and hopefully he can find something in the cafeteria that is vaguely low-carb.

I am actually quite surprised that I am making it through. Have been cooking everything, cleaning up kitchen etc.

I can’t notice any improvement at the moment. People on reddit r/keto advised that weighing myself really isn’t necessary at this stage. I am going to put my trust in the whole process. If I can’t notice any difference in another couple of weeks though I might start doing selfies or measuring something neutral like my arm.

At the moment I am having coffee with a bit of cream in the morning, then a small lunch meal, snacks and main meal all within a 6-8 hour window. I don’t think I would manage without the coffee, but maybe that is something I can work towards. I tried black coffee and it was a no from me.

Have already worked out meal plan for next week, so will post that next.

I have always thought I am a bit of a low grade alcoholic. While I do enjoy the taste of wines and some spirits, my main reason for drinking is usually to get drunk. I am actively seeking an altered mind state. I have never had a problem with being compelled to drink during the week, or during the day etc, but I would categorise myself as being almost dependent on it to relax, definitely to ‘socialise’ (not that I really do that ever).

The other week I had a few drinks in the evening, and the next day absolutely lost the plot at the children. It was ugly, awful, horrible. Unforgivable, I had no control over my behaviour and I was abusive and damaging. It was unacceptable.

Therefore, I decided that alcohol is not a regular part of my life any more. I will not be buying wine at the local bottle-o. There might be the very rare special occasion where I drink wine with dinner, or for a wedding, but I will not let it affect my family.

Not to mention, there are calories and carbs in alcohol that I simply don’t need.

So no alcohol. Last weekend I was almost on edge from wanting it on Saturday night in particular. I wanted that buzz, that relaxation my brain doesn’t usually give me. But I plowed through. There are plenty of times even in the past year where I have gone several months without drinking. I just need to keep that up, and not fall back into the habit of drinking every Fri/Sat night.

3 different main meals and some different lunch time options. Have found some v low carb seed crackers at woolies, so we are having those. Still lots of almond shortbread left over, but if more are needed I will make them, leaving out the sweeter this time because its unnecessary – butter is sweet enough really!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Brunch	Cream cheese pancakes 2 x bacon	Lamb meatballs (no sauce) with herby sour cream	Shaved ham with cucumber and cos lettuce	Lamb meatballs (no sauce) with herby sour cream	Shaved ham with cucumber and cos lettuce	Lamb meatballs (no sauce) with herby sour cream	Cream cheese pancakes 2 x bacon
Dinner	Spinach frittata with iceberg lettuce and a sliced tomato	Taco mince with salad leaves and Sour cream	Mustard chicken tray bake	Asian mince with stir fry veg and coconut yoghurt	Mad creations chicken meatza (e-book)	Shredded hot chicken and ham, grated cheese, leggo sauce, baked broccoli	Burgers with salad and mayo
Snacks	2 seed crackers 6 cheese squares	2 x lemon almond shortbread Twiggy sticks	2 seed crackers 6 cheese squares	2 x lemon almond shortbread Twiggy sticks	2 seed crackers 6 cheese squares	2 x lemon almond shortbread Twiggy sticks	2 seed crackers 6 cheese squares
Drinks	Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk	Electrolyte Water Long black with lactose free milk

So I hadn’t had a period since July. Whether this was because my high weight was stopping it, irregularities for some other aging reason I don’t know.

But day 4 of the new eating regime, all of a sudden its shark week, as reddit euphemistically puts it.

This is probably good, and means that hormonal changes in my system have already begun.

Onwards and upwards.