Chicken Hugs

My apologies, it has been quite a while. You can catch up on my cross-country move, change in professions, puppy adoption and travels here.

Right now, I've got a creation that was inspired by mean post-workout hunger and very little time. We used 3 chicken breasts, a cup of cheese, 6 slices of ham (you could use any sliced deli meat) and 4 slices of bacon. It made 4 entrees, we each had two and we were very full after!

I'm not sure what to call this; "Chicken Hugs" comes to mind or "Reverse Chicken Cordon-Bleu" (I realise it is a different). Regardless here is what you need to do to make this meaty treat for yourself.

1. Cook yourself up some chicken. I blackened mine a little with some chili pepper spices and hot chipotle salt, but if you want to go a more Italian route you can season with garlic powder and traditional Italian spices.

On a separate ban half cook a piece of bacon for each entree you plan on making. Remove when half cooked.

2. Let your chicken cool after cooking and then rip it up into strips. I was able to use an entire small chicken breast in one of my entrees but it was tiny.

3. Lay out an entire piece of sliced ham on a baking sheet.

4. Lay down a bed of shredded cheese.

5. Lay down a layer of chicken with an inch or so to spare on each side to allow the ham to wrap over top.

6. Sprinkle more cheese on top of the chicken.

7. Wrap the layer of ham over the top of the chicken. As you can see for some of mine I double wrapped using two pieces of ham. Stick a toothpick through all the layers to hold it together.

8. Wrap your half cooked bacon around the ham with the ends coming together at the top.

9. Sprinkle more cheese on top.

10. Place pan in oven and allow to cook until the bacon is crisp and the cheese has melted.

11. Remove from heat and enjoy!

Bam, there you go! My unnamed chicken creation! To simplify the process we stuck out bacon I our George Foreman grill for a quick half cook and used chicken breasts we already had made. We had plenty chicken left over from the 3 breasts to make a salad as well!

Spicy Jalapeño Butter Shrimp

We love to switch up our seafood mid-week. 'Spicy Jalapeño Butter Shrimp' is one of our favourite ways to prepare shrimp, it is SO quick and SO easy. Perfect to make when you get home from work in a hurry to eat. We have started throwing jalapeños into the pan when we make the shrimp, but they are optional.

We often use the shrimp as a side with other things like Flatout Mini Pizzas. 

Ingredients:

-1lb Bag of Shrimp

-1/4 cup of butter

-1/2 can of Jalapeños (optional)

-salt & pepper to taste

-1 tsp. chili flakes

-1-2 tsp. chili powder

-1 tbsp. coconut oil

*season to taste, if these seasonings are too much for you reduce them

Procedure

1. Thaw shrimp (if frozen).

2. Heat coconut oil in pan on stovetop at medium heat.

3. Add butter to the coconut oil.

4. Add thawed shrimp to the pan.

5. Add seasoning to the shrimp and butter.

6. Cook shrimp for 5-10 minutes (this may vary by stove/will be different if you are using precooked shrimp).

7. Add jalapeños (optional). Let sit for 2-5 minutes. 

Nutritional Information: 

(to come)

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

This one is super easy!

Its a great appetizer or side for dinner parties and it also doubles as a quick greens fix when you are feeling overwhelmed by meat (even though this still includes meat). I never really liked asparagus until I tried it roasted in olive oil. It is as simple as cutting the asparagus out and just cooking the asparagus in the tablespoon in olive oil. If you are are on a budget, try switching the prosciutto out for normal deli ham.

And, for a little more flavour add parmesan cheese to the mix. Sprinkle grated parm over the cooked asparagus.

I recommend eating your delicious asparagus as soon as possible after removing the from the oven. Or, plating them for a second time afterwards so that the remaining olive oil will not make your asparagus soggy.

Below are the directions to make one serving (one prosciutto wrapped asparagus) for four people. You make as many servings as needed by increasing the asparagus spears and prosciutto at a three to one ratio.


Ingredients: 
- 12 asparagus spears
- 4 pieces of prosciutto
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil







Procedure: 
1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.
2. Trim asparagus.
3. Wrap three asparagus with one pieces of prosciutto. I like to cut the pieces of prosciutto in half, length wise and use the two halves to wrap the asparagus.
4. Coat each in olive oil.
5. Once the oven has pre-heated cook for 7 minutes.
6. Flip asparagus and cook for 4 minutes.

Nutritional Information (it makes 4 servings)
Calories: 70
Total Fat: 5.11g
Carbs: 1.8g
Fiber: 0.9g
Sugars: 0.6g
Protein: 5.1g

Low Carb Chili Con Carne

The first recipe here is the quick and easy recipe using a Club House packet of seasoning. I used the slow cooker and it took about 2 hours on low to get it to the consistency that I wanted.

It is very filling, but it is not completely homemade.

I love to add in leftover meats as well, chicken breast etc. And, I always put cheese on top of the chili (this is not included in the nutritional information).

I know the pictures are not very enticing. These were the best ones I could muster.




Ingredients
-100g of deli chicken (or use desired amount of chicken breast)
-1/2 Teaspoon of salt
-1 Packet of Club House 'Hot-n-Spicy Chili Mix'
-1 Can of Pizza Sauce (213 ml)
-1 Can of Kidney Beans (540 ml)
-3/4 LB of Cooked Ground Beef
-1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
-1/8 Teaspoon Paprika
-3 Cups of Water
-1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
-2 Tablespoons of Hot Sauce

Procedure

1. Ensure all meats are cooked.
2. Add all ingredients to crock pot/slow cooker. Cook on low for around 2 hours*.

Nutritional Information (it makes 6 servings)
Calories: 281
Total Fat: 8.2g
Carbs: 19.7g
Fiber: 5.2g
Sugars: 2.2g
Protein: 30.5g


Here is the recipe for my homemade chili. Its an all day affair, I really like to leave it cooking for all the flavours to set in. There isn't much difference in calories but there are fewer carbs.

Ingredients
-1LB of Cooked Ground Beef
-100g of deli chicken (or use desired amount of chicken breast)
-3 Strips of Bacon
-1 Teaspoon of salt
-1 Can of Pizza Sauce (213 ml)
-1 1/4 Cup of Kidney Beans
-1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
-2 Teaspoons Paprika
-5 Cups of Water
-1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
-2 Tablespoons of Hot Sauce
-1 Tablespoon Cumin
-2 Teaspoons Oregano
-4 Tablespoons of Tomatillo Salsa
-4 1/2 Cups of Water


Procedure
1. Ensure all meats are cooked.
2. Add all ingredients to crock pot/slow cooker and cook for around 8 hours on low* (cook until it is your desired consistency).

Nutritional Information (it makes 6 servings)
Calories: 278
Total Fat: 11.8g
Carbs: 13.5g
Fiber: 4.1g
Sugars: 1.6g
Protein: 28.2g


*From all of my experiences, slow cookers vary cook times. Make sure you keep an eye on it the first time you make it.

Keto Garlic Fingers

Pie pan keto garlic fingers.

Okay, another not so new recipe. But, a great variation of the low carb pizza recipe I posted previously.

If you are like me and from the east coast of Canada you know pizza is always better with garlic fingers. So I use half of my thick crust pizza recipe to make garlic fingers and half to make pizza. This fits perfectly in two pie pans.

So, whats so different? Well, not much. This actually has fewer carbs than the pizza. Instead of pizza sauce use garlic butter.

You can find garlic butter specifically at some grocery stores or you can make it (to taste) by mixing garlic and butter; then melting it in the microwave. I add Italian Seasoning or oregano as well.

Pie pan low-carb pizza. 

After spreading the butter mixture on the cooled crust add cheese (and bacon if you like) like a pizza.

Just a few changes to the pizza recipe and you have garlic fingers, a great side dish!

Here's the link to the crust recipe. Enjoy!


http://katesketo.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thick-keto-pizza-crust.html

Low Carb Pulled Chicken

Step One: Root-beer and seasoning! 

I make pulled every week. It is the perfect meat ingredient to have kicking around the house, we put it click here to check out that recipe).  But, we wanted to switch it up a little bit and made the switch to chicken. Now, it is a bit more expensive, but it is just as tasty and a great way to change things up a little bit. 
in everything and eat it on its own for a quick lunch (

We did not buy a jumbo pack for this experiment, one family pack of boneless skinless chicken thighs made a of shredded chicken for two hungry adults. We used chicken thighs because they are cheaper than chicken breasts and hold the flavour better than chicken breasts.

This recipe is basically the same as pulled pork, we just switched up the meat and times.

Ingredients

Fully cooked!

-One can of diet or stevia root beer
-Seasonings (we used paprika, chilli powder, pepper, chilli flakes)
-Hot sauce
-One package of chicken thighs

Procedure
1. Place chicken thighs in slow-cooker set on low heat.
2. Pour root-beer over chicken.
3. Spice to taste.
4. Stir/flip chicken every 2 hours (not really necessary, if you are leaving it overnight)
5. After 7 to 8 hours drain the leftover liquid from the crock-pot.
6. Pull apart chicken.
7. Season and sauce to taste. 

-Depending on what taste you are going for you can use different sauces. We have used everything from 0 carb sweet Hawaiian sauces to salsa. You can mix it up, I tend to use chipotle sauce and Kraft low cal barbecue sauce.

It is pretty hard to make pulled chicken look pretty.
But, damn it is tasty.

Low Carb Cookies & Cream Cake

Little, but mighty. 

I baked this cake the other day. I really, really liked it. It is small, but very filling. I baked mine in two layers, but you could make the mix in just one big cake. I really want to incorporate peanut butter with this cake in the future. I consider a slice of this cake a treat. It has about 7 carbs per slice and a ton of fat and protein. 

Side view

Ingredients
Cake
3 Cups of Almond Flour
3 Tablespoons of Sweetener
3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
5 Eggs
2 Teaspoons of Vanilla

Icing
1/4 Cup of Melted Butter
5 Oz of Cream Cheese
1/4 Cup of Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil
2 Teaspoons of Vanilla
1/4 Teaspoon of Cinnamon 
2 Tablespoons of Sweetener
3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
1/4 Bar of 99% Cocoa Chocolate (I use Lindtt)

Prep Work
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Grease cake pan. 


Procedure
1. Mix the dry ingredients: Almond Flour, 3 Tablespoons of Sweetener, 3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder, baking powder and salt. 
2. Whisk eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla in a separate bowl. 
3. Add eggs mixture to the dry ingredients. 
4. Pour into greased pan (or pans).
5. My small oven baked the cake in 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it, this will vary (of course) by oven.

Make the icing while the cake bakes. 

6. Warm (but do not completely melt) cream cheese and butter together. Mix well. 
7. Add in teaspoon of coconut oil.
8. Add in 3 tablespoons of coca powder and 2 tablespoons of sweetener.
9. Add cinnamon and refridgerate. 

10. Allow cake to cool.

11. Ice cake and shave 99% cocoa chocolate over the cake. 

Inside.

Nutritonal Information (per slice, 8 slices per cake):
Calories: 460
Total Fat: 38.3g
Carbs: 13.3g
Fiber: 6.1g
Sugars: 3g
Protein: 15.2g

No Bake, Creamy Cheesecake

I made this with an aching for a coffee flavoured dessert. This was the perfect fix! I garnished mine with two different things, sugar-free caramel sundae syrup (pictured) and peanut butter. The nutritional information and ingredient lists do not include garnish.

Ingredients 
1/2 Cup of Coffee
2 Cups of Heavy/Whipping Cream
2 Teaspoons Of Vanilla
1/8 Cup of Liquid Sweetener
1 Packet of Unflavoured Gelatin 
2 8oz Bars of Cream Cheese
4 Tablespoons of Instant Coffee (I used French Vanilla flavoured) 
3/4 Cup of Sweetener




Procedure
1. Sprinkle packet of unflavoured gelatin over 1/2 cup of coffee in a small pot. 
2. Heat on medium for about 5 minutes and stir until gelatin is dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and add instant coffee, stir in one tablespoon at a time. 
4. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. 
5. While coffee mixture is cooling in the fridge, warm cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for 45 seconds. 

6. Beat cream cheese with 1 teaspoon of vanilla until it is smooth.
7. Once the coffee mixture has cooled a bit, add 1/2 cup of sweetener.
8. Beat together the coffee mixture and cream cheese mixture. 
9. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Stir frequently to ensure no chunks develop. 
10. While the cream cheese and coffee mixture is chilling whip 2 cups of cream with 1/8 cup of liquid sweetener, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/4 cup of sweetener. Try to do this when the other mixture has about 10 minutes left in the fridge. This is essentially whipped cream, keep it in the fridge until you are ready for the next step. 
11. Fold whipped cream into the coffee and cream cheese mixture. 
12. Grease a pie pan or whatever you would like to use to shape your cheesecake. 
13. Spread mixture into pan. Chill (DO NOT FREEZE) overnight.


*This mixture filled a pie pan for me and I then made 6 mini-square versions in a cup-cake pan. I decided to do the nutritional information for 8 slices and then the entire mixture, divide it how you want. 





Nutritional Information (8 servings)
Calories: 413
Fat: 40.8g
Carbohydrates: 4.7g
Fiber: 0g
Sugar: 2.1g
Protein: 4.7g 


Nutritional Information (entire mixture)
Calories: 3,307
Fat: 326g
Carbohydrates: 37.2g
Fiber: 0g
Sugar: 16.6g
Protein: 37.3g 

Low Carb Mini Pavlovas

These flakey pavlova crusts are very tasty. 

They remind me of the sponge toffee inside a Crunchie chocolate bar. 

You can flavour them, for instance with banana extract or lemon juice. The recipe below is for the basic vanilla pavlova.

These are good with breakfast or as a treat for dessert. 


Ingredients
4 Egg Whites
1/2 Cup of Sweetener
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Teaspoons of Cornstarch 

Prep Work
-Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees (F).
-Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. 


Procedure
-Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, add sweetener in slowly. 
-Beat the mixture until it stiffens. 
-Add in vanilla. 
-Add in cornstarch slowly while beating.
-Spread mixture into six circles on parchment paper.
-Leave a dent in the middle of each blog for filling. 
-Bake in oven for 23-26 minutes. Remove occasionally and press down on the dent to ensure it has room for filling. 
-Turn off heat and leave in oven for 30 minutes. Each pavlova should be crispy, not moist. 


*Add fruit, whipped cream and syrups to taste just before eating. 


Nutritional Information (per pavlova):
Calories: 30
Total Fat: 0g
Carbs: 3.2g
Fiber: 0g
Sugars: 0.2g
Protein: 3.9g

Thick Keto Pizza Crust

This is my favourite low-carb pizza crust by far! It is not eggy like others and it is thick enough to carry flavour and support the toppings. 

I usually top my pizza with chicken, bacon and other meats. I have not added toppings into the nutrition considerations.

This crust is FILLING, I consider a quarter of the crust one serving. The nutritional information below is for the entire crust, no toppings. 

UPDATE TIPS TO MAKE THIS BETTER & EASIER: 
-take the bacon grease and add a teaspoon to a tablespoon to the crust mix, this will help everything mix together if the greasy is still hot
-mix the crust in a large measuring cup and then leave it for a few minutes on the preheated oven to melt everything together, this will make the cream cheese less chunky when you whisk it 

Ingredients

-4 Tablespoons Of Herb & Garlic Cream Cheese

-3 Eggs

-1/4 Cup Whipping Cream

-1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

-1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

-1/4 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning

-1 Cup Grated Cheese (I use Tex Mex or Marble)

Prep Work

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Grease pan and layer one cup of grated cheese on the greased pan. 

Procedure

-Beat cream cheese with eggs in a medium bowl. 

-Add whipping cream, grated parmesan cheese, italian spices and garlic to the first mixture one at a time. 

-Pour mixture over grated cheese lining the pan. 

-Bake for 10-12 minutes and then let cool. 

Your crust is now finished, now just add your favourite sauce and toppings and you will have  one of the best low-carb pizzas around. 

Top It Off

-Spread sauce on crust.

-Add toppings and cheese.

-Bake for 15 minutes. I find this varies by oven, keep an eye on your pizza and make the call when it bubbles.

-Let stand for 10 minutes. This will harden everything up and make it easier to eat, it also melts together further for a more flavourful pizza experience. 

Nutritional Information For Entire Crust: 

Calories: 1000

Fat: 75.5g

Carb: 4g

Fiber: 0g

Sugars: 2g

Protein: 54g


Here are some beautiful keto pizzas and garlic fingers made in personal pie pans.
I can make three large pie pan pizzas with this recipe. I usually do two pizzas and one garlic fingers. For the garlic finger recipe click here.

Keto/Low Carb Éclair

I had a really bad craving for eclairs and so I thought I would give making them a shot. Here is my first attempt at the recipe. I experimented with a few different ways to make them, the following is the recipe for my best of the batch. 

Overall,  I really liked them. I used home made low-carb vanilla pudding and used it for the inner cream, next time I am going to use low-carb pre made  pudding. You don't need too much pudding, maybe half a pack made from a mix. My homemade pudding (found in a separate blog post) was not think enough and leaked through the bottom. I froze them to avoid leakage. This recipe should make 12, mine are a little bigger than they should be. 

Ingredients 
1/2 Cup Butter (I used salted, if you do not use salted add 1/4 teaspoon of salt)
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Cup Almond Flour
1/2 Tablespoon Of Cornstarch
4 Eggs
2 Cups Of Vanilla Pudding
3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup Granulated Sweetener
3 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
5 Squared Of 90% Cocoa Chocolate
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/3 Cup Sweetener
3 Tablespoons Of Hot Water

Prep Work
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
-Grease a cookie sheet.

Procedure
-Combine 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, melt butter completely.
-Reduce to medium heat. Stir in almond flour, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and cornstarch. After a few minutes of brisk stirring reduce heat to low and let thicken. Remove from heat.
-Add eggs, one at a time. Mix completely.
-Put batter on cookie sheet in 1 1/2 x 4 inch strips. 
-Bake 10 minutes.
-Add more batter on the semi-firm top of each strip. Attempt to double it in size. 
-Reduce heat to 325 and bake for 15 to 20 more minutes. 
-Check on them, you want them to puff up and balloon. They will not end up being completely hollow on the inside.
-Cool on a wire rack.

For the filling:
-Beat the whip cream until soft peaks form. 
-Beat in 1/4 cup of sweetener and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
-Fold whip cream into pudding. 

-Cut the tops off of the pastries once they have cooled.
-Spoon in filling and cover. Chill or freeze.

For icing:
-Melt chocolate and 2 tablespoons of butter in saucepan in low heat.
-Stir in 1/3 cup of sweetener and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 
-Add water, one tablespoon at a time. 

-Drizzle or smooth icing over chilled pastries. I liked to seal the top back on with the chocolate icing. I then put mine in the freezer to make sure they stuck together. 

Nutrition (per eclair)
Calories: 315
Total Fat: 30g
Carbs: 6.6g
Fiber: 1.9g
Sugars: 1.1g
Protein: 6.2g

The Glory Of Eggs

"Messy Eggs"

When living a low carb lifestyle, one of your staple foods will be eggs. You can add eggs to many meals or have it has the main part. Eggs are amazing, they have incredible filling powers and can help you feel full for long amounts of time. Every time I have experienced periods of weight loss I have consumed eggs regularly.

One of the first ways I started integrating eggs into my diet further was to ensure I had a breakfast style meal everyday. The picture to the left is what I call 'Messy Eggs'. These eggs are fried, seasoned with cajun spices and chilli peppers and topped off with cheese.

"Chipotle Loaded Chicken Breast"

This meal was consumed as part of supper. I ate fancier sausage with bacon and "Messy Eggs". The seasoning is what helps make the meal versatile and more than just a breakfast style meal. 

Another one of my favourite ways to add eggs to my meal outside of breakfast is to add one to my burgers. Just like bacon, you can use a fried egg as garnish for a burger. Why not add cheesy scrambled eggs as a side too? 

 An egg is the prefect way to add a little something to a meal when you are really hungry but do not want to eat two servings. I recently added a fried egg to one of my favourite entrees, "Chipotle Loaded Chicken Breasts" (right photo).

"Loaded Chicken Breasts" are simple supper entrees. Cook a chicken breast in the oven, season to taste. I stick with Chipotle because I have a great PC 0 Carb sauce (left) and I season with a little Italian seasoning, grated parmesan cheese, chilli pepper and sometimes I throw a little bit of almond flour breading on. When the chicken breast is finished add a slice of bacon to the top and grate cheddar cheese on top. Above, I simply added a fried egg underneath. 

Do you have any secret egg additions you live off of? 

How I Lost A Small Child: 6 Tips To Help Beat Your Belly

After I started dating my boyfriend I put on a little comfort weight. About 30 to 35 lbs, and man did I feel shitty.

One of our most recent photos in December.

Just after Christmas last year my boyfriend started a new regime and immediately started seeing results. I was impressed, so I followed his lead. I am now back down the 35 and feeling (and looking) better than ever. It took me about two and a half months to drop the weight. I thought I would share a few of the tips that made it work for me.

I'm not going to go into detail about my eating changes, but essentially I have been living a 'keto lifestyle' since late April. Low to no carbs. Not for everyone, but it works for me. If want more info on Keto check out the links below.
http://katesketo.blogspot.ca/
http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
http://genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html


Here are my six tips for weight loss:

1. Cut your drink caloric intake. Pretty simple to do, replace sugary drinks with sweetened drinks. I have always preferred diet pop, the hardest part of this for me was with energy drinks and juice. I pretty much skip juice these days, but if I need a fix will grab a tropical punch Fuze or a Vitamin Water 0. 

2. Have a dedicated partner. My boyfriend is my partner in crime, we both talk diet and exercise together, we keep it together for each other. If you cannot find someone you think will be suitable, join an online community to discuss and track your goals with others. I think that sites like the Reddit link above are best for this, you can see other peoples recipes and photos without feeling obliged to post things. I try not to tell people I am trying to lose weight (other than a 'partner') because I hate questions about progress and if its working... etc. The worst feeling the world is dieting and then knowing others don't even notice the difference, it is very discouraging. 

3. Track what your eating for at least a month. You can tie this in with the concept above. I use the app 'LoseIt' and I have online profile with a few friends from the app's forum who cheer me on as I progress. I think it is really important to look at how much your eating if you are unhappy with your weight, I gauge my caloric intake by the day and the week. As long as I am under for the week I am usually happy. I think it is the first step and really helps you be honest with where you need to cut back. For me it was just about everywhere, too much junk food. Sustain the practice for at least a month, attempt to be under the calorie count everyday and track your weight changes. 

4. Have a treat. With my specific diet I noticed it was very difficult to keep up in soccer. At my first low-carb soccer game I felt about 90 years old. So I began having a treat, once a week, to shake a sugar craving and prep for soccer. Every week, I had either two minis or one large cupcake from Calgary's local cupcake haven Crave. It was worth it! Saving the money I would normally spend on a half-ass generic quality sugar binge daily to weekly gourmet cupcake was something I could do for the rest of my life. A tiny treat for serious exercising is good, I would recommend eating first so you can burn it off quicker.

The 'new' us in August.

5. Make your own meals. Changing to a keto lifestyle required a lot more thought on creating meals. Some things are easy, burgers without buns but creating a low carb 'pizza' style meal was more work. I recommend cutting the amount of times you eat out daily. Not because it is necessarily bad for you*, but because it is a lot easier to skip the craving items when you don't give your self the option to eat them. Also, it really makes you enjoy eating your meals more. I love to eat out, so this step is the hardest for me. Bag your meals daily and think of eating out as a treat, if it helps make eating out and experience. Go to a nice restaurant, treat it like the cupcake situation above. Its about quality vs. quantity. 

A chubby photo I still love from Disneyland.

6. Keep your chubby pictures and look at them often. I did some of the coolest things while I was packing on the pounds. I went to Calgary Stampede and Disneyland. I have pictures that recapture these amazing moments, but were hindered a bit by my weight. I keep these pictures around and display them like the rest. Its nice hearing how much better I look, but the best feeling is looking at the picture and knowing I have a way to combat the bulge in the future. It also makes me feel responsible for myself, I got myself into those fat pants and I am the only person who could get myself back out. 


*I worked for McDonald's Calgary Office this summer and ate there twice a day, 4-5 days a week all summer. I managed to lose all the weight mentioned above and all I changed was not eating bread on my burger, diet or sugar free drinks and side salad instead of fries. The one little think I did miss was ketchup, I stick with a mayo based sauce to avoid sugar carbs (not a probem for you if you are not doing Keto).