Kia Ora Whanau

Alex from Costas Enterprises here, and I want to welcome you to month two of my journey.

Note: This post may be long and may include some comedy about what I have observed. Like the last post Weight Loss Journey … The First Month I will be covering things like cravings, what the Diabetes has done and also my feelings … but in a manly way of talking about feelings… so crying deeply and rolling up in a fetal position??

Before I start I do want to also acknowledge and thank all the people that have kept me honest, supported me and also have helped me deal with all the other stuff currently going on in my life. You can follow my journey on Instagram. Don’t forget to check out my SweatCoin post where you can also support and follow my journey.

Week One

So thinking about this last month I take it back to Week One and if I can be honest it has been pretty much the same as what you have seen the last month.

Still craving food, but managing to stay away from the foods that make me feel “comfortable”… all those foods are still cravings but I have been good.

You all know the food I am talking about.

• McDonalds
• KFC
• Chocolate
• Fried Chicken
• Pasta – any pasta!
• Real Bread – yes Keto bread is an amazing substitute, well the one my partner makes is but I’m talking about sliced white bread with a sausage and tomato sauce
• Pizza
• Potato Chips.

I better stop myself here cause otherwise I will want these and the last thing I need is more temptation.

I’ll say this now, the cravings do still appear for the rest of the month. I also do give into them a little but not in this first week.

Diabetes Check – This has now been reduced to fortnightly checks and I am told that my blood sugars are doing ok but I need to increase my insulin by 5 units now up to 35.

Overall feeling pretty good with myself. No cheat meals this week and eating well.

Week Two

So those cravings I was talking about. This week they started to win… I had some sugar, I had some chippies and I had some chocolate. And let me tell you now, I felt guilty after eating it. I felt like I was hiding it, mainly because I was.

That’s not the worst part, the worst part was after something happened, I went and did the stupidest thing I could have done… I went to MacDonalds at 2:00 am and gorged on a Big Mac, A Double Cheeseburger, Nuggets and French Fries.

Why? You were doing so well??? You know what these foods do to your body and why 2:00 am???

Quite simply, I had just left the hospital and after not eating since 8pm I was very hungry.

Now some of you may say “that’s understandable”, except it isn’t. I knew I had food at my home. Where I stay now is closer to the hospital than the distance I had to travel to McDonalds.

No I am not knocking McDonalds, I have eaten there since I was a kid and like some of you I had birthday parties there, when I was five just to clarify, (pouring the ice cream was the best right??, you felt like you had so much power!).

For a long time it was a huge staple of my life (and diet??) and I will be honest, after not having it for over a month that first bite into a cheeseburger, it was like I had died and gone to heaven. Ronald was waiting for me with open arms and Grimace was giving me props for coming back to the way he was, well minus the being purple and looking like a weird sex toy, but you get what I’m saying!

Then after eating/ gorging I snapped back to reality. “What have I done? Was it worth it to break my streak?” I know these feelings of guilt and general ugh feeling because I have them every single time I have KFC. Again KFC used to be a stable of food for me. I used to have it all the time. But the feeling I always have after biting into that piece of chicken watching the fat ooze out is one of wanting to be sick, but not being able to stop myself.

My main problem this week was knowing what I had eaten, how do I stop from going back? Now I know a lot of people will say something about having a cheat day/meal is ok. Yes it is ok once in a while but not when one of your trigger foods is likely to lead you back to them.

I know my body pretty well and once I get a taste I find it very hard to ignore it. It’s like one of those little devils on your shoulder saying “Go on, you know you can have it, you have been so good”. Those little devils are bastards, and as a week goes on they grow bigger and also make you hyper-sensitive to foods, adverts of foods and smells of foods.

You feel yourself wanting to have one more, like a crack-head needing their next fix. Think of that Dave Chappelle character … for a fat person that is what those foods can do to you.

So I manage to make my way through the week after that feeling and trying my best to avoid all my trigger foods and also Alcohol. We have already covered my previous drinking was in my History post.

Week Three

After finally managing to control my urges I step into week three with a bit more focus. That is the important part here, focus. I managed to do a little self evaluation and re-affirmation that I don’t need that type of food anymore. During this week I am doing great, I am walking a bit more that last week (but not hitting my personal goal of 12K per day) but I am at least eating better.

It is at this time that i remember one my traditions that I had been planning for the last month. International Womens Day.

For those that don’t work with me, you won’t know this but on 08 March every year (for the past 7 years) I bring goodies into the office for my team(s). A lot of this is to show the women I work with in my life that I appreciate them as they help me grow as a person.

This year I enlisted the help of my flatmate who owns and operates her own mini bakery. Check out her Instagram here for lots of delish cakes and slices (You will be in for a treat). My flatmate made 24 cupcakes (Chocolate and Berry, Banana, Salted Caramel and Vanilla). I managed to stop myself at two (one of each) and not only was the cupcakes … well F^&king amazing but that sugary carb infused awesomeness tasted sooooo good.

I could have stopped myself from having any, but that is part of the problem because sometimes we can’t stop ourselves. We (I in this case) grab those cupcakes on instinct, put it in our mouths and chomp down before stopping and saying “Do I actually need this?”

Diabetes Check – This week it didn’t happen because I had to cancel this. This was my own choice due to everything that was going on in my life at the time. I didn’t have the time to go back and change it. I kept monitoring my bloods and also kept checking my insulin and taking my pills so I felt confident I would be OK until next week.

Week Four

By this week Covid 19 had hit New Zealand and people are out there are starting to panic buy (I didn’t but some people in my family did). This means there are a lot of people at the Supermarket, Farmers Market and supply is certainly getting affected.

An example of this (which has only just hit me in the last two days) is that my partner has told me that the place where she gets the special flour she used to make the best Keto Bread in the world is all gone (After trying the cardboard like substance that passes for Store Bought Keto Bread I can easily say this is going to be hard! lol #ketoproblems).

What I want to get at it with this week is, there is increased tension and fear in the air and it’s all good to just tell people to “Chill out” but when the anxiety is hitting you from all sides, it’s’ times like these when you can fall back into your old learned behaviours. In my case I am more at risk to not cook the food I bought, go out and buy bad food like Pizza, or Burgers.

I am going to keep trying to keep this under control and cook the food that I like eating.

Now I am no Jamie Oliver .. well I don’t cook naked, I wear a robe I have some decency. I mostly do my cooking in the mornings, but what I do cook I enjoy. I am seriously thinking about making a Keto Recipe book in the future showcasing just some of the food I have and how I make them in a semi-lazy way. If you think this is a good idea let me know! Now when I say lazy I’ll give you an example of what I mean.

My main goto for breakfast is simply boiled eggs with sausages and veges.

I will put the eggs in from cold and let them boil. Same as the sausages, I will put these on the frypan. I will then go have a shower, put my robe back on, come back and flip the sausages, check the eggs and then go get dressed.

A little simple I know, but it works for me and it’s making me eat healthier.

Of course if you now have an image of me cooking in a robe … um your welcome?? and I apologize??

I want to show people in the future that this Keto thing, can be very hard but only if you make it hard on yourself (like me straying towards McDonalds instead of coming home to cook something). Otherwise you can have really tasty food (even if your a fussy bugger like me).

Amazon Affiliate Plug time! Yes it’s that time, I don’t get paid to write these crazy blogs but if you like what you read and want to help support me you can click the link below and if you buy anything from Amazon I will get a small percentage.
So what do I have for you today? Well how about something we all need at the moment but can’t get our hands on. Hand Sanitizer anyone??

Well thanks and congrats for making it all the way to the bottom. You will see some photos below and notice that since this journey started I have lost around 9 Kg’s (19.84 lbs) which is pretty good for two months work. I truly appreciate you all and want to tell you to like, subscribe and comment.

I want to grow this Whanau into a community.

Stay Safe and love you all!

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