First and foremost, CONGRATS to Elizabeth F for winning the hemp hearts giveaway here! :) I just KNOW she is going to enjoy them! Such a fun, nutty addition to any meal. I found them to be a great way to add extra flavor and protein to my salads especially!
The hemp hearts were a nice way to add that little extra something while beginning my "low carb" lifestyle. I have to say, when you sit and discuss cutting carbs and think of all the things you will be giving up or cutting way, way, WAY back on its daunting to say the very least. Bread, pasta, doughnuts, cake, cookies...oh dear. This wouldn't necessarily be too terrible except we have a tendencies to ALWAYS have doughnuts around at work (my fav), and Mini Me, my aspiring chef loves to BAKE more than anything. She is planning her initial victory for Cupcake Wars, then to eventually be a star on her own food network show. She watches episodes of Cupcake Wars on Netflix, and then acts them out. Then she starts to think about what she is seeing and what she knows she likes and creates her own ideas and is not happy until we see them into fruition. we signed up to bring cupcakes to the school carnival this weekend which brought about multiple discussions on what type of cupcakes we would be making. How many 6 year lds weigh the option of ganache over fondant? Her first cupcake, omne that we had to do test round on, is Night on Chocolate Mountain(trademark pending).
This is a chocolate cupcake with a dark chocolate filling, a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips in the cupcake itself as well as a topper on the homemade chocolate buttercream frosting.
Now obviously she is 6 and can't use the oven on her own, but for the most part that is the only thing we are helping with. She reads the mix boxes, gets out the measuring cups and spoons, assembles her ingredients and gets started. My favorite part of this test round was when my hubby was helping make the frosting and she was explaining how he needed to be more careful so the buttercream didn't separate.
Hubs and I did break down and split a cupcake...only half as many carbs in HALF a cupcake right?!?! And it was SO worth breaking the numbers for that day. My main rule is, if my kiddo makes something from scratch, I am trying it...no "diet" is more important than her happiness.
OOOhh and bonus, my pants were still loose the next morning. ;)
I have not been missing the carbs as much as I thought I would. The numbers on the scale are dropping, slowly but surely. The best thing is how much better my clothes fit and how soundly I sleep. I think the cutting down on refined carbs (aka sugar) has really done WONDERS for the type and quality of sleep I am now getting. I wake up refreshed...which hasn't happended in a long time.
I do have energy drops, the past few weeks have been rough, no energy after everything is said and done to go out and exercise too...but this past weekend, I got myself out and got in a couple mile run. It. Felt. Amazing!!! So glad I forced myself to do it. My goal at this point is to continue on a low carb diet and try to get in at least (minimum) 3 workouts a week. I am seeing (and feeling) my clothes get more and more loose, and my body get smalled in places...time to make sure it is also getting/staying toned!
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