Courgette Hummus

Hummus - the cornerstone of Middle Eastern cuisine is usually loaded with chickpeas. On LCHF that's a no no. So here is a delish alternative :)

Cut 250g courgettes into 2 cm rounds.  Toss on olive oil and salt and a little thyme.  Put in an oven proof dish and roast for 30-40 mins until soft.

Cool.

Using a hand blender or food processor blitz the courgettes with 3 tablespoons tahini paste, crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tablespoon olive oil and some salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy with seed crackers :)

Cauliflower pizza

I love pizza.
On lchf you can have cheese.
But you can't have the base.
So I could go and buy a pizza and just eat the topping.

Or I could make this :)

Pizza base:
1 head of cauliflower - grate and steam. Squeeze out all the moisture in a kitchen towel and leave to cool.
250g grated mozarella
1 tsp Italian herbs
1 egg

Mix together well.
Flatten on a silpat sheet on a baking tray (needs to be around 8mm thick). The thinner the better but don't have any gaps.
Pat with a kitchen towel and bake for 15 mins at 180°. Turn up oven and cook for further 10 mins at 220°.

Topping:
1 tsp Tomatoe paste
1 tsp Italian herbs
1 tsp Olive oil
Mix together and smooth on base.
Top with your desired toppings: salami, ham, olives, mushrooms, bacon,  avo, capers, anchovies - pile it high!
Top with mozarella - use as much as you like

Bake in oven at 220° for 8 mins

Top with rocket and devour!

Dr Paw Paw - my love!

Tashas has a staple on their menu - paw paw, yoghurt, almonds and honey.

I decided to mix it up a bit :)

1 paw paw
1 handful of walnuts
Raw honey
Double cream yoghurt
Lavender flowers

Chop, dress, eat

Thank me later

Celeriac fries

A delicious alternative to the usual suspects.

I spiced these with thyme, rosemary and chilli. Would work well with paprika as well.

1 celeriac bulb - peeled and thinly sliced into fries
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper and preferred spices and herbs

Combine in a bag, coat well with spices and oil.

Lay on baking tray.
Bake at 220°C for 25 mins

Salt and serve. Super moreish

Lamb meatballs with cumin, coriander and chilli

Nice to keep in the fridge for a snack or a light dinner with salad and yoghurt

500g lamb mince
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1 red chilli deseeded
1/2 bunch coriander finely chopped
1 egg
Salt and pepper

Mix together and fry slowly in coconut oil.

Serve with tsatsiki and humus (if you're eating chick peas) and a Greek salad.

Beef shin with orange chermoula

Very hearty dish and very reasonably priced.

Stew
2 packs beef shin
1 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves of garlic
2 cm ginger (fresh)
1 onion
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 sachet tomatoe paste
2 cups beef stock
Juice of 2 oranges
2 cups white wine
Salt and pepper

Brown the shin on the olive oil. Dice onions, ginger and garlic and sweat. Add diced carrots and sliced celery.

Pour in wine, stock, orange juice and tomatoe paste.

Simmer for 1 hour 20 mins

Chermoula
2 bunches parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
1/2 orange worth of orange peel
5 cloves of garlic

Blitz in food processor until fine.

Serve on top of the stew.
So hearty - no need for a starch.

Banting breakfast option

Citrus - I used grapefruit, orange and mandarin
Berries
Chopped nuts
Double cream yoghurt
Cinnamon

Simple, easy and delicious

Raspberry lemon cheese cake with nut base

Delicious Sunday dinner treat.

Base:
Blitz together 50g raw cashews, 50g blanched almonds, 2 tablespoons dessicated coconut, 25g butter, 10 dried dates.

Press into base of tin/dish

Filling:
1 packet Philadelphia cream cheese
1 tub cream
1/4 cup lemon juice
30g xylitol
1 punnet raspberries - blitzed and passed through sieve
1 tsp vanilla essence
Zest of a lemon

Whip cream to soft peaks with vanilla and xylitol
Whip Philadelphia cheese and lemon juice together
Combine with cream and whip
Stir in raspberry coulis

Place on top of nut base

Cool in fridge for 6 hours

Decorate with berries

Enjoy!

Breakfast crumpets

Breakfast crumpets

2 eggs
3 - 4 tablespoons almond flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix together and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
Spoon into a hot pan and cook until bubbles form. Turn over and cook for 30 secs.

Serve with berries and almond butter.

Low carb: Zoodles with Bolognaise and cheese

I definitely was in the mood for a bolognaise and as I've been badly off plan in the last week pasta wasn't an option.

Enter Zoodles! Zucchini noodles. The best invention since sliced bread!

Here's how to make this heart warming dish:

Bolognaise:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 carrot
3 cloves garlic
3 tsp Italian herbs
Salt and pepper to taste
500g mince
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tsp tomatoe paste
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup water

Sweat onion, garlic, herbs and carrot in olive oil. Add mince and brown. Season with salt and pepper. Add wine, tomatoe and paste and water and boil rapidly for 45 minutes.

ZOODLES :)
4 Zucchini per person
Juilienne them into thib stripsand blanche them for 3 mins in boiling water.

Strain all water off. Top with bolognaise. Serve with cheese :)

Enjoy!

Chocolate and walnut oopsies

Takes a bit of time but a definite winner for Sunday lunch

Oopsies:
2 egg whites
4 tbsp xylitol
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
Handful of walnuts

Whisk together until firm. Place on baking sheet and bake at 100° for 1 hour. Dry in oven for 1 hour.

Serve with cream and strawberries :)

Rump steak with bernaise sauce and baby spinach, watercress and rocket green salad

Ah... What a spoil :) rump steak is the perfect Saturday night supper - drenched in bernaise, my am I happy :)

Start with a gastric - 1 tbsp white wine vinegar,  2 peppercorns and 1 bay leaf in a pan - warm through to heat the acid of the vinegar.  Set aside to cool.

In a double boiler, Whisk the yolk of 1 egg until it starts breaking down. Add the cooled gastric.  Continue whisking.  Slowly start adding the ice cold butter - whisking continually.  When it's immulsified add some tarragon to taste and black pepper. Continue whisking.

Set aside on hot water in double boiler. Cook steak to taste. Dress salad with vinegarette and plate up.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin and parsnip soup with sage

Here is a great quick soup for these chilly winter nights

1 onion
6 cloves garlic
1.5kg pumpkin, diced
3 parsnips, diced
3 lt vegetable stock
3 tbsp dried sage
3 bay leaves
1 bouquet garni
Salt and pepper

Cream to serve

Sweat the onion and garlic in a pot until glassy.
Add sage,  bay leaf bouquet garni.
Add pumpkin and parsnip and stew for 5 mins.
Add stick and simmer for 45 minutes.
Blend with a stick blender and serve with double cream swirled in the top

Enjoy

Low carb flu fighter

Im down with flu and I realised just how much sugar is in flu medicine - its insane. Doesnt that sugar feed your germ cells rather than killing them?

Anyway, I made a delish concoction - low carb flu fighter

You will need:

Hot water, cinnamon stick, lemon slices, ground ginger and some xylitol if you want sweetness.

Steep all the ingredients in the boiling water for 10 minutes and drink. All good - all well.

*sniff*

Red cabbage with orange and apple

Lovely accompaniment to pork or duck

1 head red cabbage
1 apple grated
2 tsp orange peel, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp juniper berries
3 cloves
100 ml apple cider vinegar
100 ml water
Salt and pepper

Chop the cabbage and add to pot  with grated apple. Add the spices and liquids. 

Cook on low heat for 45 minutes until soft. Stir occasionally to ensure it doesn't catch.

Enjoy!

Sweet potatoe cottage pie

It's cold in Joburg at the moment and sometimes you just need some comfort food.

Here is a delish cottage pie of goodness.

You need 500g sweet potatoes - peel and boil. Once they are done, mash with 1/2 tsp salt and 2tblsp butter.

For the pie filling you need 500g mince, 1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tbsp tomatoe paste. Fry off the onion and garlic in the oil,  brown the mince and then add the tomatoe paste.  I add a splash of brown sauce just to round the flavours. 

Place the mince in a ramekin and top with the mashed potatoe.

Bake at 180° for 25 minutes. Serve with warm veggies or salad.

Makes 2 (serves 4)

Week 26 Results

Week 26 results

Ive been banting for 6 months and I cannot actually believe how quickly time has gone. Its insane. At the same time though it has not been the easiest journey. I cant underplay the emotional rollercoaster that losing weight is for me. At some points its so emotionally draining dealing with the loss of me that you just want to pack it in and eat a carton of chocolate and go back into the comfortable world of food. I will start writing some more about this soon, because its a huge thing for me.

But I refuse to be beaten this time. I refuse to allow this to rule over me. I am losing weight for noone but me. I want to be healthier, I want to shop in cool shops, I want to feel confident walking down the street. Thats why I started on this journey. And 6 months on I am feeling quite good.

Some results:

I am 29.9 pounds lighter (I measure in pounds, it makes it seem like more :)). Thats an average weekly loss of 1.15 pounds. Thats roughly 523g a week. Which is a big block of butter. 26 of them actually. And thats cool. It hasnt all been downhill. This is my chart (I love excel) of progress:

What this equates to is 8.5% loss on my starting weight and 22.67% of my total goal I want to lose - so I am almost on track with my 2 year plan to get to my goal weight, tracking a little behind but I reckon if I up my exercise we can maybe accelerate that a little more. Im also 31.5cm down in the last 3 weeks (I am doing the Sleek Geek 8 week Winter Challenge - so that I dont lose focus in winter) - I didnt measure myself at the beginning, silly twit - so I will just work on my 8 June measurements going forward.

I said to myself that I would spend my first 6 months focusing on eating and then introduce more exercise from month 7. Thats where we are now. I need to get back in the pool. I need to get into the gym (for real, not for my smoothie fix which, now that I dont do sugar, doesnt even taste nice anymore) and I need to tone and loose more with increased exercise. That I will start this weekend.

So I still have a looooooooooong way to go - but Im a quarter of the way there. If this was a trip down to Cape Town, Im in Bloemfontein, and that is fine by me.

Onward and upward my lovelies - hope to do a spectacular check in again in December.

Roasted pork rashers and roasted veggies with garlic

Roasted pork rashers and veggies with garlic

I really needed a heavy veggie meal this evening. Sometimes on LCHF you actually get a craving for veggies. So this evening I made a delicious roast dinner - in 45 minutes.

Start by cutting up your desired veggies. I used aubergines, savoy cabbage, brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoe and snap peas.

Place them in a bag, drizzle with olive oil, salt and dried rosemary. Take 1 head of garlic and break it into the bag. Mix all together and pour out onto a baking sheet or roasting dish.

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 45 minutes.

When the veggies are about 2/3 of the way, take another tray, place a grill rack on it and lay out your pork rashers. Sprinkle with some spices - I used my favourite Shisinyama spice from Robertsons and thats it! Roast on the tray for 15 minutes.

Then remove the veggies from the oven, turn on the grill and grill the pork rashers for 5 - 10 minutes under the grill to crisp.

Enjoy!

Flap jacks

Need a quick and easy treat that won't break the bank and is banting and lchf friendly?  Try these super quick flap jacks - makes around 6 flapjacks

1 egg
3 tablespoons almond flour or coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xylitol if you're making them sweet

Mix and leave to rest for 5 mins. Fry in either a dry pan or in butter until golden.

Serve with double cream and warmed berries if serving them sweet or with smoked salmon and avo if savoury.

Enjoy :)

Fennel bulb salad with caraway seeds and apple cider vinegar

Light salad to go wonderfully with grilled meat or fish. Low carb and definitely delicious

1 fennel bulb
1 tsp caraway seeds
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Chop up fennel.  Grind caraway seeds in pestle and mortar.  Add apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

Allow to marinate for 6 hours at least to intensify flavours

Romany Creams - LCHF style

I needed a fix.  And what's better than a romany cream and a cup of coffee (with cream of course).

Here's the Recipe ☺

100g butter
1/4 cup xylitol
1 egg

3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 3/4 cup dessicated coconut
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa
125ml boiling water

Cream butter and xylitol.  Add egg. Beat until light. Add dry ingredients.  Add enough boiling water to get a firm dough - you may need more water.

Roll into balls and press down with a fork.  Bake at 180° for 30 mins until golden.

Filling
100g chocolate 70%
2 tbsp cream

Melt chocolate and cream. Allow to cool and sandwich between 2 biscuits.

A light lunch

Delicious flavour combination and pure lchf ingredients with a little fire at the end :)

SERVES 1

1 small avocado
5 prawns
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp dried chilli
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch cilantro / coriander
Salt and pepper
Lemon

Marinate the prawns in olive oil, chilli and garlic. Flash fry and place on plate with avo and coriander.  Serve warm and enjoy :)

Chocolate Sundae: deconstructed

A chocolate Sundae.  Usually laced with many sinful delights. I've discovered a way to create the magic with very little badness.

It's a lovely LCHF option for a treat. There are many good fats and the use of 70% cocoa chocolate gives you a hit of chocolate with little other ingredients.  You can even leave out the Xylitol if you want it to be even more on plan.

Elements:
Chocolate Custard | Warm Summer Berries | Nut crumb | Cherries

1. Chocolate Custard
4 egg yolks.
250 ml cream
250 ml full cream milk
1 vanilla bean
1 tsp xylitol
1 shot Amaretto
100g 70% Lindt chocolate
4 oranges

Serves 8

Bring the cream, milk, vanilla and xylitol to the boil. Whisk egg yolks and add liquid, whisking continously. Transfer back to pot and stir until thickened. Add Amaretto and chocolate and stir til melted.  Take off heat and cool. Scoop out oranges and spoon custard into orange shells. Cool in fridge.

2. Warm Berries
100g mixed summer berries: blueberries,  red currants,  strawberries etc.

Warm berries and place into small bowls

3. Nut crumb
100g cashews
100g hazelnuts
100g macadamia nuts
100g flaked almonds
50 coconut dessicated
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp ginger
1 tsp cardamon seeds
2 tablespoons coconut oil

Warm the oil in a pan. Add spices and warm in oil. Add nuts and coat. Transfer onto baking sheet and bake for 10 mins at 180°C. Be careful to not burn.

4. Assemble
Add all elements to a plate and enjoy!

Breakfast deconstructed

Sometimes you just can't look at another egg. Here is a delicious alternative :)

Ingredients
4 rashers bacon
1/2 avo
7 baby mozarella balls
8 baby vine tomatoes
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper

Method
1. Fry off the bacon
2. In the same pan  roast the tomatoes until they blister
3. Remove bacon and tomatoes
4. Add 1 tsp of mustard to bacon fat and 1 tsp vinegar
5. Stir until it emulsifies
6. Dress avo with vinegarette and enjoy!

Breakfast 2.0

Thai coconut broth with hake, broccoli and beans

I've been dying to try a recipe that combines a traditional Thai broth with fish that is LCHF. So tonight I decided to give it a go. Here's the delicious result

Ingredients:
Spices: garlic,  chilli, coriander, ginger, cardamon,  lemongrass,  cinnamon stick and tumeric (1 tsp each)
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tin coconut milk / cream
1 tin chopped tomatoes
100g broccoli
100g beans
200g hake
1tsp Soya Sauce
1/2 tin water

Method:
1. Sweat spices in coconut oil until aroma releases
2. Add coconut milk, tomatoes and water and boil down for 15 minutes
3. Cut fish into 3cm strips
4. Poach in coconut broth for 7 minutes with veggies
5. Serve immediately

Enjoy - it's so delish!

Nigella Egg and Bacon Salad

This is absolutely one of my favourite lunches - delish and completely LCHF. 

Enjoy

Ingredients
2 eggs
1 bunch lettuce
4 rashers bacon
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp mustard
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp parsley roughly chopped

Method
1. Boil eggs for 1 min,  leave to stand for 10 mins. Transfer to cold water and peel.
2. Fry bacon in hot pan with olive oil
3. Mix mustard into bacon fat with vinegar
4. Cut up eggs and place on lettuce
5. Sprinkle with bacon bits
6. Drizzle with dressing and top with parsley

Delish!

Huevos Rancheros

Sometimes you need something different for brekkie. Enter stage left a classic Mexican brekkie.

Made these this morning and they were delish!

Ingredients
2 tbsp wilted spinach
1/2 a ring of chorizo
1 tin tomatoes
1 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 an onion
Salt and pepper
2 Eggs

Method
1. Place the wilted spinach in ramekins (2)
2. In a pot sweat the onion and chilli
3. Add the chorizo (cubed)
4. Stirfry and add the tomatoes
5. Cook down and season
6. Layer into ramekin on top of the spinach
7. Cracking an egg over the top and bake at 180° until the egg is set to you liking
8. Serve with toasted flaxseed bread for dipping

Enjoy!

Spectacular brekkie for a cold winters morning

Kath

Prawns with chorizo and spinach

Just the perfect dinner for a cold winters night. I had half a chorizo left from the Huevos Rancheros that I'm making tomorrow for brekkie so I took a couple of prawns out the freezer and the spinach I bought at the farmers market this morning and created some magic :)

Ingredients:
6 prawns
1/2 a ring of chorizo
1/2 bunch of spinach
1/2 an onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper

Method
1. Blanche your spinach until just wilted
2. In a frying pan brown the onions and fry off the chorizo
3. Add the garlic and paprika
4. Flash fry the prawns in the same pan
5. Season well
6. Serve atop wilted spinach

Enjoy xxx

Coconut bread

I need some texture in my diet.

Ingredients:
6 eggs
3/4 cup of coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil.

Method:
Whisk eggs, salt and butter
Whisk in coconut flour and baking powder
Bake in loaf time at 180° for 45 mins.

Banting Meringues

So I had some egg whites left and I decided to try some meringues.

INGREDIENTS:
2 egg whites
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp baking powder
4 tablespoons xylitol

METHOD:
1. Whisk egg whites,  baking powder,  vinegar, xylitol
2. Place on baking parchment
3. Bake in oven for 1 hour at 100°C
4. Cool in oven for 1 hour
5. Serve with cream and strawberries

Blogging on the go

So I've invested in a hyper intelligent phone. It's beyond a smartphone. Its so intelligent it tells me when to leave for meetings so I won't be late. Yes. That intelligent.

What it also enables me to do is update more on the go. Which I'm quite excited for. So now that I've downloaded the Blogger app, I'm ready to go!

Looking forward to more posts and engagement now. 

Kat

Courgette and Coconut Flour bread

If its soup weather, you also need a bread.
Found this gorgeous courgette and coconut flour bread that really is divine.

Here's the recipe for your enjoyment:

INGREDIENTS:
6 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of coconut flour (scooped, not packed into the cup)
2 cups courgettes
1 Tbsp thyme
1/2 tsp crushed garlic (optional)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

METHOD:
1. Blend the eggs, butter / coconut oil, salt and apple cider vinegar together
2. Add the flour, courgettes and baking soda - mix well. Coconut flour clumps together, so make sure its well mixed in
3. Fold in the Thyme and garlic
4. Bake for 45 minutes at 180 (until the skewer comes out clear)
5. Cool on a wire rack and serve with butter

Roasted Tomatoe Soup

Its getting colder in Joburg, so its definitely time to make some soup. 

Nothing better than a great tomatoe soup to warm your heart. 

INGREDIENTS

16 roma tomatoes 

16 cloves of garlic

1 sprig of rosemary

Salt and Pepper

Tomatoe paste

Olive oil

3 cups of vegetable stock

METHOD

1. Cut tomatoes in half and lay on baking tray with garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary and olive oil.

2. Roast in oven for 45 minutes

3. Pop into cast iron pot, top up with chicken stock and tomatoe paste

4. Simmer for 30 minutes

5. Use a stick blender and blend the soup

6. Cook for a further 20 minutes

7. Serve with creme fraiche and fresh basil

A little inspiration

Ah, just needed that kind of inspiration. Was bummed at putting the 2.2 pounds back on so I decided to put a little twist on it - I measured my bits.

And we have lost 27cms on hips and waist. Thats nearly a whole ruler. And thats a success.

So I am gonna make a mission to weigh every week but to measure the cm loss. That is a win anyway.

Two recipes to keep you going in the week :)

Recipe 1: Chocolate pots

300ml cream
3 egg yolks
40g Lindt 85% chocolate
1tsp vanilla extract
3tsp cocoa powder / cacao

Bring cream to the boil
Whisk egg yolks and vanilla together
Add some cream to egg yolks and whisk
Pour mixture back into cream and mix thoroughly
Break chocolate into mixture and mix until melted.
Chill for 3 hours and serve with berries and cream

Recipe 2: flaxseed low carb bread

2c milled flaxseed
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp stevia
1 tsp salt
5 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup water
5 tablespoons olive oil / coconut oil / avo oil

Mix all dry ingredients in a food processor
Add wet ingredients and mix until well bound
Line loaf tin and
Bake at 180 degrees for 45 mins

Cooking up a storm

Its been a week end of cooking. I felt I needed to get a bit of a stock pile of food into my fridge and cupboards, so I cooked up a bit of a storm.

What we have now is:

• 7 x 200g packs of roasted veggies, frozen in bags for quick defrost and placement in the oven to crisp up. Cooked them with rosemary and himalayan salt and pepper and some olive oil
• 5 x rump skewers with a salt rub and some chill
• 5 x pork and pineapple with a cumin, coriander and paprika rub
• 1 x sweet potato mash cottage pie (4 servings)
• 20 bliss balls - with goji berries and almonds, rolled in coconut
• 15 pork mince, onion, garlic, chilli, lime and ginger patties
• 2 portions of chicken liver peri peri
• 1 loaf of carb free bread (47g carbs in the whole loaf - each slice has 4g carbs - amazing)

I feel like I'm in control of this week now - meal plans done, dinners prepped and life is ready to rock and roll.

Got 3 weeks to loose 6 kgs. So we need to get cracking. Wanted to make it 16kgs by the time my sister comes into town. a

Yay :)

Sometimes you just need to let off a little steam

I honestly think I needed to just say out loud how I was feeling. Somehow after yesterdays blog post I just felt lighter, I felt lifted. Whew. Hopefully this means that the dark space is lifting.

Ate disgustingly yesterday - Chinese food is completely not banting focused - and I tried to eat as much as I could of the good stuff - but still, soaked in oil, gross and just not for me. Guess I learn the hard way. Back on the wagon this morning, so all is well. Need to really eat some clean food for the next few weeks and detox.

We are over the 10kg hurdle, but a bigger one looms

Things are looking good. Hit the 10kg mark - actually at 10.1kgs. What this means is that we are at 16.83% of our total goal and I've lost 6% of my bodymass. Not bad for 6 weeks.

What I am struggling with though is a debilitating depression. I always get melancholy in March / April - the seasons change, it gets cooler, I feel lonely, no holidays to look forward to. But this year its hit earlier. And Im wondering if its part of my carb withdrawl? Googled LCHF and depression and havent really found anything that gives me answers. I wonder if anyone else suffers from this. It's hitting me badly though - I dont want to hang out with people and when I do, I hold onto a brave face while we are out and then cry all the way home. Its really not me.

I just feel so despondent, Im succeeding in my weightloss, healthy lifestyle, work is good, friends are good, family is fine. But there is just some sort of underlying sadness that is eating my soul. And I dont know how to fix it. If I could pinpoint where it is coming from, I could handle it - but I have so much going for me right now. It just doesnt make me happy. Im giving myself a week or two more and then I think I need to go and see my doctor and see if we can do a mild anti-depressent. Perhaps that will just give me the boost I need.

Im never like this - always the life of the party, always happy, always having fun, always out and about - so people dont really know how to deal with me in this space. So I just withdraw. Which doesnt help matters. If I could just find the root cause I could deal with it. Perhaps some therapy (although we all know how that went down last time, so my faith in that is at an all time low). I just feel like running away.

Whew, heavy post - but I do feel a little better now having let the steam out of the pressure cooker now and actually acknowledged it. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

Small update

Its been a spectacular week. Attended the Real Meal Revolution book launch on Thursday and got to meet the wonderful Professor Tim Noakes. He signed my book for me and congratulated me on the 9.7kgs Ive lost in the past 5 weeks.

Now that I have the book, making delicious food is so much easier. Made the almond frappe this morning for breakfast - was full for 7 hours. Cant wait to try another one - raspberry and avocado.

Have a good week

xxx Kat

Short and sweet

Short and sweet - down 200g which puts me at a total loss of 20.24 pounds in 5 weeks - so happy and glad. All the work is paying off. What I have realised is that I have found a little secret. My Fitness Pal - that gorgeous beast that helps me log all my food and also gives me a guide on what KJ to eat - and when I loose 7/8kgs it tells me what my revised KJ intake should be. The benefits of this are immeasurable. 1. I can gradually shift into this way of eating, rather than shocking my body 2. I can see exactly what the impact is of cheating 3. It tells me, with reasonable accuracy what I will weigh in 5 weeks time if I stick to my plan 4. Its a long term journey and I can see immediately where I trip up We have a loooooooooooooooooong way to go - but its really good for me and Im gonna give it a good go. Lets see, this could be the elusive Kruger Millions of weight loss we are all looking for :)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

PS - its says 8kgs, coz I only started it a few weeks in and didnt weigh from my starting weight. Bugger. Its definitely 9.2 :)

Its unbelieveable

I can't actually believe it - 2,6kgs down this week. Total weight loss in 4 weeks - 9kgs. Thats 19.8 pounds. Its absolutely astounding. And its on a diet of cream, butter and oil. I am absolutely blown away.

I feel so proud of myself, I feel like I have absolutely got a handle on this. Never before has something come so easily in 4 weeks. Its a dream. I looked at my diary from 2011 when I went on my big diet - low GI and horrific. I lost grams - 500g, 700g, 1,2kg was the highlight. It was tedious, not tasty and made me feel like a failure.

To celebrate, I made myself these for brekkie: ricotta and blueberry hotcakes :) Delish and completely LCHF!

I am in a good space, going to swim a mile this afternoon just to get myself back into the gym. I need to do that to get on track with my 2014 laps before my birthday. I am motivated.

It has been a good month. I cannot wait to do the next one and see the results.

I have set myself the goal of 16kgs by the time my sister comes - if I can do that it will be phenomenal. I am 9kgs down already - 7kgs in 6 weeks. Hopefully it will be more. But 16kgs will be more than brilliant.

Onward and upward my lovely ones! Woohoo!