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When Life Meets the Keto Diet

cypress inn

The past couple of days, life has  been very hectic. On Saturday, we spent the day in Jasper trying to get my mother-in-law’s house ready to sell. It’s a time of transition for her to downsize and us kids are doing the literal and metaphorical heavy lifting of this transition. We were  up early, ate a quick breakfast of sausage and peppers, grabbed our coffee and started the road trip. We moved boxes and bags and lifted furniture. The guys used a tractor to load an organ into the excavator and drove it down the road and then unloaded it. Seeing a tractor driving through the yard is not a unique thing in Alabama Winking smile . Through all this activity, trying to stick to my keto plan is daunting, but not impossible.

When it was time to figure out lunch, the only option was eating out. There was no food in the fridge because again, nobody lives in the house. All the pantry items were gone, too. We are nearing the end of this process and food is not a priority.

The majority of the group wanted one fast food place-Chick-Fil-A- and I wasn’t that crazy about that. They are definitely gluten-friendly with designated fryers for their waffle fries and gluten-free grilled chicken and nuggets. The problem with this is I’m not eating the fries and the grilled nuggets have a very weird chemical taste that I don’t like. So, I bypassed the CFA.

Stephen stopped at Wendy’s for me. I got the Baconator with no bun. I could have eaten 2 of these because I was very hungry. It’s lettuce, 2 beef patties, cheese, and plenty of bacon. Nothing screams “KETO!” like bacon and beef. It was glorious and I will keep this in mind for future road trips.

wendys keto

After Sunday services, we went out with some friends and family for lunch. Cypress Inn is a fantastic restaurant on the river. I love going there because they have a dedicated gluten-free menu with a lot of a variety and a few low-carb options. I knew I had a long run the next morning so I do eat a few more carbs the before those runs.

The grilled salmon was perfect. It wasn’t dry and tasteless. Collard greens and a small portion of plain smashed red potatoes finished out my meal. I left full, but not carb-stuffed and miserable. I would probably exchange the potatoes for a side salad if I wasn’t running the next day or if I didn’t need a few extra carbs for performance. I’m at the beginning of the keto journey and my body is not fully fat-adapted and won’t be for a few weeks.

When life meets Keto, there are some decisions to make and impulsive choices are usually not a good idea. Knowing the basics of paleo/keto and sticking to protein and  vegetables is the key for me. I am taking my Paleo foundations and adding dairy if needed. For the Paleo purists, ask Wendy’s to leave off the cheese.

Happy Monday!