Keto Running Mama

If you are a runner, no matter how experienced you may be, you know that there are some days when you feel like an impostor, a fake, a fraud.  It doesn't matter the speed with which you have run in the past, the distances that you have put in, the races that you have run, the friends that you have surrounded yourself with who also run...there are simply some days that you feel like you have never run a day of your life..and now you have to go out for a long run...and you just think that you can't.  I, truthfully, have been having a lot of those days.  And here is why: I have always trained for big runs in the summer when I don't work.  I did train for a half marathon in the dead of winter one year, but my babies were little then.  I did not have to run the taxi-cab service that I provide for my children to do their sports and activities every night of the week like I do now. Training in the winter has been hard for me, but I have to keep in perspective that I run that tax

Crab Cakes have been a point of contention for me since I started living a ketogenic lifestyle.  I love to go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina with my family every summer.  Before living a ketogenic lifestyle, I LOVED to go out to eat as much as possible on vacation because I LOVE seafood.  Now, I know that I can go out and eat broiled or grilled fish.  Being dairy-free makes this a challenge, too, though.  Who wants to eat broiled or grilled fish without the butter to dip it in? Not to mention, it is VERY difficult to find a restaurant that is trustworthy.  What are the odds that I am truly not eating gluten or dairy when I am out.  I am fortunate to not suffer from Celiac Disease.  I don't have to worry about cross contamination too much....but, at the same time, I don't want to open that door.  I don't want to allow myself to be lazy or too carefree.  I am dedicated to this lifestyle, my health and well-being, and living my life in a way that best sets me up for a no

Does the above quote describe you?  It was a perfect description of myself back in the day.  I always had good intentions.  I knew what I should be feeding my family.  I knew that it would be better for us if we ate more fruits and vegetables.  At the time, I thought that I tried.  I thought that I was putting effort into our nutrition.  It wasn't until I realized how terrible it can be for your health to not eat enough fruits and vegetables, however, that I realized that I simply wasn't doing enough for me...or my family. I have my nutrition under control.  My health has been transformed because I look at food as my medicine.  I eat a very strict diet...and I push vegetables (and low-carb fruits) all day long now.  I simply could not make that change for my kids...or my husband, for that matter.  Juice Plus+ has given me a chance to fix this.  It fills in the gaps between what we do eat and what we should eat.   This doesn't mean that I have given up on teaching m

It has been a cold March here in Pennsylvania.  I hate March. It is the month when you think you simply cannot take another day of winter...and spring, truly, isn’t even around the corner.  Today, all of our local schools were called off because of inclement weather. I want to scream, “IT IS MARCH!!!!!!!!!” I am ready to stop wearing jackets.  I need for the static cling to stop taking over my hair. I want to run outside without having to bundle up. I am over the frost that is stuck on my eyelashes after a long, cold run.  I want to wear capris. I want to wear dresses and skirts WITHOUT tights under them! I want to wear flip flops! I am ready for spring!!!! So, to console myself, I made a pot of my mother’s homemade chicken noodle soup….redone and low-carb.  It was always salve for a weary soul when I was growing up. Hopefully it will do the trick now….as I await the end of winter….as winter mocks me and every other person enduring this dreadful weather. Not My Mama&#

Today I finished up my 5th week of 1/ 2 marathon training with an 8 mile run.  Just as any runner knows, there are some days when you are just "too."....too tired, too lazy, too busy, too unmotivated, too, too, too, too.  You fill in the blank.  I was just "too  ___________"  this entire week, and it probably will fit my crappy attitude.  There were days this week when I even thought that I must have been "too" overzealous to have chosen this goal to run a 1/2 marathon during the school year.  Had I not known that my life was "too" hectic to take this on? And then...my phone dinged with a text alert on Friday afternoon:   "Do you have a run to get in tomorrow?"  ----From my friend, Greta.  This isn't just any friend.  This is a friend who is well matched for me.  She and I take turns pushing each other.  She and I have a fairly well-matched pace.  Greta has gotten me through training runs for 1/2 marathons, marathon relays, an

Getting used to a diet with little to no sugar can be quite an adjustment...especially for kids.  When I adopted this lifestyle, my eyes were really opened to exactly how much sugar we are feeding to our children.  It is in their peanut butter, their cereal, their snacks, their granola bars, their juice boxes, and much more.  When one starts to read labels, one can really see how damaging the cumulative effect of all of that sugar can be! It really is disturbing when you realize how much better you feel without sugar that we have changed the pallets of our children by making them crave more and more of it.  For a long time, my daughters turned their noses up to any keto snacks that I made....largely because they looked good, but when they bit into them, they were not sweet enough.  The funny thing is, they were sweetened....but with low-glycemic index sweeteners that just were not sweet enough for my children. Today, after months and months of working on lowering my kids' sugar i

Today I finished my 4th week of 1/2 marathon training.  I ran 19 miles this week...and 7 of those miles were run today.  I found myself thinking about a mom who I sat beside at my daughter's softball practice today.  After my husband mentioned my run for the day, she said something that I hear from people time and again.  "I have to give it to you.  I am just not a runner."  She went on to tell me about how out of breath she gets when she tries. I can't even count the number of people who have said this to me over the past several years since I really got into running.  I smile to myself and imagine me popping out of my mother's womb with Saucony running shoes on my feet.  It simply doesn't happen that way.  To a runner, having someone say this to them is just as ludicrous as my visualization of how others think I and others came to be runners.  Those of us who are runners know that it takes practice, dedication, and, yes, miles and miles of hard breathing b

If you have children, you know the "EAT YOUR VEGGIES! battle" well.  Even before I started living a ketogenic lifestyle, I loved to cook.  I enjoy planning for food...looking at pictures of food, writing a menu, shopping for food...I thought I would love feeding my children food.  I. Do. Not. I used to live the typical American lifestyle.  I did not think about whether or not I got in all of my vegetables for the day.  It simply was not a worry of mine.  I stupidly thought I was healthy...and that was that.  Then I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  I could not believe that this was a genetic problem that I had.  No one in my family had it.  I turned to my lifestyle. First I went Gluten-free.  That helped a lot.  Then I went "clean."  That helped even more.  Then I did an elimination diet.  I still had more improvements in my health.  Then I went grain-free and dairy-free.  I felt even better.  Fast forward to now, and I am grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-fr

If you are not new to the ketogenic lifestyle, then you already know how to test to see if you are in ketosis.  If you are new to keto, you may be wondering how you know if you are in ketosis.  You will be happy to learn that it is quick and easy to test your urine for ketones...and the test strips are super-cheap.  I just recently bought a jar of 100 test strips for $8.99 on Amazon.  Here is what I bought: What I really liked about this product is that a coupon for a free box of strips was included in what they sent.  You can't beat that! Here are some other signs to look for in order to tell if you are in ketosis: 1. Weight Loss 2. Decreased appetite 3. Mental Clarity 4. Your urine smells funny 5. Your breath smells fruity 6.  "Keto Flu" - If you are new to keto, your body may revolt against you at first.  Rest assured that it will pass and you will feel great when it does.  Don't give up too soon because you feel lousy.  It will pass. Now

After a day of fasting, I was driving home thinking about what I would eat when I got to my kitchen and could end my fast.  I don't love fasting, but every time I do it, I feel a little more in control of myself.  I remember getting hungry when I was not in ketosis...and I would get home, stuff anything that I could in my face...and feel better momentarily...until I didn't feel good at all.  When you are eating a carb-driven diet, it seems that it is very difficult to keep your brain in control of what you eat.  You feel out-of-control.  You want to eat anything and everything that is in your face.  And you don't care about the consequences...until after you have eaten poorly and feel poorly.  And then you spend the next day feeling bad about yourself....again.  Maybe you will avoid bad foods, eating salads and healthy stuff for the morning and afternoon to try to make up for your foibles the day before....only to come home and choose poorly again.  I remember all too well

I just finished week 3 of 1/2 marathon training...literally...just finished...at 8:05 pm.  I was too busy playing with these guys at the museum today to get a run in before now: I have to be truthful...after doing everything that we did for fun today, and then coming home to all of the work that we had to do to prepare for work and school tomorrow, I really did not feel like getting in a 6 mile run.  But...I had promised everyone I would...and I am not about to stop now.  So....I got on the treadmill...and ran 6 miles.  The surprising part?  I felt tired when I got on...and, after my first mile, I was filled with energy and felt great.  For the first time since I started training for this race, I felt great!   Then I started to think again about how easy it would have been to skip my run tonight.  I am only up to a 6 mile run for my weekly long run.  I can run 6 miles with no problem.  If I had skipped my run tonight, I still would have easily been able to run 7 mile

What do you do when you are struggling with pain and inflammation?  Most people immediately reach for the medicine cabinet for tylenol or aspirin.  In our society, we treat these medications like they are not at all harmful...that it is perfectly fine to take these medications in mass quantities every day if need be.  I used to do this, too.  My husband popped more than I was even aware of because of his physically taxing job as a Union Sheet Metal Worker.  Today, we usually don't even have it in our house.  I forget about it until someone is visiting and asks for something for pain...and then I remember how we used to be.  I don't ever want to go back. Because I have not had to deal with pain too much lately, I forgot what I used to use as my go-to pain control...and it is probably not what you are thinking.  This week, I had a couple of days where I didn't feel my best...and I knew that my body was struggling with inflammation.  As an MS patient, they will offer serious