4 day egg fast + 2 day transition. Total lost: 7lbs 🌟
Why I did the #eggfast : For the last month I was traveling every week but stayed on plan and actually lost weight. I hit my lowest of 192lbs in Vegas and was sooo excited!!🎉 But when I came home my body decided it wanted to be on vacation still and started to ACT A FOOL 😒
That just goes to show you that even if you’re “on plan” and your macros are on point…your body is gonna do what it wants sometimes. I was so bloated, tired, my keto mojo numbers were wack and my psoriasis was flaring up badly. I thought “F❌⁉️ it” let me just cheat and eat all the carbs since I gained weight being good anyways 🤦🏻♀️ but I slapped myself back into reality, and decided to do the egg fast because I wanted to break the cycle and didn’t want to revert back to old bad habits. I’m happy I lost the bloat and feeling back to normal! 🌟
This chart is something we use on a daily basis to help guide us through this lifestyle change. Not only are these realistic and sustainable, but they are practical and have helped us through the last 3 months. This is from Perfect Keto, a really great company and resource for those on a ketogenic diet.
The ones we need to work on are:
Prioritize sleep – we do not do enough of this and with the burst of energy from ketosis, it’s really hard. Things we have done is stop looking at our phones before bed but we are continuing to strive for improvement and look for other ways to rest our bodies.
Drink water regularly – this is really hard when we forget our water bottles at home! Water IS KEY and we know this, yet it always gets put on the back burner. We purchased 2 gallon water bottles to help us track better and remind each other to get our water intake goals every day.
When we first got back on the Keto train (we know this isn’t a short term diet, it’s a lifestyle, but sometimes, things happen!), we knew that there were going to be ebbs and flows with our motivation, which warrants us doing something extra. Overall, we will always have motivation to better our health and feel more comfortable in our clothing, but knowing ourselves, there has to be external factors as well to help us stay on track.
Pre-keto, we can 100% say it would have been going out to eat to celebrate achievements and milestones. Now that we’ve pivoted our outlooks on food, we put together a list of non-food rewards that will keep us excited to reach each goal. We both made these lists separately, and then showed each other once they were completed. Surprise, surprise, we had similar items! Birds of a feather…keto together. Our rewards are centered around self-care and having fun. Two things that we have found are key to living our best lives. The nice part about this list is there are items we can enjoy together to celebrate each other’s victories.
As we head into the end of the third month of our journey, this list has been a really good tool to help motivate us to keep pushing. This approach has given us a tangible way of seeing a reward for the hard work that has been done. We’ve only hit one of the milestones so far, but the non-scale victories have continued to roll in week after week. The items on our list are the big hitters!
What tools have you used to keep yourself motivated? Do you have a rewards list? What are the rewards?
Y’all. When we started our first blog, we were cookin’ and going out to eat carbs like there was no tomorrow. We really indulged in the decadence of delicious food on a daily basis. Something that we realized was that good food has never lacked in our lives. EVER. BUT, moderation and balance were. 2018 was a really transcendent year for us because it was the year we both turned 30. THE BIG 3-0 > almost over the hill > prepping for AARP cards, or so we thought. To be honest, thinking how old we were getting made us realize how YOUNG we really are and how many more experiences we have yet to go through – but we need to be healthy to be able to have those experiences.
We both took some time off to travel and reflect toward the end of last year and by the time we returned, it was 2019. Going into the new year was a perfect time to start a new chapter with a clean slate. No more excuses, no more bad habits, and no more wanting and not having. We had a revelation that we were our happiest and confident when we were living dat keto life. We had more energy, focus, and just felt like the best versions of ourselves. As we headed into the New Year, we decided that we needed to seriously commit to bettering ourselves this year.
To keep ourselves accountable, we created @kuwtketodashians, a health/fitness/keto IG to connect with other keto-ers for inspo and support. Little did we know that the secret account we started would grow into a thriving community filled with some of the most kind and inspirational people we’ve ever met.
Now, as we start to wrap up the third month of Keto with no cheats, we are looking forward to seeing how this journey is going to transform our lives and intertwine our #BFFLGang with our #ketobaes.
One of the things that we love about the Keto lifestyle are the substitutions or modifications we can make that can realistically be sustained long term. Like will cauliflower rice ever be able to fill the void of jasmine rice for us? Probably not, but it serves its purpose as a flavor neutralizer underneath whatever flavorful dish is on top of it.
When we first started Keto, there weren’t many tips and tricks floating around at our disposal – luckily, we came across a super awesome Instagram account that offered many hacks to get us through this new way of eating. @ketohackershop is one of our favorite accounts to follow because the information is easy to process and it’s presented in a simple, yet effective way. We’ve noticed that people who are new to this way of eating can get very discouraged or overwhelmed at the beginning due to the amount of information being thrown their way. This account simplifies the concepts and lays out a lot of information for the masses. There are many recipes for keto versions of comfort food and tips on how to order fast food, the keto way. If you are just starting keto or know someone who could use some guidelines, this is just a highly recommended resource.
Below are some examples of the helpful content that can be found on this account:
When we decided to start a 3-day egg fast, we wanted to make the guidelines fit our lifestyles in order to make this reset a reasonable and realistic one to follow. We added Mio drops/electrolyte supplements cause water and pickle juice alone are not our jam. We’re also not hot bullet proof coffee people so we omitted it from our guidelines. Since the original date of our guideline creation, Regina has begun to drink iced bullet proof coffee with sweetener. Please note that we spent a lot of time researching the pros/cons and science behind this fast…however, since we are not Dr. Oz, please consider our advice—> opinions. We”ve used these guidelines for our egg fasts and have seen results every time.
If Willy Wonka had a super zen Yogi cousin who owned a Tea Factory, this would be it.
Straight from the Tea Factory itself:
Visit the Celestial Seasonings headquarters in Boulder, Colorado and unlock the mysteries of tea with a guided tea tour. During the 45-minute tour, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look how tea is made – from raw ingredients to finished products – plus see unique attractions like our famous Mint Room, Tea Shop and Celestial Café.
Celestial Seasonings is nestled in the Gunbarrel neighborhood of Boulder. Our campus is easily accessible from Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins and the Denver International Airport.
While children of all ages are welcome at the Tour Center, only children aged 5 and older are allowed to go on the factory portion of the tour.
For me, Boulder was beautiful, but I got bored hanging out downtown-maybe I’m not doing it right?! The vibes of the city weren’t necessarily my style, but the Celestial Seasonings Factory tour is definitely something I would recommend. It’s fun, interesting, and includes free tea tastings – so pretty much the recipe for a successful experience. As soon as you walk in, you’ll be greeted by the smell of several teas they have brewing for curious tour takers as they wait for the tours to begin.
Once the festivities commence, a leader takes everyone into a screening room to watch a short overview video, explains the ground rules, and hands out hairnets. The factory tour is cool because it gives you an inside look at how the tea we all love to drink is processed from a-z. The mint room, of course, is a highlight because it’s like walking into a winter wonderland made of candy canes. The aroma of mint packs a punch and leaves (no pun intended) an impression on your olfactory glands…it’s like you almost leave with a peppermint high.
The tour itself ends in the Tea shop where there are lots of goodies and treats available for purchase. Overall, it’s a short tour but filled with a lot of info and tasty teas. Add this one to your Yelp bookmarks fo sho.
Earlier this year, we took a girls trip down to Chi-town aka Chicago for Regina’s big 3-0. She wanted something low-key but exciting enough to have options dependent on our mood…or appetites. The American Beauty Show happened to be in Chicago the same weekend we wanted to go so we couldn’t have chosen a better time and place. Since we are based in Minneapolis, MN, Chicago is always a super easy trip to take with any number of people. We packed up a rental and hit the road with Lan and Maryna, i.e., us if we were older and took smoke breaks.
The drive down to Chicago is about a 6.5 hours long, 7-8 hours if you make pit stops, which if you leave early in the morning, you might as well. Before you hit the Minnesota/Wisconsin border, stop at Ha Tien, an Asian grocery in St. Paul, just about 20 mins from Wisconsin. It’s the perfect initial stop for Banh Mis, spring rolls, salty snacks, and beverages. I can’t think of a better way to kick off a road trip with your besties, can you? This post is dedicated to the pre-Chicago stops before the party starts in the citayyy.
Here’s the break down of pit stops and pro-tips when road trippin’ to the Chi:
WisCAaaaansin
Wisconsin has a lot of open land and cows – and because of that, the cheese curds and beef sticks are plentiful, which is good for anyone stopping at any of their gas stations. My favorite variety are garlic dill cheese curds and spicy beef sticks. Knock those down with an ice cold diet coke and you’re golden.
Three hours into the drive, you’ll hit the Dells i.e. the Las Vegas (but not really) of the Midwest. There are a few casinos but it’s known for the plethora of indoor water parks. Save the dells for a pit stop on the way back from chi – that way, you can stop at the Outlet mall to pick up the Adidas sweat suit you’ve been eyeing on Insta.
The Pink Elephant – photo op time, stop here to take a pic with a statue of a pink elephant wearing glasses – just a cute memory to capture. It’s off exit V. Yes, you drive through farm land to get here and it is borderline sketch, but do it for the ‘gram.
Four hours into the drive, you’ll hit Madison, the Capital if Wisconsin, also home to the Badgers. It’s a big city but feels like a college town, so take a drive down to the campus if you have time, and go State Street for some eats and goodies. There’s a food spot near Memorial Library on campus that has little food carts parked and ready to serve. Go for the empanada truck, there some kind of crack avocado salsa they serve there and it is BOMB. If you have some cash on you, stop at Rising Suns Deli for Thai/Laotian/Cambodian food. Love their beef dried noods.
On your way out, hit up La Michoacana for authentic Mexican paletas and Ice cream. I personally loved their flamin’ hot cheetos snack box with cheese sauce slathered in the container.
Pro tip: Get your dolla dolla bills and coins ready once you hit the five-six hour drive mark because the tolls will start as you start heading into Illinois.
Illinois aka Chicago suburbs
At this point, if you didn’t stop in Mad-town for a snack, you’ll probably be pretty hungry. Good thing there are several spots to stop before you hit the heart of Chicago.
One of the first stops once you’re in Illinois is Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights. This is like Disneyland for Japanese food and drinks. I ALWAYS bolt to the food court and get in line at Santouka Ramen. Pro tip: this stall is cash only, so be prepared! Santouka serves up fresh ramen and has maybe a dozen items on their menu. The Salt Ramen is hands down the first thing you should order, along with an extra side of pork cheek. A small bowl is shareable but they have large bowls for those who are HANGRY.
A few stalls down is an ice cream stall – get the Matcha Green Tea parfait and black sesame ice cream!! The presentation is beautiful and the black sesame soft serve is so hard to find, so its nice to have that option.
Walk around the corner from the food court and you’ll see the bakery – GET THE CRUSTLESS PRE-SLICED loaf of bread. You will NOT regret this decision. I dare you to make a grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly sando and hate it. Really, I dare you! There’s also a huge variety of Japanese buns to select, you can easily burn 15-20 mins browsing the bakery.
The grocery section itself is like a wonderland filled with perfectly cut meats and cutely arranged snacks and bento box accessories – the presentation in this grocery chain is just on point and worth a lap.
Before you leave, the Lady M cake shop within the store is also worth a stop. They have crepe cakes in a variety of flavors – the matcha green tea and vanilla are muy delicioso.
If Japanese fare is NOT your jam, then a detour down to Niles to visit the Super H Mart would be a solid stop. This is a Korean supermarket/k beauty shop/gift shop/bakery/food court/Korean Fried Chicken mega center. If you’re not into getting food and just need a break, go next door to King Spa-Korean Spa. If you are not familiar with Korean Spas, search “Conan Korean Spa” and watch it – it is hilarious!! You can eat, relax, and sleep at this spa and it is decently price. Just be aware that there will be naked people walking around (separated by males/female areas) all over the place.
Chicago Pizza – you don’t have to be in the middle of the city to get a slice of Chicago Style pizza. Check out the Lou Malnati’s in the burbs prior to hitting the city so you don’t have to scramble for parking or wait in line.
Pro-tip: if you don’t mind being a little last minute, check out hotels once you hit the city. Every time we’ve gone, we’ve never struggled to find a room and they are always cheap if you book right before your stay. The hotels close to the airport are nice because you can park in their over night lots and then the train station will take you any where around Chicago.
At this point, you should be in the City or pretty darn close. If you’re a shopper, stay near the Magnificent mile. If you’re a foodie, you can’t go wrong in the Lakeview area. Chinatown is always fun, and exploring Lincoln park is classic. Stay tuned for a deep dive into things to do and places to go when you’re in Chicago!
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