Review: Enlightened Mint Fudge Swirl Ice Cream Bar

I have found a semi-good-for-you ice cream that tastes good. These were given to me by a friend at work after she found out about my Keto diet. In doing my homework on the company, Enlightened (also on Facebook here), I was over the moon happy about these little treats. They're low in calories, they have fiber, they have protein, they're low in far, low in sugar, and they have calcium! Unfortunately, according to their store locator there isn't a store within 50 miles of my house that carries their products.

They come 4 to a box and all the details are on the front, which is nice. Unlike other companies who only show 'sugar free' or 'low in carbs' I still have to pull the box out of the freezer to read the nutritional label.

They're still pretty high in carbs, but the net carbs are only 11. I had a good day and didn't eat a lot of carbs, so I decided to treat myself to one of these today.

The bars themselves are a little smaller than a normal ice cream bar. The fudge swirls are pretty evenly dispersed throughout and the whole thing actually tastes good! It is very minty and leaves a nice minty after taste that's not unpleasant. It's actually kind of pretty for an ice cream bar, but does not look like what's on the box.

I really like these. According to Enlightened's website they're sold at Whole Foods and Publix, so I'm hoping that sometime before summer one of the stores around me will start carrying this brand because I really need to keep these in my life.

I have 2 other flavors that I'm going to review so check back soon so see them!

Keto and Gluten Free Snack: Moon Cheese

Got a new snack in today that ended up being super freaking tasty!

MOON CHEESE!

That's right. Moon Cheese. What I love is that it's simply cheese. Pepper Jack and Gouda are both 0 Carbs per serving. The Cheddar does have 1g of carbs per serving. My favorite of the 3 is Pepper Jack for sure. It's got this nice taste on the first bite that transforms into a spicy note as it is chewed. I can't wait to see what more these guys come out with (including BIGGER BAGS!)

Get it right here: 

It's tough to find on Amazon; but it is there! 

What cool little snacks have you found like this?

Review: Coconut King Coconut Chunks

I'm fortunate enough to work in a place where we get samples of new foods. When those samples are turned down they get offered to the employees. A lot of times I don't bother because they're very high in carbs. Occasionally I find one that's low in carbs or is good for me and I'll bring it home. This review if just for one of those items.

I got these frozen coconut chunks, supplied by the company Coconut King Unfortunately I cannot find where these are sold, if they are sold anywhere. The company's website doesn't even list their products and they aren't on social media. For this, I'm a little disappointed.

However, their frozen coconut chunks are awesome. The net carbs are 3 for 45 grams. I never ate 45 grams. I'd only eat a couple of pieces and the pieces are pretty large. If you like coconut, these are great little treats. Hopefully I can find them soon.

Overall I'd give these 7 out of 10 stars. I'd give them more, but since I got them as samples and I can't find them in stores, I don't know how expensive they're going to be. They'd be great in a keto smoothie and they're very versatile. 

Now I'm going to go finish off my bag!

Commitment Time.

This gout thing sucks balls; but I am not going to be waivered.

As soon as I heal from this goutbreak, which I estimate as about 5 days; I'm going to go back to the gym.

I signed up for Golds Gym (which used to be The Rush) near my place 2 weeks ago and didn't say anything about it; as I was still planning on waiting until I got to 350.

Of course everything I see on weightloss Keto suggests that no gym time is necessary, I plan on adding it anyone.

Diet > Weights > Cardio.

I got my diet locked pretty nicely, 75 days with 3 cheat days total is pretty damn good. So let's do this.

The day this Gout is gone I'll be going to the gym, and slowly getting myself working out daily and making that change in my life.

Let's do this.

Goutbreak: A Very Real Demon. (Day 75)

This morning I woke up to a pain that I remember from last year. A numbing and shooting pain at the same time, emanating through my big toe to the top of my foot. A Swollen feeling, without the physical characteristics to prove it. The hidden pain of Gout.

Last year I suffered my first ever bout with gout. It came on slowly through the week. I noticed it getting harder and harder to stand up without a searing pain. I finally drove myself to the ER to find out that Gout had overtaken my toe. They put me on medicine and within a week, the Gout pain was gone. My apartment is a 2 story apartment, my TV and computer and such are downstairs, both of my bathrooms are upstairs. It was a pretty difficult week. 

The problem is; after having gotten Gout last year, I went off Keto from the fear of reoccurrence.  

This morning, the beast has arisen. I know it takes a couple days for it to crystalize and manifest, so by looking at my MFP this had to occur when I cheated. When I cheated last weekend I had a 2 liter of diet soda. 

And now I have gout, dammit. 

Luckily I had some Indomethacin left over; and I'm hoping I have enough to kick this shit in the ass, I don't wanna have to go to the ER again, knowing it's gout, to get more medicine.

Either way, I'm not letting this deter me from keto this time. I can figure out that the trigger was one of three things.

1) Chinese Food (which I ate to cheat) Which was Sweet and Sour Pork

2) Diet Soda

3) Maybe, MAYBE Andouille. I had a large amount monday and tuesday with saurkraut due to the inclement weather. But I don't *think* that was my trigger. 

Keep Calm and Carry On applies now more then ever. I will not let myself slip off keto again; I'm going to power through this Goutbreak the best I can and come out on the other side stronger for it. 

Dammit Freeze when you cheat you don't HAVE to have Diet Soda.

Ok. I get it.

Limping Gracefully today,

Freeze

Mental Health Update!

Hey y'all!

Greetings from snowy NC, well snowy and icy NC. Things got nasty here late yesterday afternoon and much like the rest of the Eastern seaboard, our entire state shutdown. This meme basically sums up North Carolina and snow:

Image found via Google Images

Moving on! I'm putting in an update on the mental health front since I saw my therapist on last Tuesday (the 10th). I told her about my start on the Ketogenic diet and she immediately knew what I was talking about, which made me happy. She asked how I was doing and I told her my depression has never been better, On a 1-10 scale, I'd rate myself a 7 (I'll go into detail more below on why it's not higher). My swings have been very moderate if not non-existent all together. In the morning I'm alert now, I'm more productive. By noon most of my work has been completed and I'm now asking for more responsibility where as previously I was struggling to get my daily tasks done by quitting time. YAY!! We're seeing results finally! I will no longer be a slave to my depression and no one should ever be a slave to their depression EVER! I feel like I owe Freeze so much gratitude and thanks for starting me on this path.Without him I wouldn't have even have known about this diet and what it could possibly do for me.

Image found via Google Images

I have my first rheumatologist appointment in April since starting the diet, so I'll be talking to my doc about the affects of Keto on my arthritis, My mom has Rheumatoid Arthritis and I was tested for RA factor when I was 22 a doctor found the RA factor in me too. So, while I'm not as advanced as my mom is, I still see a rheumatologist twice a year and it happens to be the same doctor she sees. He actually tried to get her to go gluten free last year to see if it would help her pain levels any. She didn't really stick with it, but so far I have seen a dramatic reduction in my pain. I've only had to take pain medication twice and that was when two major cold fronts came through. That brings down my mood level. Pain makes me grumpy and unhappy. Other than those few occasions, I could not be happier with my progress.

Oh and I'm down 8.5 lbs last time I checked, but that was 2 weeks ago. Yay progress!! 

Why's The Rum Gone?

I have had the joy and pleasure of tasting Naked Turtle Rum. I first had it at a tiny, hole in the wall bar at a North Carolina beach. When I asked the bar tender where I could get it, he said, "The ABC store next door."

So, the next day I picked up a bottle and I love it! If you like rum, this one is smooth. It doesn't have any bite to it and mixes really, really well.

1.5 oz of Naked Turtle only has 146 calories and 0 carbs. We love seeing that number beside our carb intake! So, on my journey with ketocktails, I decided to start experimenting with this fabulous rum. Here are some of my concoctions.

Sorry for the blurry picture!

I'm still finding Diet Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash on shelves at Walmart, so I bought a bottle and mixed about half a glass with 2 shots of rum. The soda has virtually 0 everything in it and these two together was sort of like a twist on the classic vodka cranberry. I think it taste better though.

The second one was La Croix Coconut and rum. La Croix, if you're not familiar with it, is just sparkling water. It's nice and fizzy. Compare the 0 grams of carbs in the basic rum to the 5 grams of carbs in Coconut Rum. Skip the flavored liquor and use the sparkling water to add flavor. There's 0 everything in it!

And of course my all time favorite, mainly because I'm a Diet Pepsi addict, is Diet Pepsi and rum. This one is as classic as whiskey and cola. Of course you can use any diet drink here. Both the Mister and I are fond of using white rum in diet Sprite or 7-Up. The lemon lime mixes well with the rum and it's really refreshing.

Other ideas for rum:

• Mix it with Diet Ginger Ale
• Mix it with sugar free lemonade
• Mix it with sugar free cranberry juice
• A mix of sugar free juices for a great rum punch!
• Mojitos! Use splenda instead of white or brown sugar.

OMG I LOVE RUM!!! That's why it's gone. 

Stay tuned for more ketocktails!!