I’ve spent the last month gradually changing over to eating on the Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) lifestyle. I say lifestyle, not only because it’s such a drastic change from what we’ve all been told was best for us, but because it’s not really a weight loss diet. And that’s what everyone thinks if you say you’re on a diet.

Anyway, I was well on my way to eating this way already, since I’m diabetic. So it’s probably not been as hard for me as it would most people. But it’s still been quite an adjustment to stop eating ALL grains, beans, and below ground vegetables.

I have enjoyed eating all the eggs! And they have naturally the right percentage of fat, carb, and protein. Other diets, such as Atkins, replace the carbs with more protein. But this diet replaces all the carbs with fat calories. And I can state categorically – I’m not hungry!!

There are lots of possibilities as far as what I could be eating, but here’s a general idea of what a day is like for me now. Breakfast is 1/4 cup of nut pieces, a tablespoon of flax meal, and a cup of almond or coconut milk. I eat it as if it were cereal, and that keeps me going just fine until lunch.

Lunch at home is what it’s always been (since I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes). Hubby cooks a stir fry of vegetables in olive oil, often with ham. He still eats whole grain bread with it, but I don’t.

Afternoon snack is usually half of an avocado or something called a chocolate Fat Bomb. It’s a homemade chocolate candy that is basically unsweetened cocoa, butter, and coconut oil.

I’m keeping track of my food intake on http://www.myfitnesspal.com, so I can tell how many calories I have left for the day. I do hope to lose some belly fat on this diet, so I’ve set a calorie limit for myself. And I need to learn how to keep the protein and carb intake low and the fat count high, so tracking my nutrition is helpful. Once I see where I stand nutrition wise, I decide how many eggs I can have for supper and whether I can add cheese, spinach, and/or mushrooms.

It’s really weird. I’ve not craved any sweets I was used to eating, like ice cream on Sundays. I do miss the great sandwiches chock full of veggies that hubby used to fix me for dinner, but I can still have them as a salad.

I found an easy to fix coconut flour and egg bread substitute that cooks in the microwave. I make that when I’m craving bread.

Eating out has been the hardest to adjust to, and we eat out several times a week on average. But again, I was already used to finding suitable foods in restaurants, because of the diabetic restrictions, and that helped. So far I’ve been able to stick to the ketogenic diet pretty well.

And the Ketostix test strips I use show that I am in Ketosis. That’s the secret to this lifestyle. The goal is to change the cells over to using ketones for energy, instead of carbs. Mitochondria use ketones more efficiently than they do glucose, which is supposed to increase my energy level. It has definitely done that. There’s no difference in pain level yet, and as long as I stay on the pain meds I may not see an improvement in the brain fog, but I’m still optimistic about that improving in the future.

As I see my energy level increase it gives me reason to continue with this lifestyle, with the hope that the brain fog will lift, and the improved mitochondrial activity will lessen my muscle pain. Only time and patience will tell.