A New Way of Eating

I started my weight loss journey in June 2024. I had been overweight for as long as I can remember. Weight loss alone wasn't enough to give me the determination needed to stick with a diet. Correcting health issues gave me the motivation to eat right and make that scale drop. When over-the-counter medications, prescription medication, and home remedies weren't effective, I realized my diet of carbs and sugars caused my health issues. The biggest problem was my sweet tea addiction. I have completely broken the tea addiction because there is no sugar substitute that could match the delicious, toxic sweetness of real sugar in sweet tea.

Once I broke the carb and sugar addictions, the weight started to come off. I had to learn how to cook differently. I researched low-carb ingredient substitutes for recipes. Sometimes I came up with substitutes on my own. Salmon patties can be made with just canned salmon and eggs stirred together and baked. Parmesan cheese is a great substitute for bread crumbs in meatballs. Coffee with heavy cream replaced desserts. Cream cheese replaced flour in breakfast gravy. The gravy is good poured over hot sausage and eggs. I searched for low-carb appetizer recipes online. I found keto jalapeño poppers and fried pickles. Both of these appetizer recipes are baked in muffin pans. The jalapeño poppers are made with layered pepperoni, cream cheese, and a jalapeño slice topped with cheddar cheese. The result, an amazing, spicy, crisp-edged pepperoni with warm cream cheese. The keto fried pickles are cheddar cheese and a pickle slice baked until golden brown. They are really good dipped in Chipotle ranch dressing.

I threw out the vegetable oil, shortening, and canola oil. I replaced them with lard, avocado oil, and butter. I fried seasoned meats in lard without any type of breading.

My biggest challenge is ordering fast food and ordering from restaurants. If I order a burger, remove the ketchup and bun, it does not lower the price, but add bacon and cheese, and the price goes up. At fast food places, I order the same thing every time. A triple burger, no bun, no ketchup. Now, I can't stand the thought of eating another burger patty.

At steakhouses, I order steak. For the two sides, I order two salads. It really confuses waitresses. They usually ask what I want for the second side. I want a salad, two salads for the sides. A couple of times, they brought out a steak and one salad. Now I order a salad for a starter and a salad with my meal. That stopped the confusion.

I quickly discovered it's better to cook at home because restaurants aren't exactly keto-friendly. Most menu items are deep-fried, covered in bread crumbs, or glazed in something sweet.

My favorite meal of steak, shrimp, and deviled eggs can't be found on any menu. The steak, grilled to a perfect medium, tender, and juicy. The shrimp, cooked in an iron skillet with real butter. Deviled eggs made with olive oil mayonnaise, topped with dill weed and smoked paprika. The steak, shrimp, and eggs all seasoned with coarse black pepper and fine-ground Celtic salt. The perfect meal, perfectly delicious. In restaurants, shrimp is served on a bed of rice. If deviled eggs are even on the menu, they are topped with breadcrumbs or deep-fried. I would be genuinely surprised if any restaurant cooks with real butter.

During my weight loss journey, I learned a new way of eating, I corrected a few health problems, and I lost 54 pounds. I also learned the key to weight loss success isn't on the menu.