Renters, Brothers, Police, Oh My!

I love these cuties. They are so fun.

Funny story from cutie #2 today.

Me: I asked her if she wanted a little brother or sister.
Cutie #2: She said yes, a brother.
Cutie #2: do brothers pull hair?
Me: yes, and bite and push and wrestle on the floor sometimes.
Cutie #2: then I just want a baby sister.

Hahahah so funny. Poor girl has had to endure biting and hair pulling of late.

Today I went to Chick-fil-A and had a Cobb salad with their avocado lime dressing and grilled chicken instead of breaded. Oh my wow! It was delicious. I ate every bite. Yum!

It was a great option for eating out keto. Much better than other fast food salads. It was very low carb friendly.

It was a lovely way to end the day.

Earlier, I woke up from a nap to a police officer at my door. He had tried to call my cell I saw later.

He was checking on my renters story to see if it was true. He saw them moving things and stopped as they looked suspicious and he has helped me with my dogs before and didn’t recognize them.

The story checked out and he left. But what a kind thing to do. I love living in a small town. Thanks Santaquin police for watching out for us.

It was quite the exciting day. Very fun and we made many memories.

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Week 6: Ketogenic diet for Mental Health

Our progress was crap this week. Hubby maintained. I lost a pound :(.

It makes sense though. We have been sleeping horribly and working our butts off. Food has come third and needs to be moved up on the list again.

On the plus side all that hard work produced what I think are amazing results in our rental apartment. It looks so good. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Here are the before and after videos ;).

Before: Before Remodel Rental

After: After Remodel Rental

I am so impressed with the apartment. We got it rented today! New tenant signed the rental agreement and paid part of the money. She will have more tomorrow and be moving in then. So exciting to be landlords. It’s something we always wanted to do.

Ideally we would like to have multiple rental properties. Mostly duplexes so that we can get the best rates and live in one side and then rent the other. One day hopefully that will be a reality. It’s also a way to try out living in other areas and be able to rent and move elsewhere if we don’t like it.

We procrastinated the last minute steps pretty badly. We ended up painting and cleaning and installing about 20 last minute things this whole weekend. Plus carpet cleaning twice because my toddler spilled paint when we were basically done. Oh the horror!

I have a few photos of cleaning before and afters. I used a Norwex Envirocloth and marble cleaning powder to do all my cleaning. It was A-mazing. So many things that would have taken forever or never come off at all.

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Isn’t it pretty! It isn’t perfect, but oh so much better and that tub is literally gleaming. So many things I swear have never been so clean haha. The walls were gross. I now need to go back to my side of the house and clean it top to bottom. Slowly but surely. We also want to use the extra paint to do our living room and dining room in the same blue gray. It’s so pretty. I want it!

Well it’s been a crazy busy week but we will keep trucking on. If you have some fun keto wins I would love to hear about it. Especially if they have to do with mental illness. I would love to hear your experiences and/or questions.

For more recipes visit my Instagram account @balancingmybipolar

 

Week 5: Ketogenic diet experiment

Progress!!!!

Hubby lost 3.2 lbs this week. Woohoo! He cut down a bit on portions and snacks but it just worked this week. He also worked out a bit because he couldn’t sleep 😂😂.

I gained almost 2 lbs! Yes we are both moving in the right direction. Hooray.

We did a few less recipes this week. I enjoyed clearing out the fridge and the break.

I have now reached 25,000 words written on my second book. I think another 10-15k and I may be ready to start editing and writing book 2. I’m trying to get to where I’m publishing a book a month. I know it can be done because I know an author who does it and does it well.

Keto has been so amazing. I love that I can have dessert and it’s good for me. Good fats. I love how many vegetables I’m eating. And since switching to me cooking for my husband he has had way fewer cravings and issues like that. What a miracle!

I feel full and I love making progress with weight gain. Plus I don’t have to eat as much because it’s all full of fat. So nice for those of us who struggle to gain weight.

We made pizza with fathead dough yesterday. It was very good. I rolled out the dough between two parchment paper sheets and precooked the crust. You could pick it up and eat it like regular pizza. And my husband said it was the best I had made. Haha he almost always says that. I’m sure I get better at cooking but he is also an amazing husband.

My goal for this summer is to figure out keto freezer meals and Crock-Pot meals. I know I will need them when I get depressed.

Here’s to another week and continuing to try to be more active.

Week 4: Ketogenic diet update

This week was a little disappointing. I lost .6 lbs which is going in reverse for me, and my hubby maintained. Seems like I need to adjust. I need to workout more and I think I need to be more intentional about portion control for him.

Something I’m going to start doing is filling his plate with a reasonable portion and then leaving the rest in the kitchen to be packaged. That way if I or the girls want more we can get it but he doesn’t know how much there is or feel as much desire to keep eating.

I did work out once last week yay for the blog pushing me. However it has been crazy pants over here with trying to get our apartment ready to rent. Between walk throughs, no shows from walkthroughs and getting repairs and cleaning done and doing everything normal in our own home there hasn’t been a lot of extra time.

That and I started writing a second book!! Happy dance!! It’s fiction this time, a Christian romance about a girl who has bipolar disorder. I’m thinking about submitting it to Hallmark as well since they are accepting manuscripts this year.

We are making progress though. The shower is all done and looking amazing.

We also got a light in and just have mostly little things left and a few doors to install.

I’m loving keto. We made some awesome recipes this week including two pumpkin desserts. Out of season I know. They were very yummy though.

I’m slowly working through my overfull fridge from shopping while hypomanic and not listening to my own stops. Ugh. I had a voice screaming in my head that I’m spending too much and I did not listen. The compulsion was very strong. So I put myself on a spending hiatus for a month.

So far that is going well and it tends to give me the break I need to see we have too much and it’s good timing since we need to clear out our second fridge and give it to the renters to use.

This post has been an update on many things and all over the place a little like my brain is right now. However, I have to say how much I am loving writing right now. It is so much fun and my capacity is increasing significantly. Some days I have written over 3k words which never used to happen.

Alas hopefully next week we have better results.

Week 3: keto experiment

So…I’m gaining. That is a good sign. It’s slow but I’m no longer losing weight. So progress!!

My husband on the other hand is down about 12 lbs. It seems so much easier for him to stick to his goals with me being the one to mainly be in control of food. I hope it continues to make things easier on him and he can be successful this year and reach his goals.

Ok so another week has gone by with no exercise besides my weekly walk with a friend. It’s a good walk, but I want to start my body weight fitness.

So I’m committing to all of you. I will do it tomorrow and Thursday and Saturday. So 3x by next blog post. We will see how it goes fingers crossed and more importantly. I will take action. It’s happening.

Food is going well for me. If you’re following on Instagram @balancingmybipolar or Facebook or Twitter. I have had many amazing recipes.

One of my favorites was the stuffed mini peppers. The sweet peppers with the creamy cheesy bacon was a delicious combo I ate 3 times. Yum.

Here’s to more recipes this week and clearing out my full fridge :D.

Week 2: ketogenic diet

I didn’t get a scale picture today. Maybe next week. I think I’m back down around 114. Maybe my clothes helped me last week. Hehe.

So this week has gone soo well. I have been killing my calorie goals and macros. Keeping carbs around 60-80 gross. It’s hard to tell fiber with the app I’m in without paying premium which I’m not doing for now. I’m sure I could figure it out but honestly I’m not too worried.

I feel awesome. I didn’t experience any keto flu this time and haven’t been having muscle cramps or anything from imbalanced electrolytes. It’s been so easy to eat this way. I cook dinner, have leftovers the next day for lunch, an easy smoothie for breakfast and then cook something new again for dinner.

I love variety in my diet so it’s fun to try a new recipe each day. I don’t know when I will start repeating. Maybe some day or by request from my husband.

Tomorrow he wants me to make him kimchi stew. He loves it but it’s not my favorite so I will do that for his lunch and eat my leftover soup which there is really only enough for one anyway so that works out.

Tomorrow I plan on making these amazing biscuits and eggs for dinner. They are always a winner and pretty easy. Be sure to follow me on Instagram @balancingmybipolar to get that recipe and many more.

I’m liking this experiment so far!

Week 1: experimental ketogenic diet

Alright so it’s been one week. I have dropped water weight which is always a good sign that ketosis is taking place. I went down from 118 to 114.4. I’m back up now to 116.2.

As you can see in the picture. That is encouraging to me and I will keep trying to up my calories. The goal is at least 2000 calories and more when I’m working out. Probably around 2250. It is just so hard for me to eat that much.

I know that is insane for the majority of people and so hard to understand. I have a very strong fullness trigger. So much so that if I barely overeat I want to throw up and get sick. Not pleasant so I have learned to avoid getting there and it has kept me at a healthy weight. The problem comes when I want to be stronger and hold more muscle I have to work my butt off.

So I will be starting Fitloop Bodyweight fitness routine. As soon as I’m feeling well enough. Hopefully this week or next. I will also up my calories.

I have enjoyed some new recipes this week. You can find most of them on Instagram as I post there daily at @balancingmybipolar. I also post my macros for the day.

It worked well to do meals for my hubby and just like the first time I tried keto before my last pregnancy it was much easier than I thought it would be. I have cooked for my husband for so many years that it isn’t too bad. My biggest problem is like with anything finding something that sounds good.

Exciting new eats

Breakfast tomorrow!

Special thanks to diet doctor for the recipe.

So excited to start #keto with my hubby again tomorrow. He really struggles with overeating, I have the opposite problem normally. I am hoping that by me cooking and serving him food that he can destress and not think about it and focus on other things and finally have some more success.
For me I’m going to be a human guinea pig and document my journey daily/weekly with what I’m eating and measurements etc. 😜😲 I want to see how it affects my #bipolar especially the hypomania. Since that is where I’m at.

I also want to try to gain on it and just see how I feel.

I recently found out I have a lactose sensitivity so that should help a lot with staying away from milk.

I will not by strictly on keto. I’m still nursing so until that’s over I need to keep my carbs around 50 net instead of 20. So I will snack to get the difference above my hubby.

Also his calories will be around 1750. Mine 2200+ haha. We will see if I can bulk and he can shrink 😉 Pics to come tomorrow after weigh in ;).

#keto #newdiet #bipolardepression #bipolarawareness #ketoandmentalillness #mentalhealthmatters #anxiety #balancingyourbipolar #balancingmybipolar #ketogains #ketolosses

Pretty School and Other Mom Guilt

This past week, my oldest who is 7, Taylia, dressed up Addison in one of her uniforms. Complete with tucked in shirt, shoes, panda backpack, snacks, and hair done.

Oh the sass!

She looked so stinking cute. But Taylia had her thinking that she could go with her to school. I told them they wouldn’t let her on and when Taylia left she was super upset and crying.

Oh the sass!

She looked so stinking cute. But Taylia had her thinking that she could go with her to school. I told them they wouldn’t let her on and when Taylia left she was super upset and crying.

She finally came over to me and I said I’m sorry you can’t go until next year. She said but Bria (a girl from primary) goes to “pretty school.” She meant pre School and I talked to her mom today and apparently she doesn’t go. But still so funny.

My oldest has been saying for months that I need to send Addy to preschool or homeschool. That she needs to know her letters etc. She keeps acting like she is behind because she doesn’t know as much as her 3 years older self.

This piles on the mom guilt when I’m depressed which ends up being most of the school year let’s be honest. This year it was from about November to a week or so ago. So at least half the school year.

I often have guilt when I need a little screen time babysitting (or a lot).

When I don’t teach or have cute crafts because they make a mess or I can’t handle more than meals (frozen pizza) and moving from the bed to the couch.

Honestly it wasnt normally that bad this year. Things went really well as far as productivity levels. But it has been in the past.

I have been working really hard to let go of the idea that I have to be entertaining my children 24/7 to be a successful parent. I’m realizing sometimes it’s the opposite. They need to feel bored occasionally and they need to play outside (our goal right now is an hour a day). They need to read and be creative and make a mess.

It has been freeing to me to let myself take a nap if I need it and let my 3 yr old play with Daddy working nearby. I’m so much happier the rest of the time for it and that is what is amazing about self care. True self care not this crap that is just selfish, but the whole put on your own oxygen mask first, fill your vessel stuff. True self care makes you better and more able to give.

So heres to letting go of mom guilt and hoping one day they invent “pretty school”.

Done is better than perfect!

My house is looking so much better!

I found a blog called A slob comes clean a few months ago now and I love it! I have now bought both her books and listen to her podcasts almost daily while I’m cleaning or working in the yard. So much of what she said clicked and it has helped my home a ton. Remember the post about my Kitchen and the disaster state it was in? This blog and the books have helped me stay out of disaster state for months now and it feels amazing!

I have decluttered:

some which helps and I also started the weekly tasks this week. So as to avoid getting overwhelmed I decided on Tuesday to just do one bathroom rather than all 3. I did the one we use the most and the one I had already decluttered the most. I then worked on another day decluttering my master bathroom and I will go from there. I figured if I did them all and burnt out then I would go months again without clean bathrooms. Where as if I do one and do another next week and wipe down the first and then another and wipe down the others by week 4 it should be easier and way better.

So far so good, as I ran errands Wednesday, and Thursday I mopped my kitchen and attached laundry room floor. It was bad this week and took longer but hopefully next week I make it to the dining room and it’s easier.

Tomorrow I will be vacuuming which has been done more recently and with a 5 min pick up shouldn’t be hard.

The laundry is going well too. Although I’m struggling with putting it away I’m still excited with how much easier Monday laundry days have been in general.

Now to the point that sparked my desire to write this post. I don’t know what to write on my blog but I want to blog. I know to some degree I need to just get started and try. I need to practice and do, to get over my fears and find out what I don’t know that I don’t know. Where I need to learn and stretch and grow. Also what my audience wants and what I want the blog to be too. Who my people are? Who my tribe is? What my passion is around balancing my bipolar?

I think some of that is just being honest. Honestly maybe this post is the place to start. Maybe recording my thoughts on my mental state through depression. My frustrations with not being able to be social and donate my time by volunteering and doing it all. My frustrations with dinner being hard and cleaning being hard and showering more than once a week being hard and doing anything. My worries for my kids and what they need me to be. Letting go of some of that guilt too. Improving one step at a time. Acknowledging myself and giving myself some credit that my book is actually helping some people. Reading it again and facing the reality that it could be better and my fears and hypomania may have rushed it. But realizing that I made a decision to do that and it’s okay.

This is what I’m feeling right now. Unfiltered maybe crappy, definitely less than perfect but “done is better than perfect” and it’s real and it’s what is reality right now, not my made up dream in my head.