Living a Low Carb Life in a Starbucks World

Hello my name is Liz and I am a coffee addict.  Living in the upper Mid-West, we have a few options for coffee shops (not as many as let's say, in CA).  Personally, I am partial to Starbucks, it is not too sweet and just enough bitterness to make me aware that I am drinking coffee. 

When I started my low carb life style I had nightmares about not being able to drink Starbucks anymore.  I even cut it out completely for about 3-5 weeks and man was that ROUGH!  So I started searching on Pinterest, I searched "low carb coffee," "low sugar Starbucks," and "low carb Starbucks."  I found some great ideas on how to make my favorite drink, low carb. 

My drink of choice is an iced decaf caramel macchiato, it consists of milk, vanilla flavored syrup, espresso and caramel drizzle.  I made the changes to my drink slowly, first I started by changing my syrup to sugar free syrup.  I had a lot of annoyance when I would ask for sugar free syrup, the baristas would always ask if I wanted skim milk.  NO!!!!!!!!!!! I learned through my researching that the lower the fat content in milk, the more sugar is added to it.  Instead, I would always just ask for 2% milk.    Once I got used to the sugar free syrup ( which honestly wasn't too bad) I then changed my milk.  I changed my milk to whole milk, which I enjoy better than even the 2%, the old adage is correct, fat just tastes better. 

Pictured above is me with my Sister and Nephew in CA, notice the drink in my hand.

Another favorite drink of mine is an iced green tea latte with raspberry syrup, to make this drink low carb just ask for sugar free syrup and again whole milk.

The drink above is the iced green tea latte, also my dog Freyja's treat (her favorite reason going to Starbucks).

I am going to drop a truth bomb on you, I have a Starbucks contact and I may or may not be related to said contact, lets call this contact Drew.  So one day, I went into the store and started ordering my new low carb drink.  Drew asked why I was ordering whole milk, instead Drew told me to order Breve.  Breve is just a fancy way of saying half and half.  This is not exactly my favorite, it takes away from the coffee flavor, but it's still pretty tasty.  I also want to add it does cost $.65  extra to use this milk substitute.

I  want to make sure that everyone knows that your whole life doesn't have to change because of your diet, instead you just have to find substitutions. 


Happy Sipping!!!!

What This has Turned Into

So, this blog started out as a way to share recipes that I have found online and to give any changes that I would/ did make.  My life has been turned upside down in the past few years. 

In the last year, I have had braces put on (yeay for being an almost 30 year old with braces), my husband and I purchased our first house and we welcomed a new family member to our family.

Her name is Freyja, she is part lab, border collie and pit bull and turned one in August of 2015.

Not only have all of those changes happened, but I got a diagnosis that has flipped my cooking life upside down,  in December 2014 I was diagnosed with PCOS.  PCOS is an endocrine issue that make a lot of things in everyday life more difficult.  I am not going to get into all of the medical background, because, well it can get a little gross.  One of the biggest issue that I faced with it is weight gain,  I gained about 70lbs in about 2 years.

 Once I was diagnosed with PCOS, I started reading up about it, trying to figure out how what I eat can affect it and if there are any certain foods that I should stay far, far away from.  After seeing my medical provider, I was started on Metformin, not fun at all.  For about a month (maybe even More) after starting the medication, I became lactose intolerant.  Luckily after about that month, it went back to normal (I can't stay away from cheese).  About 10 months after my diagnosis, my weight loss was not going as fast as I would like, so I started seeing a dietician.

If you are to know anything about me, it would be that I LOVE bread, not a little bit, a whole lot, like an unhealthy amount of bread love going on.  So when my dietician said that I need to cut my carbohydrate intake by a lot, I had a mini freak out.  I am going to let you in on a little secret....life with limited carbs, isn't so bad.  I know GASP!

My dietician is awesome, she is a big proponent of having a cheat meal/day every once in a while, which makes my life a little easier.  I need something to work to and having to be "on" all the time becomes too overwhelming and that's when I stop following the diet.

Since I started the diet, about 5 months now, I have lost 15 pounds, which might not be a lot to most people but huge to me.  Having PCOS make it VERY HARD to lose weight.  Since my diagnosis I have lost a total of 25 pounds.

After months of being monitored by my medical provider, it was found that the cysts (the C in PCOS) were not going away.  Usually the cysts last 2-3 months and with hormonal help, they go away, of course, not in my case.  In February 2016 I had a Laparoscopy Cystectomy (among other things), this surgery was to better my way of life. 

The day of surgery was MISERABLE, my surgery was bumped twice due to two emergent C-sections.  I was able to have what is called day surgery, which means that I got to go home the same day as my surgery,  I was in A LOT of pain that day.  The next day, it wasn't as bad, my husband was able to go to work.  He text me every two hours to see how I was doing and if I needed anything.  My Husband was amazing through all of this, before leaving for work he would fill my water bottle, bring me a protein shake and my pain medication. 

My plan for this blog is to share my struggles, my wins and the meals that I make for the Hubby and I.  I have found quite a few people who are suffering the same diagnosis as I and others who are just on the same diet journey that I am. 

If you have any words of wisdom or questions, please feel free to comment.

Liz