Keto

Warning: this post is entirely promoting the Ketogenic Diet, so if you're not interested, this post might not be for you. Feel free to share with others who might not be readers but are interested in "going Keto".

 I've been promising for two days that I would tell about my Keto journey, so here it is. First of all, notice I called it a journey not a diet. We have the idea that diet is temporary, just until we reach our goals. A journey is a path we continue to follow, hopefully for the rest of our lives. 

I have passively resisted making dietary changes my whole life. I give lip service to healthy eating habits but what I actually eat does not resemble healthy in any way, shape or form. I want what I want, and I have a voracious sweet tooth!

I have not been a stranger to dieting. I have probably been on every diet ever known to man. I have done TOPS, Weight Watchers and Weigh Down, counted calories, cut the fat, cut the carbs, eaten cabbage soup, tried the Trim Healthy Mama plan, and drank enough different weight loss shakes that I should be at a negative weight by now...and yet I have failed to make any lasting weight loss. In recent years I have just given up and let my (very healthy) appetite make the choices. 

Last summer we spent a weekend camping at Keller Park with our good friends, Mike and Kim. Kim has suffered with autoimmune and other health issues for many years. I had heard her mention she was doing the Keto plan, but when I checked it out I didn't think it looked like something we could live with...way too restrictive and very low carbs. And we love our carbs!!! I observed how she was eating and listened to her talk about the wonderful benefits she was getting from the Keto plan. And it was obvious that she had lost weight, she looked fantastic!

We went home and dabbled with it just a bit before we got really serious about the middle of August. And I'm not saying we've been perfect with it, but we have done the best we could do most of the time. Each time we have strayed for a weekend or even a meal, we have noticed the difference and scurried back to the plan. 

I used to diet to lose weight so I would look good. In more recent years I have thought I should eat right to gain better health. And with the Keto plan health was my focus. So imagine my delight that I have also lost a modest amount of weight and a few inches. 

But here is the biggest benefit that I am excited about, the energy I have. I have never been a ball of fire, and at this age I probably never will be, but I am noticing definite improvement in energy and overall health. Before I could only do an hour or so of housework before I just wore out and had to quit. I could do dishes and either laundry or floors. Now I can do laundry, dishes and floors all in one day, and still have energy to spare! I know for many this seems like it's not a big deal, but it's been a big deal in my book. A day of working at Hespe's wiped me out to the point that if I didn't have supper ready beforehand there wouldn't be any...or more likely it would be Turbine Mart pizza...no shortage of carbs in that! So I am definitely seeing benefits...and so would  you!

So the nuts and bolts of Keto are fairly simple and yet so complicated all at the same time. The diet consists of very, very low carbs and very high fat with moderate protein. So throw out anything you ever thought you knew about healthy diets, this is a total reversal of all you ever knew. Our standard American diet of burgers and fries doesn't work at all, nor does regular pizza, potatoes or even the healthy fruits. It's a whole new ball game.

What can you eat? We eat of lot of bacon or sausage with eggs. We vary our egg entrees but have come to favor the omelet loaded with cheese, sometimes onion and pepper,  salsa and sour cream. And we are generous with the bacon and sausage. For our main meal of the day we either stir up a Keto friendly casserole dish or cook some meat with a side of veggies, usually with plenty of butter or cheese on them. Lately we have been eating a lot of Keto friendly soups for evening, veggie beef and other soups altered to be Keto compliant. Mike has favored oyster! We have also done some sandwiches, now that we have found a Keto compliant bread that actually acts and tastes like bread! In warmer weather we were doing some smoothies but now that the weather has chilled out we are favoring something warm and comforting.

I mention eating three meals in the previous paragraph, but we are discovering that's way too many meals. We simply aren't hungry for eating that many times a day. So we are now drinking our "Keto Coffee" for breakfast. It's different for both of us. I pour a generous portion of cream in mine and stir in some on plan sweetener, butter and vanilla. Mike uses either MCT oil or coconut oil plus some butter. This is so very satisfying that we can generally skip eating until 1:00 or 2:00 pm. Then we proceed with one of the other three meals for lunch and a light supper.

I was concerned about the cost of doing this program. I have done diets before that resulted in lots of special purchases that ended up costing a lot of money only to leave us with a cupboard of expensive items that we didn't use when we quit the plan. We have simply exchanged some of our expensive snacks for Keto friendly foods. My standard grocery list includes heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, regular cheese, butter, frozen and fresh veggies, bacon, sausage, mayo, olives and pickles, and the occasional baking supply plus any meats that look good (we have our own beef in the freezer). I have ordered specialty items from Amazon like almond flour, MCT oil, and sweeteners, which go a long way and last a long time. It's also a good idea to have a local source of fresh eggs, I have an "egg lady" who delivers fresh eggs each week to us at a bargain price. The longer you eat the Keto plan the better idea you will have of things you would use. So this hasn't changed our grocery budget much, if at all. 

I entered into the plan slowly realizing I've been gung ho many times only to go back to my old ways in a few weeks. Just last week I cleaned some items out of my cupboards that won't work for the plan...pasta, sugary items, and other high carb things that need to be a part of our past. Other items we have continued to use even though they weren't plan approved, like regular ketchup or salad dressings, and will replace them with on plan choices when we run out. 

One thing that drove me crazy at first was the amount of time I spent in the kitchen fixing food we could eat. I have cooked for this household for over 48 years, and I had it down to a science. Most times I didn't even need a recipe, and I could throw stuff together fast and be out of the kitchen in a hurry. It always takes time to figure out a new recipe, and usually another time of making it to incorporate the changes it needs. And it all seemed so labor intensive to clean veggies and grate cheese. I have since learned that you can pre-prep a lot of foods and have them ready to grab and add. Tupperware, which I tend to buy a lot of since I have a daughter who sells it, has made storage of pre-prepped foods so much better. I now grate entire blocks of cheese and store them in the fridge so that I can grab it in a hurry. You could also buy grated cheese, but it tends to have additives to keep it fresh which aren't that good for you. Even in our two-people household, I can grate an entire pound of cheese and get it used before it molds by keeping it in a Fridge-Smart Tupperware container. We have also found that buying frozen veggies on sale makes prep much easier. One thing I like is frozen cauliflower rice, crumbled cauliflower ready to use in a casserole. Another trick we use, since most recipes make 6-8 servings, is to freeze the leftovers in serving sizes for a fast microwave meal. I now spend a lot less time in the kitchen for the same results.

I will include a couple recipes that have made the difference for us:

Fat Bombs

These are sweet little balls of fat that are so very satisfying. When I get a craving for something fat, I just grab one of these and it kills the cravings immediately. I make a batch of them and store them in the fridge or freezer, your choice, and they are ready when the cravings hit before you have a chance to make a poor choice. 

Basic Fat Bomb Recipe

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 oz. butter, softened

2 oz. heavy whipping cream

1 T. Pyure, or a corresponding measure of another sweetener

2 tsp. vanilla 

We customize ours to suit each of us.  

Almond Joy Fat Bombs (Mike's favorite)

To above recipe add 1 tsp. almost extract, 1/4 c. chopped almonds, and 1/4 c. shredded coconut.

Peppermint Patty Fat Bombs (my favorite)

To above recipe add 3-4 drops peppermint essential oil 1/4 c. crushed chocolate chips (sugar-free are best but expensive, I use regular).

 Directions: Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Chill mixture for about 15 minutes to set slightly.

Scoop the dough into mini muffin liners. Chill until ready to serve. 

I use the medium cookie scoop from Pampered Chef and I usually get about 16 fat bombs from a recipe. Each bomb has about 1 gram of carbohydrate in it.

Another deal-breaker for us has been bread. I have several really great sandwich meat recipes which are totally keto-friendly, and you can pile it on a lettuce leaf and eat it as a sandwich that way, but let's get honest...that's not how we were taught to eat a sandwich. Maybe we'll get there someday, but for right now we need some bread to hold our sandwich together. I have tried several bread recipes which have been a total flop or a very poor substitute for real bread. They sell pre-made bread on Amazon for $30 per loaf, and who knows if it's even good? Well just last week I found the bread recipe that does it for us. Granted, I have only made this once, and I messed up the recipe by not having active dry yeast, only instant yeast, and forgot to add any yeast until I had it all mixed up...and it still didn't turn out too bad! However, the recipe says it makes 8 rolls and I only got 4 decent sized rolls out of it, so that might improve with active dry yeast and following the recipe!

So here is the link to the recipe:  Keto Dinner Rolls. Since I'm  not highly tech savvy you will have to follow the link, but be assured it will be worth the trip. 

Notes: 1.  Inulin powder is available on Amazon. I purchased the smallest amount I could, 8 oz. for $6.72. Since it only uses one teaspoon per recipe, this amount will last us for a long time. 2. Since the recipe didn't have and salt or sweetener in it, I added that for the flavor. (I notice a lot of Keto recipes miss the salt and pepper or other flavor enhancers, so beware of that.) I added 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. sweetener to the recipe, and it had a good flavor.

There are a bazillion online resources to help you on your journey as well as billions, literally, of recipes to give you some ideas to work with. Each person's path to health will be a bit different, but this one is working for us. Please feel free to contact me via Messenger if you have questions or comments. I will be your biggest cheerleader!