Keto thread

I usually have one egg fried in duck fat with one slice of bread baked using Paleo Flour.
Along with one Cumberland sausage OR 4 strips of streaky bacon.

For dinner I may have a wagyu beef burger with a huge stack of romaine or cos lettuce tossed in
olive oil, lemon and crushed pepper. Often a bowl of home made guacamole with tahini using one
Hass avocado (no tomato).

My rule of thumb for veggies is: grows above ground (mostly low carb), grows below ground (high carb).

I prefer fats like olive oil, macadamia, ghee, duck fat, butter, coconut milk etc. I never go overboard on fat
by indulging in 'fat bombs' and bullet proof coffee.

When you do Keto, you need to keep your liver and kidneys at peak performance as they expel excess
cholesterol and toxins. It is recommended to eat 6-8 servings of permissible vegetables a day.

On keto, fat is your friend, so you can use the real deal coffee creamer, half and half or cream. The folks who say fat will kill you? BS. The study all of that is based on was fraudulent. Everyone who tried to duplicate that study, and there have been many, has found just the opposite is the case. It's OK to consume fat and it actually drops the LDL while boosting the HDL. But fat is calories and keto is still calories in vs calories out if you want to lose weight.

Ketchup is OK on keto. Just go easy on it (you're going to need measure and count carbs) and I think it's Hunts that has a no sugar added version; it's good ketchup. I know Amazon has it. FWIW, if you don't live in a metro area Amazon is your friend. Lots of keto items found there. Amazon feeds me. But my supermarket is getting much better with keto items and this is low population Maine.

example of carb counting: I had liverwurst and onions tonight. In 150 grams of onions, a medium onion, there are 12 grams of carbs. I try to stay under 20 grams per day and definitely under 40. So between both items and my 2 grams of carbs in my morning toast that was all the carbs for me for the day. No tree nuts tonight. One makes choices.

All veggies are carbs, but there are some that are low carbs, eggplant, celeriac, celery, radishes, I'd need to look it up but probably Jicama, leafy greens (spinach, kale, Swiss Chard, probably more I'm forgetting), you mentioned some others. If they're leaves they're low in carbs and high in nutrition. But they still contain carbs. Cooking veggies makes the nutrition more available meaning you don't burn as many calories to get it. Raw veggies makes your body work to break it down and work = calories burnt. Raw food, chewed, and not blended and drank is best for calorie burn. That's if your gut can handle it.

Red and black Raspberries are OK in moderation. Most other fruits are a no-no unless you count carbs and measure them out. Yeah, I know that sux. I love(d) fruit but I won't even touch it. Rhubarb is a veg' but I cook it as a fruit and that helps. It's low carbs. I'd need to check, but I think I remember Starfruit being low in carbs.

Salads are also your friend. I like salad so it's no big deal for me, but I know not everyone does. The dressing can be as simple as oil and vinegar. I can make a meal on salad but they're chefs salads with meat and cheese.

To help make the bowels happy ground flaxseed is also our friend. I take medications every morning and with them I put 2 heaping teaspoons of GF in the 1/2 glass of water and drink it down right away. GF is a moderator. I take one medication that definitely upsets things. Plus GF is loaded with Omega 3 fatty acid and I'm betting you don't get enough of that. Few people do. And GF has zero net carbs. It has other "benefits" too but I'll let you discover them for yourself.

For another breakfast item I'm making gravlox. I love gravlox. You might know it as 'lox. I haven't decided if I'm going to smoke it yet or not. But I'm also going to pick up another salmon fillet and cure it also. On a thin slice of keto bread toast smeared with cream cheese, or in an omelet, it will be a welcome break. If I smoke it it will be with cherry smoke.

We can have pancakes and biscuits, again, in moderation. I use Carbquik to make those quick breads. I've been known to make a synthetic syrup for them, but adding flavor to the pancakes in the batter and just putting butter (when I write butter I mean actual butter containing butterfat) on them works just as well. Of course in keto we can have bacon or sausage with them.

Get some ketoacidosis piss test strips to test and see if you have entered ketosis. Ketoacidosis is extremely dangerous and we don't want that condition. But the test strips work for us as well as it works for folks in danger of that condition. When just entering ketosis the body doesn't quite now what to do with the ketones and they come out through the kidneys and they'll be seen on the test strips. After you've been in ketosis for a time the body will better handle the ketones and the test strips will be useless. But it's good to see your progress as you enter into the state of ketosis. You'll probably find it interesting, I know I did. Your pharmacy should have them.

That's a lot of good information. Thank you! I didn't start this process due to any health ailments thankfully, I just wanted to experiment in learning what my body actually needs, and to make a lifestyle change that I can easily live with. Candy and carb filled snacks were certainly something I felt I needed to scale back on.
I'm not a big man, I'm 5'11 and roughly 220 lbs (even my doctor did a double take and couldn't believe I weighed that much I carry it well I guess). I'm hoping to get to 200 or just under.

I live in a metro area and Keto friendly options at my grocery store is not a problem at all. My current issue is discovering what meals I'd like to have regularly that has been a challenge, but not impossible. I'm sort of making this up as I go, checking ingredients on packaged items and have completely cut down my snacking and candy.
My dinners lately usually consist of pan seared salmon in butter and garlic, cauliflower mash (or riced cauliflower), with spinach or some other sautéed veggie on the side. Other meals are baked chicken with a similar side.
Snacks and lunches have mostly been sliced bell pepper, with cream cheese, and some sliced deli meats.
Salads are no problem either, but my favorite dressing is Ranch which usually has sugar. Caesar dressing is another favorite which can easily be keto.
You mentioned radishes, I found that when boiled in a soup or stew, radishes taste extremely similar to a boiled potato which was really shocking to me. It was a nice surprise when I made a beef stew a few weeks ago.
I've been looking into the keto test strips, I think I'll get some next time I'm near my pharmacy.
There's very few foods I don't like, so this is a good thing. Lox is one of my favorites, but I need a good keto bread or keto bagel to put it on
I've picked up some monkfruit syrup for the times I'm looking for a sweeter breakfast, and have a couple recipes for some keto waffles I'm interested in trying but I haven't made any yet.
So far I haven't had any stomach discomfort. Actually the opposite. Cutting out carbs and sugar so far has COMPLETELY eliminated my heartburn issues as well. The heartburn being gone has been a godsend. I also take probiotics daily which I'm sure have helped everything.
I do drink alcohol. When I started this "diet" I completely cut out beer which was usually my go-to after work beverage or weekend binge. I know Coors Light is low in carbs, so on the occasion that I feel like having a beer that's what I've gone for. It's hardly considered beer anyway.
Wine is one thing I do miss. Otherwise I've moved over to mixing drinks with vodka, and sipping some whisky. There might be some haters here, but Truly's are very low carb, along with White Claw- and I guess they're considered Keto since they have essentially no sugar and zero carbs and zero calories. It's nice to know there's an option like that.

You speak a lot about baking your own bread, and forgive me if I've missed you mention it, but have you found any good Keto friendly bread you can buy at the store?

in case you're on Keto and have a sweet tooth, check out this chocolate brand
called Choc Zero.

Dark Chocolate with a choice of almonds, peanuts, coconut shreds.

All sweetened with Monkfruit (0 cal, 0. carbs)

Each bag has 6 bars...each bar about 2-3 nett carbs.

I've noticed that I'm not nearly as hungry throughout the day, or even in the morning. I can usually go all day until dinner without eating now and hardly feel hungry. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but before I would be hungry first thing in the morning, then need lunch, then snack, then dinner.

Regarding coffee creamer, I was more thinking along the lines of a flavored coffee creamer. I know regular creamer is just fine, but the flavored coffeemate stuff is a sugar bomb. I do love it though. I'm open to making my own if I anyone has any suggestions. I've lately just been using allulose and a little bit of coconut milk (Moala brand) that has MCT oil in it. It works just fine, but occasionally I like the added flavor that coffeemate creamers can add. I usually drink shitty coffee, which is another problem.

in case you're on Keto and have a sweet tooth, check out this chocolate brand
called Choc Zero.

Dark Chocolate with a choice of almonds, peanuts, coconut shreds.

All sweetened with Monkfruit (0 cal, 0. carbs)

Each bag has 6 bars...each bar about 2-3 nett carbs.

I'll look them up. I'm allergic to peanuts but I assume they have other flavors. Thanks for the suggestion.

yeah...peanuts is but one variant....I like the almond and coconut variants better.
personal preference.

https://www.choczero.com

Alcohol won't kick you out of keto since it's not a carb. But it's calories and while the liver is processing it keto is temporarily put on hold. You're not the only person who likes alcohol. I've been known to have an adult beverage myself.

I don't buy bread in the store so I can't tell you what to look for. Where I shop probably wouldn't have it anyway. King Arthur Flour makes a "Keto Blend" flour that produces a decent loaf but I found it bland. I'm accustomed to grinding my own wheat and minutes later turning it into dough, so in comparison, yes, it's bland. So I put mashed potato flavor in it. I also have some wheat bread flavor, but I haven't tried that yet. But of all the keto bread substitutes it's by far the best, and most breadlike. I just wish it had more flavor. Most keto breads have eggs as the primary ingredient and to me that just isn't bread. I made one from youtube that had promise but it was just terrible. I need to get re-involved and try what I was thinking of doing... Use a blend of almond and coconut flour, ground even finer, and enough gluten to form a mass that will rise with yeast. It won't taste like wheat, but it might be passable.

Amazon does have keto breads, but I haven't tried them.

Tester28, yes, I don't go out of my way to consume fats either. But I have gone so far as to make my own "Chocolate Crunch" bars. The crunch is from protein spheres.

The thing I miss most is pizza. People who have had mine tell me that it's the best they ever had. The difference is the long fermentation dough. But I miss ANY pizza and not just mine. I tried to make a pizza in a bowl and it's OK, but the dough is really needed for real pizza flavor.

ShadowsDad I got ketone test strips yesterday. I'm still learning how to calculate them and interpret what the readings mean. This evening I was in between "small" and "moderate" between 15-40 mg/dl. I'm guessing that means I'm in Ketosis? I think a negative sample would pull at 0mg (meaning no ketones detected). Do you have any insight? I can't find a "Interpreting Keto Strips for dummies" answer on a google search. Too much scientific jargon for me to focus.
I just ordered a digital scale to track any weight loss, looking forward to seeing physical results soon. I can tell you, I feel great.

Yes, if you're seeing any ketones at all you're in ketosis and burning ketones for fuel. Eventually your body will better utilize the ketones your liver is producing and you won't pee it out anymore. So if testing in a month or so don't be alarmed if the test strip shows nothing. It might even happen sooner, I just don't remember. It's 2 years ago for me.

I'm always on the lookout for things I can eat and I was looking at a sales circular and saw salmon. That reminded me of gravlox. Yes, it's keto, or can be. So I bought a 2 1/2# fillet on Tuesday.

I began making a fillet on Tuesday afternoon, it was cured and ready to eat on Wednesday, but I held off in the hope of smoking it with cherry wood. Yesterday, Friday I decided I'd waited long enough and cut off the tail portion and sliced it just as thin as I could. This morning I had it on a thin slice of toasted homemade low carb bread (<3 grams carbs) smeared with chive/onion cream cheese and piled high with the salmon. Delicious!

Since more unsettled weather is forecast yesterday I cheated and put 2 tsps of liquid smoke in the bag along with the cured salmon fillet. I'll finish slicing it today.

It's super easy to make. Here is the recipe with my notes.

Gravlox
SUBMITTED BY: Suzanne
Modified and notes by Brian
"Gravlox is a popular item in Scandinavian Cuisine. Some, like this one, are made with vodka."

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds salmon fillet, bones removed
4 tablespoons coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons light brown sugar (I used erythritol brown sugar substitute since I'm in ketosis)
1 tablespoon pepper (or more... definitely more)
1 bunch fresh dill, chopped (I don't like dill so I omit)
3 tablespoons vodka (or gin)

No smoker? Or weather doesn’t permit smoking it? See note below.

DIRECTIONS

1. Drape plastic wrap over a glass baking dish. Cut salmon in half lengthwise (I don't do that), and place one half in dish, skin side down. Mix together salt, brown sugar and pepper. Sprinkle half of mixture over salmon in the dish, cover with the chopped dill, and pour the vodka over the whole mixture.
2. Sprinkle the remaining salt mixture over the remaining half of salmon. Place over the salmon in the dish, skin side up. Fold the plastic wrap snuggly over the entire salmon. Place a board over the fish and weigh it down with a heavy object.
3. Refrigerate fish for 24 to 36 hours (I’ve gone up to 6 days), turning every 12 hours. To serve, separate the filets, and carefully brush off the salt, sugar and dill. This where Suzanne and I disagree. All of the salt and sugar has pulled water out of the salmon and cured it, and there is nothing to brush off. If there are still salt granules on the filet give it more time to cure.
4.Cut into very thin slices with a sharp knife. Cut on a diagonal through the thickness of the filet to give a larger slice.
5. Of course the ‘lox can be served on bagels, but they’re just as good on toasted English Muffins with whipped cream cheese. Enjoy!

Notes: It has been brought to my attention that the fish should be washed and soaked for 45 minutes, and then smoked. The other recipes I have don't do either of those actions, and when I've seen it done on TV (at least 3 times) that wasn't done either, but I want to make sure folks know that it's an option. Next time, if I like the product, I plan on smoking it since smoked lox is what what I buy locally.

Definitely. Smoke it. The Gravlox isn't salty enough IMHO to require soaking before smoking though. My plan is going to be to rinse off the undissolved salt then cold smoke for maybe an hour or 2 at most. Use a sweet smoke, cherry or apple or another sweet smoke.

I'll never buy lox again. The taste of this is much better than out of the plastic package and it really can't be easier to make. Looking at the pile of lox I wound up with- it would have been maybe 6-7 packages @ $5-$6 per package. The actual cost was $9 for the salmon and pennies for the other ingredients. It's nice to be able to pile it on.


Note: Don’t have a smoker or the weather doesn’t allow for real smoke? I recently had a filet that had been curing for 5 days and while the weather forecast told me that I’d have a window in which to smoke the ‘lox, reality didn’t match the forecast. What to do? I added 1½ tsp of Wrights liquid smoke to the bag the filet was in. Next time I’d use 2 tsps, but add to your taste. Liquid smoke can get out of hand very rapidly. After adding the smoke to the bag of salmon and (natural brine as pulled out of the salmon) I waited 24 hours and sliced it. It wasn’t cherry smoke, but it’s quite good.