Category: Keto Diet

Stream of Consciousness Saturday-July 13-2019- Instructions

How to make an ice cream sundae;

Pick up your car keys and drive to the nearest outlet of Dairy Queen.

Okay, just kidding.

An easy recipe for Keto ice cream:

2 cups heavy cream

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

3 Tablespoons xylitol ( artificial sweetener )

Mix them in a I pint mason jar. Closing the lid shake the mixture till it doubles in size, about 5 minutes. Put it in the freezer. Take it out and shake it for 2 minutes after 2 hours. It will be ready in 3-4 hours.

You can top it with sugar free chocolate syrup and chopped nuts.

So it is a genuine recipe and not a joke. I repeat it is NOT A JOKE!

Try it. The carb content of this ice cream is very low. You can substitute cocoa powder with half teaspoon of vanilla extract.

The prompt;

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “instructions.” Write instructions for anything you know how to do. As detailed or as rambling as you’d like. Enjoy!

In response to;

Stream of Consciousness Saturday-July 13-2019

A Prompt by Linda G Hill

#keepitalive

#socs

Twittering Tales #137 – 21 May 2019– Don’t propagate hate.

There is no explanation for hate. Just because someone is not like you in appearance, color or religion you don’t have to hate them. But who will tell this to all these people charged by the latest rise in racial and religious discrimination? The glass had been broken by a stone.

Character count =280

In response to;

Twittering Tales #137

A Prompt by Kat Myrman

About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a photo prompt. Your mission, if you choose to accept the challenge, is to tell a story in 280 characters or less. When you write your tale, be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale. This is important as I have noticed that some of the ping backs have not been working. If you would prefer to post your tale in the comments (some people have very specific blog themes but still want to participate), I am happy to post a link to your site when I post your tale in the Round Up.

#keepitalive

#twitteringtales

Keto friendly Almond flour bread

I have said that I will post some keto friendly recipes on my blog.

I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com, but modified it to get the best results.

So here it is;

Almond flour Bread

Ingredients;

Almond flour——-1 1/2 cups

Flax seed flour——-1/3 cup

Eggs————————-4

Coconut cream/ coconut milk——-1/4 cup.

Olive oil——————————————2 tablespoons

Baking powder——————————-2 teaspoon

Salt————————————————–1/2 teaspoon

Directions;

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, or 175 degrees C.

2. Grease a loaf pan, 4x 8 , lightly with butter or olive oil

3. Mix all the ingredients and whisk lightly.

4. Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle sesame or sunflower seeds.

Bake for 20- 25 minutes and check by inserting a tooth pick in the middle. If it comes out clean, take out the pan and let it cool naturally. One it is cool, loosen the edges with a knife and gently lift it out of the pan. The baking time can vary, and can take longer in some cases. Please check after 20 minutes.

The bread should be stored in the refrigerator till it is consumed.

This bread tastes good on its own. But you can toast it in the toaster and make a sandwich with cheese and butter, combined with the meat of your choice.

I wrap my bread in cling film to keep it fresh.

Hope you guys enjoy it.

Perfect keto recipe.

A bonus dessert recipe;

Strawberry with Greek yogurt

Strawberries. 1 cup, sliced

Greek yogurt. 1/2 cup

Heavy cream 2 tablespoons

Unsalted mixed nuts ( cashews, peanuts, almonds ) or any other nuts that you like, 2 tablespoons

You can sweeten this with a few drops of liquid stevia, or xylitol ( a couple of teaspoons) and enjoy it as a desert.

The carbs in this recipe are mostly fiber and net carbs are very few.

#Keepitalive

#Ketolifestyle

#Ketodiet

Intermittent fasting

Definitely not the pizza, that is not what this post is about.

This post is about the way you should be eating and abstaining from food.

My post today is about intermittent fasting.

Fasting is when you don’t eat for a certain period of time. And intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating food at fixed intervals, and abstaining during the rest of the day.

There are many advantages of fasting.

1. Intermittent fasting is one quick way to get into ketosis. The body, when deprived of food for some time uses up all its stored glycogen, a form of sugar stored in liver. In absence of this source of energy, the body is forced to use fat for energy.

2. For people who find it difficult to abstain from eating at all times, the benefit from fasting are huge. When you are bound to a regimen of fasting and eating at fixed times, the caloric intake is automatically restricted.

3. Fasting helps the body to lose fat as compared to traditional low calorie diets where most of the weight loss is water and then muscle mass.

4. Fasting also improves blood sugar levels and helps regulate insulin levels. There is a marked improvement in insulin resistance as well.

5. Fasting has a beneficial effect on the human brain. When the brain is fueled by ketones, the energy providing chemical in ketosis, the mental process is reported to be quicker and thinking is clearer. It promotes brain health.

6. Contrary to general belief, going without food make the body healthier. The body in absence of fuel, turns towards itself, consuming the sick and cancer prone cells. This rids the body of a lot of threats and toxins and promotes longevity. Some doctors have claimed success against cancer on this as well.

What is intermittent fasting; Or IF

Intermittent fasting is described as a way of eating when you follow a fixed pattern of consuming food.

1. Skipping a meal; The easiest type of IF is skipping a meal. You can either do away with breakfast, or merge it into an early lunch, making one meal out of two. The other option is to skip lunch or have it later, combining it with dinner.This way, you can have the benefit of IF, without too much trouble.

2. Daily window; An other way to do IF, is to improve upon the skipping of one meal by prolonging the time between the last meal of the day and the first one on the next day. It would mean a gap of 6-8 hours between the two main meals of the day, leaving 18-16 hours when you are fasting. It may seem difficult but if you are sleeping more than half of this time, it’s quite easy to accomplish.

3. Alternate day fast; Fasting on alternate day is also quite doable. Eat regularly one day and fast the next day, choosing either the meal skipping or the daily window method.

4. 24 hour fasting; This should not be done in the beginning as it is hard on a system not used to fasting. This can be attempted after consulting a doctor. Eat a good high quality meal, rich in calories and the eat the same time next day. It is also known as one meal a day or OMAD.

What can we have while fasting;

Water, it’s very helpful in maintaining the fast and overall a feeling of well-being.

Green tea can be taken provided its free from sugar and any other additives which can have calories.

Lemon and water mix can be consumed.

Tea and coffee, black, without milk, cream whiteners or sugar. But don’t drink too much of them as they can kick you out of your fasting state.

If you want to know about foods you can consume on Keto diet, you can find all the information here;

Foods allowed in Ketogenic Diet

Waiting for your feedback and comments.

#Keepitalive

#Ketogenicdiet

#Intermittentfasting

Dream

Have you ever wondered what are your dreams made of

What do you see and what are you dreaming of

Is it an adventure or a nightmare that you see

Or is it something kinky or naughty that you catch yourself doing

Or are you dreaming a vision of greatness and world peace

Do you share the dreams when you are awake

Or do you bury them deep into your subconscious mind

It is possible to put all that we dream into words

To put it all into the open that lies in the heart of our heart

Or do you treasure these dreams and hope that they come true

One day!

Written for the following;

RDP;

Dream

Word of the day;

Kinky

THWD;

Dreaming, possible, peace

#Keepitallive

#THWD

#RDP

Lost

“Hey! You have lost some weight” said my friend who hadn’t seen me for some time. “Yes” I answered a bit smugly. It was no mean achievements, loosing thirty five pound in six months. I was very proud of myself.

“But how did you do it?” She was incredulous. After all I had been overweight since a long time, trying different “diets” and giving them up in disgust as nothing would work after first few weeks.

“You see I have started on this new lifestyle, they don’t call it a diet because one has to change one’s eating habits for life to achieve success ” I told her. “And what is this lifestyle called?” She was still skeptical.

It’s called ketogenic lifestyle. Now I had caught her interest. She had heard of this keto diet, as people were calling it, and wanted to know the details.

I told her all about it. The highlights were to stop eating carbohydrates, if not altogether, then to bring them to a minimum. Just vegetables which are practically starch free. ” You mean to say that you had to leave all carbs, like bread, pizza and dessert.” She still couldn’t believe it, that a carb junky like me could give up pasta, breads and all other yummy carb rich foods.

As I explained to her the mechanism through which this diet/ lifestyle change works, she was finally convinced. Even to the extent to give it a try herself.

And do you have to exercise a lot, she wanted to know. I just have a daily walk for an hour or so that is enough for me.

If you want to know about Keto diet/ ketogenic lifestyle, you can check my posts about it on the following;

My keto journey 

Do’s and Don’t’s of keto

Foods allowed in ketogenic diet

Written for;

Your daily word prompt;

Lost

FOWC;

Leave

RDP;

Walk

Keepitalive

#Ketogenicdiet

#Weightloss

Foods allowed in ketogenic diet.

In my last post I gave you a list of vegetables which can be eaten without restriction on Keto diet.

Here I will talk about all the other food groups that can be eaten on Keto diet.

1. Proteins:

In Keto diet, you should be eating a controlled portion of protein. The ideal amount is between 3-6 oz of meat, fish , poultry and eggs.

Grass fed organic meats, like Beef, Lamb, pork and best of all organ meat which have high fat content are ideal.

Fatty fish, like Tuna, Salmon, Sardines, Trout, Halibut and other high fat fish. Seafood like Oysters, Shrimp, Squid, Scallops , Lobster etc.

Eggs, preferably free range eggs are excellent for Keto diet . Eggs have the perfect macros for Keto.

For people who don’t want to eat Animal Protein, Vegetarian protein can be subsituted.

Vegetarian proteins:

Organic fermented Soy products like tofu and tempeh in smaller amounts. Lentil, Seeds like pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds. Sprouted berms, Mushrooms are some of the veggie proteins you can have.

2. Fats:

The most important and unusual part of the keto diet are the fats.

Coconut oil and butter, avocado oil, olive oil, almond butter , peanut butter ( with no sugar added). Grass fed butter are all the good fats that can be used. The ratio of fats consumed keeps on changing as you progress with ketosis.

3. Dairy:

Small amounts of cheese ( up to 3 oz) can be taken in a day with meals. Feta, Brie, cream cheese ( not cream cheese spread) heavy cream and Sour cream can be a part of your daily diet. Greek yogurt or hung yogurt can also be used.

4. Nuts:

Some nuts are very high in fat and are good for inducing the body into Ketosis . But since they are calorie dense ( have a lot of calories) eat them in small quantities. Pecans, Macadamia , almonds Walnuts, Hazelnut and Brazil nuts are all good. Other nuts like Cashews, peanuts and pistachios have a higher carb content and should be used sparingly.

5. Fruits:

Unfortunately, most fruits being high in carbs are not allowed on Keto diet. Only berries, like Blackberry, Blueberries and Strawberries can be eaten in small amounts. Lemon and lime can be used freely. Avocado can be used daily. But not too much. An avocado a day should be fine.

For further help, please look up my previous posts on this subject,

Here and Here

Hope that this post helps to some degree in choosing what to eat on KETO Diet.

Waiting for your comments and feedback.

#KetoDiet

#KetogenicDiet

#Healthyliving

#Keepitalive

Do’s and Don’t’s of Keto diet

Most people who try to follow Keto diet are confused as to what they should eat and what to avoid. Here I have complied A list of do’s and don’ts of Keto diet.

In one my previous post, you can read it here , I gave an outline of my initial daily food intake.

Now I want to help people who have started Keto diet and haven’t much information about how to go about it.

1. Meals and their timings:

It is a vital part of Keto diet to eat your meals according to a fixed schedule. Now don’t get the idea that this would tie you to an unreasonable routine. By a schedule, I mean that the time between each meal should be around the same, daily. Now if you have breakfast early in the morning, you don’t have to have it at the same time every day, but make sure that the time difference between dinner and breakfast stays (almost )the same. And apply the same principle to lunch and dinner.

2. If you are not hungry at a meal time, don’t eat. The idea of 3 meals a day, or short frequent meals is not good for health. Frequent eating releases Insulin, which will hinder you weight loss and can make you Insulin resistant.

3. Appetite management:

It is natural to feel hungry initially, when you start on Keto. The Macros of Keto as I explained in my previous post are:

FAT:70%

PROTEIN 25%

CARBS 5%

You can add non starchy vegetables to this.

Vegetables allowed on Keto: 

Eat as much as you want:

Green leafy vegetables like ;

Spinach, Iceberg, Rocket( Arugula), Mustard greens, Collard greens, Kale. Lettuce

Cruciferous vegetables like;

Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cabbage, Brussels sprouts.

High water content vegetables like;

Squash ( all types), Peppers( all types ), Cucumbers, Eggplant, Turnips, Zucchini, Celery, Asparagus. Mushrooms, Olives

Eat less of these:

Tomatoes, onions, green beans, okra, carrots

These vegetables will not only fill up your tummy, but will also provide essential nutrients like Potassium, iron vitamins, specially vitamin B and C.

Start your meal with a large plate of salad. The daily recommended amount of vegetables/salad per day is around 7-10 cups. Divide it in two servings one with lunch and the other with dinner. If you find it difficult to eat that much vegetables, then you can try a veggie smoothie.

     Avoid completely

Potato, peas, lentils, beets, yams, corn.

All the products made out of potatoes and corn also must be avoided.

4. No snacking:

This is a difficult habit to stick to, specially in the beginning. But to get you body into ketosis,you must stick to this important rule. If you feel hungry in between meals:

a. Increase your intake of fat in your meals

b. Have a glass full of water with a tablespoon full of Apple cider vinegar in it. You can also add some lemon juice to it. It will lower your urge to eat.

Hope that these tips will make it easy for you to follow Keto Diet.

I will follow up with another post of foods allowed on keto!

Thanks for visiting.

Please let me know how you like my post.

#KetogenicDiet

#KetoDiet

#Weightloss

#Keepitalive

My Keto journey!

I started on my Keto journey almost a year ago. It was a chance read article on the net, that made me take this decision. There was lot of resistance and criticism from family and friends. But looking at my health stats, I decided to at least try it for a while.

How it was in the beginning:

When I started my Keto journey, it was a case of learn as you go. I searched many websites and bought a couple of books to get to know the in’s and out’s of this diet.

The start:

The beginning was not very auspicious. There were a couple of false starts, till I finally got in my stride. This diet meant changing all my previous concepts about food. I had to un- learn a lot of food facts that I had been practicing all my life. I also had to learn to like a few foods that weren’t my favorite before I started.

Progress:

I started by adding extra fat to my meals, specially my breakfast. I still do that on occasions ( one has to change the amount of fat one takes as our bodies adjust to fat burning) . My breakfast now had either eggs, 2-3, boiled, fried or in omelette form. Using butter with a lavish hand. Coffee or tea with cream in small quality. Or I would have ” Bulletproof coffee “ for my breakfast. This is black coffee in which you add a tablespoon of butter ( grass-fed butter, if available) and I would add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin organic coconut oil. Mixed with a teaspoon of cream and blended to give a frothy texture to the coffee. This was a calorie rich drink and would tide me over to lunchtime easily. The aim of having a fat rich breakfast was to put the body onto fat-burning mode from the start of the day. Another advantage was that after having so many fat calories, one didn’t feel hungry for quite a while.

My first meal of the day used to be quite early as it was my habit previously.

Lunch:

By a method of hit and try I discovered that a salad worked best for lunch. It needed to have a small amount of chicken ( I am a chicken-tarian person! ) lots of green vegetables like iceberg, capsicum, cucumbers, arugula etc, a bit of tomato and lots of mayonnaise. An important fact about mayonnaise: most of the store-bought brands of mayo have either corn syrup or sugar added to them. So it’s better you make your own mayo or look closely at the ingredients when buying ( I found that Hellmans mayonnaise had no sugar added). Mustard and olive oil were okay to use in the salad. But avoid ketchup and other sauces.

I am posting a link that I found on the internet that makes good mayonnaise. Instead of using a whisk, use immersion blender ( Stick Blender)

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/homemade-mayonnaise-241868

Ceaser salad was good but leave the croutons alone.

Dinner:

Dinner was easy, just any form of meat ( I would prefer chicken or maybe fish, of course) with vegetables. These vegetables would be the green leafy kind ( Salad greens) or the watery kind ( like zucchini, eggplant, squash etc) . Cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli are also a good deal. The meat should not be coated with flour, breaded or drenched in sauces containing cornflour, flour etc.

Calorie counting was not playing a major role here, so I would eat till I felt full, ( but not over stuffed!).

From this way of eating, my #Keto Journey started.

In my next post, I will tell you about how my journey continues.

Please if you have any questions or comments let me know.

# Ketogenicdiet

#Ketodiet

#keepitalive

#Myketojourney

# Iamalwaysonadiet

An introduction to Ketogenic diet.

Now -a-days most people have heard about ketogenic diet. Keto for short. What is it? And who should be doing it.

what is ketogenic diet?

Ketogenic (Keto for short) diet is a diet where our body is deprived of carbohydrates ( carbs ) and is hence forced to burn fat for fuel. This fat can come from our food or it can be the fat stored in our body. The biggest challenge in this diet is to restrict our intake of carbs/ sugars to a minimum. I will talk about this in a while.

Who needs to go on a ketogenic diet?

Normally if a person is overweight, he/ she can reduce the excess weight by either calorie restriction in his diet or by burning the extra fat by increasing the amount of exercise one does. Simply put, we can either eat less than our requirement or burn more than we eat by increasing our physical activity. This method works of most of healthy and moderately overweight people.

Then there are people who have broken/ dis-functional metabolism. These are people, who have been on a diet for a long time. I am one of them. The cycle of loosing weight and then gaining it back, also called yo-yo dieting, makes it harder and harder to lose weight after each time. So for people like us, the notion of eating a balanced diet with caloric deficit does not work. Our bodies have gotten to the stage that they refuse to shed the extra weight willingly.

In this scenario, the diet that usually can give satisfactory results is the Keto diet.

There is another category of people who can benefit from Keto diet. These are the people who are declared as pre-diabetic or are suffering from type 2 diabetes. For such people, restriction of carbs can reduce the need for medicines and improve health to a greater degree.

I will discuss the do’s and don’t ‘s of Keto diet in my next post.

But before anyone with any health conditions can start Keto diet they should consult their medical caregivers to get a go ahead.

The purpose of this diet is two-folds, One, Get your food cravings and hence weight gain in control and Secondly, to reduce weight by reducing the insulin produced in our bodies.

There are many books and websites where you can find tips about #KETO DIET. I plan to make it easy for anyone wanting to follow this way of life ( YES, IT IS A WAY OF LIFE, NOT JUST A DIET) but combining my own knowledge of this diet with my experience of practicing this life style for last one year.

So keep on reading about #Keto diet in my future posts.

Please if you have any questions or comments do share them with me.

# KETODIET

#Keepitalive

#KETOGENICDIET