Wednesday, January 1, 2020

The Keto Diet

KETO
Read this thoroughly:
If you are a keto newbie- This should help pretty much all you need to know to get a good start.

- Meats: ZERO CARBS
• Beef- Ground beef, Steak, Ribs, and Roasts
• Pork- Chops, Ribs, BACON, Loins, sausage
• Chicken/ Turkey- Thighs w/ skin or wings are the best because breasts are high in protein. However, you CAN eat breasts, just have to eat more fat to compensate.
• Fish- Tuna, Salmon, Cod, Haddock, etc.
• Shrimp/ Lobster- Go crazy, use lots of butter!
• Pepperoni

-Cheese: MOST are no carb, almost all are low carb
• Mozerella & Cheddar- Buy in bulk, they freeze well and are insanely versatile!
• Colby jack, pepper jack, monterrey jack
• Taco style, Mexican style
• Parmesan, Asiago
• Ricotta- Freezes well, very versatile
• Cottage cheese- Good to throw in your lunch with berries, usually around 4-8g of Carbs per serving
• Cream Cheese- Freezes very well, this is one of the things that I always glance at whenever I go to the store, and always buy a bunch of if it's under 75 cents per 8oz.

- Vegetables: No potatoes! Get your carbs from above ground veggies!!!

• Leafy greens- Spinach, Spring mix, Kale, Romaine
• Zucchini- Great for a noodle substitute!
• Avocado- Awesome source of natural fat!
• Eggplant
• Brussels sprouts
• Tomato
• Spaghetti Squash- Versatile, makes a great spaghetti substitute and is even great for making hash browns!!
• Cucumber
• Peppers- Jalepeño, banana, green/ red/ yellow/ orange bell
• Broccoli- Great with cheese, steamed or just raw!
• Asparagus- Awesome roasted or sautéed with bacon and garlic!
• Cauliflower- AWESOME potato substitute!!
• Celery- Great with cream cheese or all natural peanut butter!
• Cabbage
• Pickles (Read nutrition labels, watch for sugar and carbs)
• Olives
• Green beans- Awesome sautéed in bacon grease with garlic, (watch portion size, though).
• Onions- Red, yellow: use somewhat sparingly, to taste
- Fruits: Most are a no-no, especially bananas, oranges and grapes.
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Lemon/ Limes- Adds great flavor!
- Nuts (grams of Carbs per 100 grams, or 3.5 oz)
• Pecans/ Brazil (4g)
• Macadamia (5g)
• Hazelnut/ Walnut/ Peanut (7g)
• Pine (9g)
• Almond (10g)
• Pistachio (18g)
• Cashew (27g)
- Oils/ Fats
• Coconut Oil
• Butter: Kerry Gold is best but just make sure it's REAL butter and not a spread or margarine
• Olive Oil
• Vinaigrette
• Hollandaise
• Bacon/ sausage grease
• MCT oil- easily ordered online/ in specialty stores
-Dressings/ Condiments/ Fats
• Ranch, Blue cheese, Cesar, Thousand Island, Balsamic- Watch carbs/ sugar, but there's tons of brands, so you can find one you love!
• Mayo- Natural/ organic is best, but I use Hellmann's all the time.
• Aioli
• "NO SUGAR ADDED" Ketchup or sugar free ketchup
• G. Hughes brand sugar free BBQ sauce
• Yellow/ Spicy Brown Mustard
• Soy sauce
• Hot sauce
- Liquids: Use as base for sauces/ soups
• Heavy Whipping Cream (HWC)
• Broths/ Stocks: Stay away from reduced fat. Bone broth is awesome!
- Snacks
• Pepperoni
• Slim Jims/ jerky (watch carbs)
• Homemade cheese its/ tortilla chips
• Cheese
• Pork rinds (0 carbs, very versatile. Can be used as breading, nacho substitute or even sprinkled with cinnamon & stevia and eaten like cereal with Almond milk and tastes like cinnamon toast crunch!)
- Drinks
• WATER- Lots of it!
• Crystal Light- Tons of options and very convenient!
• Tea
• Coffee- Add a Tablespoon of coconut oil or MCT oil, Stevia/erythritol, heavy whipping cream and vanilla, pumpkin extract or Cocoa powder & peppermint extract *BOOM* Homemade creamer!

- Alcoholic Beverages - contrary to popular belief, straight liquor has NO carbs!  And there are many brands of beers out there that are low carb.  I'm not suggesting you start a diet while drinking, but for those of you that just can't break from it, here you go!  I will tell you IMO that you will have reduced results drinking while dieting, but to each his/her own!

• Beers (grams of carbs per 12 oz serving)
▪ Bud Select 55 (1.9)
▪ MGD 64 (2.4)
▪ Rolling Rock Green Light (2.4)
▪ Michelob Ultra (2.6)
▪ Bud Select (3.1)
▪ Beck's Premier Light (3.2)
▪ Natural Light (3.2)
▪ Michelob Ultra Amber (3.7)
▪ Coors Light (5)
▪ Amsterdam Light (5)
▪ Bud Light (6.6)
. Corona Premiere (2.6)
• Vodka: Whipped Vodka & flavored water or pineapple Pinnacle with crystal light are a couple of my favorites!
• Whiskey shot (0g carbs)
• Brandy shot (0g carbs)
• Dry Martini (0g carbs)
• Tequila shot (0g carbs)
• Champagne (~1g per serving)
• Dry wine (~2g per serving)

- Sweeteners
• Stevia drops (0g)
• Erythritol (0g)
• Truvía (0g)
• Monkfruit (0g)
-Swerve

- Other common Ingredients I use
• Almond flour
• Spices: Garlic powder, onion powder
- Dont forget your electrolytes, they are needed daily.
• A good form of electrolytes is:
• Powerade zero
• Pickle juice
• Pink Himalayan salt added to your food
- Strict keto - counts all macros, does not eat processed foods.
- Lazy keto - doesn’t track all macros, still eats processed foods, as long as they are on plan
- Macros are a break down of the calories you intake for the day.
- Carbs are a limit - try not to go over your carb limit. 20 NET CARBS!
- Fat is a lever - you don’t have to meet your fat macro, it’s simply there to help you get full.
- Protein is a goal- try your best to reach your protein goal.

Adding to this list:
Prepping is the best way to be successful!
Plan and make your meals in advance, at least dinner if nothing else.
Some examples of delicious things you can eat:
- Bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers
- Keto friendly version of meatloaf
- Lettuce wrapped bacon burgers with guacamole - no bun! Top with mayo, sugar free ketchup, a few pickles, onions, a bit of tomato, I've learned to like the lettuce wrap more than buns!
- Pot Crack Chicken! This is such a delicious meal and soooo easy to make!
- Steak
- Shrimp
- Meat sandwiches using almond flour bread! 
- Fathead Pizza dough pizza (make it yourself!)
- Alllllll kinds of different egg dishes, ample recipes you can find simply googling "Keto eggs". 
- Stuffed chicken breast - this is usually a cream cheese mix that you stuff inside of the chicken and also dump on top of it, ohhhh so delicious!
- BBQ Pork sandwiches - you can take a picnic or butt roast, dump it in the crock pot, get it nicely cooked, pull apart with a fork and then slather it with Sugar Free BBQ sauce!  Home made bread or rolls to put it on!
-Keto spaghetti and lasagna! More companies are jumping in on the keto bandwagon (and cash cow for them) and making all kinds of keto friendly stuff including noodles.  It isn't quite the same as real spaghetti noodles, but it's close enough! The sauce is made with Rao's sauce, a bit pricier but it's low carbs.  Delicious!!! There are lasagna recipes out there where you make your own noodles!! Very simple to do!
- Did you know there is actually Keto ice cream out there?!! One brand is called Rebel (some people love it, others not so much) and Enlightened are the biggest contenders out there and available in grocery stores.
- Keto friendly sweets!  If you just can't do without your chocolates, there are ample recipes on the internet to make keto chocolates of alllllll kinds!
- Keto bagels! Thin Slim is my first choice brand of them (I buy them on the internet and have them shipped).  They are very good and a nice substitute for "real bread" products. 

Besides those meal suggestions above (there are a LOT more on the internet, just google "keto recipes" and you will instantly see more sites filled with recipes than you will ever need.  Just be forewarned, some recipes are delicious and some - mehhhh - not so much. Trial and error. Don't be afraid to experiment, just make sure you're using keto friendly ingredients)

Remember, you do NOT have to exercise to make this diet work! It is recommended, of course, that you DO exercise, but many people have seen phenomenal results without any exercise at all! 

Count your carbs!  Keep track of your calories if you wish!  Weigh yourself and take your waist, hip, leg and belly measurements before you start and take "before"pics! If you are serious about this diet, you will be AMAZED at how much of a transformation you can achieve in a relatively short period of time!  You may enter a phase where you don't see any weight loss - but - you are still losing fat!  If you stall, check what you are eating!  Many people don't realize how many carbs are in that innocent condiment you put on your burger!  They call them "hidden carbs", you must check everything you eat before you eat it!  You can either use a carb app or you can simply google it. For example, if you google "carbs ketchup" (I always just put in carbs and the name of whatever food or ingredient I'm trying to find info for), the first thing that comes up is a graph and shows that a tablespoon of regular ketchup has 4.5 carbs! That's a lot considering if you are doing strict keto and trying to keep your net carbs at under 20 per day! Plus you have the possibility of sugar spikes that may possibly kick you out of ketosis! 

It's the New Year! Good time to throw out all of that carbohydrate laden junk food and get a fresh start on your life!  Good luck!


















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