The Keto Junkie

Hi everyone!!

I am very sorry for taking an unintentional hiatus due to school. But with the semester over, I am back.

I do have a confession to make, I fell off the wagon completely for a while because of finals, so, I am starting over again and I will definitely be posting sometime about that.

But for right now, let me say, WOW!!! During my hiatus, this blog has blown up to over 1500 followers. Just WOW and thank you everyone!!!

Since I am getting back into this, I want to know what you guys want more of. I’m going to have a poll, up above, so you can let me know what you want more of.

I am also hopefully going to design my real logo for this blog, so stay tuned for that.

Thanks!!

Hi Anon!

First off, sorry for taking so long to answer. As soon as I was done researching to make sure I got you the right answer, I was hit pretty hard with bronchitis. 

Anyways, to answer your question, yes, you can do keto without a gallbladder. It’ll just be more difficult as you’ve already learned. Unfortunately, in my research there is no magical way of dealing with it. 

Here’s a list of things that should help that I’ve compiled from things of learned vicariously from those who do this without a gallbladder and Dr. Jockers’ website:

Make sure you’re getting in a lot of fiber. Because you’re missing your gallbladder, you need something that will help absorb the excess bile. Fiber is extremely good for that on keto. And don’t worry too much about the carb count so long as remember to count it as net carbs instead of total.

Drinks lots of water. With enough water, your bile will thin out and give you less trouble than it other wise would.

Get your fats from short-chain fats. These fats are easier to digest and your body shouldn’t over produce the amount of bile it needs to break down the fat, unlike long-chain fats. A short-chain fat that I remember off the top of my head is coconut oil (more specifically MTC oil).

Here’s a link to Dr. Jockers’ page about keto without a gallbladder. He’s got more information there, that I didn’t put on here because I have no experience with this issue and don’t know enough people without gallbladders to confirm the validity of what he says. 

But the three I have above are things that I can infer will work for you because they’ve worked for me as well.

Best of luck with your keto journey, Anon!

Hi everyone!

So yesterday a mother of one of students decided to buy me food while I was tutoring her child. She bought me a cheesecake (Cheesecake Factory Godiva Chocolate, specifically... my favorite!). and. 2. huge. cookies.

Tried refusing but she wouldn’t relent. So I brought home this hellish booty to my family who loved it all. BUT I decided I would do an experiment: I would see how my body reacted to actual sugar once again.

Y’all... I had half of the heckin’ cheesecake.

It was heckin’ delicious. And I felt heckin’ awful afterwards. It was like I was on drugs.

Almost immediately I went into a sugar high. I thought the fat from the cheese would cut it, but I was heckin’ wrong. I swear I could see sounds. 

My tummy was heckin’ upset. It kept making hellish whale noises. I’m pretty sure my intestines were trying to kick it out of me.

Then I got a headache, which I’m still nursing for. My cranium feels like someone is tap dancing around in there.

Couldn’t sleep very well last night either.

I woke up exhausted for the first time in a very, VERY long time.

Hi Anon!

Sorry for the late reply.

Personally, I think everyone should try keto for any medical condition because I myself have experienced so many things improved and I’ve heard of other people experiencing different successes for things they didn’t realize keto would help with.

With the commitment part, I am the same way. I’ve always struggled with committing. I’ll admit it, I’ve fallen off the wagon a couple of times with keto (my next post will be about that). But keto is more forgiving than other methods of losing weight I’ve found. And here’s why and it’s going to sound awful: when you fall off the wagon, your body will instantly make you regret it.

Another point about keto is that initially it will be so overwhelming that you won’t want to do it. But it’s worth it. When you get the keto flu, you’ll want to quit. But it’s worth it to keep going. 

A reason why you may have a hard time with commitment is that you look at this as a diet. Unfortunately, as a society, we think of diets as a short-term commitment, therefore we are expecting ourselves to fail it. My suggestion is to look at keto as a lifestyle change and to treat it as such. That helped me a bit with commitment issues.

Another thing I suggest is finding someone to keep you accountable. That’s actually how this blog started out. It’s a way for me to journal my own journey with keto. There are a lot of online support groups for keto on facebook. You can even do here on Tumblr. 

So, in summation, I would say that if you can get past the initial, miserable stages of keto, you will find that staying committed to it is very easy.

Hope that helps and I wish you the best on your journey.

Hi Anon!

Sorry for the late reply.

Ketosis is a normal metabolic process in which your body uses fat (particularly it’s own fat reserves) for energy rather than the glucose that comes from most carbs. The keto diet, with it’s high fat contents teaches your body to use fat for energy rather than carbs.

Hi tatseofskinny!

Sorry about taking so long to reply (life happens).

To be quite honest, there is no set time frame, especially since everyone reacts differently when transitioning into ketosis. It took me about a week. I know someone who got into ketosis within 2 days, another who got in into ketosis in about a month. Instead, it’s better to focus on the signs. Here is a list, along with some explanations:

 Lack of hunger. This one is kinda iffy since you can (technically) be fat adapted without having an increase of ketones in your blood. But typically the two go hand in hand, so it’s still a great indicator.

Bad breath, or keto oder. When you’re in ketosis, your body goes through ketosis, it’s releasing ketones and is starting to using the fat storage for fuel. Unfortunately, the byproduct of these two actions is the release of gas that’s very similar to rotting organic matter (because it kinda is). This comes in the form of bad breath, deadly farts, putrid smelling waste, and in some, a gross metallic taste in the mouth. But luckily there’s a way of dealing with it. You need to take chlorophyll which is a natural internal deodorizer. Here’s a link to where I get mine.

Initial feeling of fatigue. Your body is readjusting itself to start using fuel for energy. During this phase, your body is using up its glucose energy, but not yet using the fat for energy. This means that anything mildly straining will tire you out easily.

Energy. Once you’ve gotten past the initial transition phase, you are going to be bouncing off the walls. You’ll have a lot of energy. So much so that you may have a hard time sleeping.

Weight loss, dramatic weight loss. This one is kinda obvious, but should probably be mentioned anyways. But do not count water weight loss. That doesn’t really count as any major change to your diet will cause you to loose a lot of water weight.

Testing blood and urine for ketones. This one is the most accurate, well, at least the blood one is. You test very similarly to a diabetic strip test. I’ve never done one, but it’s apparently the most accurate way of seeing if you’re in ketosis. The urine strips on the other hand are not something I recommend. To get an accurate reading, you can’t have just worked out, can't be well hydrated, but neither dehydrated, or else your readings are iffy.

Alright, I hope that answered you. And thank you so much for your question.

Chia Seed Pudding

Hi everyone!!

This is one of my favorite recipes. It’s delicious, it satisfies my sweet tooth, it lets me get in plenty of fat and fiber, allowing me to be regular, and it’s a simple, quick make. And more importantly, it can be modified for whatever mood I’m in.

Ingredients (basic):

- 1/2 cup chia seeds

- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

- 3/4 cup water

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tsp liquid stevia blend (I get the Kroger generic brand)**

- 1 tsp confectioners’ Swerve (or some other powdered erythritol)**

- 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt (though really any salt works, this is just my favorite)

Directions:

-Put all the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and mix together with a spoon.

-Let rest for a few minutes.

-Stir again to even out the liquid absorption and to keep the chia seeds from clumping up together.

-Put in refrigerator until pudding like consistency, roughly 3 hours.

Variations:

Simple Chocolate: Add 1/2 tsp liquid stevia and 1 tbsp cocoa powder to original and follow regular directions.

Dark chocolate: Double the sweeteners and add 1 oz of melted bakers’ chocolate. Follow the original directions.

Raspberry: Mush up about 1/4 cups raspberries and add to the mixture. Follow original directions.

Coffee: Instead of water, use the same amount of coffee. Add more sweetener to taste. Follow original directions.

**This is a sweetness level higher than I like. But I make this mostly for mom who is semi-keto. This is the level of sweetness we can compromise on.

Hi Anon,

So, yes, you can be a vegetarian on keto, but it’ll be harder. And technically, being 100% vegan is incompatible with keto. Since I’m sure what type of vegetarian you are, I’m going to cover just about everything so you have options.

Meat alternatives:

Since on a vegetarian diet, you can’t eat poultry or other mammals, here’s some options for getting in your protein.

- If allowed: fish, specifically fatty fish (Ex. tuna, salmon, sardines, etc.) or shellfish. I really do suggest that you at least eat fish since it’ll keep your body from starting to leech protein from other parts of your body.

- Nuts should be kept to a minimum, but if you’re going to have them, keep it to  the following, with the first mentioned being the best for you: macadamia, brazil, pecans, walnuts, and almonds. You can have other types, but do more in-depth research on their nutrition.

-Eggs if allowed. A really great source of both fat and protein.

- Protein powder NOTE: stick to whey protein or protein isolate, KEEP AWAY FROM SOY PROTEIN AS IT GREAT INCREASES THE CHANCES OF ESTROGEN BASED CANCER IN WOMEN AND IN SOME MEN!!!

Fats:

- If allowed, Dairy (Heavy Whipping Cream, any type of cheese, ghee/butter)

- Oils: MTC oil, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil (Canola oil and other generic vegetable oils have been shown to either contain unhealthy fats, or are too rich in carbs for keto)

-Other sources of fat: avocados all day everyday, fatty fish, cocoa butter, coconut cream (no sugar)

Veggies (allowed):

- All leafy greens: spinach, broccoli rabe, bok choi, Arugula, Swiss Chard, Cabbage, Kale, Brussel sprouts, etc.

-Tougher greens: Asparagus, Zucchini, cucumbers, Cauliflower, broccoli, snow peas, green beans.

Veggies and Fruits (limited):

- Root veggies: onions, parsnips, garlic, radishes, squash, mushrooms.

- Citrus fruit (should only be used to flavor water/food).

- Nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers)

- Berries (stick mostly to raspberries as they have the least amount of sugar and are irregularly high in ketones).

Seeds and flour: 

-Flaxseed meal

-Chia seeds

-Coconut flour

-Almond flour

Sweeteners:

-Stevia

-Sucralose

-Erythritol

-Monk Fruit

-Blends (look at what they contain)

Condiments:

-Ranch

-Mustard

-Sugar-free ketchup

-Mayo

-Vinaigrettes and other high fat dressings

-Sriracha

-Soy sauce (keep to small amounts)

-Sauerkraut and relish (sugar-free)

-Sugar-free Syrups

-Most spices are allowed, just limit some more than other

Vitamins:

You’re probably going to need extra vitamins. This is about where my knowledge ends since I don’t know what you’re already taking extra as a vegetarian. But it shouldn’t be much more different than what you’re doing now.

This came up for me in an interesting conversation. I was talking about why I couldn’t have something when I was offered it. At first I said diet, then it hit me.

Keto is not a diet. It’s a lifestyle and should be treated with respect as such. 

There is a really important reason why I corrected myself: I’m in this for the long haul, not just some quick fix.

Usually when people say they’re going on a diet, there is an underlying point that we all ignore but know is there:

We expect a diet to either be short-term and/or to fail.

I think that’s a mental component to successfully losing weight. By saying we’re going on a diet rather than making lifestyle changes, we set ourselves up for failure. If it’s a diet, it’s far more detrimental to weight loss if you slip up once on something you’re otherwise doing perfectly.

But if we understand that this a lifestyle change rather than a diet, we can set up ourselves for success. If we think we’re going into this for the long haul, we can naturally accept certain things. If we slip up, it only sets us back 1 or 2 steps rather than 10. If it’s a lifestyle that you can modify for different points in your life, you can mental come to grips with set backs and changes that you’re not prepared for. It’s also the only way to keep you’re weight off if you’re looking to lose weight. With a diet, the moment you stop, you gain it all back, and then some.

This is why we need to look to keto as a way of life rather than a diet.

NOTE TO MY FOLLOWERS:

I will be frank, I recently checked my activity and I was blown away. I was expecting maybe, maybe, 50 followers. Well, no. 250. WOW!!! So thank you everyone for following and for sharing some of my posts. 

I will be posting some recipes soon and I’ve got more topics to talk about it comes to keto. 

Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to send me ask. I will typically answer asks public as they may help other people. So, if you don't want something answered publicly, please let me know in your ask and I won’t make it public. 

Hi Shadowbunny20,

Thanks for the ask. Boy, is there a lot of stuff. So here’s my top ten.

1) Do your research. I know kinda redundant, but it’s the best place to start. I suggest starting off with legit, pro-keto websites.  I will put their links at the bottom of the post.

2) Start off with a smaller, more obtainable goal. This is to keep you from becoming too stressed out and to remind you to readjust your macros.

3) Understand the macros needed for you to lose weight. The ideal ratio on keto is 70-75% fat, 20-25% protein, 0-5% net carbs. I’ll put a link towards the bottom for a good keto macro calculator. It’s suggested that you update your macros for every ten pounds you lose.

4) Take vitamins, certain things will be hard get on keto, so you’ll need to supplement them.

5) Meal prep/plan. Nothing will tempt you more into eating carbs than not having a plan. (I will admit, I’ve f*cked up on this a couple of times). Make sure you have something that’s a go-to meal that you’ll eat and that’ll follow keto.

6) Keto flu is real and you just have to power through it. When it happens, drink a lot of water, eat something keto approved, make sure you’re getting in enough magnesium, potassium, and sodium and you’ll breeze right through.

7) Something I wish I had done was take pictures and body measurements before I started. Pictures and measurements are great ways of keeping yourself motivated. (Or just do what I do and that’s just putting on the same piece of clothing and noticing how much looser it is.)

8) Make sure you’re exercising. Yes, you can lose weight on keto, while not exercising, BUT, it will not only help you lose faster, it keeps you occupied. I find that I don’t think about food as much when I’m busy and exhausted.

9) Every time your hungry, and I mean hungry, the first thing you should grab is water. If you’re still hungry, I suggest grabbing something that’s high in fat. Cheese, heavy cream, or avocados are kinda my go-tos for that.

10) Do not weigh yourself everyday. If you do that, you’ll find that you won’t lose weight for days, maybe even a week or two. Believe me, you’ll get upset. But then the “whoosh” happens and you’ll be down 3-7 pounds. But still, limit yourself to weighing about once or twice a month.

Hope this helped some!!!

Links:

Ruled.me: A really great resource. I plan on getting their permission to use some of their graphs because it’s just all great.

DietDoctor: Not as good as Ruled.me, but it’s great for giving more scientific reasons why keto is a valid means of weight loss.

KetoConnect.net: This is where I started with Keto. I love all of their recipes, They have great explanations. They also have a youtube channel by the same name in which they do the same thing as their blog. Once thing I like about them, is that they are more realistic in what you can do on keto and why. They also use themselves as guinea pigs for their keto experiments so you don't have to.

PerfectKeto: Another great resource for research. I don't agree with EVERYTHING on there, but it’s not a bad place to start. It’s all about being perfect on keto (like the name says) and it doesn’t allow for error or alternatives, which I don't like.

Wonder-cado Keto Base

Merry Christmas y’all!!!

First off, let me say this... this is the BOMB when it comes to keto/low-carb.

It’s so filling and it can modified very easily for different needs.

Ingredients (basic):

- 1 avocado (peeled and pitted)

- 2/3 cups heavy whipping cream (can be altered to your purpose)

- 1/2 cup water (once again, can be altered to your purpose)

Ingredients (soft serve, as seen in image):

- a few drops of liquid stevia to taste

- 1 tsp of flaxseeds (optional, and are a great way to get in both fiber and more fat)

Instructions:

Just put everything in a blender, minus the flaxseeds. Once everything is mixed together, I transfer it to a container then sprinkle the flaxseeds.

So why do I call this the Wonder-cado Base?

Because you can alter it for so many different things. You can make a dip from this, a smoothie, a spread, fudge, a super creamy guacamole. And so many other things!! All you need is this base and some creativity.

One thing that I did not expect was that my acne is gone. Zilch. Nada.

I’ve always been prone to acne. I’m even on BC to help with hormonal issues, including acne. The BC has always helped but never truly got rid of it and only toned down my monthly breakout.

Currently, I should be breaking out.

The Magic of Bulletproof Coffee

Y’all, I was hesitant at first when trying this, but I love it now.

So what is bulletproof coffee?

Well, if you’re losing weight using the low-carb/keto method, it’s one of the best ways to start your morning. It’s very high in fat, so it keeps you full for a very long time. I usually make mine at about 8:00 am or earlier, and I’ll finish it by 10:00 am. It leaves me so full and satisfied that I don’t feel hungry or need to eat until 3-4:00 pm. And these are days when I’m doing a lot of physical activity. 

Like with all things, there are a few down sides: like all coffee it will stain your teeth (so you gotta whiten them unfortunately), it’s super high in calorie count (though if you’re doing keto, calories are not as big of an issue as other diets/lifestyles would make you believe), and because you are so not hungry, you will forget to eat (so you’re going to need to understand other signs that your body is giving you that it needs some form of food).

Here is how you make it and why there different components are so important.

Ingredients and tools:

- A large mug (it needs to be able to hold a volume much greater than 8 ounces)

- 8 ounces of brewed coffee (Self explanatory, if you don't like coffee because it hurts your stomach, try low acidity coffee. It can be hard to find though. I use Folger’s “Gentle on Your Stomach” blend. I’m not a big fan of its taste, but its really cheap, you can find it in huge quantities, and grocery stores are more likely to have it.)

- A blender (You can hand mix it if you want, but only hand mix it if you don’t use protein powder, otherwise you’ll get huge chunks of protein powder floating in your coffee.)

- 1 tablespoon of Ghee (You can also use butter if you want, since ghee is just clarified butter. But ghee is pure fat, and it doesn’t mess with your cholesterol levels.)

- 1 tablespoon of Brain Octane (Coconut oil is also perfectly fine. Brain Octane is certainly more expensive, but its fewer calories, it’s pure fat, and it’s the ingredient found in coconut oil that keeps you from having the foggy head when on a low-carb diet).

- One scoop of Isopure flavorless protein powder (This is completely optional, you do not have to add protein. I add it because I have a hard time getting in enough protein to get in the range I need for macronutrients in order to start ketosis. So this lets me get in that extra protein. I will say that a lot of the calories in this coffee though comes just from this.)

- 2-3 packets of artificial sweetener (Optional. Ok, I know, you’re not suppose to have even artificial sweeteners on low-carb/keto, but my thinking is that if you need your coffee to be a little sweeter than just what the fat provides, just so can feel full and energized to workout/do more, then by all means, have that sweetener. Also, I am still doing research on different sweeteners, so I’m not quite sure which is the best yet for low-carb/keto.)

- Heavy Whipping Cream to taste, but needs to be at least a tablespoon (Heavy cream is pure fat, so this where is you mostly get your sweetness from and fullness.)

Recipe:

First, brew your coffee. This can be any method you want, personally, I use a Keurig. I honestly don't think I’d know how to use a traditional coffee pot (oops!).

After brewing the coffee, I bring all of the ingredients together in front of the blender. The way you add the ingredients is kinda weird. Baring the heavy cream, you put them all in the blender. BUT MEASURE OUT THE GHEE FIRST AND PUT INTO THE BLENDER, THEN DO THE BRAIN OCTANE. The reason for this is that even if you cleaned the measuring spoon between measurings, you can still contaminate the ghee. Once ghee is contaminated, it molds and rots extremely quickly. So even if the spoon is clean it’s better to measure out the ghee first.

Besides how to put in the ghee and brain octane, you can put the rest into the blender pretty much how ever you want (i.e. pour the coffee straight in, dump in the protein, etc.).

Once everything is in (except the heavy cream), put the blender cap on and mix it. The longer the you mix it, the frothier it gets. 

As you can see from the pictures, the coffee becomes lighter and almost doubles in size.

After that, pour the coffee back into the much. You’ll notice that it now takes a lot more volume than it originally did.

Now add the heavy cream to whatever amount you desire. You probably won’t need too much since all that fat sweetens it up quite a bit.

Update and a Recipe:

First, I would like to say that in the last week-ish, I’ve managed to maintain my weight despite not working out and eating exactly the way I should because of finals.

But not that finals are over, I’m going into full gear. My goal is to be down between 10-15 pounds from my starting point before the new semester starts. Hopefully it goes well. 

I’m testing out food recipes and here’s one that I didn’t think I’d like, but it’s amazing.

This is a “Yolk-less Omelette with Chicken and Spinach.”

It is perfect for a low-card diet and I like this a lot because I’m sulfur sensitive for lack of a better word and it doesn't give rotten egg burps/farts.

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

- 3 large eggs (2 if you don’t want to do egg whites only)

- salt

- pepper

- 2 lobes of garlic (Optional)

- Rotisserie Chicken (Optional and to whatever amount you want)

- Baby Spinach (Optional and to whatever amount you want)

Recipe:

First, separate the eggs into two bowls, one for the egg whites and the other for the yolks.  I usually end up giving my dogs the yolks since it’s good for them and they like them. If you want to make this omelette with the egg yolks use two eggs instead of three and don’t separate.

In the bowl with the egg whites, add the heavy whipping cream, then mix with a fork until it’s well blended.

Then to the mixture add salt, pepper, and the optional garlic once it’s been crushed or minced. Mix well.

Once the mixture is done put a small skillet/pan on the stove (I used a 6-inch diameter pan). Turn on the stove to low heat.

Then add some sort of cooking fat (olive oil, coconut oil, tallow, lard, etc.). If the fat is not already liquid when added, let it melt to the point where it’s liquid and covers the entire bottom of the pan.

Take the mixture and slowly pour it into the pan. Make sure that it covers the pan evenly. You may find that the fat floats above the mixture, that’s ok, you just need to add a little less fat next time, it doesn't do anything bad to mixture.

At this point, you’re going to have to eyeball it. You don't want to do any folding until the edges are kinda crispy.

While the omelette is cooking, add the spinach and bits of chicken to half of it. You can use any other stuffing you want if you so choose.

Once the omelette is kinda crispy, use a spatula to flip the non-covered side over onto the other. Let it cook like that for about 2-3 minutes.

The flip to other side. I turn off the stove after about a minute at the point and leave it there as the omelette will continue to cook.

Once ready, plate the omelette.

It’s been about three weeks since I first started. 

When I started I was 203.8 lbs. Today, I am 197.8 lbs. 

That is down 6 pounds in 3 weeks, with just a change in diet. With all things being considered, I have not worked out as much as I should since I’ve been studying for finals, but after my final tomorrow, I should be able to workout almost everyday.

Today is the first day of this blog. One of the primary reasons for this blog is to motivate and keep myself up to a certain standard. It will allow me to track my progress but also to help other people lose weight, whether that be advice or assurance that they are not alone in the fight.

I’ve been fat my whole life.

There I said it, I am fat and want to change that. I’ve already begun on my journey along time ago to lose weight, with only marginal success. I’ve tried so many things with very little long term success.

But now, I think I’ve found one of the best solutions out there:

The low-carb diet.