Urine analysis

#10

The other day I bought some sauerkraut at a health store. It said no carbs so I think I am alright. It has such a lovely sour taste to it. And I ate it with a slice of salmon I fried in a pan. It was SO good together. All of this food is so delicious, and i feel so satiated.

(Chris) #11

We’re all different, but I don’t even count carbs in kale, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, & similar. mostly fiber anyway… I’ll count berries, cucumber, winter squash, cherry tomatoes, etc. Really depends on what it is but in general leafy greens & cruciferous I consider as “free” towards my carbs for the day.

“They make my carbs too high” is a poor excuse to not eat them :slight_smile:

#12

LOL you just reminded me that I bought Brussels sprouts yesterday. I am going to put them in the duck “jus” and bake them tomorrow with the leftovers. Right now I feel so full I could burst. Might just skip all meals for the rest of the day…
Yes- I have to see what works for me. I just started 3-4 days ago, and cannot imagine that I am going to lose weight this way. But I think things like veg and dairy are the tools with which to make diversity in meals. And there is nothing more deadly than eating the same thing every day. So keto becomes more doable with all the variety one can incorporate into meals. I was supposed to take out dairy for the first 4 weeks I was told, if I wanted to get into ketosis quickly. I simply need dairy or veg to make the meals interesting. Otherwise its just fry this meat and fry that. Or like a salad- I cannot eat a salad every day with just oil and vinegar. Sometimes I need a ceasar salad instead to break up the monotony. Monotony is the death of every form of eating, in my book - meaning that it could be a trigger to fall off the wagon.

(Chris) #13

I think it depends on “dairy”… big difference in heavy whipping cream (all fat) vs glass of milk @ 11g sugar.

Have to be away from desk for a while but can put up my super easy Brussels sprouts in heavy cream sauce later. Good & easy to make…

#14

and to think I used to drink skim milk.
Yes- I know that the fattier the better now.
GLAD to see your Brussels sprouts recipe!

(Jane) #15

If you havent seen this monster thread… take a peek. I agree with the monotony being bad. This thread gives me great ideas to try that I hadn’t thought of and some good substitutions for higher carb foods.

#16

of course I love a steak. Chicken and salmon too. I guess I just cant keep with the same old same old preparation every day. I have to jazz it up a bit from time to time. I have actually bought a few keto cook books- I decided if I am going to put in EFFORT which is needed to lose weight, then it will be in the kitchen and not the gym.
I will check out the link. Thx

#17

I agree that the other veggies are fine in moderation. But since I tend to eat a lot of veggies, I do need to keep track. :blush: Berries are nice too, on occasion!

(Chris) #18

So try this…I do for Brussels sprouts, but really is fine for whatever veggie.

Prep fresh sprouts as normal (remove yellowing outer leaves, cut off base, halve or quarter the sprout)

Saute in 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat (higher is fine, just can do the sauce at same time on med since requires less attention). Stir/move around the pan often to get a good golden brown - should look like roasted when done.

Cream sauce…

2 tbsp cream cheese left out to get to room temp
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
2 tsp lemon juice

Whisk all that together. Now season it as it’s pretty bland, but that is the base heavy cream sauce. Season to match remainder of meal or just what you like. I do a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and a pinch of cayenne.

About 1 min before veggies done sauteing, stir in the cream sauce. Let it pick up the left over olive oil & bits of veggies.

That simple & it’s very good. Only prep is processing the Brussels sprouts. Half Brussels, half broccoli florets is good. Simpler is Broccoli + cauliflower florets since no time prepping fresh sprouts. If you’re like me & spouse is NOT keto, you can leave the heavy cream sauce on side so they aren’t taking in all those fat calories for no good reason.

Example meal would be 2 cups mixed Brussels sprouts & broccoli florets with cream sauce, 4 oz roasted salmon, & handful (1oz) almonds. About 600 cal, 75% fat/19% protein/6% carbs (using net carbs for the broccoli & Brussels). I’m a ~200 lbs guy & would feel pretty full on that.

(Bob M) #19

OK, I’m about 200 pounds (less now, as I’m fasting :wink:), but I would be starving after that. I can easily – EASILY – eat one pound of ribeye, about 1,200 calories at a sitting. We made a 5+ pound leg of lamb this weekend, and it was basically gone after a 70+ year old woman, my wife, my 12 YO, my 9 YO, and I ate. I’m sure I ate over a pound of lamb. I had 4+ large pieces. And I ate much more than just the leg of lamb.

Am I the only glutton on this board?

#20

Recipe sounds great. Like the roasted browned look and it sounds delicious Thx. I guess that dab of lemon juice gives it a tang.
And also the fact that one can even BE a glutton and still lose weight. Its like a miracle. I sit here grinning from ear to ear because I am now in ketosis. I had a duck breast and the fatty “jus” with veggies and the veggies were unter the influence of melted blue cheese!! So yummy. I hope I am losing the weight and still find it hard to believe that this is possible.

(Chris) #21

:slight_smile: 2 cups of veggies in cream sauce is pretty heavy. Add in the fish & nuts…yeah, that would hold me for either of my 2 daily meals*. You might be a lot more active than I am…

  • I would most likely eat a little more though. I quit tracking calories once I went to 2 meals a day but would say they’re closer to 900 each. But wouldn’t feel “starving” from a 600 cal meal that’s 3/4 fat.
(Chris) #22

You do have to be careful. It’s not a license to stuff your face all day long :slight_smile: Calories in, calories out is kinda frowned on nowadays, but hard to argue that if you’re running a large calorie surplus - regardless of macros - you’re probably going to gain. Unless you’re a bottomless pit teenager…

The difference for me was…eating so much fat and ditching the carbs, I simply wasn’t hungry every 3 hrs. Compared to other diets where I just did calorie deficits, i always felt deprived, hungry, food on my mind all the time. Keto was much easier. I don’t feel like I’m not getting enough food. When I started fasting 18/6 I felt hungry around 10am (my normal eating times are noon to 6pm, fast the other 18 hrs). Still do. But I drink a cup of black coffee or a bottle of water & that “i’m hungry” feeling goes away and I’m fine until noon meal. Before, if i felt hungry & didn’t eat, I felt more & more hungry [hangry], weak, couldn’t get that hunger feeling off my mind. Now it just passes quickly & I’m fine.

For me trick was getting fat high enough & meals proper size that I wasn’t starving by next meal time or obsessing about getting a snack. Getting to truly wanting 2 meals a day, no snacks between, and feeling fine 95% of the time as far as not wanting food worked well. Dunno if i will ever progress to one meal a day. Not feeling it yet that’s for sure, but 18/6 is now pretty routine & I like it.

However, what I can’t do is OVEREAT my noon meal and then still feel satiated/not hungry around 6pm. Had to figure out how much enough was - what kept me feeling fine noon to 6pm. But if i went real heavy and had another 600 calories at lunch, I’d still be just as hungry & ready for dinner around 6. So you do have eat within reason :slight_smile:

(Bob M) #23

I do think this takes a lot of getting used to. I usually eat two meals a day, most days that I’m not fasting. The amount I put in my bowl is shocking at times. But I don’t have to eat for 7-8 hours afterwards and am not hungry at all during that time.

For me, OMAD is very difficult. I get home too late. I’m often getting home after 7pm and going to bed at 9pm. So, I reserve OMAD for when I can get home not much later than 5pm and also when I don’t exercise (I get too hungry, since I exercise in the morning, to wait until 5pm+ to eat).

#24

I am a newbie so I cant really comment on what will be. But important to hear your experiences. Right now I am amazed that I feel FULL and dont feel hungry for hours. I dont even know if I want to go into fasting. Should I? Isnt keto enough?

(Bob M) #25

Not everyone fasts. When I started in 2014, I was eating many meals per day, eating immediately after workouts, eating protein before workouts, etc. I still lost weight. I then heard about Jason Fung, and watched a bunch of his videos. I then started fasting slowly (skipping breakfast, then having a bullet proof coffee, then skipping lunch, skipping both bfast and lunch) one or more times per week. That was 1.5 years after I started low carb. I then built up to doing 4.5-5.5 day fasts.I did this to try to recover from the ailments I had.

I do not think fasting is necessary, especially if you are eating two meals a day and feeling OK and things are going well. If you feel you are slowing in weight loss or have other reasons, try some fasting. I personally find fasting to be freeing. If I’m traveling, for instance, I fast until I get to where I’m going. And it’s cheap.

(Chris) #26

Really just stay the course & see what your body tells you. Understand how to tell when you are truly hungry (not eating because lunch time, not eating out of boredom or emotional reaction, etc).

You might find if you are strict (no ‘cheat days’), get your meals right with enough fat that you aren’t wanting between meal snacks, you may naturally gravitate toward some type of fasting simply because you do not want food every 4-5 hrs. Or you might find fasting isn’t something appealing to you. No wrong answer.

If you hit a plateau & are no longer losing weight for a while, a fasting routing might break through that.

But don’t worry about it right now is my advice. Pushing to get into a fasting routine before being fat adapted & really ready is likely to just cause frustration & disappointment. Put on back burner until at least 8 weeks into keto diet & then evaluate - unless you simply don’t feel like eating for very long stretches.

#27

Thank you for your wisdom. So nice that the people on here are so experienced, and helpful. I am already noticing that I am not hungry and can go for longer periods without any food.

(Chris) #28

Yeah, that’s a noticeable difference for many people starting out. On carbs it was almost like you’re “always hungry”. Every 2-3 hrs have at least some sort of snack. Or “graze” all day long.

So while I have to give up some (ok, a lot of) foods I really do like, the not feeling like I’m starving myself and obsessing abut food all day long makes keto easy for me. Fair tradeoff in my book…although I sure would like some cookies… :slight_smile:

#29

I made some crab cakes with coconut flour the other day- because I had no other flour I could use. They were good albeit maybe a bit sweet. I could imagine this flour could be used for cookies as well. Allulose, coconut flour and some unsweetened chocolate or cinnamon and spices or almond extract- many possibilites.You could make some great cookies. I usually make myself an almond milk “milk shake” when I feel the need for something sweet. I water it down with ice cubes to make it last,. You just add some vanilla extract, erythrit, and sugar free cocoa. I think you can adapt so many foods. I love deep fried, breaded foods. Like chicken nuggets, shrimp, and breaded veal too. I read you can substitute the bread crumbs with coconut or crushed pork rinds. I think one just has to get creative.