Disclamers:
I don’t actually recommend this, as eating whole, nutrient dense foods should be your default starting point, but recognizing that anything more complicated than a microwave or toaster is reality for some people, I’m writing this as a starting point for those individuals. If you are one of them, please read on in hopes this gives you a starting place.
It is also important for the evangelists in the forum to understand that “food stress” is real for many people. Difficulty finding good foods, finding time to cook, and even the mountain that shopping for foods can be can be overwhelming and is the reason why I’m writing this.
Background:
For myself I’ve been flirting with a Low Carb / Healthy Fat diet for about 10 years. Mostly with the assistance of my wife who is much more nutritionally oriented than I. Avocado is something I’ve avoided my entire adult life, but I am partial to bacon and butter, so at least I had that to go from.
About 2 years ago, I knew I had to make a change and it started by figuring out how to eat more, not healthier, but simply more so that I could get over 1500 calories per day. A the time I was bouncing between 260-270 lbs. Weight would go on, and come off. Some days I’d eat breakfast and lunch, others I might go 24-48 hours without eating.
To be clear this was not fasting, this was stress and lifestyle related malnutrition. I’d typically end up with a great dinner as my wife and I would eat together, but breakfast and lunch were very much optional for me, and if I did eat, it was usually instant oatmeal, a breakfast sandwich and a sub for lunch. All high carb, processed and typically non-nutrious. We have flirted with various “diets” at home, and worked our way from Fast Nutrition, to Paleo and most recently Whole30. So the journey has been long and well tested.
The Change:
The change happened about 2 years ago, when I read a blog about a new meal replacement called Soylent and the goals of the company to “de-stress” food. Basically you mix the product with water, keep it in the fridge and pour out an exact caloric measurement for the amount of calories you wanted.
This transformed my life in a way. It allowed me to move from stressing myself to eat something to being able to have something I could simply grab, leave in a fridge and “eat” between meetings or on the go. This is key for me. I now had a food source I could grab for breakfast, lunch, snacks and the occasional dinner when necessary. I stopped stressing, and could enjoy the real food when I had it.
But it also allowed me to move away from much of the carb-age that I was eating in binges. The conversion was slow, the product tastes… well like it is supposed to taste. But it also allowed me to realize that boring was ok for me. It allowed me to regulate my metabolism better and deal with stress, and the stress of not eating properly.
That said, I was never really happy with Soylent, but Soylent lead me to bio-hacking, as there is a complete DIY community around the product. Mostly individuals who are interested in varying the macro’s or making for less money ($2 a meal!). That in turn lead me to research Keto chow, Ketolent, Ketosoy and similar Keto variants of Soylent. Basically a nutrient base, protein (soy, whey, egg or other) and heavy cream. And they led me to 2 Keto Dudes.
And this is where I want to start.
A new beginning:
If you are an individual for whom you recognize that you need to change, but “can’t fit in” regular meals, shopping, cooking or even the thought of using your stove. I’d like to recommend that you do a tiny bit of research and order some samples of Keto Chow. The idea is you pre-mix the base with heavy cream and use that as your meal substitute, or snack of choice. A full bag allows you to prep an entire day’s meals, and you can easily vary your fat content by adding additional heavy cream as needed. You can even order the base and sub the protein of your choice from your local nutritional shop to keep costs as low as you want/need.
Add some Keto friendly snacks (pork rinds, macadamia nuts, cheese, and olives) in 1 oz portions so you can track what you are eating easily, and you can be on a Keto meal plan in as little as a day.
The back plan starts as follows:
- For first week - Substitute breakfast or lunch only for the first week. - DRINK AS MUCH AS YOU NEED TO FEEL FULL!
- For the subsequent weeks - Substitute breakfast AND lunch for the 2nd week. - CONTINUE TO DRINK AS MUCH AS YOU NEED TO FEEL FULL!
The goal is for you to realize that meals are easy, that eating and prep can be done and you can be in control. For dinners, I 'd recommend eating out if you can’t cook and that you order a protein (steak, chicken, fish). Have them cook it no more than medium to save the fat in the meat. When they serve it, put butter on it, LOTS of butter. Order a Caesar salad as your side, and avoid the veggies, potatoes, fries, bread and anything white! Put as much SALT as you want on both items.
Once you have done this for 3-4 weeks you will be mostly KETO. Now you need to start getting some real food in you.
Feel free to cheat with bacon (4-6 slices minimum) (Costco or other PRE COOKED is a great place to start) and eggs (3 minimum) cooked in butter or bacon fat you cook in a pan, or even in a microwave egg poacher.
If you have trouble cooking even that, go to the meal bar at WholeFoods, or your local grocer before 11 or on your way in to work. They have scrambled eggs, bacon and toss on some avocado, cheese and almond slivers into your breakfast box. Eat AS MUCH AS YOU WANT of those items.
Ditto for lunch, grab a bowl at WholeFoods or your grocer, and fill it with LOTS of lettuce, then add hard boiled eggs, cheese (blue or cheddar), walnuts, almonds, add Oil and Vinegar, but avoid the other dressings if you can. - EAT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT. Feel free to add a bit of other vegetables (onions, peppers etc). A little bit goes a long way, but don’t stress over it.
For your water, tea, coffee start by adding a pinch of salt and NO-SALT (potassium) to every cup you drink, and consider a multi-vitamin.
Feel free to go back to the Keto meal replacement AS MUCH AS YOU WANT.
In 6 weeks you will be fully keto. Now is the time to decide how to proceed, so pop back up here and we will teach you how to cook, an how to address the other challenges in your life. The group on this forum are AMAZING! and you will find help, no matter the question or the issue.
Your milage may vary (YMMV) as they say, but I can tell you that finding Soylent, then Keto chow and finally 2 Keto Dudes has changed my life.
My goal is to loose 80-90 lbs over the next year. And all I can say is that it is easy, and getting easier.
So don’t worry about this not being something you can do for the rest of your life, you can worry about that AFTER you are keto adapted!