We have too much of the wrong kind of food on our farm!

(Lynn Roitt) #1

I’m happily in my second month of being in ketosis, have lost inches and some weight with lots to go. I’m in this for the long haul, as the benefits are so clear. But the hardest thing for me isn’t cutting out the carbs. It’s limiting the proteins! On my organic dairy farm we raise our own beef, pork, chicken, duck and geese, and that translates to A LOT of protein. One goose egg puts me halfway to the protein limit. Cooking down any bones for broth creates meat that needs to be consumed, and I’m done drinking the broth a lot faster than we can eat the meat, following keto guidelines.

It doesn’t help that I really like the meals I make with that meat, and what looks like a decent serving will almost certainly put me over the protein limit for that day. So that’s the one frustration I have with my new WOE. I can and do freeze stuff after making it, but that just refills the freezers.

Sadly, with little money for food, the food we have plentifully on the farm I have to limit, and until I can garden again here in Wisconsin, I’m stuck buying the low carb greens and veggies we need to be eating.

Sorry for the vent. I’m struggling with just this one aspect. For example, today I am freezing containers of the chicken left after making bone broth (from the carcasses of 3 chickens we butchered last year) and chicken soup, I made green chili stew with the pork from the ham hocks I cooked down for pork bone broth, and I defrosted a mystery bag to find that it’s liver I had cut up to make sausage with, so now I have to cook that up. The problem is ludicrous! I need to invite more people over to help us eat all this food! Not to mention the eggs I’m having to hard boil because we can’t sell them fast enough… Egg salad, anyone?

(Allie) #2

So don’t worry about it, eat more protein. Some people do better with more protein, you could be one of them. If you find you’re not getting results then look at it again but if it’s working, go with it.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #3

Concern about over eating protein is overblown. Unless you’re dealing with some specific health issues, you have to eat a lot of protein before it causes any problems. Just make sure you eat more fat.

#4

I don’t watch anything but carbs. I eat TONS of protein. I lost 70 pounds. Just stay under 20 carbs and you’ll be fine. I am strict with the carbs and I get most all of mine from veggies, occasional nuts and some cheese. I eat all the meat and fat my heart desires. I am envious of your clean source and easy access to protein and fat! Low carb means low carb, not low protein or low calories or lord knows what all people count.

#5

Do you feel high protein is a problem for you? Do you need plenty of broth? (I didn’t even drink any for years, maybe it’s useful but surely it’s not a must to drink so much that you end up with inedible amount of meat!).

I don’t actually understand the problem. Except if you have too much eggs, those are hard to preserve if you don’t have a big freezer space and it doesn’t solve the problem if eggs are produced all the time and you can’t eat them all. You need less geese then…

I probably would eat higher protein than my theoretical need as I do that anyway quite often. I can’t avoid it, I often need much protein for satiation. I don’t want to go insanely high but I eat lots of fat too and it works.
I don’t know how much protein a single goose egg contains but it can’t be much. How much g/kg for lean bodyweight protein you plan to eat? I saw various numbers in my life, I personally consider 1-2 g/kg adequate (2 is a bit much for most active people too but it’s still not a bad number IMO) but I very easily go way higher sometimes. I don’t feel any problem with it but I keep those occasions rare. Of course, many people need to be lower than me or else they face negative effects, I am just glad I am not among them, I would be in huge trouble as I couldn’t keep my protein intake “low enough” when I actually wanted. But I trusted wrong information, now I am more relaxed, it’s much better. I still don’t want to be crazy with my protein intake, it’s an unnecessary burden and wasteful and more expensive too but if I higher works better for me, I don’t think I need to worry.
And I eat as much broth as I have. It’s not very much but why would I need a lot? It doesn’t make much sense to me, of course, my knowledge is limited but still. Broth isn’t some must-have-galore magic substance, many long-time ketoers don’t drink it and they are fine too.

(Bob M) #6

I wouldn’t be concerned about protein.

I personally think you’re in an enviable position. I love goose but rarely make it because it’s too expensive (especially for what meat you get). $80 for a goose is not unreasonable where I live.

Have you tried pickled eggs?

And if you do get to keep some of what you butcher, you could keep a lot of the fat (which goes to scrap a lot of times), and a lot of people eat that (or make tallow, for beef). And if you’re not squeamish, you could eat brains and other offal that tend to get tossed.

#7

Broth contains gelatin and collagen - for peeps who lose a lot of weight those help a lot with tightening loose skin. One can also just take a collagen supplement. I love broth, and there are times when I crave it, but it’s not necessary. And usually I cook the meat (whatever it is), then the broth, and then I throw a few veggies in and add the meat back in and make soup that way. No leftover meat at all.

#8

I know it contains that but many people still get away without it. I did. And I understand wanting broth but in such big unpractical amounts? But the OP surely aim for a smallish protein intake and that’s the main problem, or a big part of it… I couldn’t handle that.
I do the same, I eat the meat too, not only the broth. It is the obvious thing to do for me. I eat more meat than the broth made from them and other protein sources too. I think it’s the typical unless one buys broth in boxes all the time…

#9

I get lots of broth when I cook in the instapot. Cook the meat, in the bottom of the pot there is water mixed with drippings. Pull out the meat, debone, pop the bones back in and cook again. Lots of broth. Season, pop the meat back in (in pieces) and voila - soup. That’s what I do, especially with poultry. Lazy cook I guess. :slight_smile:

(David Cooke) #10

Living on a farm as I do, you probably get plenty of exercise, meaning you can afford to, possibly need to, consume more protein than recommended. After my morning runs I try to get in a protein rich meal within two hours, to avoid muscle loss.
Don’t worry too much about it, much is made of the fact that protein can be transformed into glucose (gluconeogenesis) but the body will only do this if it needs to.
I eat three chicken eggs a day, 2 - 3 duck / goose eggs weekly, and have no weight problems.

(Natasha) #11

I think you have all the right kinds of foods! As others have said, don’t stress about the protein, eat and enjoy - I’m sure you’ll see results! :grinning:

(Sarah Stultz) #12

I live on a farm as you do. When I make broth, I use leftover pork bones from butchering time or leftover chicken frames. Yes, there is still some meat on them, but not really worth my time to pick it all out, so I strain out all solids and feed these back to the animals. Chickens and ducks are omnivores and love some protein from broth leftovers. I usually just feed most broth leavings to the pigs, bones and all, but I know some people won’t feed pork to pigs. Since it is only for our own use, I don’t worry about it. The pigs won’t eat raw pork products, only cooked. We compost butchering offal.

Also, as others have said, I wouldn’t worry so much about protein intake. I think that is the one nutrient that you can eat somewhat instinctively perhaps. If you crave more, eat more. I know I find if my meal is a little protein heavy, i will start picking meat out because it starts to repulse me.

Also, I raise dairy goats. This is the best part about having a farm. I don’t drink milk, but make all the heavy cream, butter, ghee, and some cheeses that I want. And I see exactly what these animals are eating everyday. So if you do dairy, maybe try dairy goats to up your on farm fat production and scale back on some of the higher protein animals.

And eggs can be frozen in scrambled form. You need to add some salt as stabilizer. You can google ratios of salt per cups of blended eggs. I freeze mine in ice cube trays and pop them out into gallon freezer bags. Since egg production is seasonal, this really helps out in the fall and winter.

(Windmill Tilter) #13

I’ve never heard this claim before. It doesn’t make logical sense, but the body often works in counterintuitive ways.

Is there actual science supporting this or is this “received wisdom”?

(Windmill Tilter) #14

I think you just misunderstood how this diet works. One goose egg is only 20g of protein. You can have 6 of them if you want.

When you use words like “protein limit”, it’s a giant red flag. It sounds like you’ve been restricting calories?

Try eating to satiety for a little while, and eat as much protein as you want.

#15

Probably that depends on age. The older you are, the less elastic your skin is. I am no scientist and wouldn’t know where to look up proper related scientific info, every time I try to do this I end up going down a rabbit hole, trying to understand this leads to another thing to understand, leads to another thing… can be days before I emerge again, lol. This is an anecdotal observation. Since I started to add collagen, my old, wrinkly, baggy skin has started to tighten up again. It’s still old, but not quite as wrinkly and the bagginess is receding.

#16

I would worry about the carb count than the protein. Most people do well with low carb counts regardless of that. The Atkins way of eating had different macro percentages and lots of people still have success with that. Whatever works for you is important.

(Jane) #17

I never counted protein either - just carbs.

(Ken) #18

Start planning your Garden now. If I had the space, I’d plant enough cabbage.for a whole year’s worth of Sauerkraut. In addition to that, you can pickle or can about any type of veggie.

If I lived on a Dairy Farm I’d explore how to make my own cheese, especially high fat.types.

You can also can your own meats, adding.enough fat.according to any macro you want. That includes things.like smoked poultry.

(Lynn Roitt) #19

The reason I choose bone broth is largely for the minerals and collagen. Also, I IF for 13 to 20 hours a day, and a cup of the broth helps me through the evening hours when I’m cooking for everyone else and my head wants me to munch. It also helps me get more fluid, which I have a hard time getting enough of. I don’t have the $ to buy all the supplements, so if I can get them by using a part of the animal that many ppl throw away, that’s just better for me on so many levels.

I’ve been having some trouble with muscle cramping, which is why I try to get my nutrients and electrolytes as many ways as I can.

For me, limiting my protein to around 40 to 60 g/day makes sense. I am grateful for the article above which discusses the issue, and I absolutely follow what my body asks for, so some days I eat more. But I am extremely sensitive to glucose, so limiting my body to only what it needs to produce, and not giving it extra, is working for me.

Thanks to all for chiming in. What a great community!

(Lynn Roitt) #20

That’s a good tip on the cabbage. The one year I tried it, the cabbage moths decimated every Cole plant I had. I couldn’t even get kale before the critters. Sigh.

I haven’t made Sauerkraut before. I’ll look into that!