Your takeaway

(KM) #1

So, I’ve been looking over this entire forum, personally watching it evolve for at least 5 years, looking at my own 10 plus years of keto eating. I’ve seen the forum shift from what was basically a collection of recipes, totally food focused, to a lot more technology, supplements and other hacks for success, or at least for raising ketones and shifting test levels of various blood components, to fasting. Keto, to carnivore, to low carb but dismissing ketones, to optimized eating with medical intervention. People have come and gone, yesterday’s gurus missing entirely, new people continually stepping up with curiosity and enthusiasm. We’ve come a long way, babies.

My own thoughts have evolved in a similar fashion, from fancy reproductions, to whole hog embrace of simple unprocessed foods, to examining hacks and optimization, and back to wanting it simple again.

What has your journey been, and where are you now?

#2

Mine is mixed. I did simplify things when I skipped vegs and added meat but I do love reproducing textures as I love great textures. I am very good at making quick protein rich super crunchy things lately.

I think it’s normal people don’t focus on recipes so much after a while (I only do that to some extent because I still introduce new ingredients and figure out good ways to makemore enjoyable, more protein rich - less fatty - food AND because making new recipes is my hobby, I miss it if I don’t do it for a while) as they figure out how they should eat. They either lose the desire for the old things or make great replacements or maybe something else happens (carnivore made me quite lazy so I don’t complicate things too much. never was into complex recipes but now, if I can just eat some simple carni food with joy, I really don’t want to bother with something else unless I really want something special). And they focus on other things while eating the simple food that works so well.

I don’t do the bloodwork and supplements route personally, I just listen to my body (or something not but if it’s loud enough, I do as I want to feel great).
I started with higher-carb vegetarian keto (40g net carbs, probably up to 100g total) where I half-lived on sweets out of necessity (everything was carbier than my sweets. and I was an experienced low-carber… but I loved vegs). It wasn’t simple at all. I am not able to eat very simple but still, there are levels and some of my mostly carnivore days are pretty simple. it’s significantly more difficult without meat especially with vegs, I had to track all the time.

Fasting is harder as I lower carbs but IF is how I live so that changed little. I do try to go for OMAD, it started to get easier physically and it has its benefits but it’s not always viable.

I used to do so many experiments to figure out how I can minimize my energy, fat and protein intake (as I tend to overeat them all. sometimes carbs too but I can’t accidentally overeat carbs while I can it with both fat and protein. my normal items are quite low-carb to begin with or used in tiny amounts) but I got enough data (unless I drastically change something again) to have some good idea about how to eat. So I mostly just try to use my knowledge about myself now.
Tracking is tiresome and at this point, borderline useless (I got my data already) so I barely ever do that.

I am at the point where I know what to do and should try harder to do it really well.

#3

Yup, I’d say basically the same. Lots of it I think is just because keto getting more popular, all the way to hitting fad status for a few years lead to more research and more people studying it. Just like everything else some stuff was proven that we always knew was true, other things that were really just an idea were debunked. Which in many cases is a good thing. Wasn’t that long ago most keto’rs feared protein, which was a universal fail IMO. Then we though that the ketone number mattered, which while in the medical sense of keto eating it does, but that’s the not the majority of us. Great for all the companies selling overpriced exogenous ketones though! Which I’m a fan of, but not when it’s from the mentality of a scam either.

(Alec) #4

I did keto on and off from about 2018, and I was on these boards every day. Fell off the wagon, and didn’t come and visit (didn’t want to be reminded of my failure).

2022 saw me back on the wagon, back on these boards, and me finding carnivore. I’ve been carni ever since (although I did eat some potatoes and apples over this past Christmas, and I did not feel well on them: back to carni, back to normal).

In the last year, I really didn’t need to log in any more… I knew what to do. I had said most of what needed to be said. I still log on occasionally though.

(Edith) #5

I’ve been on the forum for over eight years at this point. It certainly has changed over that time. When I first joined, The Two Keto Dudes were still active and their podcast really brought a lot of traffic to the site. It was quite the happenin’ place, definitely with food-centric threads but always science-centric threads, as well.

I’m a little sad about how small it has gotten, but I keep coming back because many of you have been here at least as long as I have, and I like keeping up with the information you provide and how you are doing. I enjoy our little online community. :blush:

(Central Florida Bob ) #6

Well said, Edie. I’ve been full time “Keto for life” for over 10 years now, and while I miss the Two Keto Dudes it’s still a good, useful place.

(Bob M) #7

I do wish the 2 keto dudes would come back, as that would probably drive more traffic here.

So much more has been learned about keto and mental issues. Keto can help with migranes, bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer’s, etc.

This is my 13th year of keto, and I have more questions now than I had before:

  1. Why is my overnight fasting insulin still >10? And what is a level of overnight fasting insulin that indicates there’s no “insulin resistance”?
  2. I had a CAC score of zero about 5.5 years into keto, but my last CAC scan (over 12 years into keto) indicated a score of 39. Why? (Will open a thread on this when I have time.)
  3. Why do some people seem to do better if they add in a few carbs per day?
  4. Why do some folks lose all the weight to get to where they were when they were younger, while others (like me) find they can’t do this?
  5. How much fasting is good and how much is overdoing it?
  6. Listened to a Metabolic Mind podcast with Georgia Ede (December 29th) where she implied that eating higher protein caused higher insulin. In what way? I’m sure that if you eat higher protein, you’ll get a higher insulin for some time period, but why would insulin stay high? Does this depend on your metabolic state (i.e., if you have overnight fasting insulin of 4, I assume it’s not that material as to what you’re eating, but if you haven an overnight fasting insulin of 12 – mine – maybe there’s an issue?).
  7. Why is my morning fasting blood sugar about 110 (US units; 6.1 in European units) every morning? If I moved my dinner earlier, would this change? (And I’d LOVE to test this, but we ALWAYS eat late, around 7pm or later.)
  8. I seem to have no issues at all between not eating dairy and eating dairy. But maybe I do. How is it possible to test this?
  9. For most people, how much do oxalates really matter?
  10. Could oxalates cause heart disease?
  11. So many more questions (Vitamin C – how does cooking meat actually affect this?; vitamins; minerals;…)
(BuckRimfire) #8

Go on…

My wife might like it if I made something like that for her.

#9

Collagen peptides changed my baking :slight_smile: I can make these crunchies (yep, that will be their name. especially for me as I know nothing with its name, I googled and of course there are carby things…) with vital gluten too but I am too much into this thing right now (since several days) and I am not keen on getting a really significant part of my protein intake from gluten. I usually mix the two. I use various oily seeds too, more fat, more flavor… My current version has 15-20g “protein powder” (beef collagen peptid and/or vital gluten) and the same amount of oily seeds (a mix of flax, golden flax, these are the majority of it… sesame seed, walnut, pumpkin seed and the wonderful peanut, I love the taste, I had an addiction problem before carnivore and it never came back but I still love the stuff) per egg. And 5g milk powder as I love it but it’s optional and there are other dairy items to put into it but those aren’t in powder form and my crunchies are better when they are denser. Sodium bicarbonate with vinegar, little salt and my neutral version is done. Sometimes I add cheese or some spice… With more oily seeds especially the flavorful kind it’s pretty taste without that - but the main thing is the texture. Oh yep I start to miss the fat these days so I add like 5g fat (butter, lard, even coconut oil but the former ones add flavor… if I could afford all that fat, I would add more but 5g works enough for me)… I made mixes, it’s simple to make a little portion. First I use the microwave and get soft “bread” then I cut it into sticks and the air fryer makes them all crunchy. And I get my crunchy snack in 10 minutes. I do it 3 times a day as my self restraint is able to go only that far. It’s good it has a decent amount of protein so I need less normal food this way and I won’t mess with my macros.
Its older sibling is my bread replacement but that’s eggier and soft inside even if I put it into the air fryer a bit to make it crispy. And that usually used quark, a lot of it (it was my “protein bread”, after all. egg, egg white, quark, preferably low-fat and as little else as I can get away with). I will need to make my crunchies with quark but alas I had none since too many days due to the big snow we got.

The crunchies are really lovely if the texture is right. Regarding the joy while eating them, there is surprisingly little difference between it and some plain cracker or twice-baked bread slices - or I don’t care about those. Just the crunch :slight_smile: And it shouldn’t taste bad and it doesn’t, it may have collagen peptides and/or vital gluten (both tastes quite bad to me, mild but bad) but the yolk and oily seeds easily overpower that so the end result tastes fine. If a bit bland if I don’t use some really flavorful ingredients in noticeable amounts. Then I eat it with butter and garlic, raising my fat intake a little. But butter must be eaten here and there as it’s wonderful.

I may have carried away a bit. But I LOVE this stuff. Very useful.

(Doug) #10

My takeaway is that I’m my own worst enemy - ain’t nothin’ really else to worry about. :wink::smirk:

It’s not a lack of ‘good stuff,’ it’s too much ‘bad’ or even way too much ‘good.’

I think the journey is worth it, no matter what.

(Susan) #11

@Shinita
I’ve gone through your description and taken out the following instructions. Could you look over it and make any corrections? I have some questions as well. Here’s what I got.

Shinita’s Crunchies
15-20g Collagen peptides and/or powdered vital gluten
15-20 g oily seeds (flax, sesame, walnut, pumpkin, peanut)
1 egg
5g dairy powder (optional)
Baking soda
Vinegar
5g or more fat (lard, butter, coconut oil)
Optional cheese/ spices/ salt
Mix ingredients together, microwave to get a soft bread consistency. Form into sticks and air fry for 10 min.

Could you give some idea of amounts for baking soda and vinegar? Are they necessary?
I don’t think we have quark in the US, at least I’ve never heard of it. The closest it comes to in the US is cream cheese, I think. Does that sound right?
I googled it and sunflower and chia seeds are also considered oily. How about chopped macadamia nuts?

These sound great. I love some crunch with my food! Thanks for looking this over.

(Bob M) #12

It might be cottage cheese that’s the closest:

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What I’ve learned about cottage cheese is that the ones that are low fat are MUCH cheaper than the ones that are higher fat. I like to buy one that’s 6% fat, and it’s around $7 for a container (16 ounces? 8 ounces?), and the much lower fat variety – from the same manufacturer – is under $2.