Keto Club (low-carb lifestyle)

[eku zhong]

How would peanutbutter play in all this??????

very well, especially if you choose an organic one without sugar.
They're not the BEST nut butter for keto but if you carve back on other carbs, it fits in very well at the end of the day

10 Seriously Delicious Keto Nut Butters (Including Keto Peanut Butter!)

 

[Brenda Archer]

How would peanutbutter play in all this??????

I don’t know if it’s low enough for keto, but peanut butter with just peanuts in it is mostly just fat. I do a diabetic diet and rely on it for a fat source. I eat it by the spoon to avoid so much bread.

Edit: just saw eku’s answer now and I agree.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

I use a regular peanut butter (can't stand mixing in the oil), but I keep an eye on the carbs and sugar. I usually only have it a few times a month, so I get it in single servings to keep it fresh (also helps with portion control). I got the Skippy 1.12 oz pouches on Amazon.

Related, I love peanut butter on celery except that I HATE celery strings. Sometimes I cut the strings off, but that takes forever and loses about half the celery in the process. But I think I've found a good alternative: belgian endive leaves. I've already tried them for dipping artichoke-parmesan-jalapeno dip and it was wonderful. Tonight I'll try the endive with peanut butter... I think the slight bitterness of the endive will go well with the sweetness of peanut butter.

 

[Casey Pelous]

Peanut butter's fine -- I mean, don't power down a half-a-jar at one sitting -- but peanut butter mixed with sugar-free chocolate chips is one fine, easy to fix fat bomb. Just remember: Jif Is Not Peanut Butter! It's sugar and peanuts. You want one that's sugar free -- which will probably mean mixing in the oil, but an immersion blender makes short work of that nonsense.

<<<<------- POWER TOOLS!

And for those who are instant potters -- you must, I mean MUST, try out the Keto Queens Crack Chicken. They're not kidding -- this stuff's freakin' crack!

Easy Keto Low-Carb Instant Pot Crack Chicken Recipe

 

[Ava Glasgow]

I do cheat on my keto diet from time to time, but my current concept of cheating would make pre-keto me laugh. Oooh, I had BALSAMIC vinegar on my salad! Oooh, I ate lots of CARROTS and ONIONS with my pot roast! Oooh, THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING on my breadless reuben!

It sounds like I'm deprived if such small things are considered cheating, but the truth is they feel luxuriously decadent. Much like eating a whole bag of chips (aka crisps) or half a box of peanut brittle before, except actually satisfying. I do it, feel good, and don't feel the desire to do it again for a month or more.

It is such a change from the past -- my life from around age 10 -- where nothing actually satisfied me. Food could fill me, even to the point of feeling sick, but if it was yummy (or even reasonably okay) I still wanted more.

I still use food for comfort, but what I crave now is either keto or close to it, and genuinely comforts me!

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Breakfast this morning: Omelet with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese | Ruled Me

I used feta because that's what I had on hand, and I sauteed the green onions lightly and put inside instead of putting fresh ones on top. Cooking oil was olive oil and ghee for the mushrooms/onions, and ghee and butter for the eggs. Seasoning was sea salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.

It was SO good!

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Tried cayenne on my deviled eggs instead of paprika. Lips are tingling. Definitely doing this from now on.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Oh my god, I can have grilled cheese sandwiches again!

I found a brand of cauliflower sandwich thins and pizza crust called Outer Aisle Gourmet:

Outer Aisle Gourmet - Cauliflower Pizza Crusts & Thins

I'm not going to lie, they are pricey, but SO tasty! And fortunately they have them in lots of stores in the Bay Area, so I don't have to shell out for the crazy expensive shipping.

At my Whole Foods they have the pizza crust in the frozen pizza section. I was bummed to see no sandwich thins in the frozen specialty bread section, but asked the staff and was pointed to the kombucha fridge. Weird, but I'm just glad they have them somewhere.

They thaw out in a few minutes, so can be kept in the freezer until ready to use. There is a strong cauliflower smell when opening the package, but it dissipates and I don't smell or taste it when eating.

The carbs are really low, and unlike many keto bread recipes, the calories are comparable to normal bread. And they're a simple food, just cauliflower, egg, parmesan, and nutritional yeast, plus basil, garlic, and oregano in the pizza crust.

I've had two grilled cheese sandwiches, one yesterday with just cheese and one today with a pile of ham. These are the first I've had in over a year, and I practically cried. So good, and perfectly keto too. It won't be an everyday thing because of the cost, but I can definitely do a pizza and a couple sandwiches a week.



Not my sandwich, but here's what the sandwich thins look like:

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

I miss being able to eat peanuts and peanut butter, though I've some samples of almond butter without sugar that I keep meaning to try. Sadly, I've a real problem with resisting baked goods even though I know I'll feel bad for it in about 20 minutes.

 

[Casey Pelous]

Got this gookbook when I got my Instant Pot. I've liked pretty much everything I've cooked from it, except the breads. I'm now convinced bread in an Instant Pot should be called Instant Fail. I'll be stickin' to my oven from here on out.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

I miss being able to eat peanuts and peanut butter, though I've some samples of almond butter without sugar that I keep meaning to try.

I eat peanuts every single day, it's my evening snack accompanied by pickly things and olives. I'm currently doing a couple varieties of Virginia peanuts (fave is Virginia Diner) with just oil and sea salt added, and they're only 2-4 net carbs. I do portion them out to make sure I don't eat too much.

Peanut butter is only on occasion because I strongly prefer the salted no-stir kind, and I haven't found any of those without sugar added. Even so, it's only ~4-6 net carbs. If you don't mind stirring, there are lots of unsweetened varieties with less carbs.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

I eat peanuts every single day, it's my evening snack accompanied by pickly things and olives. I'm currently doing a couple varieties of Virginia peanuts (fave is Virginia Diner) with just oil and sea salt added, and they're only 2-4 net carbs. I do portion them out to make sure I don't eat too much.

Peanut butter is only on occasion because I strongly prefer the salted no-stir kind, and I haven't found any of those without sugar added. Even so, it's only ~4-6 net carbs. If you don't mind stirring, there are lots of unsweetened varieties with less carbs.

Oh, no - its not because of keto, its because while I'm not allergic, I seem to have developed a sensitivity and it also tastes off to me now.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Oh, no - its not because of keto, its because while I'm not allergic, I seem to have developed a sensitivity and it also tastes off to me now.

Darn, that sucks.

For almond butter, I like Barney Butter and I'm seeing it in a lot of stores. It's nice because it doesn't need stirring and is shelf stable even after being opened. It comes in normal sweetened and in no-sugar no-salt.

ETA: And it's not gritty like a lot of almond butters are.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Sadly, I've a real problem with resisting baked goods even though I know I'll feel bad for it in about 20 minutes.

Apologies for a long post, but it's potentially important info for dealing with appetite issues.

One of the biggest changes since I started lowering carbs is that I now don't have irresistable urges to eat carby stuff. But while keto advocates attribute appetite changes solely to keto, there's a good chance that it's also (maybe totally) controlled by your gut microbes.

Obviously it's complex but in a nutshell, your gut microbes tell you what and how much to eat, influencing or possibly even controlling your brain through digestion/metabolism hormones. I reviewed a lot of the scientific literature on this (and there is a LOT), and it seems pretty settled that gut flora do influence us, the only question being whether they make you want something, or just make the choice for you.

We can take control by having the right kind of gut flora, the kind that is happy and satisfied with reasonable amounts of food, rather than the kind that WANTS ALL THE CARBS! So you focus on three things: 1) replenishing good microbes, 2) feeding them what they like and the carbies don't, and 3) not killing the good ones off.

1) Replenishing is fairly easy, just consume your favorite probiotic. My appetite actually started lessening a couple months before I went low carb, around the same time I was drinking some rejuvelac*. I noticed I was feeling more cravings a couple of months ago, so did another round and appetite is reduced again.

* Rejuvelac - a grain based probiotic liquid. You can make your own, but I buy it at the health food store (usually in the kombucha fridge). The brand I see around here is Rejuvenation Company. I water it down 'cause that shit is TART!​

2) Feeding the good microbes is where keto comes in. Not eating carbs starves out the carb-craving microbes, but the fat and protein still feeds the good ones.

3) What microbe-killers should be avoided? I don't know all the possible culprits, but the sci lit suggests some artificial sweeteners might do it. This science is kind of all over the place, but saccharine and sucralose (Splenda) seem to be mass gut-microbe murderers. It's not clear cut though; some people have no problem with sucralose, but it triggers about 4-7 days of sweet carb cravings for me.


So, tl;dr: If you're doing solid keto and still having carb cravings, it might be a gut flora problem. Try probiotics to repopulate the good microbes, and avoid artificial sweeteners which might kill them off.

 

[Lady Darnk Juniorette]

My diet was violently assaulted by pizza last night, there were no survivors.

People ordering too much and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let it go to waste.

I also learned I can eat 1/2 of a family sized pizza (20in) by myself and not even feel it.

I'll just mark yesterday as a "cheat day".

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

My problem with baked goods is, for christmas I'd planned to pause the diet, so as to enjoy eggnog without making my own low carb, and fruitcake, and snickerdoodles and the like [though I didn't eat as much as previously. So, its hard for me to resist them while trying to get back on the wagon - but if I eat a properly keto meal, I usually don't have room to eat anymore, so there is that. I agree though, once I -am- on the wagon, its hard to eat much of anything, because I get full way to fast!

 

[Rose Karuna]

Oh my god, I can have grilled cheese sandwiches again!

I found a brand of cauliflower sandwich thins and pizza crust called Outer Aisle Gourmet:

Outer Aisle Gourmet - Cauliflower Pizza Crusts & Thins

I'm not going to lie, they are pricey, but SO tasty! And fortunately they have them in lots of stores in the Bay Area, so I don't have to shell out for the crazy expensive shipping.

At my Whole Foods they have the pizza crust in the frozen pizza section. I was bummed to see no sandwich thins in the frozen specialty bread section, but asked the staff and was pointed to the kombucha fridge. Weird, but I'm just glad they have them somewhere.

They thaw out in a few minutes, so can be kept in the freezer until ready to use. There is a strong cauliflower smell when opening the package, but it dissipates and I don't smell or taste it when eating.

The carbs are really low, and unlike many keto bread recipes, the calories are comparable to normal bread. And they're a simple food, just cauliflower, egg, parmesan, and nutritional yeast, plus basil, garlic, and oregano in the pizza crust.

I've had two grilled cheese sandwiches, one yesterday with just cheese and one today with a pile of ham. These are the first I've had in over a year, and I practically cried. So good, and perfectly keto too. It won't be an everyday thing because of the cost, but I can definitely do a pizza and a couple sandwiches a week.



Not my sandwich, but here's what the sandwich thins look like:

They actually have these at Lucky's Market near my house.

 

[Rose Karuna]

Got this gookbook when I got my Instant Pot. I've liked pretty much everything I've cooked from it, except the breads. I'm now convinced bread in an Instant Pot should be called Instant Fail. I'll be stickin' to my oven from here on out.

I made wine in my instant pot about 3 weeks ago and it looks like it's doing pretty darn well (better than the stuff I made in Canada without an instant pot). It's out of the pot now and has been in the bottle burping up yeast for the last three weeks. The bubbles are subsiding and it's smelling a lot like wine. I'm excited to try it.


I got the wine yeast on Amazon and instead of putting it back in the bottle, I bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KQN9OSK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I suspect I'll have wine in another couple of weeks. LOL Florida wine ...

I'd try bread, just to see. I've baked some of the best sourdough bread ever in my dutch oven and the instant pot has some of the same qualities.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

A few thoughts turned into another essay, so I'll start with the tl;dr:

Keto can be really difficult if done in the extreme crash-diet way that lots of internet folks are trying to do. But my experience is that you can still get positive health benefits and consistent weight loss without such extreme carb and calorie restrictions, and that this less-strict approach is much easier to sustain in the long term.

Also: While keto reddit occasionally has helpful information, I think I need to look for a group focused on healthy low-carb living rather than extreme weight loss. Any suggestions are welcome.


The extended version:

Reading the keto subreddit really helps me understand why many people think keto is an unhealthy fad diet that is impossible to sustain: Because a lot of people use it that way. So many jump right into extreme keto and expect immediate and fast weight loss, like 30 lbs per month. They feel sick and low energy, hungry and deprived, so they tend to quit and restart and take breaks and restart and so on.

This is so different from the keto diet that I find super easy to stick to. I feel fine, I'm not hungry or having severe cravings. I really like the food I eat, and the only difficulty is making time for food prep (though I have good options for times I just don't feel like cooking). It's been over a year and I have yet to experience any real desire to seriously cheat or take a break.

I think the main difference is that (a) I eased into low-carb gradually and settled at a level above the 20g reddit insists is the upper limit, and (b) my weight loss is slow.

(a) Amount of carbs - I saw dramatic improvement in blood sugar, blood pressure, and lipids before I'd even heard of keto, back when I was doing more like 50-75 g/day. Going keto gave more improvement, but it's a gradient, not all-or-nothing.

Also, I'm consistently in ketosis even though I'm still at ~30-40 g/day. 20g isn't some magic keto cutoff, despite reddit dogma.

(b) Rate of weight loss - I've lost 3-5 lbs/month consistently for 13 months, which my doctors consider ideal. I have a general calorie target to guide portion size, but I'm not super strict about it. The calorie restriction required to consistently lose 1 lb/day is really extreme, so it's not surprising that people trying for that feel crappy and deprived.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

We have a new favorite keto youtube guy: Highfalutin' Low Carb


He's a cute funny adorably southern guy who tests out and refines various kinds of recipes, with the vids running about 30 minutes. We've watched three so far:

The BEST Low Carb Cornbread Recipe - EPIC CORN BREAD BATTLE - Testing 3 Keto Cornbread Recipes

Low Carb HASH BROWN SHOWDOWN! Cauliflower vs. Radish vs. Turnip vs Spaghetti Squash - Keto Hashbrown

Low Carb SHRIMP and GRITS - EASY Weeknight Keto Recipe!