My Keto Day
For several reasons I'm working on going back to the Ketogenic Diet now that I've spent a year recovering from Celiac Disease. My neurological issues have suffered while I was eating a more varied diet that included dense carbohydrate foods. But I felt it was important to allow my body to absorb as varied a diet as possible while recovering. Now, I've made some progress and I'm moving back toward a more neurologically supportive diet.
Last October, I had written a series of articles describing the ketogenic diet and its many myths and complexities. Now, partly to keep myself accountable, I'll post today's food plan as I'm transitioning back onto my keto diet after being away for more than a year. For me, this is fairly complex since I try to stay organic and avoid pre-made foods. If you're curious about the diet, you will quickly see that accepting pre-made dressings and using non organic foods can make this diet cheaper and less of a hassle. I try not to criticize the decisions of others, we all have our reasons for our choices, but I do try to keep organic, gluten free and "real" food, even to the point of making my own mayo.
From the items in the picture below, I "grazed" over the course of the day. They make up the breakfast and lunch I had today. This picture includes about 1000 calories so you'd never want to eat all this at once. There are many substitutions you could make here. I love crunchy cabbage and like to dip it like chips into dressing. However, you might prefer spring mix greens. Or you could replace the fat in the dressing with mayo for the eggs and replace the cabbage with kimchee or sauerkraut. The avocado is harder to replace, but perhaps some macadamia nuts would work. If you can't eat eggs at all, you might consider a protein shake in that space.
Here's the breakdown of nutrition, focusing on macronutrients (Protein/Carb/Fat). This isn't bad for a transition day. Actually it's pretty good and I could feel my body telling me perhaps this was too fast of a transition. But I wanted to give an example that fit with my previous article on how to calculate the diet. As I said, a "perfect" day is rare, but this is fairly close to the goals I set there, which are Protein, 100g; Carbohydrate 30-40g and Fat 147g (round up to 150g) in an 1800 Calorie daily diet. The Chronometer.com method of calculating your BMR says that I'm in a calorie deficit. However, I'll be surprised if I lose weight doing this. It seems to work well for many people, but this diet hasn't helped me lose weight yet. It does, however, virtually eliminate bloat so I look better and I feel better. That's no small feat!
The last three items, Ground beef (hamburger patty I make myself), butter and spinach are my dinner. Sauteed spinach and a hamburger patty, being careful with the addition of spices to avoid adding a lot of garlic powder which can throw off the carb count.
On another evening, similar ingredients could be, roast chicken and mayo on a few romaine leaves for an impromptu chicken salad sandwich.
For more ideas, look here: https://www.yummly.com/page/stepawayfromthecarbs Double check that the recipe is gluten free though!
My beverages while I'm transitioning are tea, coffee and water. I used to love diet ginger ale, but they hardly ever make that anymore. I tried Zevia recently but it kept irritating my stomach. Long ago, I was a fan of Diet Coke, but I got too scared of the ingredients. Having a peppy and sweet diet drink is important to me on the ketogenic diet. So if you have an idea for a diet drink (caffeine is ok), let me know!
Part 2: https://www.nixgluten.com/2018/10/ketogenic-diet-part-2-gallbladder.html
Part 3: https://www.nixgluten.com/2018/10/ketogenic-diet-part-3-reality-check.html
Transitioning example, 1 day menu: https://www.nixgluten.com/2019/02/my-keto-day.html
Last October, I had written a series of articles describing the ketogenic diet and its many myths and complexities. Now, partly to keep myself accountable, I'll post today's food plan as I'm transitioning back onto my keto diet after being away for more than a year. For me, this is fairly complex since I try to stay organic and avoid pre-made foods. If you're curious about the diet, you will quickly see that accepting pre-made dressings and using non organic foods can make this diet cheaper and less of a hassle. I try not to criticize the decisions of others, we all have our reasons for our choices, but I do try to keep organic, gluten free and "real" food, even to the point of making my own mayo.
The Food
From the items in the picture below, I "grazed" over the course of the day. They make up the breakfast and lunch I had today. This picture includes about 1000 calories so you'd never want to eat all this at once. There are many substitutions you could make here. I love crunchy cabbage and like to dip it like chips into dressing. However, you might prefer spring mix greens. Or you could replace the fat in the dressing with mayo for the eggs and replace the cabbage with kimchee or sauerkraut. The avocado is harder to replace, but perhaps some macadamia nuts would work. If you can't eat eggs at all, you might consider a protein shake in that space.
The Nutrition Breakdown
Here's the breakdown of nutrition, focusing on macronutrients (Protein/Carb/Fat). This isn't bad for a transition day. Actually it's pretty good and I could feel my body telling me perhaps this was too fast of a transition. But I wanted to give an example that fit with my previous article on how to calculate the diet. As I said, a "perfect" day is rare, but this is fairly close to the goals I set there, which are Protein, 100g; Carbohydrate 30-40g and Fat 147g (round up to 150g) in an 1800 Calorie daily diet. The Chronometer.com method of calculating your BMR says that I'm in a calorie deficit. However, I'll be surprised if I lose weight doing this. It seems to work well for many people, but this diet hasn't helped me lose weight yet. It does, however, virtually eliminate bloat so I look better and I feel better. That's no small feat!
The last three items, Ground beef (hamburger patty I make myself), butter and spinach are my dinner. Sauteed spinach and a hamburger patty, being careful with the addition of spices to avoid adding a lot of garlic powder which can throw off the carb count.
On another evening, similar ingredients could be, roast chicken and mayo on a few romaine leaves for an impromptu chicken salad sandwich.
For more ideas, look here: https://www.yummly.com/page/stepawayfromthecarbs Double check that the recipe is gluten free though!
My beverages while I'm transitioning are tea, coffee and water. I used to love diet ginger ale, but they hardly ever make that anymore. I tried Zevia recently but it kept irritating my stomach. Long ago, I was a fan of Diet Coke, but I got too scared of the ingredients. Having a peppy and sweet diet drink is important to me on the ketogenic diet. So if you have an idea for a diet drink (caffeine is ok), let me know!
Other Articles in This Series
Part 1: https://www.nixgluten.com/2018/10/ketogenic-diet-part-1-versus-dash-diet.htmlPart 2: https://www.nixgluten.com/2018/10/ketogenic-diet-part-2-gallbladder.html
Part 3: https://www.nixgluten.com/2018/10/ketogenic-diet-part-3-reality-check.html
Transitioning example, 1 day menu: https://www.nixgluten.com/2019/02/my-keto-day.html
