Lazy Keto

Some days, life just keeps throwing stuff at you and you just don't have the time, energy, or mental focus to plan your meals, track your macros, etc.  Seriously, eating shouldn't be that hard!  And honestly, once you've returned to a state of health, and got yourself more attuned to eating low-carb, it's really pretty simple.  Today, I want to show you what happens when I'm just too busy to even think about food, much less any complicated preparations.  (Of course, these can always be good "fast" days as well.)

My typical meal planning looks like this:

 So, with that said, what do you do?  You develop a set of "stand-bys" that are quick, easy, and fit your macros.  For example, every morning for breakfast, I have my Loaded coffee (12 oz coffee, 1 tablespoon each of butter and coconut oil, 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, and sweetener to taste).  I know that this concoction has 35 grams of fat, and zero carbs and protein.  And it is usually sufficient to keep me satisfied until lunch time.  Today, I happened to have some Flaxseed bread laying around so I had a piece of that with cream cheese as well. 

HOW TO EAT A FAST-FOOD BURGER

Okay, this one is simple.  It does require a tiny bit of planning ahead, but nothing difficult.  I keep a package of Josephs Pitas in my lunch bag (along with a jar of emergency peanut butter).  The only "prep" I do, is cut the pitas into quarters and put them back in the bag they came in, fold that over and stick it in my bag (which also contains my supply of Stevia since most places don't supply it).

Then, you are ready when hunger strikes!  Just drive up to your favorite burger joint and order your burger your way, with no bun.  Most places will give you your stack-o-meat and condiments resting on a nice piece of lettuce and accompanied by a knife and fork.  This is a McDonald's Triple cheeseburger, no bun, add mayo and extra pickles.  It's actually quite pretty!

Of course, if you know me, you know what happened to that "unasked for" piece of greenery...feel free to eat yours :-)

Anyway, with burger now in hand and a little minor assembly, you can have a yummy meal, ready to eat on the go.

 Take one quarter of the pita and fold it around your burger.  Overlap the second piece, creating a pocket burger.  For larger burgers, I sometimes use 3 quarters.  Each 1/4 of the pita has 1.5 carbs so my usual two pieces has 3 carbs.  Couple this with your favorite iced coffee, and you're all set!

This method works for nearly any burger/sandwich from most restaurants or fast food places.  Just ask for your stuff sans bread and I've yet to find a place that won't accommodate my request.

IT'S TIME FOR DINNER ALREADY?

Ugh, by the time I got home last night, it was nearly 8:00pm.  I had gone grocery shopping and run some errands so now I was really hungry, but there was nothing "quick" to eat.  What to do?  Fall back on my old stand-by, the pita...

Start with one pita.  Open it up, leaving about 2" connected.  Fill the center with shredded cheese of your choice.  Broil the pita on both sides for 2-3 minutes or until slightly crispy.  Top with 1/4 cup of Marinara or pizza sauce. Add more cheese and pepperonis (or your topping choice) and finish with shredded Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is thoroughly melted.

Voila! Pizza for dinner with under 10 carbs, depending on your toppings.  The pita crust has 6 net carbs.

And, I ended with my lazy keto day with a special treat... 

ICE CREAM

I've mentioned Rebel Ice Cream before and I will probably bring it up again because this stuff is super amazing.  This is a half serving each of mint chip and chocolate ice cream...(note: I ate a few bites before I remembered to take a picture).

It is real ice cream (emphasis on cream!) with yummy, rich flavors.  I get no profit for mentioning this or linking you to them.  I do this because everyone deserves good ice cream.  (Tip: If you have a Shaw's/Star Market in your area, many of them carry this in the store.) This is what they look like.  The big number on the front is the net carbs per PINT not per serving!  So yeah, you could conceivably eat the whole thing.  And I did once. But you really should limit yourself to one serving at a time :-).

With that, here's how my day panned out:

The Carbs percentage on this chart appears a little high, but that is total carbs, not net carbs.  Remember the Flaxseed bread I had for breakfast?  Well it is made of nothing but flaxseed, eggs, and a bit of flavoring.  Flaxseeds are a great bread source because their carb to fiber ratio is almost 1:1 so flaxseed bread provides good healthy fiber for your digestion, without any glucose impact at all.  But as you see from the chart above, my carb load was nice and low (just under 20 net carbs), my protein was 75g.  My ideal body weight is around 135-140 so I need between 68 and 140 grams of protein each day.  This was on the low side, but still acceptable.  And my fats were in the 70% range, which is ideal.  

At a glance, my first thought was "a serving of cottage cheese would round out those macros to near perfect", but the fact is, I was full.  So I did not eat anything more.  And sticking to my diet on a day when I didn't have time to plan or prepare anything elaborate was still doable.  I don't recommend eating like this all the time, because you will note a sad lack of vegetables on this day, but in a pinch, you CAN make it work if you want it to.

And you do want it to, trust me on that! There is nothing more freeing than being healthy.  Be sure to subscribe so you know when I post new stuff, and please use the comment section below to ask any questions or let me know a topic you're interested in.

Have a blessed day!

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