Low Carb Living in Maine

Keto is a very scientific, very well documented and studied way of eating.  The sheer volume of information available about how and why Keto works is phenomenal and I could spend all day just reading the web and watching videos.  It it not a fad and not likely to go away because, bottom line, it works. However, for the simple individual who just wants to restore their health, lose a little (or a lot) weight and gain new energy, it can be overwhelming.  Keto should be approached almost like elementary school.  Basics first, then we can grow the knowledge base from there. So what do you need to know, from a fundamental point?  How can you just jump in? In order to get started with Simple Keto, there are three basic elements to adjust in your diet.  Conquer these three, and you're more than halfway there:   ONE - SUGAR Sugar. Yes, that's the obvious one.  Get the unnecessary sugar out of your diet, out of your home, and out of your lif...

One of the key components of any diet, Keto included, is to develop a healthy relationship with food.  Generally speaking though, most people have a dependent, bipolar, addictive relationship with food. It is not healthy at all.  We tend to teeter back and forth between dieting and cheating, or even just giving up altogether and eating whatever comes our way.  In the past, as I've tried many, many diets. I've lost weight once in awhile without ever really understanding why, other than the fact that I cut my calories.  Well, you can only cut so far, before you stall out and wonder what now?  At that point, most of us usually give up or switch to a new fad that is supposed to be making people lose weight.  It's a vicious cycle and is pretty much never ending. In all honesty, I've never met anyone who lost weight by the old mantra "eat less, move more" and maintained that weight loss for the long term.  The truth is, unless you understand the food you...

Okay, so I know I said that bread was sort of off the table for the Keto way of eating, but that's not really true, is it?  LOL My mother has been hard at work this past week testing out bread recipes.  I have to say, the results have been very tasty!  I don't have a lot to say about the preparation since I didn't actually cook these myself, but the recipes she gave me all use regular ingredients that I have on hand, and they all seem fairly simple.  I'll be making loaves of my own this weekend.  I have to admit I was a little jealous at all the bread Mom had laying around! So, on with the recipes!  I know that I have a couple of readers who cannot eat nut flours, and so for you, I'm sorry these will not be a good choice.  All three of the recipes below use almond flour as their base.  I will work on finding some good Coconut and Flaxseed recipes for my non-nut flour readers. Today, I have three similar almond flour recipes for you to try ...

I should have just titled this post "I Love Cream Cheese" and I honestly did consider doing just that.  The fact is, one of the most attractive features of the Keto way of eating is the high fat content in the diet.  I adore butter, cream cheeses, sour cream, all those yummy, creamy fats. Well, you get the idea. When I first started eating this way, I struggled with getting that fat macro up to 70%.  After an entire lifetime of being told (both subtly and outright) that fat was bad for you, and seeing a market flooded with low fat and fat-free versions of everything -- you can buy milk in six different levels of fat content! -- it was difficult for me to suddenly be okay with buttering up literally everything.  But the flavor boost and the satisfying fullness after eating a rich buttery dish soon helped me overcome my brainwashing.  Trust me on this, never buy "low or fat-free" anything.  Buy the full version.  Do you know what happens when you ...

Until I started Keto, I did minimal cooking and absolutely no baking.  I was forever "watching my calories" so it seemed just plain indecent to bake cookies, pies, cakes, etc. to have around the house, so baking was out.  I am a pretty fair cook but I lacked the energy required to come up with something creative every single night after working all day (and lugging an extra 100lbs with me everywhere I went).  I kept my house full of processed, easy to throw in the oven or microwave type foods, along with all the necessities for chips and dip, crackers and cheese, and other common mindless snacks. When I decided to go Keto, I went almost cold turkey.  I didn't cut my carbs all the way down to net 20 a day all at once -- mostly because I didn't yet know how -- but I did start with the obvious:  take out sugar and sweets, take out pasta and bread, and get rid of the freezer full of ice cream.  That last one was the hard one.  We REALLY like our ice ...

I never thought when I started this journey, that I would actually succeed, much less have a story to tell, but I did, and I do.  So this post is about my Keto testimony and how it went for me.  Today is my one-year anniversary from the day I started Keto.  It has been so life-changing.  Today is the day for this story: In January of 2018, I went for a regularly scheduled check-up with my doctor.  In 2014, I had had a heart attack and had since been diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome (having at least three of five medical conditions: central obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides, and low serum high-density lipoprotein -- I had all five) so I was under pretty close watch by my general practitioner and my cardiologist.  I was taking approximately 12-14 prescription medications, all of which were being constantly watched, adjusted, changed, etc.  I was basically a healthcare nightmare.  Despite all the medicatio...

A Day on the Diet... What do YOU eat?  Well, I'm a very picky eater and I am an awful example of how to eat healthy, but I do my best.  For me, here's a typical daily intake. I start my mornings with what we lovingly call "Super Coffee".  I have a Keurig machine so I use K-cups for my coffee.  And I have a Ninja Bullet.  Any blender or even a shaker will do.  I love the froth of the bullet so I use that.  Sometimes I also eat food for breakfast, sometimes no.  Mostly, I rely on the density of the coffee to hold me over till lunch time, but if I'm feeling peckish, or know that lunch might be a ways off, I will add a little bit to eat.  It is important to note at this point that: CALORIES DON'T MATTER So, forget what you think you know about calories and concentrate on your macros.  You'll  notice that my coffee concoction is purely fat.  That's good!  The fat macro is the biggest and sometimes most difficult...

Wow! So many people have contacted me lately asking me for tips and hints on getting started with Keto.  I've been thinking about this question and how to best answer it.  You see, I sort of "fell into Keto" through a series of internet searches that landed me in various spots all over the web.  Everywhere I turned, people were losing weight on Keto. SO WHAT IS KETO? The Keto (or Ketogenic) way of eating (often called a WOE) consists of a diet high in healthy fats, low in carbohydrates and the balance is made up in proteins.  Typically, on the "American Standard Diet" (ASD), your body is accustomed to burning glucose for energy.   The KETO way of eating flips a switch in your body that teaches it to use Ketones (produced naturally in your liver in the absence of sugars) rather than glucose for energy.  Glucose is readily available in many processed foods and natural foods containing carbohydrates (like fruits).  Since the body likes to ...