Rob's blog: My experience with the ketogenic diet...

"Any diet that skimps on natural fats is inherently unsatisfying, making it extremely difficult to sustain long term and almost certainly doomed to failure." -from the New Atkins for a New You, pg. 3

I have been doing a ketogenic diet for six weeks now, and Warren four weeks. We are on this diet because our lipids were not the greatest. This way of eating has been demonstrated to improve lipid profiles. In fact, this way of eating helps with all sorts of problems. Here are conditions that it improves: ADHD, chronic headaches, migraines, cancer, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, seizures, inflammatory conditions, intestinal problems, and weight loss. Who wouldn't want to be on this diet since it helps with all these problems? What is a ketogenic diet? Many think it is a low-carb, high protein diet, but it is not. It is low-carb, moderate protein, and high fat.

This is the nutritional break down of what I ate one day. I use an app called Myfitnesspal which free at the app store. I think it is available for iPhone, and Android. It tracks all your food, water, and exercise. It is easy, fast, and you can see right away if what you have eaten is good, or bad. On a ketotic diet, 70-80% of calories come from fat, 20-25% from protein, and 5-7% from carbs. Note: if you eat too many proteins, your body converts that to glucose, and you do not go into ketosis. To determine how many proteins you need, multiply your body weight by 0.6. That is how many grams you need per day.

For me, the hardest part was changing my mind set to eating so much fat...and then getting in enough fat. I feel guilty for adding butter to my eggs, having full fat (lots of cream) sauces, having bacon, cream cheese, and cheeses. Not to mention the ability to eat fatty meats (grass-fed beef though). For years, we have had it pounded into our heads that low fat, and high carb is good for you. We have been told, eating the USDA food pyramid will cut down on obesity, and heart disease. Studies have shown the opposite: low fat-high-carb has made us more fat, and increased heart disease. It is the low carb, high fat that has reduced obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. It is paradoxical, but true.

The process of becoming "Keto adapted" takes about 2-6 weeks. My first two weeks were miserable. I had a headache, and felt pretty lousy. It is called keto flu, but if you will persist, it goes away, and then you have incredible energy, and feel great. I will not go into great detail here about the science of the ketogenic diet, but will give some links where you can find great information, recipes, testimonials, and how to incorporate the diet. These are not in any particular order: http://www.ruled.me (this is a good site on how to get started, and it has a macro calculator, so you can see how many fat, protein, carb grams, and calories you should have each day), http://ketodietapp.com/Blog/ (love the recipes here), http://thenourishedcaveman.com (good recipes, and information), http://www.carbsmart.com/category/articles. Also, youTube has a lot of videos with very good information. Look for Dr. Stephen Phinney, Dr. Jeff Volek, Dr. Peter Attia, or Dr. Eric Westmann. If you like to read, here are some excellent resource books:

If you think you know all about the Atkins diet, think again. This is by the same people who wrote The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living (last book pictured). It is easier to read, and understand than the art and science book. This has sample diet plans, and recipes.

I am still reading this book

and this book too.

This is very technical, but has a lot of studies, and research data. It has recipes, and some sample meal plans.

Here's a sampling of what I eat, and a few recipes to go along with the photos.

Breakfast, scrambled eggs with 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 slice of uncured natural bacon, zucchini sautéed in butter.

Lunch: Tuna steak with homemade mayonnaise, zucchini, green salad with homemade salad dressing (base is the home made mayonnaise) , and cauliflower mashed potatoes.

Cauliflower mashed potatoes:

1 head of cauliflower (cooked, and drained...I drain these for about 20 minutes, otherwise the "potatoes" are too runny)
1 cup cheddar cheese
4 TBS. sour cream
2 TBS. butter

After you have drained the cauliflower well, place in a food processor or blender, add other ingredients, salt and pepper to taste. That's it. They are very good.

This shake is better than what you get at Starbucks, and a lot cheaper. To make it coffee flavored, add one teaspoon of your favorite instant coffee to the recipe.

Breakfast: Chocolate-coconut shake

Chocolate-coconut shake: Blend 4 ounces unsweetened almond milk, 2 tablespoons no sugar added coconut milk, 1 scoop unsweetened whey protein powder, 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 packet of splenda, 3 ice cubes. Blend until mixed and frothy. Add whipped cream and cinnamon.

This is the protein powder I use. I have included a link to it in the recipe above.

This is one very good salad.

Lunch: Cobb Salad

Cobb salad: mixed lettuce leaves, avocado, tomatoes, hard boiled egg, cucumber, bacon, feta cheese, grilled chicken. Top with sweet mustard dressing.

Homemade Sweet Mustard Dressing.

Sweet mustard dressing: 1/3 cup Dijon mustard, 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar-free pancake syrup, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 2/3 cup cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil.
Mix, and serve.

How about a pizza? Warren loves his pizza. I was thrilled when I found a recipe for a low-carb pizza. The crust will not be quite as crisp as a dough crust, but you will be surprised how tasty it is. You will have to eat this pizza with a fork since the crust is soft. I usually mince the whole cauliflower head, then make several pizza crusts, bake, then freeze them for later use. I can usually get 6 individual pizzas from one head

Dinner: White sauce, smoked-turkey, jalapeño pizza

White sauce smoked turkey and jalapeno pizza
Crust: 1 1/2 cups grated cauliflower (I use a food processor to chop the cauliflower...raw cauliflower)
1 egg
1/2 cup 3 cheese mexican blend, or mozzarella cheese.
Blend in food processor. Pat out a circle (individual size... about 6 inches in diameter) on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 400 degrees until browned...about 10-15 minutes.

Sauce: 2 tablespoons cream cheese, 1 tablespoon cream. Mix, spread on top of cooked crust. Add toppings.

Toppings: saute smoked turkey, onions, garlic, and sliced fresh, seeded jalapeño in a skillet until turkey is browned. Sprinkle on top of sauce.

Add grated mozzarella cheese on top. I, also, added a few bacon crumbles. Bake 400 degrees until brown.

Pictured with the pizza is Calabacitas, which is a mexican squash dish with the corn left out, since corn is high in carbs. To a sauce pan add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, or butter. Add 1 cubed zucchini, 1 cubed summer squash, 1/4 cubed onion, 1 minced garlic clove. Saute until squash is soft. Add one small can of green chilies, and 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese. Mix. Serve.

Our favorite has snack, dessert, and sometimes breakfast is Lemon, or Lime cheesecake. It is wonderful, and easy to make.

In a mixer, mix 2-8 ounce packages + 1-3 1/2 oz. package of cream cheese with three eggs. Mix until smooth. It helps if your cream cheese is at room temperature.