My Ketogenic Journey: Day 3 (Part 1)

Day 3 of my Ketogenic Diet - No Starches or Grains and No Sugar

How did I get here?

I got here kicking and screaming for sure!  I love my artisan breads and I've spent many hours in my kitchen lab perfecting a few I've shared on this blog.  (I have a few more in the works that I will finish for those that can eat healthfully produced grains).  Not to mention that we are quite near one of the best artisan bread bakeries in the world.  Tucked away in a hamlet in the woods, they craft naturally fermented breads baked in the largest wood oven I've ever seen (it actually is the largest in Oregon).  They make things like bacon baguette, and one of the best Kalamata olive and herb fusilles I've ever had.  People drive from all over to get their bread, as well as standing in long lines at some of the farmer's markets they attend.  As I ramble on passionately about bread it becomes apparent that bread is going to be the first difficult thing to give up, but I've known it's coming for a while.  I will miss you Bread Board.  *little sob*  I can go with others and smell the place though. hahahaha

I'm 5'8" and I'm not sure how much I weigh.  I can promise you it's not what it says it is on my driver's license! haha  I stopped weighing myself a couple of decades ago when I didn't fit the recommended perimeters no matter how great I looked and felt.  I go by sizes now, and let's just say I'm 2-3 sizes above what my ideal is.  And quite frankly I'm tired of being fat.  Often when I bring it up, people will say: "Oh you're just big boned".  But I'm really not.  I'm just fat.  And I'm ready to  do something about it.

I have my reasons for allowing myself to get to this point, and it didn't happen quickly.  Without going into details, I was eating for comfort, followed by being laid up with injuries.  I knew what I was doing, but I did it anyway knowing that someday I would have to knuckle down and make some changes.  Now, I'm of a certain age where my body type and metabolism have changed drastically.  Compound that with the fact that my chances of developing type 2 diabetes are genetically pretty darn good if I don't make a change soon.  Being honest with myself, that is not something I'm willing to just allow to happen; much less through fully aware self-infliction.

We have a friend that is diabetic (type 2) and has learned to control it mostly through diet.  A few years ago he was where I am.  Being overweight and eating whatever he wanted, he was having to take way more medication than he knew was good for him.  Then he learned about controlling it through ketosis.  In what seemed like no time at all, he lost a lot of weight. He would talk about learning about ketosis and how much it was changing his life, but I didn't pay much attention.  At the time I was pretty happy with my weight and I wasn't diabetic, nor was I worried about becoming so.  That was the first time I ever heard of ketosis or the ketogenic diet.  I was just happy that he was happy and feeling great.

Lately, I've been hearing more and more about the "keto" diet,  Being that I feel compelled to do something about my present condition, I started to study about it.  I've always been skeptical about fad diets and kept my distance from them.  But come to find out, the ketogenic diet (not yet named as such at the time) was developed by various doctors as a means to treat epilepsy in the early 1900s.  In 1921 a Mayo Clinic physician dubbed this method of treatment "the ketogenic diet" because of the ketones that are developed.  Click here for a great article about the History of the Ketogenic Diet.  Now my interest was really piqued.  Treating epilepsy through diet fell out of favor as more profitable drugs were developed.  Don't get me started about that.

Knowing Myself

Being a chef, my weight has fluctuated a lot over the years, and I know what has worked for me in the past when it comes to weight loss.  I'm not willing to go the same route for weight loss that I did before, as it incorporated a number of processed foods I've learned way to much about, and I'm simply not willing to consume these days now that I do know better. Nor am I willing to live on shakes for the rest of my life.  Time to learn more about different approaches.  I don't just want a diet this time - I want to alter my eating habits permanently.  To do that, I know I need to find something I can live with long term.  The main thing I know, is that I need to stop consuming sugar and carbohydrates.  I need to replace them with livable substitutes that I can produce myself from whole ingredients.  It also has to be good enough that I won't miss what I'm substituting it for.  The kitchen lab is going to be busy!  I'll do my best to share what I learn right here.

My first attempt at Cloud Bread.  It makes a tasty keto sandwich!

Which Lifestyle Diet to Choose?

I've been studying about Ayurveda off and on over the years.  It is super fascinating and I know it has helped me adopt a few healthier habits, but I'm not sure how to go about typing myself properly and the whole lifestyle seems a bit overwhelming to me at this point.  Hopefully someday I can get properly typed by a professional and adopt more of the disciplines required live like that! I know Rome wasn't built in a day.  One thing that I do love about Ayurveda is that it also incorporates yoga, which I have believed in and enjoyed for years, although I have gotten out of the habit with the same funk that helped me put on all these extra pounds.  Time to start that up again too!

A longtime friend reversed her own rheumatoid arthritis through Ayurvedic techniques.  As an integrative health care provider, she has helped many people with autoimmune disorders with a holistic approach by incorporating various philosophies and disciplines, both eastern and western.  I'm happy to say that she also recently published a marvelous book about her journey called "Solving the Autoimmune Puzzle:  The Woman's Guide to Emotional Freedom and Vibrant Health" by Dr. Keesha Ewers.  It has had a great hand in motivating me to get serious about taking this next step and I'm not even finished reading it yet!  Click here to order your own copy.  I highly recommend it!  I've been reading it on my PC Kindle, but now I know I need to order the paperback to hold in my hands and use for reference.  It needs a permanent place in my library. If you or someone you know are lucky enough to be in the Seattle area, Keesha also has a clinic/spa there.  Click here for more info.

Of course I've been hearing about the Paleo Diet.  Who hasn't by now?  But, knowing myself as I do,  I would have a very hard time sticking to a diet that makes me give up dairy.  Sugar and carbs are difficult enough, but dairy is just a bridge too far at this point!  As a kid I drank about a gallon of raw whole fat milk per day. I kid you not. We made butter with some of the cream, but we usually just shook the jug and mixed the cream in with the milk as we drank it.   I started to develop calcium deposits around my knuckles.  First thing the doctor asked was how much milk I drank.  I reluctantly cut down according to doctor's orders.  Of course not everyone can consume dairy.  It can be very toxic to some trying to fight autoimmune disorders.  I am going to cut down drastically on the milk use though.  I have been enjoying almond milk and coconut milk more and more.

I was thrilled to learn that I have to switch from the 1% milk that I've been using and replace it with whole milk, although I can't drink nearly as much as I'm used to, as it still has more sugar than I'm supposed to have to stay in ketosis - which is what I need to do to burn this body fat.  Since the keto diet is a high fat diet, whole fat cheese, sour cream and yogurt are also allowed!  OK.  I'm in.

My List of Replacements (Substitutes) 

I have to replace bread and all grains including rice, classic roux and other starch thickeners.  I also have to replace sugar.  Dried legumes other than peanuts are also forbidden.  Fresh legumes, such as green beans and edamame are OK in small amounts.

I already learned that I like the granulated Stevia blend Pyure Organic Stevia All Purpose Blend Sweetener much better than the Stevia in the Raw that comes in the packets.  Although the packets are handy to take along.  I also ordered some Erythritol Natural Sweetener to compare to the Stevia.  It hasn't arrived yet, but I'll let you know what I think.

I baked some grain-free, sugar-free brownies with the granulated Stevia yesterday for my first trial and I really like them!  They are good enough that I won't miss the other version.  My husband says they're OK.  He doesn't need to cut carbs at this point.  I made some of my wonderful Soft Sandwich Bread for his lunches today.  It smelled and looked really good, but I wasn't craving it like I thought I would!  Day 3 and I'm not missing the carbs!  I would never have thought this would happen so quickly.  The food has me very satisfied.  I can do this!

While my husband's sandwich bread was rising, I made some keto-friendly Cloud Bread that I can use for my sandwiches.  I had my first keto home cured Ham and Cheese Sandwich on Cloud Bread with sliced sweet onions and baby spinach today, and I loved it!  I didn't miss the bread.  I'll publish the recipe for the Cloud Bread very soon.  I will also publish the recipe for the brownies.  I still need to tweak a couple of things before they're perfect.

Another recipe that is in the works is my Clam Chowder thickened with almond butter instead of roux or cornstarch, and cauliflower in place of the potatoes.  I made my first batch yesterday from clams we harvested ourselves, and it is fantastic!  Maybe I'll include a clam digging tutorial as well.  I just need to take more pictures on our next excursion.

Freshly harvested clams and cockles make an amazing keto friendly chowder!

I plan to keep you posted on my progress and publish the results from the kitchen lab.  This should be fun!

Click here to read Part 2 of the journey.