A Foodie Trying Keto! Need Friends ASAP!
3834cherie
Posts: 2 Member
So I partial started this Keto journey weeks ago trying to limit my carb intake, and I have been pretty unsuccessful with getting down to 20 to 30 grams of carbs a day. I am a foodie, and this is crappy my style. Lol. Exercise is not the issue...my love for food is. Yet, I am committed to giving this a try.
Please add me as a friend and introduce yourself! I need friends ASAP to keep myself on track.
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I'm going to add you
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Sent request0
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Good thing there's tons of great food to eat then!
I honestly don't think I've ever eaten so well. It feels indulgent to me to have things like creamy coffee, a big steak or eggs and half a pound of bacon for breakfast!1 -
I guess for me, it just requires a shift in perspective. Used to a dish where fruit was the key component? Flip it to where it is an accent. A starch as a base? Use a non-standard base - swap cauliflower or parsnips or another variation in there. Bacon was an accent before? Use it more as a base flavor. You get to indulge in all the luscious, luxurious, fatty decadent things that are generally considered taboo to eat in any quantity.
Get creative. Like a steak? Try a fattier cut. Look at different lower carb marinades. Make an alfredo, hollandaise, or blue cheese sauce. Make your own steak sauce. Homemade mayo and homemade ranch or Italian dressings... The possibilities are literally endless. Play with flavor combinations. Even seemingly forbidden foods can be used as accents or in context. Portion is what is important.
Make chicken bombs (essentially a chicken breast pounded thin and wrapped around a jalapeno popper, then wrapped in bacon, and optionally, basted in a low carb barbecue sauce... Use mushrooms, sour cream, ranch seasoning to make a makeshift stroganoff... Really think outside the box. Ingredients that used to be delegated to the "rare" usage table can now become your mainstays... Chinese stir fry is simple and often swapping something like xantham gum out for cornstarch, still on target. Riced cauliflower makes a decent swap for rice, I'm told. Egg roll in a bowl or crack slaw are excellent uses of cabbage, etc.
Learn to make homemade breads and doughs that can be used in multiple preparations. Almond flour, coconut flour, flax seed, protein powder, psyllium husks, thickeners, etc. Google ANY recipe with the word keto in front of it. Keto Creme Brulee. Keto duck a l'orange. Anything can be modified, and chances out there someone has tried it ... or has done something similar. Use lentil, chickpea, or black bean noodles for a more nutritious compromise - or enjoy the sweet kick of spaghetti squash as noodles or zucchini/asparagus as noodles, etc.
Fry pepperoni for a nice crisp. Learn to make cheese crisps in lieu of croutons. I don't see how it is possible to sacrifice flavor and decadence when that is literally what the core of a ketogenic diet is about - and why it appeals to so many! It was not ever supposed to be about permanently excluding foods, but in shifting proportions into a healthier context...
@3834cherie - Give us some items/dishes that you deem "irreplaceable," and we'll see if we don't have some ideas and suggestions...5 -
Oh, and not just all of this, but when your palate clears from the congestion of added sugars, salts, and unnecessary fats to foods to make them more palatable and addictive, you will be able to taste so much more nuance and subtlety in your foods - flavors and accents you couldn't even detect before. Your foodie taste buds are likely to be taken to new and more incredible heights and flights of fancy!1
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A friend of mine who's a group member referred me to this thread and thought I might offer something of value...perhaps it is, or is not...you decide.
Hey there, @3834cherie !
If you love vegetables and meat, keto is for you! It's a luxurious and delicious way of eating/way of life, like @Sunny_Bunny_ mentioned
So many people who aren't aware just assume I'm throwing bacon cheeseburgers, bullet proof coffee, and pork rinds-smothered chicken nachos down my gullet every day...and while those things are DELICIOUS AF, they are something I eat only in moderation. That said, I think the definition of a foodie is someone who appreciates, studies,cooks and enjoys food. Period. So I'm not judgy about what people love to eat. As for me. I tend to cook or prepare vegetables and use meat as a seasoning. My typical go-to meals are things like: Collard greens with bacon, cabbage braised in butter + bacon fat with smoked sausage and paprika, steamed spaghetti squash, spinach, cauliflower or broccoli covered in homemade ragu bolognese made from veal/pork or pork/beef (or all three), crustless quiche/fritatta stuffed with cheese, ham, shallots, asparagus...stuff like that.
If you prefer to eat pastured eggs & chicken, grass-fed butter/beef/heritage pork, go for it, if you can. Many can't afford them, or have access to them, or just don't put it as a priority. In my case, I sometimes can and can't. If I can afford the good stuff that week, I get it. Also, if you're NOT into fattier cuts of meat, that's cool, too. Some folks don't like skin on their chicken thighs or breasts, or fatty steaks. Get the leaner cuts of the non-organic raised meats to avoid the higher fats that possibly are toxic if fed GMO grain lot feed, and add butter or coconut/avocado oil to them when cooking/serving, if you need the fat.
I think you'll do great! Eat what you like, as long as it works in your macros, I say.
I have a collection of photos w/recipes for anyone interested in following it here3 -
Change your mindset. Food is for nutrition and to satisfy physical hunger. That's all.0
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