Keto Cauliflower Mac n Cheese

Holiday weekends often mean barbecues and so was the case this past weekend when I went to my best friend's house. They supplied the meats and everyone else brought the sides, etc. I don't know about you, but mac n cheese always goes well with barbecue, but on a keto diet, the macaroni is out. That's why we turn to cauliflower.

Thing is, if you just add boiled cauliflower, it has a lot of water it has absorbed. So a good idea is to dry it out a bit, thus the oven step.  It's not necessary, but will mean a less runny cheese sauce. Also, I cut the cauliflower down to small pieces as a way to make the cauliflower less obvious to picky eaters. 

The sodium citrate mentioned is for those true food geeks that are into the science of cooking and modernist cuisine. Sodium citrate, added to cheesy sauces, makes the sauce so smooth and silky. It's a type of salt and natural. So don't freak out about this additive. It's what makes Velveeta melt so nicely. It is not a necessary ingredient and can be left out.
Keto Cauliflower Mac n Cheese

1 head of cauliflower
1 c heavy whipping cream
2 T butter
1 t sodium citrate
2 c cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 c parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 T tumeric
1 T dijon mustard

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Prepare the cauliflower by cutting into small florets and bite size pieces about the size of a nickel. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add cauliflower. Simmer for about 5 minutes til the cauliflower is slightly cooked, but not soft. Transfer to a colander and rinse with cold water. Drain well and pat with a clean kitchen towel to get out as much water as possible. Evenly spread the cauliflower on a baking sheet and place in the oven to dry for 20 minutes while you prepare cheese sauce.

Put a large saucepan on low medium heat. Melt the butter and add the heavy whipping cream to heat. Mix in the sodium citrate. Once hot, add in cheeses and melt them into the cream. Add spices and mustard. 

Take the cauliflower and add to the pan of cheese sauce. Toss/mix to thoroughly coat the pieces. You can eat directly or transfer to a baking dish to save for later.

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Chocolate Lava Mug Cake - 2 ways

I love to make this lava mug cake because it is so quick and easy and satisfies that sweet tooth. Here are two ways to make it, just with slightly different ingredients. 

Chocolate Lava Mug Cake

1 large egg
1 T heavy whipping cream
1/4 t vanilla

Either:
1 T cocoa powder
1 T Swerve or Lakanto sweetener
1t baking powder 

OR
2 T Lakanto drinking chocolate mix 
1t baking powder

Optional: some Lily's chocolate chips

Whisk together egg, cream, vanilla in a mug. Add either option of dry ingredients and blend well. Add optional chocolate chips in the center. I usually do a small bunch, say 20 chips.  Microwave for 60-70 seconds depending on your microwave's power. Enjoy!

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Keto Bite 3: Exercise

Information on exercise and taking it slow when you first start keto.

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Keto Bite 2: Starting on Keto and tracking

Here's how I started and my suggestion about tracking to those who want to start. 

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Avoid eating 'keto' labeled foods

There are two kinds of keto people - in my opinion. 

The first type know how to cook, understand food and food terms, and have a basic knowledge of nutrition in terms of definitions. They understand the difference between a fruit and a vegetable or grains versus legumes. They can buy fresh, whole ingredients, follow a recipe, and create a finished dish. 

The other type have lived a life a of eating packaged and processed foods as well as fast food. No fault of their own as they might have never had a family that could cook, they might have lived in a food desert with limited access to fresh ingredients, or were limited in funds, transportation, or exposure. 

As I follow the keto pages with thousands of people trying the keto way of eating, I'm struck by the people who post pictures and ask, "Is this OK to eat?" while showing a picture of some packaged good. Food nutrition labels are so confusing to begin with. 

The thing is, it's generally known these days that Big Food has hijacked terms such as 'natural', 'organic', 'GMO free', and 'gluten-free' in order to increase sales. Many times the labels not are not valid in terms of strict definitions. A good example is General Mills being forced to remove the term 'natural' from some granola products when it was shown there had highly-processed, genetically modified ingredients, such as high fructose corn syrup, high maltose corn syrup, and maltodextrin.

What's bothering me is that now 'keto' and 'low carb' are being thrown onto packages that aren't really keto friendly. Once again, you have to read the labels and have a really good knowledge of what ingredients are or are not allowed on keto. Even I don't have that knowledge yet. Like the fact that soy sauce is not allowed by strict ketoers. 

These packages trick people into buying them and people think they are eating keto, but they are really sabotaging themselves unknowingly. 

That's why I don't advocate buying keto packaged foods. There are tons of companies coming out with new keto foods and, while a few of them are legit, many are not. Not only that, you know Big Food will start moving into the game as well, just like they did with 'gluten-free'. (Duh! There's no gluten in meats! Sigh.) 

Many of these packaged foods are short cut items. Things like packaged cookies, breads, snacks, or mixes and prepared meals. People want things packaged so they can grab and go and satisfy a craving.

Here is a list of things to keep in mind regarding packaged foods.

• If you are doing keto properly, you shouldn't have cravings and shouldn't really be hungry. Snacking should disappear.
• 
  
• There are plenty of foods that are grab-and-go that are natural or easy to make/put together: hard boiled/deviled eggs, cheese, almonds.
• 
  
• The few packaged foods that you can buy are things like meat sticks, pork rinds, kale chips, pumpkin seeds, and sardines.
• 
  
• You have to read ingredients and know all the different ways companies call sugars now. Also other ingredients that aren't keto approved. Too many to learn/memorize in my mind.

If you are not a cook and would like to learn, let me suggest my friend's online cooking website/Facebook page. Stephanie's goal is to help you learn simple things first to build confidence so that you'll be encouraged to keep learning. Keep in mind her site is not keto, so there will be tempting non-keto dishes mentioned. Her site is Fearless Fresh and the Facebook page community is here. 

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Keto Bite 1 - Avocados

Avocados are full of healthy fat and an important part of keto.

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Green Chef's Keto Meal Kit - a review

Pistachio crusted salmon

For the last few years there has been a great increase in mail order meal kits. Now there are almost too many to name: Blue Apron, HelloFresh, Sun Basket, Plated, Green Chef, etc. Until recently I had ignored all of these companies. After all, I know how to cook and I'm single.

Then Green Chef started promoting a new Keto meal plan and since I'm doing keto now, I thought it might be interesting to try. I ordered the 3-meal per week plan for two people. That means six meals for single me. Their keto box has no dairy.

Greek chicken

My box arrived last week and here is my review. Basically, if you are doing keto, this is not a good deal. If you are only interested in a healthy, flavorful meal kit service, then I thoroughly enjoyed the dishes.

This keto box is good only for lazy keto. For strict keto folk who are really into counting carbs, this box might be a bit over for you. I'm lazy keto and felt that they did a good job of keeping to low carb count. Also, if you are super strict on your ingredients, you have no idea what the ingredients are in the spice and sauce blends. For instance, many don't know that for strict keto, soy sauce is not allowed. You have to trust that they are using keto-approved ingredients.

Keto is more than just low carb, it's mostly about high fat. There is nowhere near enough fat in these meals. You would need to douse with oils/ghee to raise the fats. This is where lack of dairy plays a big part as well, as adding cheese would be helpful to upping the fat amounts. Or more avocado as an ingredient. After eating these meals for the week I noticed a measurable decrease in ketones. Quite a lot, actually. I normally am in the 1.5-3 range and during this week I was under 1.  I registered as low as .1, so at least I wasn't all the way to unmeasurable, but still, I miss my ketones and fat. It was interesting to see that my energy levels decreased as my ketones decreased.

Portions were huge. Again, if you count everything and don't want to go over protein, well, they give you way too much. The chicken breasts were very large and should have been half the amount per meal per person. I also have enough cauliflower tabbouleh from tonight to last 4 days!

Overall flavor was excellent. I can't deny that I enjoyed having some really flavorful, new dishes over my generally simple meals that I do for myself.

As for ease of preparation, they were pretty easy to put together and I was able to get them all done under 30 minutes each.

Vietnamese steak salad

There is too much packaging! The freezer bags (the kind with goo that keeps the shipment cold), while reusable, are not recyclable. Even though they tell you to cut and dispense of the goo in the trash, that's still a petroleum product and not good for the environment (according to Mother Jones).

Lastly, I feel that the word 'keto' is getting thrown on way too many things just like Big Food has already hijacked 'natural', 'organic', and 'gluten-free'. Green Chef even admits that they actually say 'keto-friendly'. In their case it means that the ingredients are pretty keto, but that's about it. Again, not enough fat, too much protein, low but not necessarily low enough carbs. 

Stay tuned for a post I'm currently finishing up about packaged keto foods. 

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Keto Pound Cake

There are several versions of keto pound cake and this is mine. I wanted even more dairy for the fat and moisture content. Even though it only has only one flour - almond - it's delicious and moist. It's just a little more delicate in terms of crumbling. 

Keto Pound Cake
3 net carbs per slice (18 slices)

1/2 c butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 c sour cream
6 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
2 c almond meal
1/2 c Swerve sweetener (granular)
1/2 c Lakanto monk fruit sweetener (granular)
zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking pan(s) by well greasing them.

In a medium bowl blend together the softened butter, cream cheese, and sour cream. In another bowl, beat together eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice. 
Blend together the egg mixture into the cream mixture. 
In another large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: almond meal, baking powder, salt, Swerve, and Lakanto. Add the zest of one lemon. 
Blend the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well mixed.
Pour cake batter into prepared pans.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool completely in pans before removing in order to avoid risk of cake breaking apart. 

To store, wrap tightly in plastic wrap. 

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Understanding updated cholesterol testing - NMR particle test

Do you worry about your cholesterol? After all, the medical community has drilled in the importance of low cholesterol for the last couple of decades in particular. Is it something really worth worrying about or is it just a manipulation by the pharmaceutical company to push more drugs? I pretty much think the latter, but I've been brainwashed enough to still worry about it.

I'm now over four months into my keto and still keeping data on things like weight, blood work, general health. As mentioned in prior posts, my cholesterol has jumped with this diet, but when I put the standard cholesterol lipid panel results (40 year old testing methods) into the new, current cholesterol calculators, the results were varied quite a bit. 

Even though the new calculator set my mind at ease a bit, it still wasn't the best answer to the question of cholesterol health. In order to get that, I had to get the detailed lipid test that Kaiser doesn't offer! Called an NMR Lipid Panel, I had to go to an independent lab and shell out $99 of my own money. This post is to share those results.

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What is Biohacking? Getting to know your body

Lately I've been using my body as a big science experiment. That's basically what biohacking your body is. Biohacking is when you make changes to your lifestyle and keep data as how the changes are affecting your body and wellbeing. You are trying to 'hack' your own biology to improve your health and know your body. In my case, I've been trying the keto diet. I've been eating high fat since January and keeping notes on my weight, blood tests, appetite, and more. 

"Biohacking is the process of using science, biology, and self-experimentation to take control of and upgrade your body, mind, and life," says Dave Asprey, founder and CEO of Bulletproof. (And yes, drinking bulletproof coffee is one example of a biohack.) "Simply put, biohacking is the art and science of changing the environment around you and inside you so you have more control over your own biology." 

The most common form of biohacking is by diet. Some people will try small dietary changes such as eliminating sugar or gluten. It could even be as simple as increasing your water intake. In my case with keto, I've eliminated sugar and almost all carbs completely. I've mentioned in previous posts the health improvements I've seen since starting keto: better sleep, weight loss, less inflammation. 

Keto is a strict diet for many people who are suffering from diabetes, insulin resistance, and other issues. Myself, I'm very healthy and found that I can get away with a lot more than unhealthy people. Because I have kept a simple log of my blood ketone measurements, I know that I can cheat and recover within 24 hours where other people can take days to. I've learned that my metabolism and ketone production is a lot more limber than others, allowing me to have an occasional piece of cake. Through biohacking, I've learned that I can easily jump back and forth between glucogeogenesis (sugar burning) and ketosis (fat burning) usually within 24 hours.     

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Types of fasting - intermittent and long term

https://amzn.to/2HxCzJ8

People have practiced fasting for millennia. Sometimes it was due to famine, sometimes for religion. Recent research has now shown that there is actually a biological benefit to fasting.

The reason keto folk do fasting is because it is easy for them. Eating a high fat diet keeps people feeling full and curbs the hunger cravings. They can go longer without eating, even forgetting to eat, because their bodies are no longer craving fuel in the form of carbs/sugars. 

But fasting can actually be practiced by anybody and, in fact, you can still lose weight eating the way you normally do by just adjusting your timing. It's just harder for carb eaters because their bodies cries out for more carb foods in the form of hunger pangs. 

There are two types of fasting: intermittent fasting and long term fasting.

Intermittent fasting = less than 3 days

Intermittent fasting is used mostly for weight loss by changing the frequency of eating. You decide on how long you go without eating and then a short 'eating window'. Examples would be:

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Keto update - measuring ketones

I was not interested in pricking my finger a couple of times a day when I first started this keto thing. After all, it was only supposed to last six weeks and then I'd go back to eating my normal way. But it is interesting to learn about how your body works and reacts to changes and I soon began to "geek out" on the science of keto. That's why I eventually bought a blood tester that works for both glucose and ketones.

As mentioned in prior keto posts, the body transitions from burning glucose to burning fat when on the keto program. Many people are familiar with testing for glucose that people with diabetese do often. People on keto are interested in glucose levels too and some can monitor themselves well enough with just that. Yet everyone is different and I soon began to realize that my body seems to be much quicker at adjusting between ketosis and glucogenesis than most people.

Glucose
Typically glucose is low first thing in the morning and one of the reasons they want you to fast overnight before going for a morning blood test.  Ideally your glucose should be under 100, typically in the 80s. When you eat a meal, it will go up over 100 before coming back down a couple of hours later. The higher over 100 you get and how fast you can go down, if at all, is what tells doctors how your body is using insulin and whether you have a problem processing sugars.

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3 Month Keto Update - Blood work and health

mindovermunch.com

My keto update is going to take several posts because there is a lot to share. On this one I'll start with my blood work results. 

I need to start with a bit of a disclaimer first. I'm doing lazy keto, meaning I'm not obsessively counting grams and calories. I just can't be bothered. But this goes against strict keto rules and on certain forums I would get yelled at for espousing non-strict keto. I'm lazy keto because I already know and eat wholesome, unprocessed foods, can cook, and I research, research, research. So I have a good knowledge of what to eat to fit the keto ratio of 20g of carb, 65g of protein, and about 100g of fat (numbers vary per individual). I also have a good metabolism that recovers quickly. (More on that later.) This blog is my account of MY keto journey and will definitely not apply to people with health issues, obesity, bad eating habits, and more. Most people DO need to be super strict keto and never cheat and count everything that crosses their lips when they start.

Keto is a WAY OF LIFE versus a diet and is proving to be a highly beneficial eating program used to treat all sort of health issues. In Europe it's being used to treat diabetes and cancer. That is why I am keeping at it. Yes, the loss of 12 pounds and my back fat is definitely a bonus, but the most common comment I get is "what do you need to lose weight for?" I don't NEED to lose weight.

My keeping to this keto thing is because I like the OTHER health results I'm getting from it. I mentioned in my February keto post that I'm sleeping much better, my energy is improved, and my tendonitis, that I've had for years, is gone because keto is anti-inflammatory. Considering my choice was lousy sleep and/or use of a c-pap machine, then eating my way to healthy sleep is certainly a more attractive way to go. 

But in this post, let's talk blood and cholesterol.

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Keto Misconceptions - 6 weeks in

Corrections added
When I started this Keto thing it was done sort of blindly. In the six weeks that I’m now ending (and will continue), I have done a lot of research and learned one primary thing – there are a LOT of misconceptions about the Keto diet.

In this age of Fake News and over saturation of information, I think we can all agree on one thing, a lot of dissemination of fake news is in the self interest of an opposing opinion. In this case, the opposers to keto would be many in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. After all, they are more interested in sick people seeking treatment via drugs and procedures than finding health through natural means.

So in this six week update I will cover not only where I am (at the end), but also the misconceptions I’ve learned that make keto seem so bad.

Misconceptions

You will be eating nothing but lots of fat from eggs, bacon, meats, and dairy. In truth, you will be eating a lot of that for the first week or two, but as you burn out all the sugars and convert your body to burning fat instead, your fat consumption decreases.

That’s the first part of this misconception. If you do keto properly, the fat consumption is used to just keep you feeling full so that you don’t crave and cheat on other foods. My keto calculation is 20 g carbs, 65 g protein, and 85 g of fat. I don’t have to eat 85 g a fat a day if I don’t need to.  I only need to watch my carbs and protein and then eat enough fat to keep me feeling full and keep away any food cravings. But, curiously, people looking to lose weight often see better results the more fats they eat versus less. I found this to be true later myself. 

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First month of keto

shrimp alfredo

Like pretty much everyone, I overindulged during the holidays. Plus, December is my birthday month. By January 1, I had reached my heaviest weight yet. I decided, like so many, to go on a diet. I started with a 3-day juice cleanse from Nekter because I had liked it the last time I did it and I kind of wanted to shrink my stomach in readiness for dieting. Then I started Keto.

To jump directly to why and how I'm doing, you can scroll down. 

When U.S. News & World Report came out with their 2018 ranking of diets, Keto came in tie for last place. That hasn't stopped the huge increase of interest in it as well as the number of success stories regarding it. So what is Keto?

I'm not going to get too technical here because there are plenty of other Keto bloggers (linked below) that can do a much better job than I. So just some basics. The goal of the keto diet is to adapt the body to utilize fat as its primary fuel source instead of sugar. 

Your body uses two types of fuel - glucose and fat. Glucose (sugars) get used immediately in the body because they are the easiest to access and use. To use an example, if you were a runner, the quick burst of energy you would need for a sprint would be from glucose. Whatever glucose is leftover is then stored as fat for the future. We get fat because we eat too many sugary and carb laden foods. Carby foods turn into sugars during the digestion process and then into fat, so on a keto diet, carbs and sugars are OUT! 

Running a marathon would be attune to using fat for energy. You have a large gas tank of fat that the body can use to keep fueling itself for the long run. In order to access that fat and turn it into the energy, you need ketones. Ketone bodies are molecules that are produced by the liver from fatty acids during periods of low food intake. When your body has no more glucose it goes into starvation mode and turns to the fat in your body for fuel.

The idea of the keto diet is that you eliminate your body's access to glucose forcing it to use fat for energy instead. 

A keto diet means that you eat lots of protein, a good amount of non-starchy/carby vegetables, and a high level of healthy fats. People on keto primarily count their carbs first and calories second. Keto folk want to try to eat no more than 20 grams of carbs a day. A mini fun-size Snickers bar has 10.5 grams and a McDonald's small fries has 29. Even a cup of zucchini, which is a nice vegetable, has 6, so keeping to just 20 for a day is hard.

This post is gonna get long if I get into too much explanation. The real reason for this post is why am I doing it and how is it going. 

While weight loss was my initial reason, I've actually got multiple reasons now, especially as I've researched more.

Lose weight - People constantly say "where do you plan on losing weight from?" or "why do YOU need to lose weight?"  Same as everyone, I look at photos and I look pudgy in them!  So now I'm down 6 pounds in the month, but want to lose another 6. Keep in mind that larger people can drop 15 pounds in a month, everyone is different. Also know that the first drop in weight will be water weight as glucose = more water storage and as your body starts to switch to fat burning, it stores less water.  Drink more!

Gluten sensitivity - I've been wondering for a while if I'm gluten sensitive. I love bread and pasta, but they make me sleepy and anyone who knows me knows that I have to take a nap every day because I get so tired by midday. Tiredness can be a sign of gluten sensitivity. After my 6 weeks are up, I plan to eat a pizza and then see how my body reacts. 

Energy levels - As stated above, I'm falling asleep by noon and have to take a nap every day. I can't figure out why and feel diet could be a big part of it. Keto talks a lot about increased energy as your body learns to use fat to sustain you. Instead of the up and down swings of your body sugars, you have a constant fuel keeping you going. 

Cholesterol - It seems counter intuitive to think eating a lot of fat is going to help your cholesterol, but many people and a few studies have indicated that as your body makes adjustments, it actually switches to producing more of the good cholesterol and less of the bad. "For HDL cholesterol, or "good" cholesterol, higher levels are better. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is known as the "good" cholesterol because it helps remove other forms of cholesterol from your bloodstream."

Inflammation - More and more these days we hear about how inflammation is stressful to your body and contributes to many diseases. In my case, I have been having a tendonitis issue for years and would love to be rid of it.

What does keto eating look like?

almond flour pancakes

Most people do a Bulletproof Coffee or Cocoa in the morning because the high fat from the grassfed butter and coconut oil helps fuel you for the morning. But other typical breakfasts are bacon and eggs, fritatas, avocado/coconut milk smoothies, and even scones or pancakes that are made with almond and/or coconut flour instead.

Lunch for me is often a salad or celery with guacamole or a cheese dip. I'm thrilled that Chando's has lettuce wrap tacos and Quesatacos where they make the taco shell from a cheese skirt. Very greasy, but keto perfection!

Dinner is often meat and veggies such as cauliflower (riced, mashed, roasted) or kale sauteed in bacon grease. I also love making shrimp pesto alfredo and I put it over either no-carb shirataki noodles or spiralized zucchini.

Yes, there is dessert. Like sugar-free cheesecake! Stevia is your friend on Keto and so I blend cream cheese with whipped cream and stevia. The only keto approved fruits are berries, so cheesecake with berries! Or last night I made chocolate avocado truffles. There are many baked desserts too, as long as you use almond or coconut flour.

Takeaways so far

After the first week of getting used to it (and be warned there is a thing called keto flu), I found that my cravings had all but disappeared. I used to be munching all day long at work, constantly thinking of food, and looking for the nearest Panera. Not anymore. I rarely nibble and saying 'no' to sweets has been easy now. This from someone with a notorious sweet tooth!

I do feel my energy levels are better through the day. I'm not falling asleep at noon and if I skip my nap, I'm not as dead feeling the rest of the day as I used to be. 

I'm sleeping more soundly. I'm still waking up a few times a night, but my sleep is much deeper than before.

What now? Will I stay with it? Can you cheat? Can I really go without fruit in the summer?

These are all questions I will be dealing with. Yes, you can cheat, but only a meal at a time and it has to be good carbs like sweet potatoes, not pastries! There are also people who will cycle and do keto for a few months, then paleo, then back to keto. I think this could work for me so I could enjoy summer fruit season.

I seem to have plateaued on the weight loss and so I'm going to tweak things a bit the next two weeks. I think I'll start fasting. Many people on keto do intermittent fasting. You fast 16 hours, eat for 8, for example. My plan is two more weeks of this (6 total) and then go get my blood work done. I'm a bit nervous that the cholesterol will be high and my doctor will frantically call me about it. (He's been bugging me about it.) They say keto adjusting your body can take months, so six weeks might not be enough. 

The reality is that living keto is about making a lifestyle change versus a temporary diet. So far I have found it pretty easy, so I plan to continue as best I can with a cheat meal every now and then. The plan is to save my special foodie events for those cheat days. 

Stay tuned. I'll update in the future.


Healthful Pursuit - has great podcasts and Youtube videos too
Siim Land - great info videos on Youtube
Bulletproof
Dr. Jockers

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