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Keto - The Downlow. Batch cooking and my food diary

My Keto Food Diary

 

Hi love

I'm writing to you on the eve of another lockdown, which depending on where you live, may just be an extension of already intense restrictions. It's a heavy time right now with so much uncertainty.

This week I'm following up about how I eat and it feels like the ideal time to talk about this because having a structured eating routine really helps with grounding. 

As I mentioned in my previous email I've been loosely following the ketogenic diet for about a year now and I've seen great health results with my polycystic ovary syndrome almost disappearing, weight stabilisation and really good energy levels.  

As well as the food itself what is also helpful is having a routine. In a time of uncertainty it's really helpful mentally to ground yourself with healthy habits and structured self care. 
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My Food Diary - A typical weekday


This is what a typical weekday looks like in terms of eating. I relax this completely on Saturday, and just eat whatever I fancy, and on Sunday I start getting back on track and batch cooking for the week ahead


Breakfast


Breakfast normally means a smoothie (room temperature not ice cold) or porridge when it is colder. If you Three Day Cleanse with me it's along the same lines of what we have for breakfast. I blend nut or coconut milk with half a banana, a desert spoon of MCT oil, a handful of light raw greens if I have them, some collagen or a vegan protein powder and I add 2 teaspoons of our own blend of Probiotics, Adaptogens and Vitamin C - Eat Live Magic. If I'm having it as a porridge I let it cool a bit and then stir the Magic into the porridge.

Net* Carbs - about 10 (less without the banana but ensure your nut milk is low carb and not made with rice as this really increases the carb content.

* Net Carbs means total carbohydrate less the fibre content

Lunch


I try to batch cook my lunches on the weekend as I'm busy in the week and otherwise I end up eating high carb gluten filled sandwiches at the last minute.

On the weekend I'll grate a head of broccoli and/or cauliflower and steam it with some brown rice or quinoa. I'll add cashew nuts, pumpkin seeds, chopped avocado and whatever veggies I need to use up and pan fry it all lightly with coconut aminos or if I'm feeling fancy I'll make a sauce in the nutrininja using avocado, lemon and nutritional yeast (think vegan parmesan - much nicer than it sounds :) Sometimes I'll get some organic hummus to stir into it. I make a massive pan of this, divide it into individual containers and freeze them for Craig and me for the week ahead. 

For lunch I'll have one of these pots. I'll usually have some crisps for a treat first and follow with a blueberry Nakd bar (no affiliation I just love them!)

Net Carbs - total 40 most of these coming from the crisps and Nakd bar as the lunch I make is very low carb. 


Dinner


Dinner is always some protein and a load of vegetables. The picture below is a chickpea and tofu curry I made in a big batch using passata, full fat coconut milk and Zim's Tribe Tomato and Chilli sauce which I love and you can find at the Village Wholefood Store in Enfield I wilted in lots of kale or spinach and served it with a bed of cauliflower mash with a side of cauliflower greens and of course a forkful of our Sea Kimchi.

We tend to get through quite a few heads of cauliflower each week and I like to use the whole cauliflower. I will wash and steam a whole head, leaves and all, just discarding the very end of the stalk. I then peel off the cauliflower leaves, chop them up and pan fry them a little with some good quality oyster sauce to have as a side. I put the head of the cauliflower in our nutrininja blender with a little bit of the cooking water, some olive oil, salt and pepper. It makes a beautiful, light and really lovely substitute for mash. You could alternatively just grate it raw, steam it and have it as rice instead. Having a vegetable rice or mash alternative makes such a difference to the carb content of your  meal.

After dinner I'll have a peppermint and licorice tea with a few chunks of raw chocolate pocket pie which we stock from a lovely little female led Cornish company. This is rich, dark and naturally keto friendly with very few carbs per serving.

Net carbs - about 10
As you can see my approach to keto is very moderate. I don't weigh anything, count carbs too closely or measure ketosis. I know it is easy to get obsessive and too controlling when it comes to food and I don't want to go there. If you want to take stricter approach you can get a test that can give you guidance on what kind of food works best for your body and how many carbs you should be eating. Rather than doing this I have just experimented and found that around 60 grams of net carbs and a mostly (but not exclusively) plant based diet works for me from a health and weight perspective. 

A few days a week I'll skip a meal and intermittent fast. There are lots of health benefits to this but it needs to be done quite carefully or it can be harmful. I'll follow up on this next week to give you the complete picture.

I'd love to hear what works for you food wise and/or whether you're thinking of giving a lower carb diet a go. Let me know by replying to this and if you have any questions just ask.

Love Emma
Medical Herbalist at Eat Live

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