How to tell you've entered ketosis

Today is day one of week two* for me and I have maintained in ketosis regularly for the entirety of the week. If you're at about the same point in the diet as I am, you're probably also in Ketosis if you've been maintaining 20 grams or less of carbs everyday. If this is your first time doing Ketosis, you may still be feeling the effects of induction (aka: keto flu) and are possibly still fatigued or foggy headed. For most people, this will have completely passed by the time you finish week two.

So, now that you've done everything to get into ketosis, how do you know that you're actually there? The easiest way to figure that out is to use ketosticks.

From what I hear, you can find them for around $6 at Walmart. I bought my first batch at Target, where I spent $12 on a box of 50, so do some shopping around before you purchase any as the price seems to vary drastically depending on where you buy them. 

The premise behind Ketosticks is pretty straight forward - you pee on them. The color read out will tell you whether or not you're secreting ketones. If you're secreting ketones, you're in ketosis! This is important: you're either in ketosis or not in ketosis, there is no gray area. The other day Boyfriend said to me, "The ketosticks say that I'm really in ketosis (ie: the sticks were reading that he had a "large" amount of ketones in his system), so I could probably eat some dessert and it wouldn't hurt anything." - WRONG! If the ketosticks say that you have a large amount of ketones in your system, you probably just need to drink some more water, you camel. As a matter of fact, you absolutely do need to drink more water, as its an important part of the diet and helps you break down fats easier. I try, try being the operative word here, to drink 3 liters of water a day. You should be drinking as much as possible and certainly no less than the recommended 64 ounces a day. 

You may also be able to tell that you've entered ketosis if your pee has an alcoholic sent to it. The smell of your breath may change as well, but its not usually very easy for us to notice that on our own. However, if you are remaining between 20 and 50 grams of carbs per day, you should be within ketosis within no more than a week. 

So what about getting kicked out of ketosis? This can be a little trickier. Everyone's body reacts differently to different foods and some of those foods may kick one person out of ketosis but not the other. I have read forums about people claiming that artificial sweeteners cause them to leave ketosis, but I've never been exactly sure how they were able to pinpoint for certain that this was the result of artificial sweeteners and nothing else. Again, Ketosticks are usually the easiest way to tell if you're in or out of ketosis. But remember, just if your ketosticks read that you had a "large" concentration of ketones in the morning and a "small" amount in the middle of the day, that doesn't mean you're exiting ketosis, you could simply be more hydrated. However, if the reading goes from "small" to "negative" then you may have a problem. Also, if you eat a cupcake and then immediately run to the bathroom and check your ketone levels, don't be surprised if you're still in ketosis. The foods you eat need time to process (sometimes even a few days) before they can kick you out of ketosis. 

I realize that this is a lot of information, so here are the main points, a TL;DR if you will:

*Buy ketosticks

*Pee on ketosticks

*Any reading on Ketosticks other than "negative" means you're in Ketosis

*Drink lots of water

*You're either in Ketosis or you're not in Ketosis, there is no gray area

*Use ketosticks regularly to make sure you're maintaining ketosis

*Stay between 20 and 50 grams of carbs to ensure that you're staying in Ketosis. 

If you have any further questions, leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer it. Or you can ask the wise people over at Reddit.com/r/keto. 

Happy Ketoing! 

Bacon-Wrapped Jalepeno Poppers!

Often, when I spend the afternoon cooking keto-friendly foods, I get this sinking feeling of guilt in my stomach as if whatever I was doing would be shunned by society and lead to public flogging if anyone were ever to find out what decadent concoctions I'm making. Like when I rotate the never-ending supply of bacon fat I have saved in my fridge or make smoothies with heavy whipping cream and raw eggs. There's just something about the absurdity of it all that seems . . . evil. Needless to say, these feelings only last during the interim time between preparation and eating, once the food is being consumed I normally decide its worth the public flogging.

This dish is definitely one of those that always gives me the overwhelming sense of guilt. I should be upfront about the fact that this is not a budget friendly snack as the recipe calls for a whole packet of bacon. Well, I suppose if you were able to show a little restraint you might be able to turn this recipe into 4 snack sessions or two decent sized meals, but I'm not going to expect much of anyones will power when faced with the glory that is Bacon-Wrapped Jalepeno Poppers.

Here's what you'll need:
- Jalepenos (I think I grabbed about 6-8 which would yield 12-16 poppers)
- 8 oz of full fat cream cheese
- Bacon (12-16 slices)
- 1 TBSP Garlic Powder
- 1/4 cup Parmesan (optional)
- Cayenne (optional)

Set oven to 350 degrees

Start off by softening the cream cheese, I did this by microwaving it for about 15-25 seconds. Mix in Garlic Powder and Parmesan until fully blended. Set mixture aside.

Take your Jalepenos and start slicing them in half.

a very complicated task that needed

visual guidance for your assistance! 

Now start de-seeding them. Be sure to get out all the white stuff as well, it is bitter and can ruin the taste. 

Notice how nice and clean they are?

Now, at this point you have two options. For those of you who like spicy foods, go ahead and leave the jalepenos as they are. For those of you who are a bit more sensitive to spice, give the jalepenos a good rinse. This should help wash away some of the spiciness. I personally always leave them unwashed and normally think they could still be spicier. Generally, I probably have a moderate reaction to spice. 

Once you've cleaned them real well, go ahead and start filling those bad boys up with the cream cheese mixture. 

Are you drooling yet? 

Okay, here's where I got a little nutty and decided to try something new, but this is completely optional. I figured they looked a little plain so I sprinkled some cayenne on top to kick things up a notch. Of course, this will add heat to them, so be cautious of how spicy you want them to turn out. 

Doesn't that look better?

Alright, now is about the point where you should start to feel guilty. Wrap those suckers in bacon! I used about a strip per jalepeno half, but if your jalepenos are a little smaller than mine, you may want to cut the bacon strips in half. The first time I made this recipe I used toothpicks to hold the bacon in place, but in the end I felt like it wasn't worth the trouble. You decide what works best for you. 

oh god, did we really just do this?

Now back those evil goodies at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy. . . or until your will power caves and you can't wait any longer. 

Note: at this point in the baking process my camera decided to die. I had already waited the 30 minutes for these guys to cook, so I had no patience remaining to let my camera battery charge. Therefore, the below picture was taken with my phone and doesn't do these poppers their deserved justice. Alas, it is what it is. 

Enjoy! 

Unbelievably believable keto pizza that tastes like the real deal!

As I mentioned in the last post, I recently decided to host a "cheat" night for Boyfriend considering he was feeling a little frustrated with his adventures in Ketosis. And if there's one thing I know Boyfriend loves more than almost anything, its pizza. I had given Meatza at try before and was pretty unimpressed with the result - frankly, it was just a little too meaty for my tastes. But I have heard of so many Ketos and Paleos rave about low-carb pizzas that I figured there had to be a recipe out there that was causing all the fuss. 

Enter The Most Amazing Keto-Friendly Pizza Recipe EVER. At first glance I thought it sounded a little tricky - did I mention that these alternative recipes have been known to make my palms sweat, because they do? But once you get over the fact that "Riced Cauliflower" is just shredded cauliflower, it stops seeming so scary and is, in fact, quite easy and fast to prepare - oh, and its SUPER affordable. 

I nearly forgot to snap a photo before I dug in, it looked

and smelled so good! 

Here are the ingredients you'll need: 

- Cauliflower, cooked.  (I bought a bag of frozen and then just nuked it for 4 minutes)

- Pizza sauce (I used Ragu as it was the lowest-carb pizza sauce that my local grocer had on the shelves   

  at the time) 

- Mozarella (at least a cup)

- Whatever cheese topping you want (I used Kraft Italian blend). 

- Whatever veggies or meat toppings you want

- Parsley, dried.

- Oregano, dried (or whatever italian seasonings your heart desires). 

- 1 egg

- Salt to taste

Yeah, thats it! 

Okay, before we get started, I need to tell you that this recipe is really a personal sized pizza. I personally wish I had doubled the recipe so that it was enough for two people, but instead Boyfriend and I both had to suffice with just two slices. Although it really only took about a half hour to whip up, so if you decide you need more it won't take you anytime at all to prepare another pizza. 

Okay, onto the pizza making process:

First, set your oven to 450 degrees. Then shred the cauliflower until you have a loosely packed cup. I found that the florets were a lot easier to shred than the stalks, so I set the stalks aside to use for another recipe - I have mentioned that I'm lazy, yes?

Mix that cup of cauliflower with 1 egg and 1 cup of mozzarella 

Once thoroughly incorporated, press the mixture flat onto a greased pizza pan and sprinkle generously with the dried italian seasoning of your choosing. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes. 

Once the crust is baked change the oven settings to high broil. 

Top the crust with 1/4 cup of sauce, the toppings of your choice and cheese. 

Broil until cheese is melted (about 3-4 minutes). 

Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Nutrient Information* (For 1/2 of pizza, about 2 slices)

Fat: 35.9 grams

Protein: 44.9 grams

Carbs: 12.3 grams

*This varies depending on the toppings you put on the pizza and the type of sauce you use. To figure out what your pizza's exact nutritional content is I suggest using a program like My Fitness Pal and manually entering the ingredients you use into their customized recipe section. 

Low carb chocolate cake . . yes, I'm serious.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in an earlier post, but my boyfriend has decided to give Keto a go along with me and its, well, frustrating for him. He was a self-admitted tortilla addict prior to starting this diet, everything he ate was put on a tortilla - he calls them his "vehicle for food." Then there's the fact that a woman in his lab at work is a cupcake artists and is constantly bringing in her evil concoctions for others to try. Needless to say we exchanged this text message the other day while he was at work:

If its not obvious, we're fat enablers. We are avid fans of our local ice cream shop's buy-one-get-one-free deal on Tuesdays and have been known to attend the farmers market simply for it's cupcake stand rather than the wide selection of organic produce. Just thinking about my boyfriend (who we will simply refer to as "boyfriend" from now on) makes my stomach growl thanks to my strong association between him and food. 

Regardless, he's doing well so far so I thought it'd be nice to make a fun keto "cheat" meal for him - and me, of course. So tonight we're having low-carb pizza (the recipe will be in the next post) and low-carb chocolate cake. Now, normally I have found that most low-carb desserts are seriously lacking in authenticity and typically aren't worth the frustration or the expensive ingredients that are needed to make them. Well, that all changed after I learned about Chocolate Bean Cake. I first heard about the recipe here - a fantastic blog for low-carb sweets, and was immediately intrigued by the photos of the final project. 

The recipe does call for Pure Stevia Extract, which can get a little pricey (~$14), but once you've bought that you'll be able to make Chocolate Bean Cake whenever your heart desires, which will be always.  Remember, the cake does have about 12-20 grams of carbs per slice* (depending on size) - which make it less than ideal for someone who is still trying to get into ketosis or is still in the induction phase. Just as chocolate cake is saved for special occasions on a normal diet, chocolate bean cake should be treated the same on a Keto diet.  

*check out the link to the original recipe and my advice at the bottom of the blog for some alternative sweetener combinations to get the carb-count a little lower

I got so excited about the cake that I started

cutting it up and plating it before taking pictures

of the final results. 

Still, you get the point. This cake is delicious, 

there is absolutely nothing beany about it. 

So here's the complete list of what you'll need to make this delicious indulgence (cake and frosting): 

- 1 15 oz can of unseasoned black beans

- 5-6 eggs 

- 14 Tablespoons of butter (1 stick plus 6 tablespoons)

- 3/8 Cup of honey

- 1/2 cup of splenda

- 2 tsp stevia

- 11 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda 

- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream

- 1 Tablespoon + 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt (regular salt is fine if thats all you have)

Set oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9" circular cake pan. 

Rinse the beans in a colander and add to a blender along with 3 eggs, 1 TBSP vanilla and 1 tsp stevia into blender and blend on high until its super smooth. Set mixture aside. 

In a separate bowl mix together 6 TBSP cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Set this mixture aside. 

In a mixing bowl cream together 6 TBSP of softened butter, 1/2 cup splenda and 1/4 cup honey.

 Once blended well, add the blended black bean mixture until fully incorporated.  Once mixed, add the cocoa/ baking powder/baking soda mix and mix for another 2-3 minutes. 

Poor into greased cake pan. Tap pan on hard surface to release any bubbles. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes until cake is firm on top and cooked through. 

For the Frosting: 

Cream 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) softened butter with 1/8 cup of honey and a pinch of stevia extract (you can add more later if you want it to be sweeter). 

Slowly mix in 5 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 2 TBSP of heavy cream, 1 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. If you want the frosting to look for glossy, add 1 egg yolk. 

Allow cake 20-40 minutes to cool before frosting. 

Once frosted, its ready to eat! Although, if you leave it in the fridge overnight any beany-flavor will disapear. Still, Boyfriend and I ate it right after frosting it, while it was still warm, and we both thought it was delicious!

The complete nutrient information is listed below. 

Enjoy!

Nutrient Information per slice (8 slices per cake): 

Calories: 352

Fat: 16.2 grams

Protein: 9.8

Net Carbs: 20 grams*

*the easiest way to reduce the amount of carbs in this recipe is to cut out some of the honey and replace it with more splenda or stevia. Remember, a little Stevia goes a long way and the effectiveness of 1/2 a cup of honey is about equal to about 1/4 cup of Splenda (in my opinion). The cake tastes best if you have a mix of at least three sweeteners, however you can use Xylitol or Erythritol instead of honey if you really wish to reduce the carb count even more. 

Martinis! Or not.

Whenever I go out for drinks with my girlfriends we always plan on just having "one drink" - but inevitably we get a little carried away and end up stumbling home at a later hour than planned with a wee bit too much alcohol in our systems.  While alcohol should always be consumed in moderation, it is okay on the Keto diet, as long as you drink the right things. Normally I stick to vodka sodas as they're reliably carb free and I personally find them to be quite delicious. However last night was martini night at our favorite bar, which resulted in some slight dietary errors on my part.

As I was feeling a bit pooped when it came time for cocktails, I decided to order an espresso martini as that was exactly what my friend was having. However, after looking up the carb-content of your standard espresso martini I, sadly, discovered that I had unintentionally consumed a whopping 32 grams of carbs - in one drink! Needless to say I quickly switched back to vodka, but that one beverage significantly altered my nutrient breakdown for the day. 

eep!

Hopefully this little error, albeit a delicious error, doesn't kick me out of ketosis! 

Keto-Friendly Chicken Salad

I don't know what it is about the combination of chicken and mayonnaise that has always appealed to me, but I'm kind of obsessed; actually, mayonnaise on its own is pretty much perfection as far as I'm concerned. Luckily for me, I just so happened to chose what is possibly the only diet in the history of diets that allows for mayonnaise consumption, so of course I had to make something that exploited this fabulous privilege! Naturally, I chose chicken salad.

For this recipe you'll need:

- 2 chicken breasts (I strongly recommend organic as the flavor is significantly better)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- salt (kosher works best)
- pepper
- 3 eggs, hardboiled
- 5 strips of bacon, cooked
- 1 avocado
- 6 oz of blueberries (optional)
- 3/4 cup of mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped green peppers
- 1 lemon

Set oven to 350 degrees. Cover the chicken with a liberal amount of olive oil and sprinkle both sides generously with salt and pepper. Place in baking tray and bake the chicken for 20-25 minutes (this applies for organic chicken, non-organic chicken may need to be cooked longer).

While you're waiting for the chicken to cook, go ahead and hard boil your eggs. I personally have found that adding the eggs to already boiling water helps keep the shell from sticking, but everyone seems to have their own method.

Chop the eggs to desired consistency and add to mixing bowl. You will also want to start cooking the bacon until it is to a desired done-ness. I personally like both crunchy and fatty bacon bits, so I try to vary the level at which each piece of bacon is cooked. 

Mmm, bacon. 

Once the bacon is cooked, give it a rough chop and add it to the mixing bowl along with the eggs. 

All you need to do from here is chop up the onions, green peppers and celery and add them to the bowl as well. 

Oh, don't forget the avocado! 

You can chose to either chop the blueberries in halves or throw them into the salad whole - personally, I like to add them whole, but that really has more to do with me being lazy than it does taste. 

Once the chicken is cooked give it a good rough chop

Add all the chicken into the bowl, along with the mayonnaise

Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, squeeze a little fresh lemon juice into the bowl, give a good mix and Voila! Delicious chicken salad is complete! 

The recipe should yield about 5 servings. Here's the nutritional breakdown per serving:

Calories: 468

Total Fat: 41 grams

Net Carbs: 11.3 grams*

Protein: 16.3

Enjoy! 

*If you want to reduce the carb count further, the best option is to eliminate the blueberries. 

In Ketosis!

I'm off to a job interview in an hour so this needs to be quick, but I am officially in Ketosis! I had very little induction flu this time apart from feeling a bit lethargic yesterday. From what I've read about induction flu, it appears that it is usually more mild for people who have recently been in Keto than those who are entering Ketosis for the first time.

Hoorah!