Life changing!

The pictures to the left were taken back in 2007. While I have always been a very bubbly and smiley person, behind the smile it was a very different story. I was suffering from debilitating depression, anxiety and panic attacks I hardly left the house and I had just lost my job. I had bad knees and struggled to exercise and even tie my own shoe laces.  My blood sugar spikes and lows gave me chronic lightheadedness all the time, I had daily headaches that would sometimes result in migraines. 

There was this one day when I hit rock bottom and the reflection I finally saw staring back at me changed everything. Call it a life changing moment, an epiphany, a moment of clarity, the state of denial I'd been living in came to light!

I realised I had to choose between a life of physical and mentally daily struggles where I had become the person feeling sorry for myself everyday or was I going to make changes that felt extremely overwhelming and impossible but I knew would change my life.  At the time the latter felt like the hardest thing in the world and unabtainable but I just put one foot in front of the other and begun, with the support of my amazing husband and family I worked my butt off everyday and as the physical changes started happening it was like peeling an onion, I found the core person that I had always been, I had hidden myself away with all those layers.

Five years on and I still cannot believe that I am where I am today.  I no longer suffer the debilitating depression, anxiety and panic attacks I once did, while I certainly still have my struggles and days that feel harder than others my life is no longer a pity party and I have a huge amount of gratitude.  I run my own successful sewing business that I started by myself and worked hard at, I am thankful for it everyday.  I can exercise freely with no knee pain and I don't have to constantly eat every couple of hours to stabilise my blood sugar, I am happier, I am healthier and I have a completely different outlook on life, suffice to say I am a different person but my spirit always remained the same. This journey has taught me so much about myself and while I love the physical transformation I am truly thankful that I found myself again.

The magic pill?

You want a magic pill? Don't we all and I'm sorry to say it doesn't exist, I believe that Oprah would have invented it by now!  I bet you would be willing to pay a lot of money just to have "the answer" so once and for all you could lose the weight and live happily ever after.  We live in a world where we can get whatever we want right now, instant gratification.  You can pretty much pay for anything and I cannot even count how many diet pills and so called magical diets there are for sale these days, everyone is trying to make a quick buck.  

The one thing I have learnt with this weight loss journey is that we cannot pay for a better body unless you are willing to go under the knife and that is a painful and expensive way to go and for most of us just not a reality.  To get results we have work for it and wait for the magic to happen, it's certainly not an overnight cure and it's a huge mental game, many people put it in the too hard basket and feel as if they will never figure out just how to do it.  It seems too confusing with all the mixed messages out there about how to eat, I get it! 

Please remember that no matter what we are all unique and what works for someone else is not necessarily what will work for you.  For instance I follow a low carb, high fat, primal diet that dips in and out of ketosis year round, it works for me, it's helped me shed 40kgs and I've maintained that loss for 5 years now. However I do not think that it will work like that for everyone and for most of you out there you won't ever need to go to the ketogenic levels that I have, I use a ketogenic diet to manage health issues like migraines, pcos and menieres disease, when I'm not in ketosis I don't feel my best.  Now I know a lot of people are tempted to monkey see, monkey do and mimic my diet and for many out there it might be the very thing that will help you (hence why I do this) but for a lot of people out there it could be the worst choice and I'm not encouraging everyone to just jump into it without some serious thought first.  

Don't be fooled into thinking that weight loss is the hard part and maintaining is easy, quite the opposite in fact! To maintain your weight loss is one of the hardest things, the changes you need to make in relation to your food choices need to be for the rest of your life. I'm sure you have all tried a "diet" and then stopped "dieting" only to gain the weight back and then some.  You need to make this a lifestyle, yes that sounds cheesy but it's the only sustainable way to keep the weight off. If you are eating shakes and protein bars everyday and you cannot imagine that being a part of your life forever then you will possibly be setting yourself up to fail. It's super important to choose the foods that you enjoy where you have variety, foods that help keep you satiated and the kinds of foods that you know you can eat for the rest of your life. I'm not going to talk about how many calories or macro-nutrients I think you should eat as it's too individual to cover.

So start small, set yourself a realistic goal, do not envision yourself in a unrealistic body, chances are that you will not obtain that idealistic version of yourself.  Set realistic and small goals, you can change this as you get further along, obtaining small goals is mentally much easier, for instance thinking in terms of 5kgs at a time vs losing 40kgs all at once can feel doable. Treat yourself to something lovely like a massage, pedicure, facial, new book, pair of shoes once you have reached your goals, it's a great wee motivator.  

Next step is to make a plan, figure out what style of eating suits your personality and find a support group out there, it's much easier to lose weight when you have the support of others.  There are multiple websites out there that have meal plans and recipe ideas. 

Consistency is key, I cannot stress this enough.  The choices you make on a daily basis is what will determine your fat loss goals, that's not to say that you can't ever have a treat, life is for living so get amongst it but try and plan it so you can find a balance.  Life will always be full of celebrations and exciting times surrounding food and you will have to make conscious choices.  Decide that your brothers wedding is a time you might want to let your hair down, eat all the cake and drink all the wine, but your aunties birthday might be a good time to practice some resistance and remind yourself you can politely say no.

Patience is needed, you will not get anywhere if you cannot practice some patience.  It takes a long time to lose substantial weight in a safe manner.  Some weeks you may not see any losses and other weeks you will feel like you have this dialed in and totally in control.  Like I mentioned earlier, weight loss isn't linear so don't expect the same results every week, just because you don't see your weight changing all the time doesn't mean it's not working.  The worst thing you can do is give up or start dropping your calories too low because then you are setting yourself up for failure and a damaged metabolism.

Results take time and it generally takes a lot longer then you think it will.  Remember you didn't gain weight overnight so one good meal won't make you thin just like one not so great meal won't blow all your efforts. True fat loss takes time and it's not an exact science like many lead you to believe.  If you have a lot of weight to lose it will happen much faster but if you don't have as much to lose it can be a slow and frustrating journey at times, don't give up.  Nothing worth having comes easily.

Most important of all...enjoy the journey! We can be so focused that we miss all the joy that comes from improving our eating habits, discovering new foods and new recipes, starting new hobbies and finding new ways to exercise that you enjoy.  Try not to be so focused on it that you miss out on life in the process! 

Five years ago I was sitting exactly where you are today feeling like it was never going to happen for me, I started this journey scared and fearful I might fail but I had nothing to lose.  I have never looked back x

Primal, Paleo & Low Carb in New Zealand!

A great watch if you can handle an hour of nutrition talk! I'm a geek so I love this stuff 

Grant Schofield is a professor at AUT who is challenging the current conventional wisdom and is a huge proponent of a high fat, low carb diet. He also specialises in low carbohydrate diets for athletes. Check out his website for some truly great posts especially about Ketogenic diets which I have been very successful with.

I just love that we have some great developments for Primal, Paleo and low carb diets in New Zealand and these amazing people are really doing their best to get the message out there:

Grant Schofield (http://profgrant.com/)
Caryn Zinn (http://flexaclinic.com/flexa-clinic/specialty-consultants/nutrition/)
Mikki Williden (http://mikkiwilliden.com/)
Jamie Scott (http://thatpaleoguy.com/) 
Julianne Taylor (http://paleozonenutrition.com/) 
just to name a few. Keep up the great work guys!!

Back in skinny jeans & my food diary!

A while back - say 4 months ago I didn't feel like the inspiration so many of you think of me as, a few of you might know about my recent weight gain - I actually ended up gaining 9 kgs (not 6 like I initially thought).  I had taken a break from the scale and thought it would all iron out,  when my pants no longer fit I needed to get real with myself.  When I finally weighed again on the 3rd July 2013, I ended up weighing 78kgs which freaked the crap out of me, I had not been this weight for over 4 years when I first lost my weight.   This was a result of my safe starch experiment which did not agree with me and left me feeling sick and fat.  It wasn't just the starches that did it, I believe that for me the starches were a slippery slope that lead me to eating a bunch of unhealthy foods and my appetite was out of control!  Now I think for many people adding safe starches works wonderfully, I am just not one of them.

I have hovered in the 65-69kg range for 4 years and feel pretty awesome there, I have followed a Primal diet, mostly in ketosis with my carbs ranging from 20-70 a day, some weekends I would break this and have a few treats but I have spent the majority of the last 5 years (including the 1 year it took me to lose the weight) in a keto-adapted state - primal food of course.

Now a 9kg weight gain is a big deal for me, I knew if I didn't get this off pronto then it could turn into a much bigger problem and I just wasn't prepared to go down that road after all the hard work and determination I've put into my health over the years. I'm writing this to show you guys that I'm just a normal person with the same insecurities and imperfections that you all have.  I'm not perfect and I have to make daily choices with my food just like everyone else.  I get comments like "it must be easy when you work from home", well my answer to that is yes it can be easier in terms of cooking what I want to when I want but it also means I have such easy access to my fridge and pantry and I have to be super mindful that I don't just graze on food willy nilly.

I had the most amazing email from Mark Sisson when I asked him for some guidance as I was feeling very deflated.  Part of what he wrote me:

Sorry you have experienced a minor setback, but I'm glad you are experimenting and trying new things.  In no way would you ever disappoint me.  Throughout your journey as detailed in your photos you have looked beautiful and healthy (and radiant) at the 69-70 kg weight.  That is a great, healthy, long-life weight for you.  There is no reason to struggle to get down much below that.  Just pick up where you left off and you will get there again.  No apologies.  No disappointments.  No beating yourself up for having tried something new.  Just gratitude for what you have done to get here and for all the knowledge and confidence you now have to be healthy for the rest of your life.

Hearing that really helped me to stop beating myself up about what I had done and to just move on, when you know better you do better.  I knew what to do so I just got right back to basics remembering that slow weight loss works best and thinking long term about a healthy long-life weight as Mark so eloquently pointed out to me.

So I have been back to following a ketogenic version of Primal for 18 weeks now (with 2 weeks of a Whole30 - well it was a Whole14 for me) and I have managed to get those 9kgs off! I am so thrilled and I feel back to my normal self weight wise, the health issues are improving, I do think my body took a real hit after my starch experiment. 

I have also had a nasty inner ear virus a few months back which has made my Meniere's Disease much worse and it really has thrown me a curve ball, the way I choose to respond to it is what matters.  I choose my health first because without that I have nothing.  I find that sticking to a ketogenic diet and watching my sodium intake seems to be the thing that helps me manage my menieres's disease, along with a myriad of symptoms like depression, anxiety, PCOS, migraines and daily headaches that all flare up when I'm not in ketosis.

As explained in my Ketosis post I am monitoring my blood ketone levels, just to see how deep in ketosis I am, I won't do this forever (the strips are really expensive $1.70 each!), it's because I'm a data nerd and I am seeing what foods will throw me out of ketosis - too much protein is certainly something that will do that.  I tend to feel better when I am in ketosis, I have more energy, no crazy sweet cravings, I'm sleeping 8-9hours a night and only waking up once, if that.  If I eat a higher carb diet (anything above 70) I wake 4-5 times a night so the quality isn't as good. As mentioned above all the health issues I've struggled with for years are improved beyond what any medication has been able to achieve, food really is that powerful.

It's always a bit of a catch 22, because you need energy to put into cooking decent food for yourself, yet you don't have the energy until the processed carbs are out.  If you can just get through that initial carb flu then the boundless energy you get means that continuing to cook amazing food isn't in the hard basket you might think it is.  At least this is the case for me.

So I've detailed the last 7 days of my food diary to give you an idea of what I have been eating to lose the weight.  Weight loss isn't linear, some weeks you will lose more, some weeks you will lose less, some weeks you will gain and some weeks you won't lose at all, this is why I don't recommend weighing all the time otherwise you will likely drive yourself crazy.  If you can weigh and take it for what it is then by all means go for it.  If you are weight training then don't even bother as you will be changing your body composition and the scale won't tell you much, take photos and body measurements, it's much more accurate than the scale.    

For weight loss I try to keep my calories around about 1500-1600 a day, for you it might be different depending on your size and activity level.  I'm not currently active due to a back injury and the inner ear issues, I've only been doing gentle walks.  If you are active then please increase your calories.  The more you cut your calories the more you will damage your metabolism and then it will be difficult to keep the weight off in the long term.  It is better to do a slow deficit, for example my maintenance calories are around about 2000 a day so therefore I only drop about 400 a day.  It means a slower weight loss of about 1 pound or 0.5kg a week, not too much too fast but enough to keep momentum.

Now please don't think you have to run out and purchase a ketone meter and test for ketones, nor do you have to even be in ketosis like I am, I do it because I feel better health wise and I like the feeling of ketosis - not everyone does.  

At the end of the day if you drop the processed carbs, grains, processed seed oils, sugary products and keep an eye on your calories for a couple of weeks to figure out if it's working then that should be enough.  Exercise is also a great idea, there is so many health benefits to exercise, too many to write down here.  When it comes to weight loss the majority of your results will come from from you eat, it's about 80% of the equation.  Keeping a written diary is vital, pay attention to your mood, sleep, appetite etc.. Your body is really good at letting you know if you need to change something.  If that isn't enough then going down the route of a Ketogoenic diet is always an option.

Wednesday 30th October 2013 
Blood Ketone level: 0.8
8am: Duck egg omelet (2 eggs), with cream, cherry tomatoes, coriander and cheese
3pm: 2 slices of Haloumi cheese, 4 walnuts
6pm: Steak with mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, green beans, sesame oil and coconut aminos, 2 squares of 85% Lindt

59gms Carb - 17gms Fiber = 42gms Net Carbs, 83gms Protein, 130gms Fat 1630 Calories

Thursday 31st October

Blood Ketone level: 0.9

7am: 2 eggs mashed in butter, Decaf nespresso with cream and 1 tsp sugar, 2 squares of  85% Lindt

2pm: 4 Flax and Almond Crackers from Little Bird, topped with Mashed tuna mixed with homemade mayo. 3 slices of Haloumi cheese, 1 square of 85% Lindt 

8pm: Chilli Prawns with a large salad of greens, cherry tomatoes, avocado. 1 square of 85% Lindt.

39gms Carb - 8gms Fiber = 31gms Net Carbs, 70gms Protein, 124gms Fat, 1580 Calories

Friday 1st November

Blood Ketone level: 1.7

10am: 2 eggs mashed in butter, Decaf nespresso with cream and 1 tsp sugar, 2 squares of  85% Lindt, 1 piece of frozen macadamia and cashew fudge

6pm: Scallops with zucchini noodles and browned butter and cream topped with parmesan cheese, 1 square 85% Lindt

39gms Carb - 11gms Fiber = 28gms Net Carbs, 65gms Protein, 121gms Fat, 1486 Calories

Saturday 2nd November

Blood Ketone level: 1.7
9am: Hot Coconut Chocolate - 60mls Coconut cream, 20gms Unsalted Butter, 2 tsps sugar, 2 tsps Cocoa powder, boiling hot water (all blended together - makes a creamy hot chocolate), 1 square 85% Lindt

1pm: 4 Flax and Almond Crackers from Little Bird, topped with Mashed tuna mixed with homemade mayo. 1 square 85% Lindt.  
3pm: Decaf Long black with 1 sugar and a side of runny cream (cafe)

6.30pm: Takeaways from Mexican Restaurant: Barbacoa Shredded Beef Salad with cheese, lettuce, guacamole, chipotle, sour cream. 1 square Lindt 85%

*This is a really large mug, the size of two standard cups! I really like drinking out of my Pooh bear mug that my brother bought me for my 16th birthday! This drink fills me up for a few hours :)

62gms Carb - 16gms Fiber = 45gms Net Carbs, 83gms Protein, 124gms Fat, 1605 Calories

Sunday 3rd November
Blood Ketone level: 0.9
8am: Scrambled eggs (2 made with cream and butter), Decaf nespresso with cream and 1 tsp sugar, 2 squares of  85% Lindt
10.30am: Decaf Long black with 1 sugar and a side of runny cream (cafe)

2pm: Hot Coconut Chocolate - 60mls Coconut cream, 20gms Unsalted Butter, 2 tsps sugar, 2 tsps Cocoa powder, boiling hot water (all blended together - makes a creamy hot chocolate), handful of fresh strawberries

7pm: Pork and Chicken from the weber BBQ, roasted pumpkin and radishes, large salad with avocado, red peppers and homemade aioli

41gms Carb - 15gms Fiber = 26gms Net Carbs, 59gms Protein, 127gms Fat, 1586 Calories

Monday 4th November

Blood Ketone level: 1.1

8am: 2 eggs mashed with homemade aioli, Hot Coconut Chocolate - 60mls Coconut cream, 20gms Unsalted Butter, 2 tsps sugar, 2 tsps Cocoa powder, boiling hot water (all blended together - makes a creamy hot chocolate)

2pm: Decaf nespresso with cream and 1 tsp sugar, slice of leftover pork

6pm: Thai Green Chicken Curry Soup (recipe link is for the curry, for the soup I just make it basically the same but use half the amount of coconut cream and a couple of cups of Chicken Bone Broth). 2 pieces 85% Lindt

31gms Carb - 7gms Fiber = 24gms Net Carbs, 60gms Protein, 104gms Fat, 1380 Calories

Tuesday 5th November

Blood Ketone level: 1.8
12pm: Leftover pork, roast pumpkin with spinach greens and homemade aioli and lemon olive oil, 2 squares 85% Lindt
6pm: Chicken, Cashew and Coconut Curry (leftover chicken with onion and carrot, mix in Tikka masala curry paste from Pataks and Coconut cream). Served with Coriander and Ginger Cauliflower Rice cooked in butter. 1 square 85% Lindt

52gms Carb - 13gms Fiber = 39gms Net Carbs, 59gms Protein, 127gms Fat, 1621 Calories

Wednesday 6th November

Blood Ketone level: 1.1

1pm: A bed of spinach and asparagus, topped with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. 1 square Lindt 85%
7.30pm: Takeaways from Burgerfuel: Fordfreakout burger wrapped in lettuce - 1/3 pound 100% pure NZ grass fed beef, bacon, avocado, salad, relish and fresh natural aioli. 1 square Lindt 85%

37gms Carb - 15gms Fiber = 22gms Net Carbs, 56gms Protein, 129gms Fat, 1670 Calories

My jeans feel looser and I totally did a happy dance to be back down to 69kgs! The entire time I've been losing weight I haven't felt deprived, hungry or like I was dieting - does it look like I've been on some restrictive diet? I think not!

I choose not to make many primal or paleo "substitutes" as I find it gives me cravings for the real thing and artificial sweeteners (even stevia) trigger vertigo attacks and I cannot stand the bitter taste.   My compromise Macadamia & Cashew Fudge every now and then and 85% Lindt Dark Chocolate everyday, it keeps me sane and satisfied (mostly fat with a little sugar) and I eat many squares a day - don't judge me, it's something that I enjoy ;)  I do think it is important to find a little treat that you can have otherwise you will likely start to feel like you are missing out and that's no fun for anyone!

Like I've said so many times before I can eat this way for the rest of my life therefore I don't feel like I'm dieting. I hope some of you out there find this helpful and encouraging. 

Also I'm finally up to date with all social media networks now!!! Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Twitter 
I now have videos on YouTube as some of you may learn better from videos vs blogging (this is still in the early stages so apologies for a bit of amateur videoing).  You can also view them through Pinterest, plus on Pinterest I have books I've read, recipe links, food I eat on a daily basis and primal resources etc...
Instagram I upload a few more pictures that I do on Facebook as the rules of Facebook are changing and you have to pay for everyone to see your posts which annoys me!  Twitter... well updates of all my geeky links that I read and whatever else I find amusing or helpful.  

I think that about covers this gigantic post, please share this around to help spread the word about Primal, I believe one person at a time change will happen.  Thank you all so much for following me and keeping me on my toes, without your support I'm not sure I would have been so motivated to do all this so I have a lot of gratitude to you all! Michelle x

Blender Hollandaise

Blender Hollandaise


Serves 2-4

• 1 or 2 egg yolks (room temperature)
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Capful white wine vinegar or squeeze of lemon juice
• 50-100gms Butter
• Salt to taste and Freshly cracked pepper

Pop the egg yolk, mustard, vinegar and S&P into a blender and blend for a minute. Melt your butter so it's nice and hot, slowly add the butter in a very small steady drizzle into the blender, it should thicken almost straight away and you will have hollandaise, if it doesn't emulsify you will have a liquid mess, it's not the easiest thing to make but with practice you will be fine. It can take a little trial and error...if you goggle blender hollandaise there hopefully will be a video where you can watch the process.

Mushroom & Peppered Feta Omelette

*even better served with avocado on the side!

Mushroom and Peppered Feta Omelette

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2-3 Tablespoons Cream
• 20gms Smoked Butter
• 3 Portabello Mushrooms
• 25gms Feta Cheese
• Salt & Pepper

Step by Step instructions:

Take out your feta, I love the whitestone because it's lower in sodium and still really tasty.  

Chop up your mushrooms and fry in a non stick pan with the whitestone smoked butter (this butter is amazing!!!!!!!)

Once the mushrooms have are browned then put them aside while you make the omelet



Take two or three free range eggs and crack them in a bowl, add salt and 2-3 tablespoons of cream

Get your non-stick pan nice and hot but not so much that it burns, add some extra butter!

Pour your egg mixture into the hot butter and it should start bubbling straight away.

You need to move quickly with your fish slice and move the egg around the pan, moving it into the centre until it's mostly cooked.

Until it looks like this...

Add your mushrooms and feta and add tons and tons of cracked pepper to one half of the omelet

It should look like this...

Then flip it in half and serve your perfectly cooked Omelette!

Ketosis

EDIT November 2014:

I no longer endorse Ketosis for the long term,  over the long term ketosis threw my body into complete disarray, my hormones and cortisol is really out of whack and I'm working really hard these days to get my natural energy and sleep balance back.  Please do your research and if something doesn't feel right then make sure you question it.

Hey guys, I have dipped in and out of ketosis for close to 5 years, I don't always stay in ketosis 100% of the time, we all know that I love to have indulgences every now and then and I like my treats, however the majority of the time I spend in ketosis is because it helps the myriad of health issues I have struggled with all my life and I feel my very best in ketosis.  

I've posted this video to help those of you that also may struggle with these issues.  Please don't think you have to achieve nutritional ketosis to get the same benefits as I have, we are all very unique and you need to treat your body with the respect it deserves.  Ketosis is a stress on the body much like exercise and calorie restriction (not always a bad thing) but if you are living a stressful life and already exercising and dieting then doing a ketogenic version of a primal or paleo diet may not be what is right for YOU! I cannot figure that out for you so please use a diary like I suggest to find your right version of Primal/Paleo.

If you have only been doing low carb for less than 6 weeks then you might be disappointed in the results if you buy one of these machines as you may not be keto-adapted yet. It can take 1-6 weeks to achieve ketosis.  See more information below.

When it comes to eating real food I believe that most people will experience some significant health and weight loss results without having to go on a ketogenic diet. 

Links for information about ketosis and where to get the ketone monitoring machine.
http://www.medica.co.nz/diabetes-care/blood-ketone-monitoring.html
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lose-weight-by-achieving-optimal-ketosis
http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/is-ketosis-dangerous
http://www.myfitnesspal.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP6DtqmZ3Mw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc96Lk1VVS4

Information below from DietDoctor

Ketosis

Ketosis is a state at which the body has an extremely high fat-burning rate. Even the brain runs on fat, via ketone bodies. These are energy molecules in the blood (like blood sugar) which become fuel for our brains after being converted from fat by the liver.

To encourage ketone production, the amount of insulin in your bloodstream must be low. The lower your insulin, the higher your ketone production. And when you have a well-controlled, sufficiently large amount of ketones in your blood, it’s basically proof that your insulin is very low – and therefore, that you’re enjoying the maximum effect of your low-carbohydrate diet. That’s what’s called optimal ketosis.

Measuring ketones

Today, there are reasonably-priced gadgets available for measuring ketone levels at home. One needle prick of the finger, and in just a few seconds you’ll know your blood ketone level.

Blood ketones are best measured on a fasted stomach in the morning (before breakfast, that is). Here are a few pointers on how to interpret the result:

• Below 0.5 mmol/L is not considered “ketosis”. At this level, you’re far away from maximum fat-burning.
• Between 0.5-1.5 mmol/L is light nutritional ketosis. You’ll be getting a good effect on your weight, but not optimal.
• Around 1.5 – 3 mmol/L is what’s called optimal ketosis and is recommended for maximum weight loss.
• Values of over 3 mmol/L aren’t neccessary. That is, they will achieve neither better nor worse results than being at the 1.5-3 level. Higher values can also sometimes mean that you’re not getting enough food. For type 1 diabetics, it can be caused by a severe lack of insulin, see below.

Many who firmly believe they are eating a strict low-carb diet are surprised when they measure their blood ketones. They may be at around only 0.2 or 0.5 – quite far off from the sweet spot! Why?

The trick here is not only to avoid all obvious sourced of carbohydrate (sweets, bread, spaghetti, rice, potatoes), but also to be careful with your protein intake. If you eat large amounts of meat, eggs and the like, the excess protein will converted into glucose in the body. Large amounts of protein can also raise your insulin levels somewhat. This compromises optimal ketosis.

The secret to getting around this is usually to eat your fill with more fat. For example, if you have a bigger helping of herb butter to your steak, you might not feel like having a second steak, and instead feel satisfied after the first one.

A popular trick people use to ingest more fat is “fat coffee” (sometimes called “Magic Bullet Coffee” or MBC). It involves adding one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of coconut oil to your (morning) coffee, and requires a food blender for the right texture.

More fat in your food will fill you up more. This will ensure you eat less protein, and even less carbohydrate. Your insulin will drop and, hopefully, you’ll be able to reach optimal ketosis. And that’s when many a stubborn weight plateau is overcome.