(Part 2) Top products from r/xxketo

Yes!! I've been lifting for a few years and it all started with the book the New Rules of Lifting for Women: http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Rules-Lifting-Women/dp/1583333398

SUCH A GREAT RESOURCE, comes with programs for 6+ months of efficient and effective training that varies depending on your goals. I recommend everyone start with that, or at least have it in their library as a good resource. Once you have a hold of the basics and good form, then it's a lot of fun cruising around bodybuilding.com's complete (and free!) programs and simplyshredded.com's female interviews, which include the interviewee's favorite programs. I would definitely start with the New Rules of Lifting, though, since it will create a solid strength base which will give you the confidence and good form to be able to play around with your programming later.

Also, Mark Rippetoe's book "Starting Strength" (pretty popular, you can probably find at the library) is dense but very very clear as to the proper mechanics of every basic lift and has a good beginner's program outlined towards the end.

FINALLY, while you don't need to look at those programs, you do need A program and to write down what you do every time you go in. This will prevent you from overworking/underworking certain muscle groups, help you keep track of strength progress, and also allow you in a few weeks/months/years to remember what worked for your body and what did not.
Good luck!!

• The heavy cream ice cream is very simple, but I use an ice cream maker. You can make it the old fashion, fun way with the rock salts and baggies, but $80 on an ice cream maker off Amazon was definitely worth it. This is the one I use. It's plenty big enough. I just put in a pint of heavy cream, a tablespoon of vanilla, Truvia (a lot of people say measurements, but Truvia is VERY sweet. So I will say to taste). I also like to take half a bar of dark chocolate and cut it up into tiny little pieces and throw those in there. I have little gilato cups to put the ice cream in. It helps control portion sizes when you have a major sweet tooth.
  
  
• The other ice cream recipe is a little more complicated. This is the recipe. I personally don't use it anymore. It's pretty good but it's VERY sweet and hurts my stomach.
  
  
• The pudding recipe is awesome. It's extremely rich and chocolately and you only need a little to satisfy your cravings. Keto has eternally put me on my period, so I'm always in bitch mode and wanting chocolate. You take 1 pint of heavy cream, 1/3 cup Truvia or sweetener of your choice, 5 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tbsp of coconut oil, 1 tbsp of vanilla, and peanut butter if you want to add that. Or coconut flakes. I haven't tried those. You just heat up the oil, then pour in the heavy cream and whisk gently until it begins to bubble. Whisk in 1 tbsp at a time of cocoa. (It doesn't blend well and forms lumps if you put it in too fast.) Then after it has blended well, add your Truvia, and then your other ingredients. All of this is done at medium heat. When it begins to thicken, pour it into a throwaway 9x9 dish if you want pudding, or into ice cream molds if you want fudgecicles. I use these cute little ones. I like to add one extra tbsp of cocoa powder and half a scoop of chocolate protein powder for the pudding. It's a little more carbs, but it makes it thicker and more grainy. I think it's deliiiicious.
  
  On January 5th, I went on leave from work. I wanted to see if my stomach issues were being caused by work stress, so I quit cold turkey. I only had a few symptoms, like my usual nausea (unknown cause). I came back from leave on January 20th, and started keto on the 21st. All of my symptoms vanished. I was still off my meds, and I felt great. I have brighter moods, no more dark thoughts, almost no anger outbursts, more motivation, less lethergy and less daily exhaustion. I just all around feel like a different person, and I don't think I'll ever go back to the way I used to live. Will I have a drink or cupcake, maybe a slice of cake in the future? Maybe. It's okay to indulge on rare occasions. Am I unhappy? Hell no. I have never been happier.

I'm actually doing keto as a vegan, so I might be able to help you out some!

• For butter, I really like either Miyoko's Cultured Butter (you can find it at Trader Joe's if you live on the West Coast) or Earth Balance, which is more readily available at major supermarket chains. I'll also use avocado or olive oil for cooking.
  
  
• For milk, I use either Tempt Hemp Milk or, if I want a little extra protein boost, Ripple, which is made with pea protein. I buy the unsweetened original variety for both; Tempt has 1g net carb per 8 oz, Ripple has 0g net. I find the Tempt at markets like Whole Foods -- I buy my Ripple at Target.
  
  
• I use dairy-free cheeses very sparingly because they are higher in carbs than I'd like, but I've found that Chao (available at WF/some major supermarkets) is kinda the best bet.
  
  
• I eat mayo with most of my meals, usually either Vegenaise (I like the Pesto and Chipotle flavors) or Just Mayo. Vegenaise is another WF kinda find, but Just Mayo is really widely available (even Walmart sells it!). There's also dressings available from the same company that makes Just Mayo -- the Ranch and Caesar are both really tasty.
  
  
• Shelled hemp seeds are fantastic, too -- one 3 tbsp serving has 170 cal - 13g fat - 0g net carbs - 10g protein. I usually mix them in with whatever I'm eating since they have a pretty neutral flavor.
  
  Let me know if there are any dairy replacements that you're really interested in and I can probably point you in a good direction!

My daily electrolyte supplements usually look like this:

• 1 packet of ElectroMix mixed with a teaspoon or 2 of Natural Calm in a glass of water.
  
• 1 chicken bullion cube mixed in a tall mug of hot water. (Sometimes I do this twice a day, depending on how I feel.)
  
  The rest of my electrolytes come from food. If I still feel unwell after the above, I may drink another ElectroMix. This seems to be working well for managing my induction.
  
  Remember: Spinach is a good source of potassium and other healthy nutrients. It never hurts to mix it into whatever you're making or have a side salad with some olive oil.
  
  Best of luck to you and KCKO! :)

I recently bought these. I like them a lot.

Pros:

• Adorable
  
• Super easy to fill
  
• Finished pops come out of the mold very easily
  
  Cons:
  
• The little shield part at the bottom fills up and then spills on you if you aren't careful as it is rather shallow. I find I still have to wrap the bottom with a paper towel.
  
  These are the only ones I've tried so far, but I really really like them :)

I strongly suggest reading (or listening in my case) to Gary Taube's "Why We Get Fat, and What to Do About It". This book is what convinced me to go Keto, and I've never doubted my decision once. Taubes did a great job convincing me why I never wanted to eat a high carb diet again. As was suggested to me, I recommend you get the audio version of the book- it's a bit tough going in the first chapters, so easier to get through the audio for me. :-) KCKO!

I am a huge fan of free weights to machines. Gimmicky lady-gyms (if I'm thinking of the right one) suck and give women the COMPLETELY wrong idea about weight lifting.

GO TO THE OTHER GYM. Let your trainer teach you what's what and don't worry about the bodybuilders. Literally, they don't care you're new and aren't ripped. I've never met a serious bodybuilder who doesn't LOVE talking the ear off someone just starting out. They are probably the most supportive people in that gym, I promise.

I try not to bother other people when I'm at the gym because I think it probably comes across as condescending. But if I could hug and high five every woman that came in and ignored the treadmill and went to the dumbbells, I absolutely would. (I do high five strangers at the gym, I'm not going to lie).

Weightlifting cures what ails you. I'm only doing keto because I really think it'll help me improve in the gym, too.

This is a FANTASTIC book if you really want to get into lifting:
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Rules-Lifting-Women/dp/1583333398

I recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Lifting-Women-Goddess-ebook/dp/B004IE9RGC

TL:DR; lift like a man, you won't get "too big".

The author recommends pushing and pulling movements which use many muscles at the same time, and is all against isolating certain muscles, or working on small muscle groups independently (think bicep curls).

I've been weight training following the book's advice for a couple of years, and it works like a charm. My weight training sessions last for about only 30 minutes, twice a week, so very little time commitment. The rest of the time I do yoga (twice a week).

And yes, I do this on keto. No carb cycling or anything. You will not eat your muscle.

Two weeks of keto! Haven't even contemplated any type of cheating. My SO is trying a week of keto starting today, so I'm excited!!

I've just read Why We Get Fat and it was really eye-opening. Most of the diet books out there are pretty... daytime talk show-y. Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, kind of over-exaggerating and scaremongering. This was articulate, interesting, and based on science and studies. I know it's nothing new to veteran Keto-ers, but for any newbies, give it a look!

Over the next few days, we'll be eating maple pecan pancakes with yummy syrup (from ruled.me), chicken fingers, pizza, burgers, thai peanut chicken, chocolate mousse, and brownie mug cake (ibih). I'm hoping to lure SO to stick to keto in this week. Wish me luck!

I picked up an ice cream maker awhile back, the Cusinart ICE-21 ($49 atm, when I got mine it was like $36 I think). Now I can have ice cream whenever I want, takes about 25-40 min to make and it's like 5 carbs or less per serving depending on how you make it. No laxative effects, cheaper than the rare-find store low-carb ones, and you can make whatever flavor/addins you want.

Turn it on, pour the recipe you threw together, check on it occasionally and stop when it's as thick as you like. No ice/salt hassle etc. and it's easy to clean.

I've not had the stuff the OP has had. But I do know that the Breyers Carb Smart and I see the Lucerne one, has sorbitol and it can cause a laxative effect...it did have that effect on me. It was creamy though, but do yourself a favor and make sure you use caution and limit the serving size, even the recommended 1/2 cup had my stomach making noises.

Okay, so I ended up buying a magnesium citrate/calcium powdered supplement (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BPUY3W0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1P546TAL7E4CV), well a sample version. The recommended dose is 2 heaping teaspoons. I followed suggestions I had seen that said to only take a 1/2 teaspoon at first; I took 1/4 teaspoon yesterday morning with the plan to take another 1/4 at night. I had a pretty loose stool a few hours later but didn't know if it was the supplement or something I ate prior. I forgot to take the other half. So this morning, I took an entire 1/2 so I wouldn't forget, and a few hours later, had really bad diarrhea. There's only like 225mg in 2 full teaspoons, so I'm not sure if I just have to really slowly ease into using it or what. Any thoughts?

Also, will I feel the positive effects of the magnesium immediately or does it take time?

I'm tempted to just buy the magnesium glycinate pills I was originally going to get...

[Natural Calm Magnesium](Natural Vitality Natural Calm Diet Supplement, Raspberry Lemon, 16 Ounce https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BPUY3W0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_C0mZBbEWBB0G7) was what helped me when I was pregnant! I swear by that stuff :)

Hi there. When I first started supplementing magnesium, I was taking magnesium oxide at 400mg a day. So much diarrhea. Switched to citrate instead, and it's been so much better. I also finally figured out I don't need 400mg a day. 100mg a day seems just right for me.

These are pretty good; it says 200mg but really they are 100mg each with a dosage of 2 pills. They are white caplets. http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BV1O26 You might give something like that a try, and decrease your dose until you see improvement.

Celestial Seasons has some fun holiday teas that I stock up on and drink all year long.

Gingerbread Spice

Sugar Cookie

Sweet Harvest Pumkin

Bigelow also has some good ones.

Pumpkin Spice

Egg Nogg'n

Apple Cider

Well, I love bacon with an undying passion, but at least I try to get creative with it sometimes :)

Typical breakfasts: leftovers, if there are no leftovers then cook bacon, if no time for cooking then see snack section

Smoothie which also makes a good breakfast: 1/2 avocado + 1 cup almond milk + 1 cup spinach/mild greens + handful of ice cubes + stevia to sweeten + whatever you want to flavor it with (vanilla, cinnamon, etc) ===> blend hardcore

Typical lunch (at the salad bar in the cafeteria at work): DIY guacamole by mashing an avocado and sprinkling in salt, serve over various salady things such as lettuce, cucumber, pile of olives, etc.

Typical dinners: fatty cut of meat such as ribeye, or fatty ground meat if I'm lazy, with some greens sauteed in my accumulated bacon grease, and crumbled bacon sprinkled in

Morning and/or afternoon and/or evening tea: make 2/3 cup of herbal tea and fill the rest with almond milk

Snacks I always keep on hand: canned olives, macadamia nuts, celery sticks+almond butter or guacamole, salami or sausages such as these "snack sticks", more bacon

Typical (only) dessert: coconut milk ice cream, made by pouring a can of coconut milk and a few drops of stevia into my magical ice cream maker. Have not tried it with bacon yet but that's always a possibility

agree with anbeav, stick to meals of solid food.
i've been experimenting with keto "pastas".. been digging pesto zoodles with chicken lately. i tried shirataki noodles, but the texture is kind of weird and theyre pretty expensive. i bought this and it works pretty well:

Kraut juice would totally be good for electrolytes, it's basically all salt water with minerals. I'm thinking I might try making a batch myself, it doesn't look tough at all.

Yes hemp hearts! They are no net carb, high protein and this delish nutty flavor. I dump 3Tsp (a serving) on my salads. Just as good or better then nuts. Or sometimes just a little handful on my way out the door.

(Yep, I'm good on Vit D. My doc tests it for fertility reasons and I've supplemented for years. It does make a difference for sure)

If he just has to have some sort of beans, black soy beans are super low carb and a great replacement!

https://amazon.com/Eden-Organic-Black-Beans-15-Ounce/dp/B000GZS9Q6/

I do think water intake could have a lot to do with it. Generally I feel crappy and weigh more when I dont get enough water. Basically if you're not getting enough your body is going to want to hold on to what little it does have--- making you heavier.

As for calories, it all depends on your stats. There are studies out there (at work so i'm not going to link them right this second), but they basically say yes, to lose weight you need to eat less blah blah, but at sometimes if you eat more you lose more. There is a point where too few calories, and too much exercise just becomes detrimental and you won't lose a pound. Not sure if thats the case here, but I'd try upping your calories a few days and lowering them again if you feel necessary. I can tell you i'm 5'8 200 pounds, on days i dont work out i aim to get 1500 calories. On days I do workout I aim to get 2000 calories. There are days that I only eat 1200 calories and days I eat 2200 calories (and often lower on workout days and higher on non workout days). Anyway the point is, I like to keep my body guessing at whats actually happening with calorie intake. I'll have to find that study for you.

If the peanut butter cups are homemade i'm assuming they're find then... You can never really tell by the names of foods in MFP whether its homemade or some type of atkin's replacement food.

I personally dont use a powdered sweetener--- Its all still VERY confusing to me as well (and there are some awesome redditors here that can give you ALL the info on this) but I stick to a liquid sweetener because from what I understand, your body processes a powdered sweetener as a carb where as a liquid sweetener it doesn't. Not sure how true that is, or the science behind it but I've been using EZ Sweetz ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MO765O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) found on amazon.

I hope this helped a little!

Good for you!

One of my goals is to fit back into my wedding ring. I haven't been able to fit since my 8th month of pregnancy, and I'm almost 10 months postpartum. I didn't want to get it resized when I KNOW I need to make a change to my health.

You could always get it resized, or try one of these ring size adjusters

I fill up on beef during the day and dinner (it keeps me full much longer than cheese, chicken, pork rinds... anything else really), then EVERY night my husband and I make coconut ice cream in our ice cream maker. Honestly, this is what has made keto 300x easier and it's now a staple for us each night after dinner.

This makes 3-4 cups of ice cream for 225 calories TOTAL for each person (that's over a pint per person!). It fills up our cereal bowls... it's a ton of ice cream. We never skip a day without this.

2 cans lite coconut milk (we get ours from Giant)

Truvia to taste

optional: Walden Farms chocolate, caramel, etc. for flavoring


Throw everything into this puppy right here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003KYSLMW/ref=twister_B01H1T6HTK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

In 20 minutes you will have 6-8 cups of ice cream. It's 225 calories per person!!!

Rinse out the frozen bucket in the machine (we don't even wash it with soap). Throw it back into the freezer for the next night. Done!

It looks like there's one on Amazon for $10! But there are some more expensive options here, here, here, and here. The average price point seems to be around $28, which isn't as bad as I thought!

I take this magnesium in the morning and natural calm magnesium citrate before bed because it helps me fall asleep. this too

not sure about calcium consumption

If you want to lift, I recommend The New Rules of Lifting for Women. I'm currently finishing up phase 4 and it has really improved my muscle tone. If you're not sure how to do an exercise (although the book has diagrams), ask someone who works at the gym to show you.

I've never seen it in my local stores. I had to order on Amazon. I got this one:


NOW Super Primrose 1300 mg,120 Softgels https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018O8IQA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_9NwZzbHHBG2XX

Depends on where you live. On the east coast of the USA, in NC and VA, I was able to find them in any grocery store, in the chip aisle. In southern California, land of the fruits and nuts, the only place I found them was in Whole Foods and then they were fancy shmancy pork rinds. (They were delicious though.)

You can also get them on Amazon. Especially the kind you can microwave or bake. I like those. https://www.amazon.com/Chef-Piggy-Tail-Microwave-Puffies/dp/B006EKPNJ8/ref=pd_sim_325_2?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=GWH2D5456P0FK66MNAHC&th=1

I actually had the opposite experience! My hormonal acne has been much better since starting keto, however, I also added the following to my routine around the same time:

Evening Primrose Oil pills

Prescription adapalene 0.1% at night (topical)

So, it's hard for me to say if any one thing, or a combination, helped my hormonal acne. I wanted to share just in case this helps you!

I use EZ-Sweetz ( http://www.amazon.com/EZ-Sweetz-2oz-Liquid-Sweetener-Servings/dp/B002MO765O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367600656&sr=8-1&keywords=ez-sweetz )

It sweetens fine with none of the normal splenda after taste. :)

I have 6 - and my youngest 3 are under 3. So I feel you!

We get this kind - they are so good and literally I can h ave one of these and 1 string cheese and thats all I seem to ever need for my lunch. lol - https://www.amazon.com/Old-Wisconsin-Snack-Sticks-Ounce/dp/B007K687HA/ref=sr_1_2_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1494423523&sr=1-2&keywords=beef+sticks

Make sure you're getting enough magnesium, salt, and potassium. I start getting muscle cramps and headaches when I'm not getting enough, and just feel blah overall. The days I'm not getting enough salt and potassium from my actual diet I'll dissolve 2 chicken broth cubes (veg broth would be fine too if you're vegetarian!) in 2 cups of water and add 1/4 tsp of no salt (potassium substitute), then sip that throughout the day. I also take two of these every night.

It's this one. Typically I take two of those and two potassium supplements in the morning right after breakfast. Someone over on MFP suggested trying to stagger them throughout the day. Do you think that might help at all?

Part of my frustration comes from that I feel like before I could eat a couple bananas a week and the cramps weren't a problem. Now I'm actively trying to get it in but it seems like a continuous uphill battle to get the right amount.

I use this, 1-2 drops in my coffee and it's like using 2 TSP of sugar

Something like this:

Amazon link.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/veggetti-spiral-vegetable-cutter/1042545910

Above is the one I bought, I may upgrade soon to this one...

http://www.amazon.com/Paderno-World-Cuisine-A4982799-Tri-Blade/dp/B0007Y9WHQ

It's amazing how many vegetables work as noodles when they are the right shape.

http://www.inspiralized.com/2014/05/15/the-best-beginner-recipes-for-the-spiralizer/
(Not keto, but for ideas)

Do you use Amazon?

https://www.amazon.com/NoSalt-Sodium-Free-Salt-Alternative-11/dp/B000H185N6

I want to mix this with this

So I've dabbled in fat fasts (specifically the Bulletproof RFLP) and eat zero carb at a 60/40-70/30 fat/protein ratio and I've found that it happens as you're becoming fat adapted. Even somebody who isn't doing keto in hardcore mode is going to have some kind of reaction to their digestive needs totally changing. Try Betaine HCl tablets!

Here's one link:
http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/rooibos-teas/p/spiced-apple-cider-rooibos-tea
And another cheaper version:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000Z4TDXQ?pc_redir=1410437595&robot_redir=1

For less messy amazon links you can extract the part after "/dp/" in

https://www.amazon.com/Chef-Piggy-Tail-Microwave-Puffies/dp/B006EKPNJ8/ref=pd_sim_325_2?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=GWH2D5456P0FK66MNAHC&th=1

and make it:

https://amzn.com/B006EKPNJ8

Or via smile link:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B006EKPNJ8

----

BEEP BOP

Plz send any recommendations via PM

Black soy beans! They're kind of hard to find in the wild but they're readily available on Amazon.

So I just started using this as was the recommendation on a Facebook group I'm in. I can't figure out though if it's a good thing or not as I've been retaining fluid like crazy. I think maybe I'm not drinking enough water with this amount of electrolyte. Not sure. Still in trial and error phase.

Also it tastes nasty but I just take a slightly diluted shot in some Bai and then chug water. You only need 1tsp.


[trace minerals brand electrolyte concentrate. ](Trace Minerals 40,000 Volts, 8-Ounce https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Z98KF8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_sJhhzbCF6FCTX)

I use this one from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0OX3EW?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

It serves its purpose and is comfortable, but if you forget to take your ring off when you wash your hands, it gets kinda gross and full of soap.

There are disputes in the low-carb community about the calories-in calories-out theory. I recommend checking out ["Why We Get Fat: And what do to about it " by Gary Taubes] (http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307474259) to get a peek at one side of the dispute.

Before Keto I did Weight Watchers, and Jenny Craig - I ate no more that 1500 calories a day with an average of walking 3 miles a day when I was 5'4" and 220lbs. I lost weight, but not very quickly (1 lb a week if not in a plateau). Keto has made things much easier for me to manage as I don't track calories in at all, but I am super strict on carbs, atleast for this first 30 days that I am "back on the wagon" I won't go over the 20. I have lost 30lbs total on Keto (3 months)

-Edited for double negative :(