Avoid Crash Diets
Crash diets — those involving eating fewer than 1200 (if you’re a woman) or 1,800 (if you’re a man) calories a day — are bad for anyone hoping to quicken their metabolism. Although these diets may help you drop weight that comes at the expense of good nutrition. Plus, it backfires, since you can lose muscle, which in turn slows your metabolism. The final result is your body burns fewer calories and gains weight faster than before the diet. Prolonged fasting is also not recommended. (See – ‘Glossary and Explanation of Terms – FIAF’)
The Low-Carb Diet or the ‘Ketogenic Diet’ recommended herein is the best way to keep fit and healthy.
Instead of bread
Will you have a hard time living without bread or roti? You could try gare/vada, pesaratu, chilla, all made from lentils as roti substitutes with meat/chicken curries or dals. You may also try ‘Ooopsies’ as recommended by Dr. Eric Westman as a good option. It’s a “bread” without carbs and can be eaten in a variety of ways.
‘Oopsies’ – recipe for 6 – 8 depending on size.
Ingredients:
3 eggs
100 grams (3.5 ounces) of cream cheese
a pinch of salt
Y2 tablespoon fiberhusk / psyllium seed husks (can be excluded) Y2 teaspoon baking powder (can be excluded)
Preparation:
Bake in the middle of the oven at 150° C for about 25 minutes – until they turn golden.
You can eat ‘Oopsies’ as bread or use them as a bun for a hotdog or hamburger. You can also put different kinds of seeds on them before baking them, for instance poppy, sesame or sunflower seeds. The ‘Oopsie’ roti can also be used as a ‘Wrap’. Even as a ‘Swiss roll’: add a generous layer of whipped cream and some berries. Enjoy!
You may also try the popular ‘Soul Bread’ developed by Souls Song and members of the Atkins and Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) group, as modified by Martina Slajerova.
One of the advantages of this bread is that it’s not crumbly and holds perfectly together so you can slice it really thin. You’ll get 14-16 slices from just one loaf.
In Martina’s version, the baking powder is left out and the amount of baking soda and cream of tartar adjusted to make up for it. She has also used glucomannan powder instead of xanthan gum, you may use ‘gondh’ instead. Lastly, she skipped the sweetener but you can add a few drops of stevia if needed.
The taste is neutral which makes this grain-free bread suitable for both sweet and savoury meals. It goes well with butter and chia jam or with savoury toppings like ham and cheese or for making keto-friendly French Toast.
Finally, there are lots of variations of Soul Bread at www.lowcarbediem.com – you may check them out too!
Macronutrient ratio: Calories from carbs (2%), protein (26%), fat (72%)
Ingredients (makes 1 loaf/ 14 slices):
1 1/2 cup full-fat cream cheese, room temperature (360 g/ 12.7 oz) 1/4 cup butter or ghee, melted (60 ml/ 2 fl oz)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (60 ml/ 2 fl oz)
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (60 ml/ 2 fl oz) 4 large eggs
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp glucomannan powder
1/2 tsp salt (preferably Himalayan rock salt)
1 cup unflavoured whey protein isolate or egg white protein powder (166 g/ 5.9 oz) – see note below
Optional: 3-5 drops liquid Stevia
Instructions:
You could perhaps even use 2 tsp of psyllium husk powder instead of 1 tsp xanthan gum or gondh.
Slice and serve with butter or your favourite sandwich filling! Keep a few slices in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze in batches for up to 3 months.