Hello Everyone!! Hope that your new years resolutions are coming along nicely!!

As you may already know, from my previous blog here, I have made the decision to transition to a ketogenic diet :) I have laid out some of the many benefits of a ketogenic diet in this blog, as well as resources for more information on keto, if you are interested!

The basic idea is that you are eating a low carbohydrate diet that's high in healthy fats. This is also an inherently low/no sugar diet. As counter-intuitive as this method may seem, it is important to note that fat in the diet does not translate to fat in the body. Once you have transitioned to a keto diet, your body will convert ketones into glucose, instead of converting complex sugars from carbohydrates. The benefits of this form of production range from weight loss to a myriad of medical applications.

DAY 1 - WHAT I ATE

BREAKFAST:
For breakfast on Day 1 we decided to stick with our regular Morning Green Smoothie. This is a smoothie that my fiance developed and fine tuned over nearly the past year. Before the new year, we would have this smoothie for breakfast most days, and since this is already keto, and high in nutrition, we decided to keep it in our routine. In the morning i also take any vitamins/ supplements, as needed . This can vary day to day.

This is the recipe for the green power shake that we ate on day 1. This recipe makes enough for two people, so if you are making it for yourself, just cut the recipe in half!!

A green power shake is a great way to start your day and get a kick-start on your nutrition and greens intake! It is high in Vitamin C and Vitamin A which has greatly improved my skin complexion. Next, Kale is a great detoxifier, and spinach supplements some extra iron. Maca Root is a supplement that is traditionally used to enhance fertility and sex drive, as well as increase energy and stamina. Ginger is filled with great antioxidants as well, and adds a little bit more depth to the overall flavor. Lime juice also serves for this purpose, adding a little bit of "sweet" to the shakes flavor. Avocados are a great source of healthy fats, Vitamin C, Vitamin A , Vitamin K, and Vitamin B6.

I also took my Vitamin D in the morning with my shake. Because we live in snowy Montana, I have to regularly supplement my Vitamin D, especially in the winter time!!

LUNCH:
For lunch we had stir-fry vegetables with beef, and a large side of butter sauteed mushrooms, as well as a single string cheese. We used green and yellow zucchini, onion, and broccoli in our stir-fry, and it was absolutely delicious. My favorite part of the meal however, was my fiances seasoning on the mushrooms. He cooked them with a lot of butter, herbs de provence, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Worcestershire and soy sauce.

DINNER:
For dinner we had taco salads. These were composed of butter lettuce, ground beef, cheese, sour cream, and homemade guacamole from my work. These were absolutely delicious and totally hit the spot :) I had a little bit leftover, so i tucked it away in the fridge and finished it the following day :) I have modified the ground beef portion to reflect this, and added it in for the following day :) I left the other portions as is, because what was left was mostly beef. I also had another cheese stick, as a snack after dinner.

SUMMARY:
By entering all of my foods into the online tracker Cronometer, i was able to determine my overall nutrition for this day . I have included screenshots of this information for your reference. You may notice that my diet higher in protein compared to the traditional keto diet. I may modify my protein intake going forward if this persists or seems to cause issues.

Cronometer is a great tool for anyone to track nutrition with, because of its detail. This site allows you to input what you eat, and breaks down the nutrition of each item, as well as giving you a full picture of your daily nutrition totals.

Cronometer works based on a standard nutrition guideline, but can be modified to fit any diet. I have not modified my nutritional guidelines, so this will reflect in the percentages shown. My fat intake will appear to be much higher than recommended, and my carb intake will appear to be much lower than recommended. It should be noted this is not a concern and is a direct result of the keto diet.

My vitamin levels look pretty solid, with the exception of being a little low in B1, Folate, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E. I am not too concerned about these numbers at this point, because we are only looking at one days worth of nutrition. Once i have completed a week on this diet, i will analyze the full nutritional report, and adjust the diet as needed for optimal health.
It can be alright to be low in a few vitamins for a day, as long as it is not an overall trend in your eating habits to be low in said vitamin. As i already mentioned, my vitamin D intake is relatively low, so i am always supplementing that as well.

My mineral levels for the first day look a lot lower than I expected, and so this is an area that i will be paying close attention to correcting over this first week. One way that we will be working to correct this is via trace minerals, and we will also be using the Cronometer "food oracle" to find foods to that will naturally supplement in low areas.

My protein levels are also quite low on this day, however i do not see this as a cause for concern, because on other days in the week my protein levels are quite high. Because of this i am interested to see the full first week nutrition information before i conclude that these levels are actually low. Days in which i eat more protein will also increase the mineral numbers, so that should be taken into account as well. This specific day just happened to be one in which we did not eat very much meat ( 2 small servings).

CONCLUSION:
Overall, i was very pleased with the outcome of the first day. I did not have many cravings, except when i was at work, where i was craving soda, but easily able to resist. For this day, i drank nothing but water, and managed to finish off 48 fl oz, which is a little bit low. Hydration is another of my key goals, so i will be taking note of that in Cronometer as well.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below ! I look forward to sharing my keto nutrition journey with you all!

Brightest Blessings!
SO MUCH LOVE!!

Evening Star