Keto Chow

I’ve been wanting to go on a ketogenic diet for a while, but it takes knowing what you’re doing if you do it with food.  The nice thing about meal replacement is it’s very precise in macronutrients and calories.  After having looked around for over a year or so, I saw that Keto Chow became more than just a recipe on the net.  It’s produced now by it’s creator, Chris Bair, takes the preparation of all of the components out of the way and sells a ready-made Keto Chow in resealable vacuum packed bags.  It’s one of the few I’ve seen that you include other ingredients, but it’s mostly because it wouldn’t last if it was stored with the powder.  You mix heavy cream and MCT oil with the powder and water for a ketogenic diet.  It’s very flexible since the powder only equates to 500 calories a day, and the MCT oil/heavy cream controls the remainder.  Since MCT oil is approximately 100 calories per 15 ml, it can be raised and lowered as needed.  As can the heavy cream, which is easier to manipulate since it’s only the fat portion and not the awesome ketone creating tool that MCT oil is!  It’s slightly more expensive than the rest, however.  For a month, the price is $257 for 84 meals.  If you make it yourself, you’ll average around $180 but you’ll lose time that you could be doing anything other than grinding pills and balancing orders, and certainty that you’ll have what you need to go about your day.  For me, the extra money is on the edge but worth it.

I’ve been using Keto Chow for about 3 days now.  MCT oil takes a bit for the digestive system to become accustomed to, and can cause a slight diarrhea action for 1-3 days.  It does depend on your eating habits previously however, since with myself it’s not effected me terribly bad.  It provides extra energy through the day, as well.

The flavor I am currently using is gourmet vanilla, and it has a texture much like a melted smoothie shake which I enjoy.  I’m going to run my calories around 1800 for about 2-3 weeks then start to drop by 100 a week to 1400-1500.  With the extra buffering of fat and protein with all macronutrients already available by the body, everything is set for the ketones to do it’s job.  I’m in no hurry, this is a long term thing that I’m willing to wait for.  I need to lose weight so I can put less strain on my prosthesis, and live past 60.

One thing to note when looking for heavy cream, there’s usually little difference between heavy cream and heavy whipping cream nowadays.  The best thing to do is look at the ingredients list and make sure there are no additions that would include carbohydrates or sugars into the mix.

It’s super easy to mix up.  I use my blender, and include the MCT oil and heavy cream and fill the blender halfway with water, then do a quick whip to mix the two for a second.  Then toss in the mix and quickly put the lid on and blend for 2-3 minutes.  After, put into a container and let sit for 15-30 minutes then shake to mix up the things that have absorbed water and fallen to the floor of the container.  Then toss it into the fridge.  It’s always best to refrigerate overnight since it allows everything to mellow out and not be a salty taste.