A food blog dedicated to sharing easy and delicious low-carb, keto, and paleo recipes.
Hello and welcome to my blog page! This is where you can find my thoughts and experiences on everything from nutrition, sleep quality, brands and lifestyle, and anything in between! I love to share my thoughts with you, and I love reading your comments, questions, and thoughts just as much! Make sure to pop in the comments to let me know you’re here!
The main goal in moving to a ketogenic diet is to exhaust your body of its previous energy source, glucose, and to transition your body to instead rely on ketones for fuel. Making the jump headfirst into this type of diet can be difficult, no one is denying that; but when it comes to your health, you gotta do what you gotta do!
With the below tips discussing macro tracking and conscious effort on your part, there’s nothing you can’t do!
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(I will preface this post with saying that I KNOW that the topic of exogenous ketones is hotly debated. Below is just MY experience with exogenous ketones. If you want to use them, GREAT. If not, also GREAT. I’m not here to convince you either way. I am just here to share with you all what I use and what works for me.)
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Following a ketogenic diet can be slightly confusing at times; there’s all sorts of things to pay attention to and supplements that can be added to meals, yet so little time to learn about it all! While there are many options in the market to improve your diet, collagen is 100% something you should be incorporating into your meals. Like ASAP.
And I’ll tell you why. You want to keep that youthful glow, those nimble limbs? USE COLLAGEN. You want to reduce the looks of wrinkles and put off Botox for as long as you can? USE COLLAGEN. There are so many substantial benefits to incorporating the most abundant protein in your diet!
Read why below!
Collagen is a “hydrolyzed” type-I powder “extracted from animal hides, bones, or fish scales.” Hydrolyzed just means that it’s been broken down into its smallest form so that it’s easy for the consumer to use in both hot and cool liquids and meal preparations. For example, this protein is a key component in this Nut-Free Dairy-Free Creamy Cold Brew Keto Coffee, jam-packed with brain-boosting powers.
Similar to fat bombs, collagen gives you a boost throughout the day, and is perfect for those who find themselves struggling after high-intensity exercise. It truly is a little magical powder, it can even restore the protein content of your muscles!
This protein is what gives our skin elasticity and helps maintain strong bones and joints to support our everyday movements. Our bodies already contain a large quantity of this protein but, as we age, our natural production of the protein begins to decline. This extra supplementation improves your hair, skin, nails, teeth, joints, and, most importantly, your gut.
This ingredient is super easy to incorporate into your diet; you’ll forget it’s even in whatever you’re consuming (your body will thank you though)! Adding a tablespoon of Perfect Keto Collagen Powder into your morning coffee or into a recipe provides a tasteless, power-packed amount of protein into your diet. Or, for a sweet treat, check out this Cashew Butter Cup recipe that not only tastes good, but is good for ya, too!
Check out the image below, courtesy of PerfectKeto.com, to learn more about when and how to use this supplement.
Collagen is popping up more and more frequently since it’s garnered some popularity in the health community. My go-to is the Perfect Keto Collagen Powder, as they have the most effective exogenous ketone and kenosis products on the market. Perfect Keto also sells MCT Oil Powder, which is also an excellent supplement of healthy fats into your diet.
Long story short, if you want to improve your overall way of living, collagen is for you. It’s for the people that go to the gym, the people that want CLEAN energy, the people that want to take care of their bodies. For best results, mix 1-3 scoops of the Perfect Keto Powder into your daily diet.
If collagen isn’t your forte, there’s definitely other options out there. MCT oil powder is a great additive, and also abides by a low-carb, ketogenic diet. Perfect Keto MCT Oil Powder contains pure MCTs to “support mental clarity and metabolic function.” This powder is perfect in cold drinks, such as the Nut-Free Dairy-Free Creamy Cold Brew Keto Coffee. It nurtures brain health, hunger satiation, and energy levels, all in one.
To score your own, use code “REALBALANCED” for 15% off Perfect Keto Products!
It’s so creamy that you’ll have a hard time believing it’s dairy-free and nut-free!
If you’ve been following Real Balanced, you know how much we LOVE monk fruit sweetener!
If you’ve been hearing all about it recently and found yourself wondering, “what IS monk fruit sweetener?,” then this post was written just for you!
…I have been following a low-carb, ketogenic diet since March 2017 and, since that time, my life has improved so drastically that I have continued to eat this way and will continue to for the foreseeable future. Unlike any other diet I have tried (and failed at) before, a ketogenic diet is incredibly sustainable and anything but restrictive. This is the most food freedom I have had since my early 20s when I was living off of late-night pizza and sub sandwiches. Oh, and beer and vodka.
Aside from a plethora of other health benefits I have experienced since lowering my carbohydrate consumption, the primary reason this diet has so significantly helped me is by altogether eliminating my battle with night terrors.
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Can you even believe that 2017 has come and gone?! I know basically everyone says this, but honestly, WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?! I swear it was June two weeks ago…
This year, I have shared many recipes with you all and have enjoyed every ounce of your support and feedback! Thank you thank you thank you!
Before this year comes to a close, I wanted to share a compiled list of the top 10 most loved Real Balanced recipes! I hope you enjoy!
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I had the pleasure of spending time with Chef Fabio Viviani, finalist from Season 5 of Bravo’s Top Chef, while he was in Milwaukee for an event to promote his new seasonal recipes website, Dinner is Served, a digital series he is doing in partnernship with Johnsonville!
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Don’t overthink your meals. The simpler, the better, in my opinion! Lean protein, rice, ghee, and vegetables are basically what I eat for every meal. I bulk cook up all of my food twice a week, usually on Sundays and Wednesdays, throw it into some containers and then make meals from there!
Shrimp is high in protein, low in carbs, and low in fat. Ghee is high in fat, low in carbs, and and low in protein. Dried fruit is high in carbs, low in fat, and low in protein. Why does this matter? It matters at times when you may have eaten something unexpectedly high in carbs and fat during the day and now have minimal carb and fat grams available and a ton of protein to fit in. This tip comes mostly in handy for me when I eat something I didn’t plan for and I want to be sure to hit my macros at the end of the day without going over.
This is an obvious one. Prepare, pack, and log all of your meals the night before. This means having the food not only cooked, but pre-portioned so you know exactly what and how much to eat that day. It will keep you on track and will keep you stress-free as you know exactly what your next meal is going to be.
This is a personal favorite of mine. You should always log the raw weight of your food. Why? Because 100g of raw chicken breast is not going to be the same as 100g of cooked chicken breast. In saying this, we can’t always be by the oven to bake up chicken breast whenever we need it. So, over time, I’ve begun to write up calculations in the Notes section of my iPhone that include the weight of the raw food and the weight of the cooked food and then I figure out the percentage of raw to cooked. If this is confusing, I included an example below.
115g of raw chicken breast = 78g of cooked chicken breast
78/115 = .6783
67.83%
Every so often, I will again weigh the raw food and then the food once it’s cooked, add it to the Notes section for that particular food and then average the percentages out. This is not going to be exact, but it helps for the circumstances when I already have pre-cooked food and I want to be as close to accurate on weight as possible.
All of ’em! I don’t currently track any of my leafy greens, which means I can eat that stuff as often as I want! When you’re craving something and are out of macros for the day, you’d be surprised at how helpful leafy greens can be! Filling and, when prepared correctly (I typically sauté mine in Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Spray with some salt), they taste amazing!
If you can tolerate spices (some can’t due to autoimmune conditions, IBS, salicylate sensitivity, histamine intolerance, etc.), use them! Many people think that tracking your macros means that you’re eating the same meal every single day. While that may be the easiest option for you in terms of prepping, it doesn’t mean that every meal needs to taste the same! Dig through your spice cabinet and get creative! Never tried tarragon before? Turmeric? Curry powder? Put a dash of something new in each meal and it’ll seem like an entirely different recipe every time!
This is a beaaaautiful feature on the MyFitnessPal app. If you’re one to peruse Pinterest for recipes, instead of having to enter each ingredient and the amount used manually into MyFitnessPal, you can paste a recipe’s website link into the app and it will input all of the ingredients in for you! To do this, go into the MyFitnessPal app, click “More,” then “Meals, Recipes & Foods,” “Create a Recipe,” “Add from the Web,” and then paste the recipe link in the url bar. You may have to match some of the ingredients up to specific brands of food, but that takes just a few seconds!
There’s a reason this nutritional outlook is nicknamed “flexible dieting.” If you plan your entire day out and you end up eating a little differently than planned, don’t stress! The reason this diet is so sustainable is that no foods are technically off-limits, so be open to indulging every once in a while! Obviously the goal is to eat clean (and you’re going to have to if you want to be able to eat enough food to keep you satiated without going over your calorie or macro targets).
You may learn very quickly that you have been significantly over- or under-eating. Changing your intake is going to take some adjustment! Be patient. Your body is smart and can adapt to this, if you let it. If you’re needing to lessen your intake, remember to drink plenty of fluids and pile on the leafy greens and starchy vegetables. If you need to increase your intake, find foods that are high in the specific macronutrient that you’re struggling to meet (refer back to #2 above).
This is the most important tip I can give you! Mindset is everything to me. If you stress and are unhappy with this process, it’s going to be a miserable journey for you. If you regularly take time to appreciate what you’re doing for yourself, you will be able to sustain macro tracking! Any time I feel overwhelmed with weighing and entering my food, I remind myself that this meal is going to give me energy to perform well in my workouts and to get through the day with as much energy as possible. Eating should never cause stress or displeasure. It is a source of fuel and nourishment! Respect your mind as much as you respect your physical body and you will be successful.
Do you have any other tips on how to stay sane while tracking your macros? If so, please comment on this post because I’d love to hear them!
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