I LOVE food. Passionately. Obsessively. I love making food, thinking about food, eating food, you name it. But the food I eat has to be healthy, and it has to both taste good and make me feel good. For many, many years, I struggled with a serious hanger problem. My body would eat up my healthy food super fast and then I would be STARVING and ready to strike out like an angry cobra. If I didn’t eat soon enough to appease the hangry beast, my blood sugar would dip to the point of no return. At that stage, I wouldn't want to eat anything and would go into a weird standby mode. No fun. And despite my commitment to trying to eat healthy food, it seemed like a constant struggle to avoid weight gain, even when working out regularly. Also quite frustrating.
A few years ago, we discovered the ketogenic diet, called “keto” for short. Keto is a high fat, low carb, medium protein diet. You avoid all sugar, but get to enjoy a lot of fat instead, like nuts, cheese, avocado, coconut, olives, dark (75%+) chocolate etc. This works for me because sugar makes me feel terrible, and I love all of those naturally fatty healthy foods. After the initial on-ramp keto headache that lasts for about a day or two, I noticed I had more energy, and I was no longer hangry. Feeding my body fat meant it burned fat, and moving away from carbs meant fewer blood sugar highs and lows. I was finally able to feel good all day, eating because I noticed my mind could use more energy, rather than because I was feeling like a starved wild animal. My mind felt more alert, fueled by the (healthy) fat in my diet. And it wasn’t a struggle anymore to feel good in my own body.
We’ve been eating keto-esque for a few years now. I'm not what I call "hard keto" when you eat super low carb, and do eat things made with almond flour which has both a lot of fat (good!) and carbs (not so keto). I eat this way because I don’t want to feel hangry, ever. This year, I returned to being a “real” vegetarian and stopped eating fish. I do eat dairy and eggs. Keto diet resources often recommend eating high fat meats like bacon or salmon, so I’d like to share the things I eat as a keto vegetarian, starting with these easy and ridiculously delicious smoothies that I have for breakfast or before/after yoga. I eat a lot of other breakfast things like eggs, omelets and keto treats like brownies, and will share those recipes too.
Note that all amounts are approximate because I cook everything like my amazing grandmother did – to taste. To make smoothies, put everything in a high-powered blender, adapt as desired, and GO.
SMOOTHIE BASE
These base ingredients can be adapted and mixed up with whatever flavors you want to explore to make your smoothie.
- Coconut cream (or coconut milk). Read labels to see which has the least additives (things other than coconut milk and buy that one.
- Full fat Greek Yogurt.Trader Joe’s has the best and most inexpensive option. Long live Trader Joe’s. You can omit if you avoid dairy but note that it’s REALLY hard to be vegan keto.
- Protein powder. Use only half a scoop per serving or you’ll end up with too much protein to be in the keto range. If you don't have the flavors I am using, don't stress. Start with what you have, you don't have to spend a ton to fill your cupboards with all the options right away!
- Coconut or almond milk. Again, save money at Trader Joe’s – their tetra packs are half the price of most other brands.
Optional: Small handful of low-sugar berries, chia seeds, hemp seeds, etc.
BLUE MAJIK KETO SMOOTHIE
1/3 cup coconut cream
¾ cup full fat Greek yogurt
½ scoop protein powder (I use About Time Strawberry or Birthday Cake in this smoothie)
¼ cup frozen blueberries
1 scoop Blue Majik blue spirulina
Coconut milk to blend
GREEN KETO SMOOTHIE
1/3 cup coconut cream
¾ cup full fat Greek yogurt
½ scoop protein powder (I use Vega One Coconut Almond in this smoothie)
1/2 cup frozen spinach (or handful of fresh spinach)
Coconut milk to blend
PINK KETO SMOOTHIE
1/3 cup coconut cream
¾ cup full fat Greek yogurt
½ scoop protein powder (I use Vega One Tropical + Greens in this smoothie. It's a tad gritty so you could also use Jay Robb Tropical Dreamsicle for a full-on candy-tasting delight)
1/4 cup frozen raspberries
1 tbsp pomegranate powder (optional, the raspberries will make it pink)
Coconut milk to blend