Beautiful, thank you for sharing. I have an idea of what Keto is, but would you mind sharing more specifically? I really like the idea of tracking what I eat. I certainly have been more aware of what is in the food I've been eating and I've really really decreased how much I eat out (which my and my fiance's wallets approve of). I haven't been eating too well for the past couple months. All AmeriCorps volunteers are on food stamps and it's tough at times, ESPECIALLY living in a rural town where there's only one grocery store and the prices are sky high, to buy good healthy food and not run out of money. But it's a continual work in progress. I've been buying food in bulk whenever I head into Portland and that's certainly been saving me some money. I'd like to keep in touch about how you're doing and maybe bounce some idea off of you. Part of the reason I quit sugar was to take a vow against something I knew I wanted to avoid for a while. I was reading the Ghandi autobiography and he spoke very strongly about taking vows, so I did it. I can only imagine the positive results I'll experience.
Keto is a diet that has been around a while, 1940's or so. The basics are you figure out how much protein you body needs to live and eat that every day. This is roughly 1/3 gram per pound of lean body weight. There are tons of calculators out there to determine that, but a doctor visit is the best way. Next, you eat fats to meat you caloric intake requirements. For most of us, that is 2000 calories a day. When I started I was hitting 1200-1500 a day and was not hungry at all; my doc said at the time that I was converting stored fat to energy, and this is when I lost the most weight per month. Then you eat very few carbs. Carbs are starches like you find in breads, grains, root veggies (Potatoes, turnips carrots etc) sugars of all types and if you are a purist, artificial sweeteners. You get you micro nutrients from dark greens like Romain, spinach, broccoli etc, and I eat a TON of olive oil to increase my fat macro ratios. I dropped soda for coffee and feel better, but I was never one of those people who had bad reactions to the diet sodas I drank. Coffee is cheaper as well so there is that. Rural food in the US, well it sucks. I'm right there with you. I learned to love the omelet and consider myself a master at them now. Eggs are cheap and east to change around (Hard boiled so you can eat them quickly if you get hungry for example.) Find a butcher and see if you can get cheap bacon, or sausages, and cheaper cuts of beef. The cheaper cuts tend to have more fat on them, and the extra bonus of working well in a crock-pot so you can make a big pot of food and utilize leftovers to save money. The short easy answer is that if it comes in an individual serving size, or is an "Instant" food, it is not low carb. If you have to eat at a hamburger place, don't eat the bun, no fries, etc. Condiments like the mustard and ketchup are loaded with corn syrups and sugars. If you can find a mustard with no added sugar get some and you will not regret it. (Yea I hate telling people to buy stuff, sorry but hopefully if/when you do buy things they will be worth it) And watch the salads; Apple-bee's puts a crap ton of sugar in all its salads. I'm at the point that I can't eat them, so those few times I go out I get the deep fried cheese stick, then eat a salad with olive oil at home to balance it out. The only fast food place that I like anymore is Whataburger and Steak and Shake. Both places have "not expensive" food and Whataburger will let you do bunless as an ordering option. If you can swing a book, either library or Amazon, this is where i suggest you start.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1400033462/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_9XI.ub1YHHVC6 I'm a lot better with things once I know and understand the WHY components of what I am doing. There are people out there saying that sugar causes Alzheimer's and cancer and crazy stuff, but I don't buy it myself. Sugar makes us fat, and that is fairly well established at this point. Budgeting is hard. been there, done the whole live in shitty apartments paycheck to paycheck thing. MyFitnessPal is free and I've used that in the past (I now use a google docs spreadsheet). You live in a rural area, so find the farmer's market. Go near the time it ends and don't be afraid to haggle. Make friends with the farmers, even if only to say hello to them. Farmer's markets out here do EFT and Food Stamps now, so check that out as well. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions.
Thank you very much for taking to time to explain it all so thoroughly. I don't know, at least for now, that I'm looking to really really give that much attention to my diet. As I said, I felt that I should avoid sugar and decided to take a vow against it. I do eat a lot of potatoes. I like them and their substantial. I'm unaware though of negative consequences, should there be any. Eating meat isn't really too much of an option. I'll have it every now and again, but only under certain specifications. I'm in Central Oregon so there actually isn't too much farming going on. The majority of what's going on is cattle ranching. But when I go into Portland I make sure to bring back some good produce. Being in AmeriCorp we do get food stamps, so that's nice. But still, it gets pretty tight. I admire you for being so particular and aware of your diet. We are what we eat, and it's something I'll get progressively better at. Stepping away from sugar is a step in that direction, but also a step in developing integrity.