I'm in the process of going with the keto lifestyle. Wow...this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Everything I look at is loaded with salt. I live on the Atlantic Coast of Canada. Can't find fish (even sardines) that are not loaded with salt. On the coast here, everyone is farm raising fish.
Can't find good beef (the beef you describe), chicken or eggs that meet the keto requirements. Grass fed, free range, etc. I live in a tri-city area that has over 130,000 people.
Just came back from a health food store, wow, so disappointing to see all the items you and others are describing as bad for us. In a health food store no less!
If I lived where you are I'd probably be looking at lobster, drenched in butter. Of course I know nothing about that area, so maybe that's off the table, so to speak. A respected keto expert did mention in the past that the farm-raised salmon in your area is very good, perhaps even better than the wild-caught in Alaska. Salmon has been over-fished in Alaska and the quality of fish from there has declined. One of my favorite proteins, which should be available to you, is back bacon. We use quite a lot of that. I would guess that the indigenous people that first lived where you are relied on the sea for much of their food. Clams and mussels would be a good choice, as well as crabs. Grass fed beef is probably non-existent because the land is not conducive to large grassy pastures. In part 3 I'll be covering some sources for food, but it will all be from my perspective of being in the southern part of the center of the US. We have a freezer that we keep stocked, mainly from Costco. Unfortunately you don't have that in your locale. Sometimes, when we forget to thaw something, we will resort to cans. For salads we have found canned chicken to be healthy and tasty, so we keep that around. We also have cans of tuna and salmon, which you can probably get fresh. If you have friends or family that hunt, deer, elk, or whatever is native there, could be good. As for salt, if you have to avoid it for health reasons you might check with your doctor for something to counter the effect. My mother was on a salt-free diet for most of her life, and took potassium to help with eliminating it. One last tip - if you have a fitness facility nearby, ask some of the members what they eat for protein and where do they get it. They may refer you to protein supplements, which will not help you, but most of them (big hunky guys in particular) are sure to have a source of meat.
You are funny! I will start looking for big hunky guys ASAP! LOL We do have Costco. Just loaded up on frozen shrimp, and to my dismay noticed today that there is added salt. The coast is not like it use to be. I'm 65 now. When I was younger we would go look for clams and mussels. Lobster now costs a small fortune and the locals can't afford it.
I use to live in Alaska in the mid 90's. At that time I had family that lived in Florida and they were paying about $7.00 a pound for Alaskan King Crab. Meanwhile we were in Alaska paying about $20.00 per pound.
Unfortunately, like many parts in the US, it is all polluted here and over fished.
And you are right about grass fed beef...it is near non-existent here and probably for the reason you mentioned. I did find a place that will deliver from about 100 miles from here but they are on back order for 4-6 weeks because of the demand. You are very smart to have deduced so much from my message.
I will try the back bacon. I cooked some regular bacon this week for the first time in years. I can't stand the smell.
Thank you so much for making me laugh and for your generous suggestions!!!
If you have Costco you may be in luck. We get our grass-fed beef there, and it comes from New York State. You are way closer to New York than we are, so if they don't have it, the problem may be due to customs. Every country gets twitchy about letting food in from another country, except of course the US. We sell banned pesticides to other countries, then import what they used them on! I'll be writing about Costco in part 3. It's different everywhere, and they only carry 2-3,000 items, but it's still our go-to place for most food. Oh, and cheese is protein and fat. So melt some cheese between to slices of back bacon and you've got yourself a cheeseburger! (Yes, I have done that.) The first few months may be difficult, but once you find your footing and get your body fat-adapted and responding to insulin you'll be amazed at how good you feel. I'm so much better at 76 than I was at 26, both mentally and physically.
Wow! I want to feel like I'm 26 again. It will help when I'm looking for those big hunky guys! I stopped eating meat about 3.5 years ago (can't stand the smell of it cooking and don't like how they raise animals these days).I thought I was doing the right thing.
I can let go of the pasta, bread and bad oils. No problem there. I don't crave chocolate anymore and tossed out the chips this week.
Is it so confusing as a consumer - they (the Big Boys I call them) have really put us all in a spin. However, it is clear to see that are food sources have been poisoned. You just have to look around and see all the obese people.
As far as wild game...well...people always say try this recipe, it doesn't even taste like wild meat. Even the people that eat it don't like the taste. LOL
I am a determined person so will keep looking. Going to the local market tomorrow to see what they have.
Again Jim, thank you for your suggestions.
By the way, I lived in the US for about 25 years. North Dakota, Minnesota, Florida, Alaska, and California. I was a gypsy with lots of moves in between. I miss the US but glad to be in Canada. The politics are a bit more stable here.
I'm SHOCKED, SHOCKED I tell you, that you would find US politics unstable! Actually we're officially changing the name of the country from United States to Unstable Society.
I've got to hand it to you, these articles are so filled with practical tips and told in an excellent format.
My concerns with that cave man is that he has been eating too many mutated animals, and this has causes him to grow extra toes. That creature looks like it's half turkey, half carrot. No wonder our ancestors switched to farming.
Thanks for the kind words. I've mostly tried to use copyright-free images, but Substack does provide a facility for generating images with AI. It's still early days for that, as you can see!
Bah Hahahahaha! You are very funny! By the way we Canadians are starting to build a border fence. Just in case...eh!
Good call!
Hi Jim,
I'm in the process of going with the keto lifestyle. Wow...this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Everything I look at is loaded with salt. I live on the Atlantic Coast of Canada. Can't find fish (even sardines) that are not loaded with salt. On the coast here, everyone is farm raising fish.
Can't find good beef (the beef you describe), chicken or eggs that meet the keto requirements. Grass fed, free range, etc. I live in a tri-city area that has over 130,000 people.
Just came back from a health food store, wow, so disappointing to see all the items you and others are describing as bad for us. In a health food store no less!
Any suggestions?
If I lived where you are I'd probably be looking at lobster, drenched in butter. Of course I know nothing about that area, so maybe that's off the table, so to speak. A respected keto expert did mention in the past that the farm-raised salmon in your area is very good, perhaps even better than the wild-caught in Alaska. Salmon has been over-fished in Alaska and the quality of fish from there has declined. One of my favorite proteins, which should be available to you, is back bacon. We use quite a lot of that. I would guess that the indigenous people that first lived where you are relied on the sea for much of their food. Clams and mussels would be a good choice, as well as crabs. Grass fed beef is probably non-existent because the land is not conducive to large grassy pastures. In part 3 I'll be covering some sources for food, but it will all be from my perspective of being in the southern part of the center of the US. We have a freezer that we keep stocked, mainly from Costco. Unfortunately you don't have that in your locale. Sometimes, when we forget to thaw something, we will resort to cans. For salads we have found canned chicken to be healthy and tasty, so we keep that around. We also have cans of tuna and salmon, which you can probably get fresh. If you have friends or family that hunt, deer, elk, or whatever is native there, could be good. As for salt, if you have to avoid it for health reasons you might check with your doctor for something to counter the effect. My mother was on a salt-free diet for most of her life, and took potassium to help with eliminating it. One last tip - if you have a fitness facility nearby, ask some of the members what they eat for protein and where do they get it. They may refer you to protein supplements, which will not help you, but most of them (big hunky guys in particular) are sure to have a source of meat.
You are funny! I will start looking for big hunky guys ASAP! LOL We do have Costco. Just loaded up on frozen shrimp, and to my dismay noticed today that there is added salt. The coast is not like it use to be. I'm 65 now. When I was younger we would go look for clams and mussels. Lobster now costs a small fortune and the locals can't afford it.
I use to live in Alaska in the mid 90's. At that time I had family that lived in Florida and they were paying about $7.00 a pound for Alaskan King Crab. Meanwhile we were in Alaska paying about $20.00 per pound.
Unfortunately, like many parts in the US, it is all polluted here and over fished.
And you are right about grass fed beef...it is near non-existent here and probably for the reason you mentioned. I did find a place that will deliver from about 100 miles from here but they are on back order for 4-6 weeks because of the demand. You are very smart to have deduced so much from my message.
I will try the back bacon. I cooked some regular bacon this week for the first time in years. I can't stand the smell.
Thank you so much for making me laugh and for your generous suggestions!!!
If you have Costco you may be in luck. We get our grass-fed beef there, and it comes from New York State. You are way closer to New York than we are, so if they don't have it, the problem may be due to customs. Every country gets twitchy about letting food in from another country, except of course the US. We sell banned pesticides to other countries, then import what they used them on! I'll be writing about Costco in part 3. It's different everywhere, and they only carry 2-3,000 items, but it's still our go-to place for most food. Oh, and cheese is protein and fat. So melt some cheese between to slices of back bacon and you've got yourself a cheeseburger! (Yes, I have done that.) The first few months may be difficult, but once you find your footing and get your body fat-adapted and responding to insulin you'll be amazed at how good you feel. I'm so much better at 76 than I was at 26, both mentally and physically.
Wow! I want to feel like I'm 26 again. It will help when I'm looking for those big hunky guys! I stopped eating meat about 3.5 years ago (can't stand the smell of it cooking and don't like how they raise animals these days).I thought I was doing the right thing.
I can let go of the pasta, bread and bad oils. No problem there. I don't crave chocolate anymore and tossed out the chips this week.
Is it so confusing as a consumer - they (the Big Boys I call them) have really put us all in a spin. However, it is clear to see that are food sources have been poisoned. You just have to look around and see all the obese people.
As far as wild game...well...people always say try this recipe, it doesn't even taste like wild meat. Even the people that eat it don't like the taste. LOL
I am a determined person so will keep looking. Going to the local market tomorrow to see what they have.
Again Jim, thank you for your suggestions.
By the way, I lived in the US for about 25 years. North Dakota, Minnesota, Florida, Alaska, and California. I was a gypsy with lots of moves in between. I miss the US but glad to be in Canada. The politics are a bit more stable here.
I'm SHOCKED, SHOCKED I tell you, that you would find US politics unstable! Actually we're officially changing the name of the country from United States to Unstable Society.
I've got to hand it to you, these articles are so filled with practical tips and told in an excellent format.
My concerns with that cave man is that he has been eating too many mutated animals, and this has causes him to grow extra toes. That creature looks like it's half turkey, half carrot. No wonder our ancestors switched to farming.
Thanks for the kind words. I've mostly tried to use copyright-free images, but Substack does provide a facility for generating images with AI. It's still early days for that, as you can see!