May 5, 2018 Meeting Recap

We had 17 Ketonians attend this meetup on May 5, 2018 held at the Brookdale Library in Brooklyn Center.

Small Talk

We had small talk for a few minutes while people gathered.

Introductions

We each introduced ourselves and answered the question: What was your most memorable recent keto meal?

Some of the answers included Chicken Alfredo using Shirataki noodles, steak on a stick cooked over an open fire, butter herb steak, carrot cake, egg roll in a bowl, cabbage in bacon fat with bacon, lamb chops cooked in an instant pot, breakfast with eggs and bacon, sous vide ribs, and a sheet pan meal in an oven.

Announcements

The next meetups will be:

  • June 2 at the Oxboro Library in Bloomington
  • July 7 at the Brookdale Library in Brooklyn Center
  • August 4 at a location to be determined

Ro has gotten permission to use her work facilities in Eagen to host our meet up group.  We may try to host our August meetup at those facilities.

Ro is also working on locating teaching kitchens that we could use to have keto cooking lessons.  More to come on this topic later.

We are still working on organizing a keto picnic this summer.  More details to come.

Glucose and Ketone Meters

Brenda brought a blood glucose meter, a blood ketone meter and a Ketonix breath ketone analyzer.  Ro also brought her Ketonix breath ketone analyzer.  They were able to help anyone interested take measurements and describe how the meters work.

Keto Treats

Ro brought Frittata Muffins.

Frittata Muffins.jpg

Beth brought some chocolates.

Chocolates.jpg

Brian brought some carrot cake cup cakes.

IMG_1486.jpg

Lynn brought some soup.

IMG_1487.jpg

Tara brought some macadamia nut bread (video) featured in the documentary "The Magic Pill".

Main Topic / Additional Discussion

The main topic was: How to convince family members or friends to try keto.

The main answer appeared to influencing others by our own success.

Other items mentioned over the course of the meeting:

  • Simply Keto - a book by Suzanne Ryan
  • Dr. Michael Eades presentation at Low Carb Breckenridge 2018 describing how vegetable oils may by one of he main causes of obesity in the U.S.
  • Autophagy - This process of the body recycling or reclaiming old or damaged cells may be promoted by fasting.  This may help remove loose skin and damaged cells.
  • Episode 24 (May 2, 2018) episode  of The Obesity Code Podcast revisits a patient, John, using keto and fasting to battle kidney disease.  The good news is he recently received a kidney transplant.
  • Cholesterol Code - More discussion of hacking your cholesterol numbers by feasting on fat for the three days prior to your cholesterol test.  This all comes from Dave Feldman's work.
  • Dexa Fit Scans - Dexa fit offers several fitness scans and services. You can often find groupons and/or can buy package plans to get multiple scans
    • DXA Body Composition - Gives you an overview of your lean body mass and your fat and visceral fat.  It also gives you an idea of where on your body your fat is located.
    • RMR Metabolic Heath - Tells you your resting metabolic rate and will tell you how much fat your body is burning.

Next Topic

Introduction Question - The new introduction question will be: What is a recent keto success?

The next main topic will be: What are some of the biggest challenges for keto?

If I've forgotten anything or if there are any errors or updates necessary please contact MinnesotaKetonians@gmail.com.

May 5, 2018 Meetup Scheduled

The next meetup will be on May 5, 2018 at the Brookdale Library in Meeting Room AB from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM.

DETAILS

We’ll have lots of ad hoc discussion, but we also have an agenda to give us a little structure.

AGENDA

9:30 AM – Small talk while people get settled
9:40 AM – Introductions
                - Introduction question: What was your most memorable recent keto meal?
10:00 AM – Announcements
10:10 AM – Treats
                - Share keto treats if any (none required, but feel free to share if desired)
10:20 AM – Main Topics
                 - How to use blood glucose and ketone meters.
                 - How to convince family members to try keto.
                 - Additional topics generated during discussion.
11:20 AM – Suggestions for next meeting question / topic
11:30 AM – Small talk until you are ready to leave.

SIGN UP

Be sure to signup on meetup.com if your are interested in coming.

April 7, 2018 Meeting Recap

We had 11 Ketonians attend this meetup on April 7, 2018 held at the Champlin Library in Champlin.

Small Talk

We had small talk for a few minutes while people gathered.

Introductions

We each introduced ourselves and answered the question: What is one of your favorite things about the Ketogenic diet?

Announcements

We have Minnesota Ketonians "Business" cards.  These are available to all members to give to anyone interested in the ketogenic diet.  I'll bring these to every meeting and they will be available to everyone.

The next meetups will be:

  • May 5 at the Brookdale Library
  • June 2 at the Oxboro Library
  • July 7 location to be determined

Keto Treats

Jeff brought Macadamia nuts

Brenda brought chocolate cup cakes with cream cheese frosting topped with a blackberry.

Kristin brought root beer floats which was just Zevia root beer and heavy whipping cream.  It really does taste like a root beer float!

Group Photo

We had a group photo this time

IMG_1311.jpg

 

Main Topic / Additional Discussion

The main topic was: What is one of your "go to" keto meals?

Some items mentioned:

  • Fathead Pizza- A mozzarella and almond flour based pizza crust
  • Carlshead Pizza - A variation on fathead that omit's the egg for a crispier crust.
  • Pork Rind Waffles or Pancakes - Sometimes with bacon on the inside.  Some good brands of pork rinds
    • Clancy's at Aldis
    • Brim's at the Dollar Tree
    • Turkey Creek online
    • Utz on Amazon
    • Lowry's Bacon Curls - like pork rind pop corn.  Cook longer than the instructions
    • DO NOT BUY Old Dutch (unless you hate yourself and your life)

Other topics:

  • Dexa Fit Scans - Dexa fit offers several fitness scans and services. You can often find groupons and/or can buy package plans to get multiple scans
    • DXA Body Composition - Gives you an overview of your lean body mass and your fat and visceral fat.  It also gives you an idea of where on your body your fat is located.
    • RMR Metabolic Heath - Tells you your resting metabolic rate and will tell you how much fat your body is burning.
  • Olive Oil - several olive oils that are sold have been mixed with cheap seed oils.  The Costco brand has been tested and is okay.
  • Artificial Sweeteners - People react differently to individual sweeteners.  It's best to test using a Ketone meter and/or blood glucose meter to determine how sweeteners effect you.  
  • KetoHacking - Jimmy Moore has a new podcast where he is trying several n=1 experiments.  In particular we discussed his experimental 3:1 protein:fat ratio diet and that it isn't working for him.
  • Ketofest - a few Minnesota Ketonians will be heading to Ketofest this year.  There may be possibilities for shared hotel rooms or for carpooling
  • Mini Ketofest in Minnesota? - The 2 Keto Dudes are preparing templates to allow mini Ketofests to be hosted all over the world.  There is some interest in possibly hosting one in Minnesota someday.
  • Drop in by the 2 Keto Dudes - Speaking of Mini Ketofest, Carl and Richard were having a Mini Ketofest in New London, CT during our meetup.  Brenda got them on Facebook video over her phone and they said hello.
  • Dave Feldman's Low Carb Breckenridge 2018 talk was excellent and should be on YouTube here soon.

Potential New Topics

We discussed a what are some potential topic for future meetups:

  • Introduction question - a short question people can answer with their introduction
    • What was your most recent memorable keto meal?
  • Main Topic - Potential main topics
    • How to convince family members to try keto
    • How to encourage kids to stay away from too many carbs
    • Negative experiences when starting keto and how to overcome them
    • How to use blood glucose and ketone meters.  What do the numbers mean?

Next Topics

Introduction Question - What was your most memorable recent keto meal?

Main Topics - How to convince family members to try keto.  And how to use a blood glucose meter and blood ketone meter.  (Assuming John remembers to remind Brenda to bring her meters!) 

If I've forgotten anything or if there are any errors or updates necessary please contact MinnesotaKetonians@gmail.com.

April 7, 2018 Meetup Scheduled

The next meetup will be on April 7, 2018 at the Champlin Library from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM.

Details

I'm going to experiment adding a little structure to the meetings based upon some great suggestions by Donna. We'll have a brief question each meeting during introductions so we can get to know each other better and a suggested topic during the meeting.


Agenda


9:30 AM - Small talk while people get settled
9:40 AM - Introductions - Introduction question: What is one of your favorite things about the ketogenic diet?
10:00 AM - Share keto treats if any (none required, but feel free to share if desired)
10:05 AM - Help spread the word about Minnesota Ketonians
10:10 AM - Main Topic - What is one of your "go to" keto meals?
11:20 AM - Suggestions for next meeting question / topic
11:30 AM - Small talk until you are ready to leave.

SIGN UP

Be sure to sign up on meetup.com if you are interested in coming.

March 10, 2018 Meetup Recap

We had 20 Ketonians attend this meetup on March 10, 2018 at the Washburn Library in Minneapolis. 

Meetup Suggestions

We asked for suggestions to improve the meetup group.  We had two great suggestions.

Introduction Question

The question of the meeting was how long have you been doing keto.  Answers ranged from one month to 9 years of some type of low-carb diet.

Recipes

  • Kristin shared some candied pecans - https://simplysohealthy.com/low-carb-candied-pecans/
  • Ro's Zucchini Cheese Recipe
    • Ingredients
      • 2 cups  (14 oz) zucchini, peeled and sliced
      • 1/4 cup water
      • 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk
      • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
      • 2 tsp lemon juice
      • 3 Tbsp gelatin (Great Lakes unflavored) -(or substitute 1½ tsp agar powder)
      • 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast (optional)
      • ⅔ tsp salt, or to taste
    • Alternate Ingredients for yellow cheese:
      • Replace 2 cups zucchini with:
        • 1 cup zucchini, peeled and sliced
        • 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
      • Can also add other ingredients to change flavor:
        • Use beets to change color to red during holidays
        • chopped nuts
        • diced sun dried tomatoes
        • ground spices etc. 
    • Directions
      • Line 8x11 baking sheet with parchment paper.
      • Place zucchini and water in pan and bring to simmer. Steam with lid on for about 5 minutes until soft.
        • Note on alternate option: if using carrots, steam carrots alone for a bit first, then add zucchini.
      • Drain and discard water.
      • Transfer zucchini to blender and add coconut oil and lemon juice. Blend on highest speed until completely smooth. 
      • Add gelatin, nutritional yeast and salt. Blend again until smooth.
      • Pour mixture into prepared pan and spread even ( can shake pan to smooth out).
      • Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until set.
      • Remove and cut into desired shapes. 
  • Bell Pepper Lasagna (send the recipe if you want it posted.)
  • Baconaise
    • 1/2 cup bacon grease
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 1 tsp dijon mustard
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • dash of lemon juice
    • Blend with an immersion blender

Misc Discussion

  • Doctors
    • Dr Tim Noonan of Woodbury was mention as a good supportive local doctor.
    • Brad Watts was mentioned as a good local functional medicine doctor.
    • Dr Ken D. Berry was mentioned for some great youtube videos
  • DexaFit Minneapolis was mentioned as a good place to get dexa body composition scans.  This measures the fat and lean body tissue in your body.
  • Magnesium Supplimentation
    • Don't use Magnesium oxide, it's cheap but the body can't absorb it.
    • Use Magnesium Glycinate, Magnesium Citrate or Magnesium Malate
    • Be careful with dosage, too much Magnesium Citrate can cause loose stools.
    • One Ketonian mentioned using Milk of Magnesia as a deodorant, which also will absorb some magnesium through the skin
    • Charcoal magnesium was also mentioned as a deodorant
    • Epsom Salt baths is also a good source of magnesium
  • Podcasts for women from Donna:
  • Ways to contact Minnesota Ketonians:

Next Meetup

To help promote consistency, I will try to aim for the first Saturday of the month for our meetups.  The next meetup will be April 7, 2018 at the Champlin Library from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM.

Summary

Please let me know if anything should be added or if anything is in error.  Also send any comments or suggestions to MinnesotaKetonians@gmail.com.

Photos

 

March 10, 2018 Meetup Scheduled

The next meet up will be on March 10, 2018 at the Minneapolis Washburn Library from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM.  

Details

• What we'll do
We will discuss our approaches to the ketogenic diet. I'll also try to get ideas about how to make this a great group that serves its members well.

• What to bring
I don't think this library has an attached coffee shop, so bring a beverage if desired. Also bring ideas about how to make this group great!

• Important to know
I have the room reserved from 9 AM to 1 PM, so we'll feel free to arrive a little early. We can also stay a little late after the meeting is over if people still want to chat.

Be sure to sign up on meetup.com if you are interested in coming.

February 10, 2018 Meetup Recap

We had our first meeting of the Minnesota Ketonians meetup group on February 10 at the Roseville Library.  It a success with everyone sharing their story and interest in keto.

Here were a few of the items mentioned in the meeting: