I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!  The month of December was a blink for me, and it was the first year in a while that I didn’t have all of my shopping done by the first week of December.  I blame that on finishing up my NTP training & working on new business start up during the holiday season.  Probably not the best mix, but that’s how it goes sometimes!  It all worked out, though, thanks to lots of list making, meal prep & planning, and a lot of grace.

Amidst the rest of this, I was excited to be chosen to help promote Diane Sanfilippo’s new book, Keto Quick Start.  Keto is a super hot topic right now, and one problem I have with that is a large amount of misinformation, strict dogma, and improper food choices I see floating around social media & the web.   Keto can be amazing for some people (and not amazing for others).  It can be an incredibly nourishing and helpful way to eat to get your body burning fat and to reach health goals.  But it might also not work for you the way it worked for your best friend (or that random person you follow on Instagram).  You might need to tweak your macros differently, or (gasp) eat more carbs than what everyone says you should on keto.  This is OK… and this information, along with so much more, is why I love Diane’s book.

Keto is “in”, which is good & bad

Keto, like all new things that come along in the nutrition world, has blown up into the “in” thing.  And with that comes lots of people talking about the right way to do it, how you MUST do XYZ, and of course, how you can eat as much keto dessert as you want as long as you use all the stevia & erythritol.  Then of course there is the need for perfection, endless macro counting and analyzing, and no wiggle room for modification, even if it comes with a sacrifice to how you feel or your health.

Keto Quick Start is here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be like that!  Keto should be filled with nourishing, nutrient dense whole foods.  It should not be only piles of bacon and butter but instead filled with a wide variety of veggies, along with a nice amount of protein and fat.   There IS wiggle room, and perfection is NOT required.

The book guides you through…

• What keto is and what it means to be in ketosis.
• The importance of eating fat (and why it is NOT bad for you when you eat the right types)
• The need for adequate protein in a keto diet.
• The importance of the carbs you DO eat (and how to get the most nutrient bang for your bite). 

Beyond the basics of nutrition in keto, Diane also dives into how to modify keto to work for your goals (fat loss, athlete, and therapeutic), as well as how to modify keto based on symptoms you might be experiencing to make sure keto is working for your body and not against it (yes this means adding in more carbs when needed!). 

This book is literally FILLED with in depth information on keto and healthy eating.  This may be a quick start to keto, but the information you get is thorough and well researched.  I learned so much from this book!

Tracking, Meal Plans, Recipes & More!

On top of all of this the book provides a 4 week quick start to get you going on keto, beginning with a no macro counting, 2 week intro to let you adjust to the new way of eating without the stress of counting.  I personally LOVE this.  Counting calories and/or macros is one of my least favorite things ever.  It exhausts me.  While I realize it is necessary at certain points (and you WILL count macros at some point in your keto journey), it is great that you don’t have to start keto by being obsessed with numbers, and even after you do count for a  short time, you can transition to less/no counting once you have an idea of what you should be eating.  But when you are counting, the book includes 4 different tracking template options to make tracking super easy!

Keto Quick Start also includes 4 weekly meal plans that take out that extra step of planning for you, and over 100 keto recipes.  I’ve tried many of them already, and they have all been SOOOOO good!  (I’m sharing one below, too so check it out!)

Lots of Keto Recipes!

Even if you aren’t ready to jump into Keto, you are going to love this book for the recipes!  It is filled with whole food, delicious recipes that you can use whether you are doing keto or not!  My family has been loving everything I’ve tried.  I planned a whole week’s worth of meals using just this cookbook.  One favorite recipe was this one for Thai Meatballs.  Both of my teen daughters quickly chose to eat these a second time as leftovers (and neither of them ever like leftovers!).  These meatballs were so good & flavorful!  You can serve them over cauliflower rice or even in a lettuce wrap!  I made both steamed & roasted broccoli on the side (one kid likes steamed, the rest of us like it roasted – it’s called compromise! 🙂  ).  Steamed is pictured here because let’s be honest, it photographs better. 😉

Here’s the recipe from Keto Quick Start.  If you want to pick up a copy of this book for yourself, head on over to Amazon and pre-order your copy.  It releases January 1!

Disclaimer:  As part of the Keto Quick Start launch team, I was provided with a free copy of the book to share & review.  All opinions here are 100% mine, though.  Recipe is shared from the Keto Quick Start book with permission.