Keto Chow

Day 047 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 39 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 205.8
  • Blood ketones: 0.1 mmol/L

I did a good job at mostly only eating Keto Chow yesterday and so far today. My wife is making spaghetti squash  with chicken alfredo for dinner tonight, gotta stay strong =). Posting later today because it’s been so busy. I got the formulation revision sent off and approved, hopefully I’ll be getting a new test batch to sample soon.

I visited my parents, my dad took the remaining Keto Chow product photos and my mom measured my suit pants so she can hem them. She’s awesome =)

 

By |2016-02-19T17:45:26-07:00February 19th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Day 047 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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Day 046 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 38 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 208.5
  • Blood ketones: 0.4 mmol/L

 

Yesterday was interesting, I received in the mail the sample of the new vitamin/mineral mix. I made a 1 day batch, split it between 3 blender bottles and put it in the fridge for 3 hours. When it finally came time to taste it I was disappointed to get a definite metallic aftertaste. My best guess (based on past experience) is it’s caused by the magnesium chloride that I had them use instead of the magnesium citrate. The plan was to help the potential tummy issues (that’s the technical term” of new users by using something besides magnesium citrate. The mixing place can’t get malate and I’ve tried glycinate and it had the same metallic taste as what I’m getting now. I could have tried taurate too but it’s supposed to similarly have the same strong taste. So I’ve requested a re-formulation and a new sample. Will add a week or more to the process.

Didn’t have time to run last night, probably because we were mixing Keto Chow from 4 until 10 last night. But hey: we got 65 weeks and 84 days of Peanut Butter mixed (to name a few).

I think I may have figured out the trick to getting correct readings on the Ketonix, I’ll have to wait until my levels are higher though (which should be easier now that the Jalapeno Poppers are all gone).

By |2016-02-18T12:54:00-07:00February 18th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Day 046 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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Day 045 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 37 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 207.7
  • Blood ketones: 0.2 mmol/L

 

Ran on the treadmill last night and I’m down 0.1 lbs today =) Today will be another weigh-in for the city weight loss competition. Dunno if I’ll be down this time.

I’ve been meaning to get better product photos for a while since the old ones were pretty blurry when you looked at them closely; also they still had the little bags of vitamins which are now included in the mixture. I even bought a better camera so I could take the new photos but just wasn’t getting around to it. My wife reminded me that my dad is a professional photographer, DUH! Last night he set up the lighting and backdrop and we did new photos (well, except for the samples, I forgot to bring those so I’ll be going back soon – I need to see if my mom can hem some suit pants anyway). Funny how much better the photos turn out when you have a pro with the right gear taking the pictures.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:52-06:00February 17th, 2016|100 days of keto, Site or Store Stuff, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Day 045 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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Day 044 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 36 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 207.8
  • Blood ketones: <0.1 mmol/L

 

I was reminded that I need to get running again – with the conference and crazy hours I had completely stopped. I’ll try to get that going again, should help. Water weight is going down again (or so it seems).

The scale I was using to weigh out 300g of Keto Chow powder to make 6 meals apparently was wonky on Sunday. I made 6 and noticed the mix was pretty thick, then I went to make 6 more and when the bowl was almost completely full it said it was only 100g. Reset it and it behaved but that first batch…. Yesterday I went to drink one and it was THICK. Like really thick, pudding thick, undrinkable thick (not to mention probably had 2x the iron, salt and other nutrient levels).

I ended up having to pour 6 blender bottles down the drain which left me hanging today. I didn’t have 6 clean bottles to make another batch of 6 so this morning I took the final 2 bottles to work. Our daughter that’s currently in charge of the dish washer supposedly ran it after showering last night so I’ll be able to make 12 bottles tonight (nearly the entire top rack of the dishwasher was blender bottles) but I won’t have any mixed when I get home for dinner. Might have to eat some of the left over chicken wings for dinner.

By |2016-02-16T07:10:36-07:00February 16th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Day 044 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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My own custom vitamin Pre-mix

This entry is part 120 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

For those that didn’t know: I’m working towards significantly scaling up my operation. Like full-on industrial manufacturing using a co-packer. Today I finally got pricing for a vitamin/mineral pre-mix. There are a bunch of reasons for this but to name a few:

  • Everything in every room in my house has Keto Chow powder on it. Like literally everything. Rooms on every floor have it on every surface, it’s kinda nuts. Ever done drywall work and had the dust all over? yeah, that’s easier to clean up (I know this because I just did that in the living room).
  • My production capacity is currently limited by how much time I can devote to it, I can’t handle much more order volume than I’m currently experiencing. This limits the business in general. I have refrained from doing any marketing at all to prevent crushes in orders I can’t handle.
  • Haven’t had an issue with quality control other than 2 batches that didn’t get the right amount of mineral pre-mix. One was several months ago and the other was last week, this last one we caught before any were shipped out; anyway – I’d like to improve the quality control so it’s even better than what I currently have going on.
  • I’d like to be able to take a vacation this summer =)

Anyhow several months ago I contacted a few vitamin pre-mix people to see if it was possible for them to make a replacement for the Kirkland Signature Multi-vitamins I’m currently using in my mix. The few places that responded told me they had a minimum order of 100 kg. Back then I balked and let the inquiry die because 100 kg in 10g/week increments would make 9,293 “week” (21 meal) bags of Keto Chow! Now that I’m looking into co-packing I need to be able to get all my stuff in massive bulk quantities so I’m not grinding several hundred pounds of vitamin capsules, it would be a full time job. In my inquiries about co-packing I was put in touch with a place that does nutrient pre-mixes. While hashing out the mix we eventually ended up incorporating several of the ingredients into the pre-mix. Turns out several of the ingredients are particularly hygroscopic and needs to be paired with something to keep it dry. So if you want Choline Bitatrate you have to add Calcium Phosphate or it won’t last 6 months.  We have the formulation formalized on paper and I’ll be getting a sample in 2 weeks or so to test out. In the end we’re replacing

  • Calcium Citrate/Magnesium Citrate/D3 powder
  • Calcium Phosphate
  • Choline L-Bitatrate
  • Kirkland Signature Vitamins
  • Vitamin MK-7

The best part is it actually costs slightly less than what I’m currently using ( $0.20859/day compared to  $0.27655/day) even if I get it in the smallest quantity I can order. If I scale up to 2500kg I can save even more =).

Friday I finally got a sample of psyllium husk that I can get in 55lb and 2000lb bags, it was more finely ground than the NOW psyllum powder, I’m super excited about it! Still don’t have pricing yet though =(

The next step that I’m working on is getting a replacement for the Dymatize protein powder I’m using. It’s gotten harder and harder to find the various flavors and some (Pina Colada, Banana, Cinnamon Bun) I haven’t found in several weeks and don’t think I ever will be able to get again – 2 of my suppliers have indicated the Pina Colada has been discontinued by the manufacturer. I’m working with a lady locally that formulates flavors to come up with suitable replacements. Hopefully I’ll have this ready in the next month and before the Dymatize goes completely unavailable (which I doubt Rich Chocolate and the other really popular flavors will disappear but I haven’t been able to get them in 10lb boxes for months).

So what does this mean for the future of Keto Chow, the recipe? Well, I’ll have Keto Chow 1.0.4 open for anyone to use still, that’s not changing. I’m also going to open the new recipe (tentatively called Keto Chow 2.0) but it likely won’t be something a regular person can make themselves since it’ll require a custom vitamin pre-mix along with using a custom protein powder and custom flavorings. For the most part you’ll still be able to make 1.0.4 yourself but whatever flavors I come up with (along with the expected ones I’m planning on trying for plain and savory flavors!) will only be available from me, but one of the goals in all this is also to reduce the cost and therefore the price of the stuff I’m selling. Better quality, easier to get, less expensive – that’s the plan.

Don’t hold your breath unless you can do so for a long while but that’s the plan for the future. At some point I’m going to check out some of the manufacturers I found that specialize in aseptic packaging of mixed liquids. Pre-mixed Keto Chow in a bottle with the cream and oil already mixed in and doesn’t require refrigeration? Yeah that would be awesome!

By |2016-10-13T07:27:52-06:00February 15th, 2016|Keto Chow, Site or Store Stuff|9 Comments
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Days 041, 042 & 043 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 35 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 206.2
  • Blood ketones: 0.2 mmol/L
  • Weight: 208.2
  • Blood ketones: 0.0 mmol/L
  • Weight: 209.9
  • Blood ketones: 0.3 mmol/L

Dag Nabbit. I’m sure it’s just water weight but seriously? I’m up 3.7 lbs in 2 days? I’m going to double down on just Keto Chow. I don’t see any weird special occasions with food coming up that would derail me.

By |2016-02-15T09:00:14-07:00February 15th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Days 041, 042 & 043 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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User experience: 100lbs lost doing keto in 5 months, 3 months of Keto Chow

This entry is part 119 of 139 in the series Ketogenic Soylent

Over on Reddit there’s a post by /u/ANewAccountYetAgain detailing his experiences with nutritional ketosis. He did keto before, went from 330 to 253 lbs over 6 months but stopped when depression came back and over the next 3 years gained it all back and more.

5 months ago he started keto thanks to /r/100DaysofKeto and also tried DietBet (money as a motivator can be strong =) and lost a lot. In November, 3 months ago, he started using Keto Chow.

This ended up eliminating my last two big sources of stress: money and cooking.

It’s great to read success stories, there are tons on /r/keto and some Keto Chow specific ones on /r/ketochow. I encourage you to check them out! He said I could use his pictures, even though I dislike doing things when I have permission I’ll do it anyway =)

Before

His very first DietBet weigh in photo ~353
After

Yesterday’s photo – 253lbs

The first thing that stands out to me is he seems to be taller in the new one… oh wait, it’s just a larger photo. Still, his complexion is really clear.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:52-06:00February 12th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow, Soylent, Weight Loss|Comments Off on User experience: 100lbs lost doing keto in 5 months, 3 months of Keto Chow
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Day 040 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 34 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 205.0
  • Blood ketones: 0.2 mmol/L

5 days straight with the scale going down, yay! Going to keep this going. I made eggs and sausage for the family for breakfast, and I did eat 2 patties of sausage but now I’m drinking my Keto Chow. I am planning on having a rib-eye for lunch (see above) during the keto chow mixing party that will be today.

One of my daughters is celebrating a birthday and there’s a ton of super carby desserts. They don’t even phase me anymore, I’m actually starting to get conflicted about the amount of sugar my (non-insulin resistant so they don’t need to do Keto like I do) kids eat. Hence the sausage and egg breakfast… which was almost 0 carb until they broke out the maple syrup! Regardless, our family does eat far less sugar and refined carbohydrates than before and that can only be a good thing.

By |2016-10-13T07:27:54-06:00February 12th, 2016|Keto Chow, Ketogenic, Weight Loss, 100 days of keto|Comments Off on Day 040 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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Day 039 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 1 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 205.4
  • Blood ketones: 0.2 mmol/L

I was down again for the city weigh in yesterday, not much but still in the right direction. I did a great job of mostly eating just keto chow yesterday. I had 3 keto chows, a mini gouda cheese wheel, an egg with a slice a bacon at dinner with some avocado. I didn’t even eat any of the pizza toppings at our routine Wednesday lunch meeting.

By |2016-02-11T08:47:50-07:00February 11th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Day 039 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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Day 038 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)

This entry is part 33 of 81 in the series 100 days of keto
  • Weight: 206.1
  • Blood ketones: 0.1 mmol/L

I’m going to make a concerted effort to only consume Keto Chow again – when I did that at the beginning of the 100 days I was consistently losing weight. So let’s try that again. Aside from a probable valentine dinner with my wife, I don’t have any other scheduled events in the near future that would derail my plans. I still have 62 days of the 100 left, I can rack up some significant weight loss with that. Today’s a weigh in for the city’s weight loss contest, I should be down from last week again but by this time next week I’m planning on being one of the top 3 losers.

By |2016-02-10T07:44:21-07:00February 10th, 2016|100 days of keto, Keto Chow|Comments Off on Day 038 – 100 days of Keto (Chow)
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