Keto - "mid afternoon pick me up"

I was on the keto diet for a few months at the end of last year, and i found it really helpful in controlling cravings, lost some weight, and just "felt well". I stopped following the diet a few months ago, and am struggling to get back to it.

I fail every day with two last sources of sugar:

- Maple syrup on yoghurt/kefir and walnuts for breakfast
- A hot chocolate mid afternoon from the (unfortunately free) work machine.

The breakfast is easy enough to replace but the mid-afternoon hot chocolate is the only thing that gets me through the last few hours of work.  I know once I've been on keto for a few weeks, it will be less necessary, it's just the transition that's hard. Mid afternoon coffee with cream doesn't work as a replacement (I don't find caffiene does anything for me at all, even though I love the taste).  

Any suggestions for low carb energy-and-brain-power boosting snacks?

I just wrecked my diet by eating 7 bagels so I'm no help to you at all!

If my work had free hot chocolate I'd be adding that to my bagel destruction.

Catie, I have hypoglycemic tendencies, so I absolutely need to eat the right things around 3 pm, but I'm not keto, so this may not work for you. I eat 3 dark chocolate covered almonds and drink a mug of water. I keep two more in reserve if I've had a *really physically* hard day, but I try to leave a gap because if I start with three, then give the water a chance, that's often all I need. Since you've identified choco as working when coffee doesn't, it may work. Milk chocolate has *far* more sugar, so I don't recommend it at all - it just makes you want more!

Catie George wrote:

The breakfast is easy enough to replace but the mid-afternoon hot chocolate is the only thing that gets me through the last few hours of work.  

This may not be the case with you, but for me, things like that are just habit, not necessity.  I used to get up every morning and stagger to my refrigerator for an energy drink.  I just couldn't get going in the morning without it.  Or so I thought.  I was spending too much money on the drinks, so I started making my own "energy drink", which was half a caffeine tablet, a b-complex vitamin, and a glass of water.  That took care of the cost issue, but didn't taste as good, so I stopped doing it after a couple weeks.  It worked anyway, because by then the energy drink habit was broken.  My advice is, find something else to do for 15 minutes or so to get you past the time that you usually drink the hot chocolate.  I do the same with intermittent fasting.  I used to get very hungry at lunch time, but if I could stay busy for an hour or so and get past my normal eating time, I would be fine not eating.  If you can find something to do during that time period, the craving may just go away.  That was my experience anyway.

Elle - hah! I always think it's a really good thing I'm celiac or I would be ruining my diet in a lot of other ways. Today was unusually extravagant - there were also free sandwiches, tortillas with dip, veggies and dip, and cookies in the lunchroom today, left over from meetings and a company with a presentation to get our business. I could only eat the veggies, which was a good thing!

Jay - that's a great idea. Chocolate covered almonds STILL have too much sugar in them, but I could take one square of the unsweetened chocolate I buy, and a few almonds, and that might be enough to get me through the afternoon. I also struggle with hypoglycemia, and that's why I liked the keto diet. For the first time i can remember, my body and brain wasn't ruled by my bloodsugar.

Trace - you're right. Hot chocolate is a habit. Unfortunately I don't have sudden craving, just decreasing concentration and performance over the course of a few hours. I've tried skipping my 2 pm hot chocolate, and never make it to 4 pm without getting one. When I was doing full on keto, I had no interest in an afternoon snack - or even dinner or breakfast many days! So it's just figuring out how to reset myself  and get back to NOT wanting it.

Is cheese okay for keto? That's one thing we won't give up! A slice of cheddar helps me when I mistakenly think I need an extra meal. I assume it's the fat that helps.

I HAVE to have easy snacks to combat... FREE FOOD.  That is tough

I found a really good hot chocolate recipe--1 tablespoon high grade cocoa, 1 tsp to tablespoon butter/mct/coconut oil/cream, 1 tsp equivalent of the sugar free sweetener of your choice, and you can add a drop or two of peppermint essential oil if you like.  It takes a little adjusting to dial in to your taste, but that is a good DARK chocolate recipe to start with.

My bulk food source [WINCO] recently added cacao nibs which are little pieces of chocolate beans that result from the separation from its husk. So it is pure complete chocolate with the cacao fat still in it unlike coco powder. So grinding either coffee or cacao with stevia leaves gives me a stimulating drink but for energy mix the cacao powder with coconut oil.  The coconut oil is quickly converted to ketones while Sugar free chocolate stimulates in a milder way than caffeine.  I am very lean so I run out of fat to burn and need this kind of boost sometimes until I can eat a proper meal.  

Coconut oil, or a 'chocolate' made from creamed coconut, is my go-to for if my blood sugar dips.

Coconut oil has a ton of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) which unlike other oils will break down straight into ketones, even if you're not in ketosis. So although the 'hit' is a bit slower than a sugar hit, in my case I'd say it takes a couple of minutes, it doesn't trigger another roller-coastering of the blood sugars but allows them to stabilise again.

Sheep cheese is also very rich in MCTs. If I'm travelling (ie stressful, iffy sleep patterns, and even more iffy eating patterns) I take a little tub of unsweetened toasted coconut flakes for nibbling on. If I find myself reaching for them too often though, it's a sign that I need to get my diet sorted, get my stress levels back under control, and sleep more.

Well - I tried Jay's chocolate + almond suggestion, and that (plus a cup of coffee) almost did it!

I managed to not get a hot chocolate, although brain performance definitely decreased in the afternoon. Yay self-control!

Tomorrow I am going to try Burra's suggestion - coconut oil or creamed coconut with cocoa powder. Hopefully if I can manage self control on the weekend (and hide the maple syrup at the back of the fridge) I'll be back on the keto diet by Monday or Tuesday.

I should have stock in this product but I don't.

Superior Source Keto Collagen with MCT's Chocolate Flavor.
80 calories
4 g fat
1 g carb
10 g protein

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Grass Fed Cows, Stevia Sweetened

Makes a great hot coco, can mix with hot water (MCT's make it creamy) or hot milk of your choice.