Genie Lauren shares the key to keto in this episode, outlining in five easy steps how to get into nutritional ketosis and stay there for as long as you choose. There are some do's and don'ts that you don't want to miss if you're a beginner, or if you've been trying a keto diet or lifestyle and haven't been getting it right. Show Transcript You know what’s the hardest part about cooking bacon to go in my salad? Not eating all the bacon before I put it in my salad. I’m a Hungry-hungry Hippo and this is my Fast Life. [Theme song] So, we’ve already reached the third episode of Genie Lauren’s Fast Life. I hope you’re enjoying the show, I hope you’re already finding a few helpful tidbits and insights. This particular episode is going to be really helpful because I’m going to walk you through, step-by-step, how to keto. It doesn’t have to be hard, you don’t have to be a mathematician or scientist. You definitely don’t have to take a ton of supplements and waste money on disgusting protein shakes (no offense to anyone who likes protein shakes). You just have to learn how to be mindful and deliberate about what you’re putting into your mouth. There’s this silly idea some people have that you can trick your body into not processing everything you eat. Like, if you eat a ton of sugar it’s okay because you drank water with it, so that counteracts the sugar. That’s not how the digestive system works. And, you don’t need a medical lab to know that’s not how it works, just a little honesty with yourself and some basic understanding about food, and you’re good. Now, if you’re wondering how I had an episode about keto flu before an episode about how to do keto. I was laying the groundwork for you, okay? I gave you a back-story. I gave you some useful terms and definitions. I gave you the urgent things to look out for, ahead of time, so you don’t get got. I set us up for this very moment we’re about to have. Ease you into it. And, before we really get into the nitty-gritty, here’s a brief word on how you can support the show. If you enjoy Genie Lauren’s Fast Life, please like and rate the show on Apple Podcasts. Leaving a review with your rating helps even more and I’d truly appreciate the feedback. If you would like to support the show, become a patron. Go to Patreon.com/fastlife and choose the tier that is right for you. Perks include keto recipes, a one-on-one phone call with me to coach you through your keto journey, and a keto kitchen makeover, where we go over how to shop at a grocery store of your choice. If you want to just support the show on a one-time basis, without a perk, you can do that, too. Anything is appreciated. Okay, back to the show. So, I’m going to say something that might seem a little radical, may make you roll your eyes, but it’s absolutely true — sugar is poison. All sugar. No hyperbole. Some sugars are worse than others, but all sugars have negative effects on your health in the short-term and long-term. Dr. Robert H. Lustig (an endocrinologist at UC San Francisco) has called fructose alcohol without the buzz1 - fructose is the sugar you find in fruit. . . so, yes, even that mango is poison. Back when I was being tested for diabetes, I told my doctor that I was eating two bananas a day and her eyes bugged out like I told her that I never washed my legs or something. Yeah, sugar is toxic. So, why do we eat sugar? Sugar is a fast fuel — your body quickly makes use of it and stores what it doesn’t use as fat in and around your organs. I’m sure we all know how that works, I don’t have to explain that you can gain fat by eating potato chips, right? Okay. By the way, did you know that hunger is what you feel when your body has used or stored all the sugar you’ve eaten? That’s why it prompts you to eat more. Your blood sugar has dropped and now you have to eat to pump it back up. Makes so much sense, it’s a vicious sugar cycle. Now, as I’ve mentioned in a previous episode,

Genie Lauren's Fast Life

Key to Keto

In this episode, Genie Lauren shares the truth about keto flu - what it is, how to avoid it, and why the cause for it keeps getting swept under the rug. Show Transcript: The ketones? The fasters? The speedsters? Speed demons. . . feed demons? No, that’s too. . . Gremlins. *sigh* Anyway. . . I’m Genie Lauren and this is my fast life. [Theme song] Okay. Let’s start off by clarifying what this show is not here to do. First of all, I am not here to make any health or weight-loss promises. I am not your doctor, I do not know your life, and I will not promise that you will lose weight. A whole host of things could be going on with you — or nothing at all, really. I just have no way of knowing and I won’t pretend to. I also don’t have anybody’s license or certification to diagnose you with anything. I’m not interested in tricking or misleading anybody. This is the Fast Life, not the scam life. I am a strong supporter of you going to your own doctor to evaluate your health and using information from this podcast in a way that’s appropriate for you. Second of all, I am not here to shame anyone about their food choices. We’re all adults, right? (I mean, I’m an adult. I’m assuming you’re also an adult. I don’t think kids care about keto podcasts, do they?) Anyway, at the end of the day, you have to be accountable to you. Not to me. So, I am not judging your situation or your choices. I do want to give you information so that you can make better choices, but how you live your life is up to you. I’m not a food nazi. Lastly, I am not here to data-mine my listeners. I really dislike the way that advertising has taken over all of our media. TV shows, radio shows, podcasts, music — they all basically live and die on the strength of their ad support, whether they’re mainstream or independent, and I think that’s bull. I didn’t create a podcast so that I could sell you a mattress, or a website builder, or whatever. And, that’s no shade to anybody who does that to support their podcast — everything costs, and someone’s gotta pay. I’m just really invested in creating a more ethical, reasonable internet. What this means is that my website (genielauren.com) does not engage in non-consensual tracking — there are no ads on my site and no Google Analytics codes following you around the internet. Now, if you listen to my podcast through a third-party, I can’t make any guarantees, but as far as genielauren.com is concerned, there is no non-consensual tracking. There are cookies, though. They aren’t keto-cookies, but they’re useful, browser cookies that help your browser load my site faster. So, we don’t have to hate on them like they’re oatmeal cookies or something. They’re good. There may also be the occasional Amazon Affiliate link. If you hear me recommend a product on the show, the link to the product from my episode page will most likely be an Amazon Affiliate link. If you don’t like Amazon, trust me I completely understand, do not click the link. Or, just click the links that aren’t from Amazon. It’s really just another way to support the show without traditional advertising and non-consensual tracking. Ultimately, what my site is here to do is to help you avoid the mistakes I made early on in my keto journey. And, that leads us to today’s topic: keto flu. But, before we jump right in, here’s a brief word on how you can support the show. Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, so far, subscribe and rate it on Apple Podcasts. Leaving a review with your rating helps out even more, but all stars are appreciated (okay, I lied, anything over 3 stars is appreciated). Also, if you’d like to support the show you can go to Patreon.com/fastlife and become a patron. Tiers start as low as five dollars a month and you can get access to rewards like unique keto recipes and complete fridge makeovers to help you with your ketogenic lifestyle. Don’t pass up on the opportunity to request a topic. Become a patron. Okay,

What to Do About Keto Flu

In this brief, pilot episode Genie Lauren shares the story of how she learned to fast, and was introduced to a ketogenic life, thanks to a shocking diagnosis before one very special day. Show Transcript: Let’s start from the very beginning. A very good place to start. I’m Genie Lauren and this is my Fast Life. So, you’ve heard this story before. . . or, maybe you haven’t? Either way, I’m gonna tell it. Here it goes. Picture it, New York City, the day before Thanksgiving, 2017; I’m at a follow-up to my annual physical and my doctor diagnoses me with prediabetes. Let me reiterate, this is the day before Thanksgiving. The biggest food day in an American year. Now, to be honest, I’m not even that much of a foodie. But, who doesn’t want to eat on Thanksgiving day? And, guess what my doctor ordered me to do. Cut sugar. The day before Thanksgiving. *Power down sound* Yeah, that wasn’t gonna happen. So, as you could imagine, the day after my doctor’s visit (Thanksgiving day) I BINGE. Two helpings of candied yams. Three slices of pie. Is that chocolate cake? I’ll have that too. Wash it all down with apple cider. Binge. B I N G E, binging was for me. If I was going to stop eating sugar (at least, for the immediate future), I was going to make my “goodbye” as sweet as possible. Pun sort of intended. I didn’t know it then, but in many ways, the next day would be the first day of my life. As you’d imagine, it was hard, at first — sugar is in almost everything. Bread? Sugar. Snacks? Sugar. Certain sauces? Sugar. I don’t care what Beyonce tells you — fruit? Sugar. We’ll dive into sugar, in another episode. Just understand that I successfully cut sugar, in all its forms, out of my diet for three months — right on time for my follow-up to the follow-up visit with my doctor. And, my reward for following instructions was an improved A1C and a loss of 10 lbs. I won! Right? Not so fast! If I went back to eating sugar I would just go back to being prediabetic (completely defeating the purpose of all my hard work). This wasn’t a time for backsliding, and my doctor ain’t Booboo The Fool. We wanted to keep the momentum moving forward, so for the next step, she recommended that I start intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is when you don’t eat for the majority of the day, condensing your meals into fewer hours in the day. We’ll get more into THAT later, what you need to know for now is that I. Was. STARVING. I’ve never been a foodie, but you never want something more than when you can’t have it. I wanted food, bad, but I couldn’t have it before 12:00 noon and after 8:00 pm — my new window of time for eating, each day. Like cutting sugar from my diet, intermittent fasting took some getting used to, but once I got the hang of it and it became my lifestyle, I grew curious as to what exactly my body was doing. I was losing weight (about another 10 lbs), and sleeping better (bye-bye, insomnia), but I had no idea why. So, I went to the place we all go when we are in search of knowledge and wisdom. I Googled. Come to find out what I was doing every day was putting my body into ketosis which resulted in some remarkable health benefits (if you’re wondering what ketosis is, we’ll get into that later, as well. I know! You want to know everything now, but I can’t give it all up right away.) I also discovered that intermittent fasting is even more powerful when paired with a ketogenic diet. Essentially the way it works is, a ketogenic diet puts you into ketosis and intermittent fasting keeps you there, and vice versa. After already seeing results with cutting sugar and intermittent fasting, I dove into the keto life. Fasting until 12:00 PM, eating strictly keto meals, and ceasing once the clock struck 8 was my new lifestyle. No pain, no gain. No, literally. Over a span of five months, there was no pain and I did not gain. In fact, I lost an additional 30 lbs of fat.

The Fast of Life

Hey, everybody! Genie Lauren, here. I'm excited to tell you about something I've been working on, for the past few months - a blogcast about my ketogenic lifestyle. Yes, I said, "blogcast." It's a blog and a podcast, a blogcast. Get it? Anyway, for a while, I've been concerned about the misinformation swirling around the internet about keto. A lot of it is really annoying. "Keto is just Atkins," they said. "Keto is unsustainable," they said. "Doing keto will give you a heart attack," they said. And, let's be real, the downers and doubters aren't the only ones spreading misinformation about a ketogenic life. The way many quote-unquote health influencers focus on macros to the detriment of nutrition is doing real harm, and I would know. I've had the misfortune of going through some physically painful experiences. But, you don't have to. I've done tons of reading, and listening, and failing, and I am going to put it all in one place, so you can learn from my mistakes. That place is called Genie Lauren's Fast Life. The blogcast airs once a week, and you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or directly through your RSS feed. You'll also be able to find resources referenced on the show on genielauren.com. I'm hoping to make as much information available and accessible to as many people as possible. And, lastly, if you want to support the show, you can become a patron by going to patreon.com/fastlife. Patrons will have access to monthly keto recipes, be able to request a topic to be covered on the show, and even receive personal coaching from me, Genie Lauren. I'm making it my mission to help more people reach keto-adaptation without experiencing keto flu. . . and, while we're at it, keto breath, too. Sound good to you? Join me and other keto enthusiasts, every week, on Mondays, for Genie Lauren's Fast Life. See you then.

Genie Lauren’s Fast Life

The best keto lifestyle podcast, hosted by Genie Lauren