Category Archives: Blog

Review: Primally Pure Skincare

September 4, 2016 Jessica Leave a comment

Today’s blog post is a little different from most that I have written in the past. While I am mainly a food blogger, I thought it important to take some time to discuss the skincare products I have been using of late. What we put on our skin is often overlooked; however, what you slather on your skin is just as important as what you feed your body. Skin is the largest organ of the body and that organ absorbs what we put on it. For this reason, earlier this year, I decided to purge my expensive, mainstream skincare products and opt for something made with real ingredients – the primally pure skincare products.

The Primally Pure Skincare line is made with toxin-free products that could you even eat if you wanted to because they’re made with all real food.

Almond & Vanilla body butter

The Vanilla & Almond body butter smells out-of-this-world amazing!! I wish there were some kind of smell application I could embed here for you all so you can get a whiff. It is just the right amount of sweet without being too overpowering. It slathers on smoothly and really moisturizes it. Absolutely love that this product is made of tallow from 100% grass-fed cows along with coconut oil, shea butter and mango butter. Grass-fed tallow is rich in conjugated linoleic acid as well as palmitoleic acid that have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, respectively. Moreover, coconut oil contains copious amounts of medium-chain fatty acids (MCTs), which are metabolized differently than longer chain fatty acids. MCTs travel directly to the liver once absorbed by the digestive tract and are turned into ketones. These ketones can have therapeutic effects on neurological disorders such as Epilepsy and also promote the state of ketosis (what we are ultimately trying to achieve by following a low-carbohydrate diet).

Peppermint & Orange Crush lip balms

I have tried both the peppermint flavour as well as the creamsicle flavour. Between the two, my favourite is definitely the peppermint. Over the course of the last few months, these all-natural lip balms have kept my normally dry, chapped lips supple and nourished. They apply smoothly without leaving any kind of a sticky or grimy residue.

Flower Bath Salt

My first impression of the flower bath salt was that is smelled absolutely fantastic. It has such a nice, floral smell that isn’t too overpowering. The salts gave my bath a nice pink tinge but most importantly, it made my skin feel incredibly, smooth. This is due to the organic essential oils used in the product.

The organic, flower petals also add a really nice touch that enhances to the relaxing effect (at least for me. I’m a sucker for flowers). Just don’t forget to rinse your bathtub after because the flowers tend to stick to the walls if you don’t.

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To find out more information visit primallypure.com

Share your experiences with the Primally Pure @primallypure using #Natureissmarterthanscience

Credits

Photo by: Zara Pardiak

This post contains sponsored content. All opinions are my own.

Blog, Product Review

Review: Keto//OS & KetoKreme

July 3, 2016 Jessica 1 Comment

KETO//OS

Orange crush 2.1 (Charged)

This orange flavoured drink really reminds me of Orange Crush without the carbonation.

Ingredients: Beta Hydroxybutyrate, MCT Powder, Natural Flavor, Malic Acid, Stevia, Caffeine, Ascorbic Acid.

Pros: There is a caffeine-free version of this flavour if you are trying to avoid caffeine. I consumed this drink at around 6:30am and was not hungry till 1:00pm (not sure if it can be attributed solely to this drink, however, I did felt more satiated than usual).

Cons: Even though the formulation of Orange crush 2.1 has definitely improved (the first one I tried last summer was far too sweet for my keto-adapted taste buds), I still found it a little too sweet for my taste.

Chocolate swirl (Charged)

This flavour can only be described as 80% chocolate water. It does contain caffeine.

Ingredients: Beta Hydroxybutyrate, Amino Acid Blend (L-taurine, L-tyrosine, L-arginine, L-leucine), Natural Flavors, Inulin (Chickory Root), Potassium Citrate, Stevia, Caffeine, Ascorbic Acid, Butyrate.

Pros: This flavour was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect to enjoy the taste as much as I did. It was also significantly easier to incorporate into my cold water using my shaker. The beta-hydroxybutyrate and MCT oil powder seemed to be finer. This flavour is dairy-free making it paleo-approved.

Cons: One thing to keep in mind about the chocolate swirl, however, is that it has a bit of an off-putting tinge. Once mixed, it had a slight murky water look to it.

Conclusions?

Out of the two flavours that were sent to me, I preferred the Chocolate Swirl. It was easier to mix into the water with my shaker and the flavour was more subtle than the Orange Crush. In my opinion, the Orange Crush flavour 2.0 was still too sweet. However, both of the keto//os drinks did increase breath ketones measured by my Ketonix. I think this would be a nice alternative to coffee on a hot summer day.

KetoKreme

This is the newest product from Pruvit. KetoKreme is used as a creamer replacement in coffee or your favourite hot beverage.

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Ingredients: MCT powder, coconut shortening powder (C8, C10, C12), ceylon and stevia.

Pros: This tastes like bulletproof coffee and there is less prep time. All you have to do is pour this powder in a shaker bottle, pour hot coffee and shake. It has a nice sweet taste to it due to the stevia.

Cons: I found the powder a little difficult to mix into my coffee without the use of a shaker. If you are going to use KetoKreme, make sure to blend it or use a shaker bottle.

Blog, Product Review

Review: Montbec Sugar-free Mints & Candies

June 26, 2016 Jessica Leave a comment

Sugar-Free Candies

While I’m a big fan of creating treats from scratch for my family and I, sometimes time doesn’t permit it. Life as a full-time student with 2 part-time jobs as well as numerous hobbies leaves me strapped for time quite often than not.

Wandering down grocery aisles, you’ll find little to no real sugar-free, keto approved candies. Most commercially sold “sugar-free” candies are laden with maltitol, a sugar alcohol that many (myself included) cannot tolerate without having digestive issues. Furthermore, maltitol can cause insulin spikes for some people, which is counter-productive as that is what we were trying to avoid in the first place.

Of the sugar-free candies, there are four flavours sweetened with stevia extract and sorbitol (Peppermint, Wintergreen, Raspberry and Spearmint) and 4 flavours sweetened with Splenda (Cranberry, Cherry, Tutti-Fruits and Menthol-Eucalyptus). Personally, I try to stay away from Splenda as there are not enough longitudinal studies on the effects of Splenda on the body. That being said, I have no issue with sorbitol or stevia and I really enjoyed those sugar-free treats.

My favourite of all the candy flavours was the Citrus Punch. They have a really nice flavour and I also enjoyed that they were individually wrapped.

Mints

A foul-smelling breath is one of my biggest pet-peeves. While chewing gum is a good way to freshen up stale breath, I’ve never liked the image it gave off. I didn’t want to be that person that was constantly chewing away. These sugar-free mints are a great alternative to chewing gum. They leave a lasting refreshing mouthfeel and come in a variety of flavours. The small size of the mint package is also super convenient and allows you to bring these mints virtually anywhere. One drawback though is that they are sweetened with Splenda.

In addition to freshening your breath, peppermint oil has been demonstrated to have muscle relaxant properties, which could aid in digestion. Peppermint is also known for its other beneficial properties such as relieving intestinal gas, indigestion and its antimicrobial properties.

For more information on MontBec’s many sugar-free products, visit their website or Facebook page.

Disclosure: While I did receive samples for this post, all opinions are my own.

Blog

5 Inspiring LCHF Success Stories

August 31, 2015 jesspaigelchf 1 Comment

Since starting this blog, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting tons of inspiring people & getting to hear their stories through different forms of social media. At the request of some of my readers, here I have compiled some of, what I believe, are the most uplifting and heart-felt success stories on their LCHF journey.

Anna’s Story

“I used to be a food addict, always wanting to eat. There are a few things that I did because of this, that I’m not proud of. […] LCHF helped me change that.” – Anna

Hi, my name is Anna and I’m a 25 year old, former sugar-addict. As of 2009, I decided to change my life for the better and go LCHF. My food blog Anna’s LCHF is a place where I hope to inspire people with my story and to encourage them to live a sugar-free, healthy life.

Before LCHF, I used to be a food addict, I always wanted to eat. There are a few things that I did because of this, that I’m not proud of. One of these incidents was when I screamed at my boyfriend for not buying me ice cream. When we went to movies, 9 out of 10 times, I’d finish the confectionaries prior to the movie even beginning and then would be enraged when I ran out of candy. I always needed (yes, needed) a little evening snack. I could easily eat a whole bag of chips, followed by ice cream and candy alone. My boyfriend used to buy things I didn’t like just so he also could have some (like licorice and salt & vinegar chips). It got to the point where I was obsessed with always eating something and always focusing on food/snacks. LCHF helped me change that.

My mother first introduced me to LCHF in 2009. Within a short period of time, my mother, a once curvaceous & larger woman, became thin and healthier! Heck, I wanted to do that too! Who wouldn’t? Since then, I’ve been following an LCHF or low-carbohydrate, high fat lifestyle on and off. Every time I excluded sugar, I always felt better. I have to say, I’m very proud of myself. I did this all on my own by changing my diet and with no exercise. It just goes to prove that nutrition is more important than exercise when it comes to weight loss.

I’ve now been sugar-free since November 2011 and have lost a total of 47.7lbs. This way of eating makes me feel great and I plan on staying like this for the rest of my life. If I can do it, so can you <3.

Find Anna on her blog or on her Instagram to hear more!

Derek & Telaine’s Story

“Living an LCHF lifestyle has changed our lives forever!” – Derek & Telaine

Derek & Telaine are an LCHF power couple based in Australia that run one of the largest LCHF Facebook groups in the LCHF community called The Low Carb High Fat group. When they aren’t busy blogging, creating podcasts and trying to save the world from all the ‘carbage’ out there, they are parents to 3 beautiful boys. Derek is also quite the musician. You can take a listen to his musical prowess here.

Derek says:

After 34 years of eating a Standard Aussie Diet, I reached my heaviest (recorded) weight of 143kgs or 315.3lbs. I decided I needed to change for my own health and so I could be there for my family.

In September 2013, I began researching various diets, exercise programs and weight loss methods. I had tried so many in the past but my will power could only sustain me for so long. Inevitably I would end up throwing it all in and gaining back any weight lost along with interest. I was determined to find the best path to optimum health and weight loss. I decided I would not YoYo again. If I was to start a ‘diet’ it needed to be sustainable for life. After much reading, I decided a Low Carb, High Fat diet made the most sense to my scientific brain. I went all in on Dec 30th, 2013 and had high hopes but even the results took me by surprise!

Within the first two weeks, I had noticed major changes in my well-being:

I felt more focused and alert
I was able to sleep at night and wake rested and refreshed
Eczema had healed up
Heart burn and indigestion was gone
Dizzy spells stopped
My weight had begun to drastically reduce
Inflammation in my body had gone down
I was no longer angry

Overall, I was just feeling amazing! I was so excited that this lifestyle really did everything I had read about and decided I wanted to help as many people as possible discover this way of eating. A health revolution to see every individual live to their health potential and really enjoy LIFE. In March 2014, my beautiful girl Telaine, decided (of her own accord) to join me on this adventure. Before LCHF, she suffered from insulin resistance, inflammation of the liver, depression, anxiety, fatigue, headaches, extreme swelling, dizziness, panic attacks, vomiting and eczema. I am so happy she did because she’s no longer on any medications, her blood sugar is stable and she’s the happiest, healthiest and most energetic version of her! Her support has made a world of difference to me and our family.

After 10 months eating and living an LCHF lifestyle I saw my weight drop below 100kgs for the first time in my adult life. I went from wearing 5XL – 7XL shirts down to being able to shop at regular stores and fit comfortably into a size Large.

Between Telaine and I, we have lost over 114kgs (250lbs) since our heaviest and the weight has stayed off! Living LCHF keeps us healthy and full of energy.

I have never felt so energetic, healthy and alive in my life and I’m positive you can experience success living an LCHF lifestyle as well.

Find out more about Derek & Telaine by following their blog or on their Facebook page

Lilli’s Story

“I will never return to a diet filled with sugar, white flour or starch.
[…] In total, I’ve lost 60 kilograms and I’m not looking back!” -Lilli

Hi, my name is Lilli and I wanted to live longer for my family. I’m a recovering food addict and following a low-carb diet changed my life.. 60kg down and still going strong!

I started my journey three years ago. Obesity has affected my whole life, and it peaked after two pregnancies. I weighed 140 kg (308.6lbs) and had many aches. My knees, back and joints were painful and I began to understand that I had to do something with my lifestyle. Not to be dramatic, but occasionally, the pains & weight felt like it was going to kill me.

Through an acquaintance, I was introduction to a low carb diet. So I decided to try. What was the worst that could happen? I had tried a lot of different quick fixes that failed, maybe low carb was the key.

First step was cutting the flour, sugar, starches and fruits that I normally ate. I also began reading the labels in stores for carb count.

I got fast results, which encouraged me to continue so I started exercising. I’ve always heard that you should take everyday choices about physical activity. For example, using stairs instead of the elevator or walking instead of driving. However, I didn’t want to be sweaty when I got to where I was going. Instead, I found physical activity that I liked, such as aerobics, light jogging, cycling, etc. and did those on my free time.

After one year, I had lost almost 40 kgs and became more active. Over the next two years, I worked on figuring out a low-carb lifestyle that I could live with for the rest of my life. I played around with low-carb eating, ketosis and high carbohydrate days, to figure out what effect they had on my body.

Today, I’ve found happiness in a different form. I feel good in my own body. Low-carb changed my life forever. There are many paths to a healthier life but, this was the solution that worked for me. I will never return to a diet filled with sugar, white flour or starch.
I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to motivate and teach me about low-carb. In total, I’ve lost 60 kilograms and I’m not looking back.

Find out more about Lilli by following her Instagram page.

Laura’s Story

“Since following a LCHF diet and cutting out certain foods (eggs, gluten, dairy), certain symptoms have disappeared completely, namely foot drop, numbness in my left calf and foot, numbness in my left hand and brain fog.”

Hi my name is Laura and I’m a bit of a fitness and Gym junkie with a passion for food and health.

I was diagnosed with MS five years ago, which brought me to do my own research into different diets that could hopefully improve my symptoms. I initially started to modify my diet and followed a Paleo diet, which then turned into LCHF after reading Dr Terry Wahls and more recently Dr Sarah Ballantyne, who really was a revelation to me.

I’m blessed to be married to a man who also has MS, so following the same diet together, really is a relief as this diet/lifestyle could be a bigger challenge if my partner did not fully understand the difficulties and challenges daily life throws at me.

Since following a LCHF diet and cutting out certain foods (eggs, gluten, dairy), certain symptoms have disappeared completely, namely foot drop, numbness in my left calf and foot, numbness in my left hand and brain fog. Family and friends were initially a BIG challenge as they had the attitude of “a little won’t do you any harm!” but in fact, it does! My colleagues, who don’t know I have MS, I’m sure they think I have an eating disorder or just neurotic about being “healthy” or paranoid about putting on weight, as I ALWAYS have my family sized cool bag with my prepared meals with me at all times! But being different doesn’t bother me at all, never has, in fact it always makes other people defensive about what they eat. I never force my view of eating onto other people, but people’s reaction to how I eat always surprises me!

Find out more about Laura by following her Instagram page.

Martina’s Story

“Like so many other people, I was convinced that eating less and exercising more is the best approach for staying healthy and slim. I was wrong.” – Martina

I’m Martina and I’m a health and food blogger living in the UK. I hold a degree in Economics and worked in Finance, but I’ve always been passionate about nutrition and healthy living.

For many years I followed what I perceived to be a balanced diet to manage my weight and stay healthy. Just like most health conscious people, I watched my calorie intake and chose low-fat and whole-grain products. I avoided foods high in saturated fats and cholesterol, and I exercised up to six times a week to keep extra pounds off. Like so many other people, I was convinced that eating less and exercising more is the best approach for staying healthy and slim. I was wrong.

In 2011, I started having fatigue issues and found it hard to maintain a healthy weight. I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism. I soon realized that I wouldn’t be able to maintain a healthy weight unless I changed  my eating habits. After doing my own research, I started following a low-carb, paleo/ primal diet.

I’ve been following a low-carb diet for over 4 years and I haven’t looked back since. I finally have my health condition under control, I no longer count calories and have more energy than ever. I used to exercise to burn extra calories but now I only exercise to feel good and stay healthy. What I realized is, once you make the decision to go low-carb and commit to it, you’ll soon stop missing sugar and grains, and you’ll enjoy eating whole foods without having to deal with sugar cravings.

KetoDiet is an ongoing project I started with my partner in  2012 and includes The KetoDiet Cookbook and the KetoDiet apps for the iPad and iPhone. When creating recipes, I don’t focus on just the carb content: You won’t find any processed foods, unhealthy vegetable oils, or artificial sweeteners in my recipes. So come say hi at KetoDietApp.com/blog!

Find out more about Martina by following her Instagram page, Facebook Page, Pinterest, Twitter & Blog.

Blog

LCHF takes on the Omnivore World Tour 2015 @ SAT

August 24, 2015 jesspaigelchf Leave a comment

When I first started this blog a little over a year ago, the idea was to track and record what my family & I consumed on a regular basis. I don’t know when or how it happened but somehow, the JessPaigeLCHF blog became more than that. It became a gateway to a world that, over a year ago, I had no clue existed. Through my many social media forums, I’ve acquired friends all strewn over the planet we call home. Never would I ever have imagined I could be able to connect with so many brilliant people that would make me strive to better myself, increase my knowledge and spur new ideas.

Hence, when Emily Maguire from Low Carb Genesis reached out to me by e-mail on a sunny day in September of 2014, I never could have imagined I’d be meeting her in my hometown just a mere 11 months later. We corresponded daily and tried to set up Skype call after Skype call but with the time difference, it was difficult to coordinate. Luckily, when she decided to start her LCHF world tour, one of the many places that she decided to visit was Montreal!

From Scotland to Montreal

We decided on Mandy’s Salad Bar, a quaint little gourmet salad bar in the heart of Westmount, for our first meet up. It was so surreal! Chitchatting while in line awaiting our October Salads with bacon & egg, I quickly got to hear of all the incredible people she’d met along her LCHF world tour. We discussed our reasons for following a low-carbohydrate diet, how flawed the nutritional dogma is among other things. We ate Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups in the park (so addictive!) and just had an overall blast.

Omnivore World Tour 2015 & Periscope

The Omnivore World Tour, an international culinary festival in which approximately 2 dozen local and international chefs come to offer their best dishes, was on show in Montreal… How could two foodies not go? We decided to go on the Saturday and check out the scene.

The whole exhibit could be described in one word: delicious. Or.. maybe two: delicious & non-LCHF, haha. As Em and I went around tasting & periscope-ing (Is that a word?) our experiences, our taste buds were transported to heaven. Her and I both agree that our favourite experience was from Chef Marc Alexandre Mercier of Hotel Herman. It consisted of “brouillade d’oeuf, esturgeon fumé, caviar de mullet”. In English, that’s egg foam, smoked sturgeon and mullet caviar with some black Périgord truffle shavings on top all served in an egg shell.

While the dish was not the most visually appealing, you need to trust us when we tell you it was: out-of-this-world good (and bonus! Keto-friendly). Make sure to watch my Periscope videos (just search jesspaigelchf in the Periscope app) so see us at the event & what our reactions were.

Another dish that I got the pleasure of tasting was made by Chef Christophe Parasiuk from Restaurant Manitoba. His dish was composed of: “champignon homard, écrasé de pois verts et arroche, nori, salicorne et plantain maritime”. In English, that’s lobster mushrooms, crushed green peas, nori, samphire greens & maritime plantains. I particularly enjoyed the lobster mushrooms in this dish, so exquisite and, I’m pretty sure.. sautéed in butter.

We really wanted to taste the Lamb Barbacoa from William Cody & Gil MacNutt but they were completely out by the time we got through the line.. We still went home with our bellies full & massive smiles on our faces.

See all the foods we tasted on my Instagram or watch our reactions live on my Periscope account.

Blog, Food

Food Shopping Tips & Ketogenic Diets

October 18, 2014 jesspaigelchf 2 Comments

"Do you find ketogenic foods are more expensive than regular ones?"

When people ask me this question, my answer is that in my experience, they are not more expensive. Why do you ask? Well prior to my low carb journey, I ate a variety of foods ranging from lean meats to processed food. All the foods I currently eat now, I ate prior to low carb (except I chose the lower fat options). Sure, processed food is cheaper than whole foods if you are only consuming dried pastas and pre-cooked meals but in my experience, if you look for deals, you can ALWAYS find them. Nowadays, my grocery bills are actually lower than they were before because I actually consume less food. Gone are the days of constant hunger pangs, night snacking and meals every few hours. If I have a bulletproof coffee in the morning, I will stay satiated till about 2-3pm without requiring any other food. My friends are always astonished that I’m not hungry but it’s true.

Another thing to keep in mind is that leaner cuts tend to be more expensive since most people look for “low fat”. Pork bones, shoulder, etc. all are cheaper than super lean cuts like beef tenderloin.

Ok, now on to the grocery tips… (Don’t forget to check the Notes section for this week’s grocery list!)

Tips for low carb grocery shopping:

1) Make a list.
It’s simple, fail to prepare or prepare to fail. If you go to the grocery store and just browse for what you need, you’re much more likely to buy something on impulse. The likelihood of that product being low carb is lower than if you have a list.

2) Eat before shopping or bring yourself a snack.
Are you trying to torture yourself by looking at all the delicious food options without having eaten? Seriously. You’re more likely to grab for something that isn’t ketosis friendly as all ready-made food tends to be loaded with refined sugars and starches. Pack yourself a quest bar or something portable at the beginning of the day.

3) Browse the flyers prior to your grocery excursion.
Flyers are a wonderful way to check out what is on sale/lower price. A lot of these products are considered lost leaders (they are so cheap the store actually makes little to no profit on them, they are there only to attract you to the store) — Take advantage of that!

4) Buy seasonally.
If you live in a northern country like I do, try to purchase things that are seasonal. The produce will be fresher, richer in nutrients, taste better, you’ll be supporting local businesses not to mention, it’ll be cheaper! It’s a win-win.

5) Buy in bulk.
You know those staples that you use on a regular basis? Well Costco just became your best friend. Eggs, cream cheese, almond flour, coconut oil, you name it. They have it. It’s significantly cheaper to purchase things that you will constantly be using from a warehouse club.