Starting on Keto? Your reading list.

Knowing what the Keto * low-carb eating plan is really all about is important if you want to improve your health, treat health problems, or lose weight on this lifestyle. Don’t go by internet rumors, self-published ‘Keto’ books, or random web sites. Go to good sources. 

BASIC BOOKS

Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution, Dr. Robert Atkins (1972)

Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, Dr. Robert Atkins, (1992)

These are the books I had you purchase and read in a previous blog post. They are still your most essential and basic books. Plus, Atkins books usually feature a batch of recipes in the back of the book. You may find some you make every week for years.

Keto Clarity, Jimmy Moore and Dr. Eric Westman (2014)

This book gives you the science behind Keto * low-carb from many different sources. Actual scientific studies are mentioned. 

Real Food Keto, Jimmy Moore and Christine Moore, NTP (Nutritional Therapy Practitioner) (2019)

This one is from Jimmy Moore and his wife. Modern keto has an emphasis on ‘real foods.’ This book will show you why. There are also recipes by Maria Emmerich. 

FOR INSPIRATION

How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet And Lost 40 Pounds ….And How You Can Too! Dana Carpender (2003)

Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: My Journey for Flabby Fat to Sensationally Skinny In One Year, Jimmy Moore (2005) 

Dana Carpender lost 40 pounds, Jimmy Moore lost 180, so both stories can inspire us. Dr. Atkins, in his many books, liked to include mini ‘case studies’ of people who lost weight and improved their health on his eating plan. All these stories help us to get inspired to get on Keto * low-carb and stay there.

COOKBOOKS

Dr. Atkins’ Diet Cookbook, Fran Gare and Helen Monica (1974)

Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Cookbook, Dr. Robert Atkin and Fran Gare ((1994)

Dr. Atkins’ Quick & Easy New Diet Cookbook, Dr. Robert Atkins & Veronica Atkins (1997)

500 Low-Carb Recipes, Dana Carpender (2002)

200 Low-Carb High-Fat Recipes, Dana Carpender (2015)

The Ketogenic Cookbook, Jimmy Moore and Maria Emmerich (2015)

Most of us need to start accumulating some Keto * low-carb cookbooks to give us ideas for making meals. There are some recipes that are rather elaborate and some that are simple. One problem in some of the cookbooks is that recipes call for low-carb specialty ingredients that are no longer being manufactured. This is why an emphasis on real foods is helpful. Your grocery store will continue to carry pork chops, heavy whipping cream and heads of cabbage far into the future, no matter what diets are the current fad. 

CARB COUNTERS

Carbohydrate Guide to Brand Names and Basic Foods, Barbara Kraus (1988)

New Carb and Calorie Counter, Dana Carpender, (2010)

Even if you have an app or a internet site available to help you count your carbs, you probably should have one or more in your home. I have two and use both to work out the carb contents of foods. The brand name foods and fast food items go out of date rapidly. It’s better to check the box on any processed food, so you know the carb grams of the current version. And of course fast-food places change their menus often, You can find the nutritional information online, but it is often useless. They presume you are going to be eating your bun, so you don’t know the amount of carbs in a beef patty with condiments, or of a fake-meat patty (which certainly will have more carbs than a meat patty!)

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Buy a few more books from this list. Continue to read your Atkins book, as assigned in the previous blog post, daily, but add some of your new books into the daily reading rotation. Be sure to give special attention to the how-to-do-the—diet chapters in the Atkins books— perhaps read a paragraph every day from those chapters until you can practically recite them. Your other books should have a place in your daily reading for variation and inspiration. Remember, you have spend many years of your life learning how to overeat carbs. Now you need to learn a new way.