Fabulously Keto

 Katie and her Italian husband Giancarlo first came to public attention when they featured in the BBC2 series Return to Tuscany in 2006. The series, which was broadcast worldwide, followed the pair as they set up and launched a residential cookery school in Tuscany. The show climaxed with them getting married in a dreamlike Tuscan wedding.

Since then they have both been frequent visitors to our screens appearing as guests on an array of foodie programmes such as BBC1’s Masterchef, Saturday Kitchen and Sunday Brunch.

As business partners, they own the Caldesi Group of Restaurants and Cookery Schools with restaurants in London’s Marylebone and culinary mecca Bray in Berkshire. Their cookery school ‘La Cucina Caldesi’ was launched in Marylebone in 2005 and this year they celebrated 15 years of business at Caldesi in Campagna, their restaurant in Bray and 20 years in Caldesi in Marylebone.

Katie started researching the low-carb diet when her husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and gluten-intolerance through nutritionist Jenny Phillips. She then became aware of the work of Dr David Unwin (the low-carb GP). Following advice from both Jenny and David, she began to develop low-carb dishes and soon the whole family had cut right back on the carbs.

There were immediate benefits to this as the whole family had more energy, they all lost weight, Giorgio’s headaches lessened and Flavio’s skin improved. Giancarlo lost almost 4 stone in weight which led to his diabetes going into remission.

Inspired by this Katie wrote her first of five low-carb cookbooks ‘The Diabetes Weight-Loss Cookbook’ which included some of the recipes she had developed for the family, a section on why low-carb works with Jenny Phillips and a foreword by Dr David and Dr Jen Unwin. The book was serialised in the Daily Mail and became an Amazon bestseller which led to Katie writing another four low-carb cookbooks. Her latest cookbook ‘The Low-carb Italian’ launches in March 2023.

Her e-book ‘The Caldesi Low-carb Christmas’ is available as an e-book or paperback and includes festive low-carb, gluten-free recipes that are a treat for all the family and ideal for entertaining too.

Katie has also written 12 other cookbooks covering the food of Italy, the art of preserving food as well as a compendium of salad recipes from around the world.

Non Low Carb Books

Italian Mamma’s Kitchen (Octopus Books) 2004

Return to Tuscany (BBC Books) 2005

The Italian Cookery Course (Kyle Books) 2009

Amalfi: recipes from the Italian coast (Hardie Grant) 2013

Venice: recipes Lost and Found (Hardie Grant, 2014)

Rome: centuries in an Italian kitchen (Hardie Grant, 2015)

Sicily: recipes from an Italian island (Hardie Grant, 2016)

Tuscany: simple meals and fabulous feasts (Hardie Grant, 2017)

The Gentle Art of Preserving (Kyle Books, 2015)

Salads from the World (Kyle Books, 2016)

Pasta (Hardie Grant, 2018)

Low Carb Books

The Diabetes Weight-loss Cookbook (Kyle Books, 2019)

Reverse Your Diabetes Cookbook (Kyle Books, 2020)

The 30-Minute Diabetes Cookbook (Kyle Books, 2021)

The Caldesi Low-Carb Christmas (Self-published e-book and softback, December 2020)

The Italian Cookbook for Children and Adults (self-published, December 2021)

The Low-Carb Weight-Loss Cookbook (Kyle Books, March 2022)

The Low-Carb Italian Kitchen (working title) (Kyle Books, March 23)

 I’m 56 and I am a husband to Louise, my rock and sweetheart. I’m a dad to our 2 grown ups kids, and a grandad (Grampy) to my daughters’ 4 beautiful children. I work as an Employment Specialist for a mental health charity supporting people with serious and long term mental health issues to find meaningful paid employment.

I have struggled with my weight since I was in my 20’s. I’ve tried all the main diets – Rosemary Connelly (low fat), Slimming World, Weight Watchers, the Cabbage Soup Diet etc. And I’m sure like you, I had some successes for a few weeks or months, but inevitably they / I failed. They weren’t sustainable ways of eating and I’d go back to eating my “usual” diet and the weight would creep back on and I would end up heavier/fatter than I was before the diet!!! I hated being overweight. I always felt other people were judging me! I hated going clothes shopping and looking at myself in the mirrors from a 360 degree angle – front and back views, warts and all!!!!! I hated being sweaty all the time, especially in summer!

I did have a period of success when I went into the fitness industry as a personal trainer and did a lot of activity and exercise and kept my weight at a reasonable level for me. For various reasons I stopped training and my life became a car wreck of stress and anxiety, and I piled on the pounds again.

So, I thought I’d share some of the info and my insights that I’ve picked up along the way on my journey since October /November 2020 into the low carb / keto world.

So, why choose low carb / keto? The appeal to me is that this way of eating is what our ancestors ate like! We are humans because our ancestors ate fatty meat. If we’re carried on eating plants like chimps or gorillas we’d still be just another type of ape spending 12hrs a day eating plants, sleeping in trees.

The second reason is to help maintain a lower insulin level in your body. As I understand it elevated insulin levels, which are caused by eating foods that spike blood sugar, like the high carb, highly processed diets we’re advised to eat, are believed to be the root cause of many modern chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, dementia and even cancer.

Restricting your carb intake will help you maintain a lower and more even insulin level.

For the first time in my life I feel in control of my food intake. I no longer feel like I am ruled by food or hunger. I no longer have cravings for junk fake foods like sugary drinks, sweet treats, cakes, biscuits or crisps!

It has worked for me, and I’ve lost over 4 1/2 stone in since November 2020.

I was obese, unhealthy, I had low energy and had to snooze every afternoon! and felt like I was on my way to some bad health outcomes. The SARS-COV-2 situation focused my mind on improving my metabolic and general health, and losing weight.

So, having listened to many hundreds, possibly 1000’s, of hours of podcasts and YouTube videos/lectures, I decided to take the step to take responsibility for my health and cut out processed foods, sugar, cereals, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and seed (vegetable) oils from my diet.

I started gradually and just cut bread, pasta, potatoes and rice from my diet. For me I knew I had to get rid of the starchy carbs out of the house, and therefore have less temptation to eat these addictive foods! Having my wife adopt the low carb lifestyle at the same time has been a massive help as we’re in it together and support this lifestyle change together.

Over a period of weeks I gradually moved breakfast later and later in the morning, until in the end my first meal of the day was lunch at noon. I view it now through an ancestral lens. Our ancestors wouldn’t have had food available to them 24hrs a day!! They would have had periods of no food available to them and this natural “stress” on our bodies seems to have beneficial consequences accor

 In 2015, Dorian Greenow weighed 210 lbs and had nearly all the markers for metabolic syndrome. He and his wife, Gemma embarked on the ketogenic lifestyle, began monitoring their glucose and ketones to dial in their nutrition choices. 

Within six months, Dorian had lost 47 lbs and came off all medications. The Ketogenic lifestyle changed their lives, but ketone testing was expensive and inaccessible to many in need. 

In 2017, Dorian successfully launched Keto-Mojo, lowering the cost of ketone testing by 75%, offering the first affordable, accurate blood glucose and ketone testing meter. With the release of the GKI (Europe) and GK+ meters, and the HIPAA and GDPR compliant MyMojoHealth, their platform now provides real time data for monitoring and compliance, resulting in better health outcomes. 

Dorian speaks at numerous conferences globally. Additionally, he and Gemma also founded The Ketogenic Foundation, a non-profit charity, fostering Ketogenic Education, Medical Research, and Information Sharing for the benefit of improving the health of humankind.

D Minder App

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Keto Mojo Macro Calculator

Buy a Keto-Mojo

“You gotta cast those white devils outta your life.”

“I look at measuring ketones like a map and compass model.”

“Bio-individuality is really important (don’t compare to others – what’s your baseline?).”

“How would you characterise a ketogenic diet in a sentence? – I would say it is adequate fat, moderate protein and lots above ground leafy vegetables.”

“If you are already obese and you have lots of fat on your body adding more fat into your diet might not be necessary.”

“We know the scales lie to you every morning.”

“Ketosis is a state of being.”

“Any carbohydrate will get turned to sugar and glucose within your body.”

“It’s more of a brain thing, than a need thing (needing to eat lunch).”

“Consistency sometimes is more important than trying to target optimal.”

“I am the world’s worst business man because what I am ultimately trying to do, is if I have done my job correctly you will no longer need my product.”

“It’s all about trying to get population healthy.”

“What’s my legacy going to be in life that I made a buck or I made a difference?”

“Remember lifestyle can be hard when you go out there into the real world.”

“Your brain on glucose is the same as your brain on cocaine.”

“This is what pleases me the most, is a revolution happens one person and one doctor at a time.”

“Everyone one is say

 Joanne McCormack is a UK doctor and former GP who first learned the powerful value of Ketogenic diets in 2014, first personally and then with her patients.

She was a GP for 30 years but only started to see people reversing their obesity and type 2 diabetes once they started to use tools like Keto, low carbohydrate and intermittent fasting as ways of life. It was as if the UK “woke up to Keto” and progress was made for the very first time.

She recognises that the UK “ Eatwell” Guide is potentially harmful for diabetic and overweight people (as it recommends too many carbohydrate containing foods). She helped launch the charity the Public Health Collaboration, with the dual aim of educating health professionals and the public about better ways of looking at food, and campaigning at national level for better government dietary advice.

Dr Robert Lustig

Dr Robert Lustig

Search for 

the london Ankylosing Spondylitis diet

Dr David Perlmutter

Grain Brain – Dr David Perlmutter

Dr Richard Bernstein

Wheat Belly – William Davis MD

Zoë Harcombe

Zoë’s Thermic effect video

Dr Georgia Ede

PHC UK

Treflyn Jones

https://www.youtube.com/c/WARRINGTONLOWCARBOHYDRATEGROUP

Dr Terry Wahls

The Bitter Truth

“If she was bored she would bake, if she had visitors she would bake, if she was sad she would bake, so she always ate a lot of sweet stuff.”

“I said, I am really concerned that we are managing diabetes wrong.”

“The whole country has really poor diabetes figures when diabetes management is audited everybody gets worse unless they follow a ketogenic diet or a low carb diet.”

“People can eat what they want but they have got to take the consequences, because the consequences will be deteriorating health and your health getting worse more quickly than it would do otherwise”

“I started to think of them as a harmful substance rather than a tasty snack.”

“Especially the people who are addicted to sweet stuff will probably want to continue to eat the things that they’ve always eaten and try to have enough medication to cover it.”

“If you are ready, start making baby steps if you are not ready to take the plunge completely.”

“I found cereal really easy to give up. I never felt tempted to buy a box of cereal. I never felt I wanted to have some.”

“That’s where the vegan space is going, it is going into processed foods.”

“Nobody needs to b

 In this episode Jackie and Louise talk to members of the Fabulously Keto Facebook Group to find out how they cope with Christmas and the festive season. They all share their top tips.

Heather Temple-Mills

Heidi Standen

Nicola Lock

JoAnn McManamy

Juliet Carbin

Louise Reynolds

Jackie Fletcher

Carrie Brown’s recipes

Cranberry White Chocolate Slice

Turkey and Cranberry Meatloaf

Cranberry Sauce

Megan Ellam’s recipes

Keto White Christmas

Deliciously Guilt Free – Chocolate and Cakes

Scoundrel – Chocolate and Ice Cream

A Delicious Low Carb Christmas : A selection of 23 delicious gluten-free and grain-free recipes for the whole family – Emma Porter

The Caldesi Low-Carb Christmas: Celebrate with 40 Low-Carb and Gluten Free Recipes – Katie Caldesi

Low Carb Christmas E-book – Sarah Flower

Dessert Lover’s Cookbook – Carrie Brown

A Christmas Gathering Ebook – Megan Ellam

Carrie Brown’s – Cranberry White Chocolate Slice

Keto Kitchen: Delicious recipes for energy and weight loss (Keto Kitchen Series) – Monya Kilian-Palmer

https://amzn.to/3DBDk1V

“If there’s a little chink in your own armour that’s an opportunity to really go off plan.” – Heather Temple-Mills

“Welcome to the club of oddness, you are amongst fine company here, so all the odd Odd Fellows.” – Louise Reynolds

“Remember the love and people around you.” – JoAnn McManamy

“I do say no. It is difficult. I have been in situations where I will tell them no, I don’t do sugar.”- Heidi Standon

“Be kind to yourself and look for other non-food ways to treat yourself.” – Heidi Standon

“It’s

 Having encountered her own fertility struggles in her early thirties, Natalie explored how diet and lifestyle changes can transform fertile health. 

Her own journey to motherhood has inspired her work as a nutritionist and fertility specialist, now helping busy women eat better and realise their dream of becoming a mum.

Dr Jason Fung

https://www.thefastingmethod.com/

“I was a trained  nutritionist and had been trained in the typical UK dietary guidelines and then had the realisation that this isn’t working.”

“I was totally undernourished.”

“Every client is low in fat and low in calories and they are trying so hard to lose weight and feel healthy.”

“Are you giving your eggs the environment for it to develop?”

“We know we’ve got all the eggs we will have, but we don’t know we can actually influence the quality of eggs and quality of sperm.”

“I am such a believer in we are what we eat.”

“It’s not about eating for two.”

“Predominantly it is insulin resistance that has gone undiagnosed.”

“99% of women will be following the low fat, low calorie way of eating, even subconsciously.”

“Within the area of infertility, often women have tried everything.”

“Leftovers are such a fantastic and convenient lunch.”

“Typically those feelings towards fatty cuts of meat are just habit, learnt as a child, learnt from someone else’s reaction.”

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NCNutritionConsultancy

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalie_coghlan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-coghlan/

Website Details:

https://www.nataliecoghlan.com

The Fabulously Keto Diet & Lifestyle Journal: A 12-week journal to support new habits – Jackie Fletcher

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Music by Bob Collum

We would love to know if you have a favourite guest you would like us to interview. Let us know who you would like to hear of if you have a particular topic y

Mark & Ella from Keto Fitness Club believe that once you have the right information with easy-to-follow recipes, using ingredients found in UK stores, a low carb / keto lifestyle doesn’t require hours in the kitchen. It’s just delicious food providing your body with the nutrition it needs.

See Mark and Ella’s book on their website

https://www.ketofitnessclub.com/collections/cookbooks-more

Strong Lifts

Deliciously Guilt Free

Eva Bold

Keto Fitness Club App

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.tapcart.app.id_SCOU1CvwOC

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/keto-fitness-club/id1607214085

“I don’t know whether he took pity on me or he just fancied a challenge.” – Mark Brereton

“I was struggling for energy, I was constantly grazing.” – Mark Brereton

“You are talking about meal planning for people who are in hospital because they are ill and you’re effectively feeding them huge volumes of carbs and sugar.” – Mark Brereton

“Have you ever thought that you’ve got a problem with carbs? And it just hit me like a brick.”  – Mark Brereton

“I had lots of issues with food in terms of restriction, which probably stemmed from health and fitness class in year eight, year nine when they got us to calorie count.” – Ella Brereton

“We are constantly encouraging people to do any form of resistance, weight bearing exercise.” – Mark Brereton

“You are not going to get bulky by lifting once or twice a week.” – Mark Brereton

“I know what makes me feel good and what doesn’t.” – Ella Brereton

“You eat convenience food every day of your life, you can see the issues that it causes.” – Mark Brereton

“I couldn’t get off the sofa, I couldn’t go more than three or four hours without having a nap.” – Mark Brereton

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ketofitnessclub

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ketofitnessclub

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/376208866655806

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ketofitnessclub/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KetoFitnessClub

Website Details:

https://www.ketofitnessclub.com/

 I’m a health coach, specialising in lower carb solutions for metabolic health. I work full-time for the NHS doing health coaching and social prescribing, with some occasional one to one clients

Wim Hof

Real Food Runners Facebook Page

Jason Fung

Emma Porter

Blackberry Crumble

“When I came back after Poland, Nepal and India I realised being in the UK everyone looked sick and overstimulated.”

“I didn’t listen or watch the news for 12 months and that’s so refreshing.”

“The news is junk food for your mind.”

“It was realising how powerful and how capable your body and mind are. We can we can do these things if we kind of get the right training and the right mindset.”

“It’s a medicine if you like, stress relieving and energy boosting.”

“It is definitely possible to eat really well on a budget.”

“It is about the hope that these things can be resolved one meal at a time.”

“Without cooking your own food, you are outsourcing your health.”

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HealthCoachOlly

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthcoacholly

Website Details:

https://www.ollyleicester.co.uk/

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Help Jackie and Louise make more episodes by supporting them on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/FabulouslyKeto

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Facebook Group:

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Music by Bob Collum

We would love to know if you have a favourite guest you would like us to interview. Let us know who you would like to hear of if you have a particular topic you would like us to cover.

https://fabulouslyketo.com/recommend-a-guest

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 As a working mother of 4 children, Laura understands the demands of today’s busy lifestyle and the detrimental impact that the dietary and lifestyle choices so many of us make in the interest of convenience can have. After spending over 20 years in the financial industry and about 5 years of hard work and planning, Laura was able to leave that world behind to pursue her passion for ancestral health and fitness. 

Laura earned her first nutrition/health coach certification through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in 2012 after suffering severe health issues that were only alleviated through diet and lifestyle changes, rather than conventional medical interventions. She then aligned herself with the Primal Health Coach Institute in 2013 to coach others through long term lifestyle change using the ancestral health model that has helped her maintain her health and optimal weight effortlessly. 

Laura also became a CrossFit affiliate owner and trainer in 2013 and has been using Primal Health Coaching since the gym opened as a way to add more value, differentiate her box from all the others and to add additional sources of revenue. She is committed to coaching others into a healthy, real food, holistic lifestyle that best suits the unique metabolic and lifestyle needs of each individual.

Laura joined the Primal Health Coach Institute as a team member in 2016 as The Director of Admissions. She is also a faculty member and coach supporting, guiding and educating new Primal Health Coaches.

In 2020 Laura and her family moved to Florida where she continues to coach and is rebuilding her private practice while also supporting others who want to build a career out of their passion for health and fitness with the Primal Health Coach Institute. 

Laura’s Certifications Include: CF Level 1, MovNat Level 1, Certified Primal Health Coach, IIN Certified Holistic Health Coach, NASM Certified Personal Trainer and NASM Women’s Fitness Specialist.

Nutrition and Physical Degeneration: A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects – Weston A Price

Primal Health Coaching

The Fabulously Keto Diet & Lifestyle Journal: A 12-week journal to support new habits – Jackie Fletcher

“There are a lot of symptoms that people take as every day these are normal. They might seem common but that’s not normal.”

“I kept asking my doctors “Why does this keep happening?” – Nobody could answer why it was happening.”

“At this point, I was willing to resort to human sacrifice.”

“That’s the biggest scam going is this whole – kids have to eat something different.”

“Women were told that eating meat was bad for you.”

“Let’s eat for nutrients, let’s learn how to eat rather than diet, let’s learn how to train to be fit for the life you want to live.”

“More broccoli and plant based protein shakes is not going to do it.”

“Muscle is the longevity organ.”

“Unless you are already dead, it is literally never too late.”

“Snacks is

 Mag. Julia Tulipan is a biologist and nutritional scientist, blogger, author, speaker, entrepreneur and science nerd. 

During her late 20s she experienced severe health issues like back pain, depression, weight gain and sleep problems, despite doing everything by the book. When Julia turned 30, she had reached a new low. That was the turning point in her health journey. This time she decided to dig deeper into the original science. This led her to question the general dietary guidelines and, on the path, to reclaim her health. 

During the last eight years Julia fought her way back and says about herself, that she is now the healthiest she has ever been. As a coach, she now helps others on their path to health and wellbeing. She supports high performing individuals in reaching their potential. She built one of the most popular German blogs about the low-carb and keto lifestyle.

Together with her dear colleague Daniela Pfeifer and LCHF-Germany, they created the first certified KetoCoach training program. 

Besides her entrepreneurial endeavours, she is a scientist by heart.

Keto – Alles, was Sie wissen müssen: Die 120 wichtigsten Fragen zu Umsetzung, Mythen und Missverständnissen – Julia Tulipan

Der Keto-Kompass: Aktuelles Wissen über ketogene Ernährung, Ketone und Ketose – Wirkweisen, Anwendungen und Chancen – Julia Tulipan

Low Carb Weihnachtsrezepte: Kohlenhydratarm, glutenfrei und zuckerfrei Backen für Diabetiker, Allergiker und Gesundheitsbewusste (German Edition) – Julia Tulipan

Diagnose Nebennierenerschöpfung: Wie chronischer Stress die Hormon-Balance stört. Vitalität und Lebensfreude zurückgewinnen (German Edition) – Julia Tulipan

Das KETO-Cocktail-Buch – Julia Tulipan

Julia’s Retreat

Julia also has a food company

Julia’s research papers

Implementation of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Improves the Quality of Life of Cancer Patients

Tulipan, Julia, and Barbara Kofler

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.661253/full

Ketogenic diet in the treatment of cancer – Where do we stand?

Daniela D. Weber, Sepideh Aminzadeh-Gohari, Julia Tulipan, L. Catalano, R. Feichtinger, B. Kofler

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Ketogenic-diet-in-the-treatment-of-cancer-–-Where-Weber-Aminzadeh-Gohari/8c663cff570eb7d08fb48ee30b4158b4a6217b63

Good Calories, Bad Calories – Gary Taubes

https://amzn.to/37fPKhp

Wheat Belly – William Davis MD

https://amzn.to/3lhJgWm