No Fail Fat Loss with Maria Emmerich

Welcome to a no holds barred talk about no-fail fat loss techniques!

I'm your host Ryan Kimball, and I'm honored to have Maria Emmerich, one of the world's top authorities on the Ketogenic Diet, sharing her super-effective techniques for improved body composition.

About Maria Emmerich – Founder of Maria Mind Body Health and Keto-Adapted.com

Having lost 80 pounds and, reversing her PCOS, IBS, and regaining her health, 20 years ago, Maria started writing books about the Keto lifestyle. With over 20 published books and more coming soon, Maria has helped millions of people around the world lose weight and gain health. She is Halle Berry’s favorite author and has done cooking videos with Halle on her Instagram. Other readers of her books include Valerie Bertinelli and Al Roker, who has made her recipes on the Today Show! She is an International Best Selling Author, and her new book “Sugar Free Kids” with a forward written by Halle Berry!

Take some time to enjoy the amazing information in this episode and learn how you can start or improve on your journey to healthy weight loss and more! 

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose, and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, prescription, or recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Ryan: Hi everyone. Welcome. This week I have a very special guest that I am super excited to be introducing. Her name is Maria Emmerich she is a ketogenic nutritionist who has helped thousands and thousands of people. I've learned a lot from her just following her over the years. She's written. So many cookbooks.

[00:00:23] Ryan: I don't have like 16, 17, maybe more. Bestselling author. Amazing person. I'm super excited to have her on. We're gonna go over some great topics today and give you some really valuable information. Hi Maria. 

[00:00:36] Maria: Hey, how's it going? 

[00:00:38] Ryan: Very good, you, thank you for being here. 

[00:00:40] Maria: Thank you for asking me. To be honest, it's an honor. 

[00:00:43] Ryan: Oh yes, our, our pleasure. So I wanted to talk to you today about some specific things regarding all your information with the ketogenic diet, and you have such a following and such a large wealth of information. I know we could cover so many topics, but [00:01:00] I wanted to start with your journey and a little bit about who you are for those who may not know you.

[00:01:07] Maria: Oh, of course. Gosh, over 25 years ago I was not feeling well and I went to my family doctor. I was 16 years old. You can do the math if you want to. But I went to my family doctor and I was told I had something called P C O S, which we now know is a type, a form of type two diabetes. I had depression, so she gave me a antidepressant.

[00:01:28] Maria: I had IBS, Acid Reflux. Needless to say, I left that doctor's visit with not only a diagnosis that I couldn't have my own children most likely, I also was given three very powerful drugs for a young teenager. And as fate had it, I took my dog, who was a beautiful golden retriever to the vet that same week and she was losing patches of her hair.

[00:01:53] Maria: And the first question the vet asked me was, what are you feeding her? And on the flip side, my doctor said it was [00:02:00] nothing I was doing wrong. It was just the cards I was dealt in life. But if she would've asked, I worked at a coffee shop, so before school I would go to the coffee shop and I would make the scones and the muffins and the cinnamon rolls, and then I would go to school.

[00:02:15] Maria: And then after high school when school was done, I would go back to the coffee shop and we would close about 5:30 and whatever didn't sell, I got to go home with, because nobody wants a leftover cinnamon roll, right? So I was making extra cinnamon rolls because I just love them so much. So I was living off of mochas and cinnamon rolls and all this, and there wasn't the internet back then.

[00:02:37] Maria: But when you look into what causes P C O S, it's excess carbohydrates, sugar, and caffeine . So I was living off of those things. So I really had to take a deep dive into my diet. And I'm a foodie. I like food. I don't wanna live off of chicken breast and broccoli. And so I just started recreating like cinnamon rolls [00:03:00] and made 'em.

[00:03:00] Maria: I have a protein berry cinnamon roll now, but I just made my favorite food into something I could live off of. And I was just eating that way and people thought I was weird, but I was like, I don't care. Like I'm just a stubborn German girl. And here I am 25 years ago and everybody wants to know my secrets

[00:03:18] Ryan: Nice. Yeah. Awesome. That's a really inspiring story, and all you've done with that to help the world has been really incredible. I wanted to ask you specifically for someone who wants to use keto for the purposes of changing their body composition, losing body fat, gaining muscle mass, what is your recommendation in, in starting that type of journey?

[00:03:42] Maria: Just I guess if you're like totally overwhelmed, I would say just cut the sugar out. That's step number one. Is cut the sugar out. Step number two I would say is cut the seed oils out, like the canola, cotton seed oil, look at your salad dressings, your mayos, all of that. Cause I do think sugar and the seed [00:04:00] oils are the two biggest contributor to our bodies not working the way they want to.

[00:04:06] Maria: So I think that's like the biggest steps. I think the biggest misconception is we're already eating a high fat diet, but we're just really high carbohydrate too. I would say let's just like cut the carbohydrates out. We don't need to add more fat. Cause you're probably already at your personal fat threshold.

[00:04:27] Maria: If you're overweight, if you have type two diabetes, if you have insulin resistance, you're already at your personal fat threshold. So don't be adding more fat to the diet. So that's just where I differ from a lot of so-called experts that are new to the scene. There's a lot of new keto doctors that are all over YouTube and they're like, put a stick of butter in your coffee.

[00:04:49] Maria: I'm like, first of all, coffee's a bad idea and then put a stick of butter in there. Like, what do you think that does? So that's just like the nonsense I'm fighting against, [00:05:00] but at the same. , all of their clients come to me and like, help. I ended up gaining weight and I'm like, of course you did.

[00:05:07] Maria: And then we end up fixing them and it's all good. 

[00:05:11] Ryan: Nice, nice. Okay. Yeah, I, I have heard that quite a bit about increasing your fat intake to start a ketogenic diet. But that hasn't been your experience as something that is needed. It's just lowering the carbs. 

[00:05:25] Maria: No. Some people may say, have like fat bombs or something to get the sugar cravings away.

[00:05:30] Maria: But I like to use other techniques because, , if you're already working with somebody who's very metabolically damaged who has insulin resistance, adding more fat on top of that is not gonna help insulin resistance. So different techniques work better. 

[00:05:46] Ryan: Okay. Gotcha. 

[00:05:47] Ryan: And then I know that you've mentioned, and this is something that not everyone does in the, in the keto space don't count net carbs.

[00:05:55] Ryan: Like that's not the way to go about it either. 

[00:05:57] Maria: No, 

[00:05:58] Maria: I work with type one [00:06:00] diabetics and also type two, but knowing that the whole like fiber, like people would subtract fiber and they're like, these. This bread is only like one net carb, where I think at Subway they have a zero net carb bread now.

[00:06:16] Maria: But if you look at the total carbohydrates and if you look at what it's gonna do to your blood sugar, it's gonna spike it probably more than what you, when you ate a KitKat bar or a Snickers bar, because. The Kit Kat or the Snickers has fat to help lower that blood sugar spike. But if you just have a bunch of fiber, it's going to affect blood sugar and it's going to affect your outcome and your desirable goals.

[00:06:40] Maria: And I know how when people come to me, they want it bad. Like they're searching for answers, right? They've tried everything else. And I'm like, okay, if you do X, Y, and Z, like I'm known as being very strict, but guess what? It works really great. You do what I tell you. And a lot of people are like, yeah, I'm just gonna do whatever you tell me to do.

[00:06:58] Maria: And [00:07:00] part of it is like counting the total carbohydrates. That's huge. And staying underneath 20 grams is very, it's helpful. 99% of people that come to me want it for weight loss. Right. Yeah, same here. And in that case, yeah, I'm gonna say stay under 20, but also like if you have epilepsy or seizures, I'm gonna probably say that too.

[00:07:22] Ryan: Okay, gotcha. So, just to be very clear, for those who are listening, when you're saying a low carb diet, it's any carbohydrate. Even if the packaging says two net carbs, look at the back and it should be like, what are the total, the total carbs might be? I've seen 'em be 20 or 30. and that's the, the 20 grams of carbohydrates you're talking about, staying below.

[00:07:46] Maria: If you're grabbing a packaged item that says keto on it, I would say throw it in the garbage cuz it's probably crap. Keto got really popular maybe like five years ago and, SlimFast jumped on board. Duncan Hines is now [00:08:00] making a keto brownie and cake and all of that stuff is junk.

[00:08:04] Maria: I would not touch it. I would not recommend to touch it. If you're co, if you're looking at a package is probably something I wouldn't eat anyway. I don't know.

[00:08:12] Ryan: Totally understood. Yes. Yeah, and totally agreed. And, and so if somebody's looking at their app and they've entered in their carbs and their food for the day, they're total carb count, not net would need to be 20 or below to really start dialing in.

[00:08:26] Maria: It depends on how much muscle mass you have. It depends on how active you are. It depends on what your goals are too. So like when I was saying, dialing the fat down, if you have MS or Alzheimer's, epilepsy, I'd probably get an up increase of fat. 

[00:08:40] Maria: Yeah. And 

[00:08:41] Maria: it's, it's hard. Eggs have a carbohydrate scallops, like a lot of seafood has some carbohydrates, don't fear them. Okay. Those are the ones that, I would say are not a big deal.

[00:08:53] Maria: But when it comes to like, , Psyllium husk and Flax seed. Those are all, they come with bad side effects, [00:09:00] including like, flax is very estrogenic. I feel that we're going to find out the same, what we know about soy products. That is very estrogenic. It's just taking us time. I've known it for a decade that flax is not something that you wanna consume.

[00:09:16] Maria: It's not even good for your intestines. So just don't, don't a lot of keto recipes may have it, but just run away from that. 

[00:09:25] Ryan: Okay. Good to know. Yeah. Okay, great. And then how about using fasting in the mix here, like intermittent fasting when somebody's specifically working on body composition, losing body fat.

[00:09:37] Maria: I am not a fan of extended fasting. Okay. You will lose muscle mass. So when I say fasting, I'm only talking about intermittent fasting, and that's just closing the window. And it sounds extreme when you first. start thinking about it, but it's really not. You're just closing the window. So if you're not hungry when you wake up, that's a good sign.

[00:09:57] Maria: That means that, your blood sugars are getting [00:10:00] more balanced. So waiting until you're hungry, like I'm up working usually like at 4:30 in the morning, even on a Saturday or Sunday . And I'll probably eat about. 9:30 or 10, and then not eating right before bed. Also, because it's, it's all about hormone manipulation and you can really manipulate your hormones with the timing of when you eat and stuff.

[00:10:20] Maria: So not eating like three hours before bed helps with this. It's called a human growth hormone that helps with fat burning while you sleep. But it's antagonist as insulin and even if you ate pure fat, insulin will rise some. So just shortening the window. But it's very usually natural when I say, intermittent fasting, that means, like butter coffee.

[00:10:42] Maria: Cuz that's another thing I get people, oh, I don't eat until like one, they're like, so you didn't have any like bulletproof coffee? They're like, oh yeah, I had that. I was like, you just had 500 calories of pure fat. Like you're not fasting. Don't be fooled. So, that's where just shortening the window don't be [00:11:00] eating every two to three hours, 

[00:11:01] Ryan: And I wanted to bring that up, the Bulletproof Coffee, cuz that has really come onto the scene strongly in the ketogenic circles for, for a lot of people I get asked about it all the time. So, when a person does a bulletproof coffee or maybe they're not doing caffeine, I've, I've been asked that too, like a bulletproof style herbal tea that they like or something in the morning that's in, that kicks you out of your fasting and is inhibiting to the body fat loss game.

[00:11:30] Maria: That too. There's no nutrients. If you look at how much nutrients are in that cup of fat, there's more nutrients in sugar. So instead of drinking your calories, sit down and have some steak and eggs to break your fast because if they're looking at calorie for calorie, you're gonna get so many more nutrients if you actually eat protein and you're gonna ha keep your beautiful hair.

[00:11:57] Maria: That's the thing too. A lot of people do that and they do [00:12:00] like these fat fasts, fat bombs and yeah, egg fasts. They end up losing their hair. Their thyroid has issues and it's because they're not getting their protein in. And when you drink your calories, it doesn't signal these hormones in your brain to tell you that you're full and satisfied.

[00:12:17] Maria: Chewing is very powerful. Chewing is registers all these hormones of satisfaction. So I would say like if you make a rule, you don't drink any calories, you only chew calories. 

[00:12:31] Ryan: Okay, cool. Good to know. Okay, great. This is great information. And then another question for you. A lot of people that I work with, they start out and we get them into ketosis.

[00:12:41] Ryan: You're using something to measure it, like, a device Keto Mojo or whatever. And at some point they, we run into the situation where the ketones aren't showing up as much, but they're still getting the body composition gains. What do you have to say about. 

[00:12:56] Maria: I would say follow your goals.

[00:12:58] Maria: Who, like, don't cha chase [00:13:00] results. Don't chase the numbers. Okay. However, if you're using urine strips to test, they're not gonna work after a few weeks because they only tell you if you're hydrated or not. And they're not testing beta hydroxybutyrate, right? . But another thing is the longer you've been keto 25 years, my ketones are gonna be extremely low.

[00:13:20] Maria: And also I run before I eat anything. Mm-hmm. . So by the time I'm done running, I'm showing extremely low ketones. Do I get nervous that they're not at this optimal fat burning keto number? No. Because that's a load of crap. Okay. I've used all my ketones for my running. I don't have any left. I see. And your body becomes more efficient, your mitochondria becomes more efficient at making ketones.

[00:13:50] Maria: So your numbers are gonna be much lower. So it just means that your liver's efficient at making free fatty acids. Like you don't have to stress out about the [00:14:00] number chased results. 

[00:14:02] Ryan: Nice. I love it. Chase results. Yes. 

[00:14:04] Maria: You could add, so let's say we had a bowl of rice. Yeah. You put a bunch of MCT oil on it, you're gonna see higher ketones.

[00:14:11] Maria: Does it mean that you're gonna lose weight? Nope. You're gonna gain it cuz fat plus the carbohydrates cause weight gain. So you be reading high ketones just because you put MCT oil on, a bunch of kabocha squash or something like that. It just means that you, you, you just have a bunch of fat in your bloodstream.

[00:14:31] Maria: It doesn't mean that you're burning fat. . 

[00:14:34] Ryan: Right. Makes sense. Makes sense. So what's your take? Does M C T oil contribute to the journey of losing body fat with keto? 

[00:14:43] Maria: No, 

[00:14:43] Maria: I think it's empty calories and it's such a processed oil that right? It's nothing that I've ever touched and I've lost half my body weight and I don't actually recommend it.

[00:14:53] Maria: It often causes some upset, stomach nausea sometimes diarrhea. There's this theory that it makes [00:15:00] your mitochondria more efficient or something like that. Yeah, I find that Is it worth the risk of that processed oil? . I don't think so. 

[00:15:09] Ryan: Right. . And then something that we've used a lot thank you is your protein sparing, modified fasting with great results.

[00:15:17] Ryan: And I just wanted to get a little bit more about how that came about in, in how you recommend to use it. 

[00:15:22] Maria: When I wrote my first 

[00:15:24] Maria: book, I wrote about my pure protein days. and my pure protein days were protein sparing days, but I, that's not a term that I ever came up with. It's, a term that someone else did.

[00:15:37] Maria: Hmm. But I just called the proteins sparing modified fast book that, because that's what people are searching. But I called 'em my pure protein days, and what that meant was my carbohydrates were always low. But I dialed the fat down even lower, so it's gonna be like 20, 30 grams of fat, just enough for hormones, just enough for absorption of A, D, [00:16:00] E and K vitamins.

[00:16:01] Maria: But it's lowering the fat. . And, but then I focus on high protein. So lean proteins like, any fish, even salmon is a pretty protein sparing fish seafood. I always eat a tenderloin steak like every day after my run. But choosing the leaner cuts and so I have charts in the book. Protein sparing meats are over here.

[00:16:23] Maria: The higher fat meats, like short ribs are down there because they don't have a lot of protein, but they do have a lot of fat. But it's a really wonderful tool for, so say you fell off the wagon for Halloween. , this is a great way to just dive right back in, lose the five pounds you gained or whatever.

[00:16:40] Maria: But it's also a very efficient way to reverse insulin resistance cuz you're gonna shrink the fat cells while you maintain the muscle. That's the biggest difference. So people think I'm pretty extreme by doing this protein sparing days, but it's the same people saying, I'm extreme say don't eat anything every other day.

[00:16:58] Maria: Like right to [00:17:00] me. , the studies are out there. They show that you do lean, lose lean mass when you do only do a water fast. So protein sparing is you keep your muscle mass, you burn the body fat. That's what everybody wants to do. And I, like I told you, I love good food. So I'm really great at making, I have a ice cream recipe, that's all protein I have, danishes, cinnamon rolls that are all protein.

[00:17:23] Maria: Even the frosting it's made with egg whites. They're really good. So like, I don't know. I think it's okay to enjoy the food you're eating. Mm-hmm. , as long as eating doesn't become your life. So I think that there's a hard balance to find, but a lot of people come to me with past eating disorders saying I'm finally free of always thinking about food.

[00:17:48] Maria: And that's really what warms my heart. 

[00:17:51] Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. And, and I can vouch, I've tried your. Protein sparing bread.

Maria: Thank you. 

And it is very amazing. It's [00:18:00] unexpected how good it is, isn't that weird? Yeah. You, I, I'm, I don't know. For me, I went in with a little bit of like, okay, yeah, egg whites, come on.

[00:18:08] Ryan: But I know. But yeah, I got hooked and now I have like all these. Tab things for your book here, 

[00:18:14] Maria: that's so nice. Thank you. Yeah, that's, that's the thing. Like I wrote that recipe like 16 years ago and now like nobody even tried it back then and now that is popular. Everybody claims it as their recipe.

[00:18:27] Maria: I'm like, oh, come on. It took me so long to write that recipe, but No, I'm gonna have to send you some books to do giveaways on your Instagram or something.

[00:18:34] Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. All our clients, all the people I work with and we work with at the practice here, hear your name at some point in their, if they're working on body composition especially and using that.

[00:18:46] Ryan: And the other one that's really popular is the, which you wouldn't think is the egg pudding. The, the protein, egg pudding. That chocolate, yeah. So again, Skeptical, but it's really good.

[00:18:59] Maria: So talking about [00:19:00] skeptics I made that recipe for Halle Berry and she's like, Maria, I am not eating pudding made from eggs.

[00:19:07] Maria: She's like, no, no, no, no, no. She was like so adamant about it, and when she finally tried it, she's like, this is the best chocolate moose I've ever had. And it's a really cool story. Like when we first adopted the boys, my husband lost his job, but we didn't have any money. and what's the cheapest keto food?

[00:19:27] Maria: Eggs. Yeah. My littlest one hated eggs. He hated his scrambled eggs, deviled eggs, you name it. He did not like eggs. And I was like, how am I going to make something that this kid would eat? And I had a bunch of hard boiled eggs in the fridge, so I threw him into a blender with a can of coconut milk and some cocoa powder, some natural sweetener, a little bit of cinnamon and vanilla, and blended that.

[00:19:53] Maria: And it's amazing. But I will say if you use scrambled eggs, you won't get that sulfur [00:20:00] smell that sometimes takes over the taste. So I think that using scrambled eggs makes 

[00:20:05] Maria: it even better. Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Yeah, I'll pass that along. , thanks. Okay, great. Yeah. Yeah. And all the recipes, I've, some of them are a little daunting for me.

[00:20:15] Maria: I'm not super culinary, but I'm learning to be more and more and my clients are too, and the people we work with at the practice, so thank you so much for that. Thank you. Another thing I wanted to ask you about is a lot of times we have people doing really well with keto and. They're losing body fat and they're feeling better, all these things, and then they hit a slump or a plateau, whatever you want to call it.

[00:20:39] Maria: Do you have some best practices for, for helping someone? break through that. 

[00:20:45] Maria: Yeah, there's different reasons that it could happen. Coffee would be one of 'em. But I look at, there's like a bunch of different steps on how to take it, but I would say like, are you still doing coffee? You take that away.

[00:20:57] Maria: I don't doubt you're gonna lose five pounds and that next [00:21:00] month, because it always happens and. Coffee does affect blood sugar, which is why it takes your hunger away and it's probably the hardest thing that was for me to cut out. But also like dairy, and that's why my books are dairy free. I live in Wisconsin, like we love our cheese.

[00:21:14] Maria: You can buy cheese curds at the gas station and that's why like cutting that out for a period of time, if not forever, is very, very helpful for weight loss. And that's why the books focus on that. And also, cuz nuts are the fat plus carbohydrates. So when I make cinnamon rolls, I don't use almond flour, I don't use coconut flour, like, and the bread.

[00:21:33] Maria: That's why, getting away from the almond flours and coconut flours and that type of stuff. , which is in a lot of keto recipes. I've used them too. I also, I have children and that type of stuff, but if it comes for weight loss, I would say try to cut the nuts in the dairy and the coffee.

[00:21:48] Maria: But then there's also like a whole other step of other things other than food that can help. But those are the food ones. 

[00:21:55] Ryan: Right. Understood. And we find a, a common culprit in things that, something that people [00:22:00] don't think with are unhealthy vegetable oils. Oh. . Yeah. Yeah. . 

[00:22:06] Maria: Okay. Yeah. And those, those and everybody's like, what about avocado oil or olive oil?

[00:22:10] Maria: It's like, those are fruits. They're different. The more natural fats would be like beef tallow and leaf lard and duck fat and bacon fat, like trying to use those more animal fats. But those seed oils, They're found in just about every mayo out there except for a few salad dressings.

[00:22:30] Maria: I've even seen it in frozen salmon. I don't know why, but there's frozen salmon. It's in the coffee mate, even though it says zero hydrogenated oils. If you look on the back, it's just a small enough serving size that they don't have to list it. It's, it can say it's, and they say it's sugar free too, and you can look at the back.

[00:22:47] Maria: It's fructose corn syrup it's just what they can do with marketing is really crazy. I did a whole blog post about where seed oils are hidden, but even like you go to a restaurant and you [00:23:00] order an omelet. I speak on the cruise sometimes. Or you should come to Italy with me. I do this like Italy trip.

[00:23:06] Maria: I'd love, I'd love to . Yeah, no, right. We talk, we have like a Keto Italy trip, which is awesome. There's no judging. So if you don't wanna, if you wanna eat pasta, I don't care, but I wanna teach you what I know. But like, if you ha order breakfast, if you order eggs, they're gonna cook 'em. and like, vegetable oil.

[00:23:22] Maria: Yeah. So I always say, here's some butter. Will you cook my eggs? And there's usually like a little pad of butter, like, could you cook 'em in this please? And they're like, sure. Are you French? I'm like, no, but I just like good food. It tastes way better anyway. But yeah, it's hidden in a lot of things for sure.

[00:23:38] Ryan: Nice. Okay. Yeah, and we've found that when you omit that, sometimes that helps with breaking. Yes. A plateau as well. Absolutely. So, okay, great. And then another thing that's come up a lot with. as a question is, when you get into doing a very low carb diet, you sometimes lose a lot of fiber people, people who [00:24:00] have a tendency be to be constipated bring this up often or experience it and then have questions on.

[00:24:05] Ryan: What are your thoughts on that? 

[00:24:06] Maria: I have carnivores in my family right now, and you do not need fiber to go number two, if you think about, think about this newborn babies they poop all the time and they don't eat any fiber. Sure, okay. What happens is fiber is like steel wool on your intestines, and it's not a good thing.

[00:24:23] Maria: I work with a lot of people with diverticulitis, Crohn's or colitis, and getting 'em off medication, and it's not because. Like fiber is not a good thing. I would say. I would say it's opposite of a good thing. If you get constipated on the ketogenic diet, you know what your colon does need, salt. It needs a lot of salt because when you eliminate all the carbohydrates along goes all this water loss, and with all this water loss goes, all this hydration and your colon needs that hydration.

[00:24:52] Maria: So how can you add that in without adding carbohydrates? Salt. Salt is great for your energy, your [00:25:00] bone health, like, I don't know where this thought came from. Salt is bad for your bones. I've heard that and I was like, what? If you look at the science, it's absolutely untrue. But salt, you need more salt also

[00:25:12] Maria: dairy is constipating. Nuts are constipating. . So I would say get your, cut out the dairy and the nuts and add more salt. 

[00:25:19] Ryan: Nice, nice. Yeah, that resonates so well. Because I've had actually quite a few clients recently seems to go in cycles Yeah. With a situation like diverticulitis and when we added fiber in, it exacerbated the situation.

[00:25:34] Ryan: So we, we went for a lower fiber, higher liquid content in their diet. , I'm gonna try that salt bit as well. So, yep. 

[00:25:43] Maria: Lots of salt. That's where electrolytes come into play. 

[00:25:45] Ryan: Yep. Right. Awesome. Okay, great. And then as people get into ketosis, they start achieving their body composition goals. A lot of time this morphs into wanting to put on muscle mass and wanting to increase their bone [00:26:00] density. How can the ketogenic lifestyle be used to help with that? 

[00:26:02] Maria: That's where like my whole practice is more of a higher protein approach to the ketogenic diet. I have a free macro calculator on my website. 

[00:26:11] Maria: It's, it's totally free. We spend a lot of money, like I can't tell you how much it costs to create this calculator, but it's very helpful for people. Yeah. And it just tells you what your macro should be like. What are your goals? If you change it from weight loss to muscle gain, it's gonna give you a different macro breakdown.

[00:26:30] Maria: If you wanna build bone, the most important, everybody should wanna build bone. The most important way to stop bone loss or osteopenia, osteoporosis, protein. Protein vitamin k2, cutting out the C the coffee's important. Cutting out the sugar, but protein is like stop number one for building the sheath of your bones

[00:26:52] Maria: it's mineralized protein. So that's probably the most. That was we have assignments for my coaches and that was one of the latest ones [00:27:00] was this huge study showing the best way to reverse bone loss is to put them on a high protein diet. 

[00:27:06] Ryan: Perfect. Yeah. Makes a lot of sense. That's what your body uses to build itself up.

[00:27:11] Ryan: Okay. And then you mentioned something about keto carnivore. You have you work with some people on that, and I've seen some of your information on that. That's not something I've done a lot with. W how does that fit into the regular keto 

[00:27:23] Maria: I was carnivore for a while. I wrote a carnivore cookbook with my husband.

[00:27:28] Maria: Mm-hmm. . The reason why he went carnivore was because of some he has Lyme disease and it just it took away the pain. So when he eliminated, so in the book, we expand on it, but all plants have antinutrients. Right. So, do I eat some plants? Yes, I do, but I pick ones that don't have oxilates and that type of thing that are mineral depleters.

[00:27:51] Maria: They, they bind to things like calcium and they can build up and cause kidney stones and that type of stuff. But carnivore is very healing. [00:28:00] So when I, it's like the ultimate autoimmune protocol. So when I work with someone with a lot of food allergies or autoimmune issues going on histamine issues, it's.

[00:28:09] Maria: The carnivore diet heals. It really, really does. Especially with like the diverticulitis and stuff. 

[00:28:15] Ryan: Yeah. I actually have someone I work with who is diverticulitis and sibo and the carnivore diet was the only thing that gave some alleviation and then seemed to move things towards a healing process.

[00:28:28] Ryan: Right. And nothing is like if you deal live. I worked at I volunteered at a, a nursing home when I was in high school and I remember asking my favorite patient at the nursing home, what's the secret to a happy life? And he said, take care of your back. And I was like, is that a metaphor for something?

[00:28:45] Ryan: And he said, no, if you live in chronic pain, you can't focus on anything good in your life. Sure. And I believe that's why people. . For me, carnivore was like, I was looking because if you're a true carnivore, there's no onions, there's [00:29:00] no garlic, there's no seasoning besides sauce, there's no pepper, there's no, onion powder, none of that.

[00:29:06] Ryan: Hmm. So, I'm a foodie, like I said, but if you are living in chronic pain, like my husband Craig, , there's nothing. He's like, there's nothing that tastes good, is how I feel. Like he's like, I'm a master in the kitchen. I do know how to make really good carnivore food, which we did. I did do that for a very long period of time while I was writing the book.

[00:29:25] Ryan: Mm-hmm. and I wanted to support him and his journey. But there just became a point where like food just wasn't even of interest in me. I probably lost too much weight. And so I ended up adding in things too. 

[00:29:39] Ryan: Understood. Understood. One thing that we often talk to people about is the value of herbs, their nutrient density, and how they can be used to enhance absorption of foods and whatnot.

[00:29:51] Ryan: What, what is your take on how that fits in here? 

[00:29:53] Maria: I will say it depends. Herbs are on that plan field and I can send you the carnivore book. [00:30:00] You can't deny like these antinutrients that they're, it's their defense mechanism. Right. So do I, there's some herbs that I definitely have taken for health reasons, but I think it would just depend on what your situation is.

[00:30:17] Maria: It's kind of like not all box, it doesn't fit everybody's category. 

[00:30:22] Ryan: Of course, of course. Yeah. No, that makes sense. Absolutely. And then you, just to add of curiosity, cuz I like to run, I wouldn't call myself like a, a super athlete. It's more of a, something I enjoy. But you mentioned that you use running as a form of exercise and that you fit this into your lifestyle.

[00:30:41] Ryan: I've noticed some people seem. Feel like their athletic performance goes down a bit when they do keto. Are there any hacks to make sure you stay where you wanna be if you're like an avid runner? 

[00:30:52] Maria: Yeah, I would say look into Zach Bitter. Zach Bitter is the ultra-marathoner that is the world record [00:31:00] holder for all these different races, and he is keto.

[00:31:04] Maria: and I would say don't switch to keto if you're signed up for a marathon next week, . But if you're signed up for a marathon next year, you're most likely gonna kill it. Even better, because Have you run a marathon? Yes. 

[00:31:19] Ryan: Couple of times. Okay. 

[00:31:20] Maria: Do you know Mile 20? They have the wall? Yes. Yeah. The reason that it's at mile 20 is because after 20 miles, the body that is using glucose for fuel hits a wall and you run the last six miles out of pure adrenaline.

[00:31:36] Maria: Wow. However, if you are keto, you have infinite sites to burn your fat for fuel. Right. Okay. , but, and this is why a lot of mens men are more likely to walk at that point where women can usually run through, because they can switch from using glucose to fat easier than men can 

[00:31:58] Ryan: Really? 

[00:31:59] Maria: [00:32:00] Mm-hmm. . 

[00:32:00] Ryan: I didn't know that.

[00:32:01] Maria: But it's just electrolytes are important. A lot of electrolytes, most people do not do enough. And that's salt. You cannot absorb salt if you, or you cannot absorb magnesium and potassium if you don't get enough salt. So that's where the, the sodium is huge when it comes to that. And most people, I don't salt my food enough, I don't like it.

[00:32:21] Maria: And so, and I don't like salty water. There's a lot of drinks that, you put salt in your water. . Mm-hmm. . So I take there's certain capsules that I just do cuz it's just easier, I take 'em in the morning. And then also taking 'em at bedtime for sleep is good too. 

[00:32:35] Maria: Oh, nice. Do you have a, a favorite product that you like to use or?

[00:32:39] Maria: Yeah, I mean, I have like all the, my favorite products. If you go to keto maria.com and if you scroll down to the shopping guide, that's where I've worked with a lot of companies to get coupon codes for everybody. So if you go there, there's coupon codes for all the supplements that I love. All the different food products that I love, that I believe are safe, and I'm [00:33:00] very, so, bloggers?

[00:33:02] Maria: Mm-hmm. , they usually have advertising all over or pop-up ads? Yes. I hate those . I know. I get offered, I'm talking thousands of dollars a month because I get so many hits on my website. . Okay. And I turned that down because it's always Quest chips or like, crap, I would never recommend eating, right? And so I was like, no.

[00:33:22] Maria: Instead I'm gonna provide a shopping guide of things that are truly healthy and truly going to fuel your body. There's no Atkins bars or any of that junk, but there are like some, there's some chocolates made from Stevia and that type of stuff. And I worked with the company to get like a, so everybody can, everybody can eat good food and have success

[00:33:45] Maria: Awesome. I love it. Very cool. Okay, great. And this kind of rolls into something else I wanted to touch with. And that's hormonal balance and getting into a place where your body is very, healthy, vibrant, you have tons of [00:34:00] energy. Look, seeing you here as we're talking, I can tell you have tons of energy, but you, you mentioned how early you get up and your style of eating and that you don't do any coffee.

[00:34:10] Maria: So, how does that fit in as a next step in a person's keto journey?

[00:34:14] Maria: I am to bed very early, so let's just get that clear. But I'm just working with people a lot in Europe, so I have to have, have a different time change, but, when it comes to hormonal balance, like animal protein is key, like cholesterol makes healthy hormones.

[00:34:30] Maria: So this is why like any, I think it's like it's a massive amount, like 70% of men are suffering with testosterone issues. Mm-hmm. . And the best way to increase that. Is to get some cholesterol and that's, the animal protein. Don't be afraid of the eggs and the red meat and the lobster and the whatever, but that, the cholesterol is really important for making it makes healthy hormones to my point.

[00:34:56] Maria: When like a woman goes through menopause, her [00:35:00] cholesterol usually goes sky high and to a medical doctor, they're like, oh, you need a statin drug. Right? But what's happening is the ovaries are no longer putting out estrogen and progesterone. . And so the cholesterol goes up to try to get them to talk again, which they're not going to at a certain point of age.

[00:35:18] Maria: Mm-hmm. , but the cholesterol remains elevated to help make healthy hormones, but it's not going to. So just realizing, and this is another fact, whenever I work with a man who's taking Viagra, he also, or I should say, whenever I'm working with a man that's taking, like a statin drug to lower cholesterol, he's also taking Viagra.

[00:35:41] Maria: Hmm. Yeah, because he's just suffering with hormones. 

[00:35:44] Ryan: Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's so interesting, these things, serendipitous information. I just was working with a client last week who's, just, just gone through menopause and she went to, her nurse practitioner, had high cholesterol and was told you have to get on [00:36:00] a statin.

[00:36:00] Ryan: And I've also heard and recommended to people that they eat more cholesterol rich foods to help give their body a rest from having to produce as much cholesterol all the time. What are your thoughts on. 

[00:36:14] Maria: Yeah, a hundred percent. If you don't eat enough cholesterol, your liver has to make it cuz you need it and over time your liver gets tired.

[00:36:21] Maria: So yeah. Give your body a break for sure. 

[00:36:24] Ryan: Right. Which totally goes against the myth of don't eat your egg yolks. I know. So, okay, great. And then when a person is trying to balance their hormones and, get those into a good. And, and live this lifestyle. I find a lot of times that the mental health piece comes in and people want to improve their mood and life and that the hormone I influence on that is obviously key.

[00:36:51] Ryan: What are your thoughts on using keto specifically and, and how would it be different than using it for for weight loss? Using it for improving a person's mental and [00:37:00] emotional stability. 

[00:37:01] Maria: I work with a lot. My whole B bio is talking about my specialty is neurotransmitters, right?

[00:37:08] Maria: And when you look at where serotonin and GABA and acetylcholine, like, they're all, like, they come from the gut. So healing the gut is step number one to healing. Anybody with depression, anxiety, but also like I work with a lot of women with anxiety, low progesterone is the leading cause of anxiety. So looking at like progesterone and that type of stuff, a low thyroid can cause depression.

[00:37:34] Maria: There's a whole bunch of things that can cause depression. I wrote a whole article on my website about it. High histamines gluten because the, the protein in the gluten kind of has a cellular mimicry to that looks like serotonin and it, getting rid of the gluten. Sometimes the dairy, a lot of times the dairy, and a lot of times we reach towards alcohol.

[00:37:53] Maria: We know alcohol's, depressant but all these different things that can cause depression that we often grab [00:38:00] towards. But healing the gut is really step number one and healing the. By getting rid of the fiber, getting there's different supplements that can start healing the gut, but really getting rid of the gluten and those toxic 

[00:38:13] Ryan: foods.

[00:38:15] Ryan: Nice. Makes sense. And then if a person was working on healing their gut as the priority, would that change? Like should they eat more fat, less fat higher protein, or, does that change? 

[00:38:27] Maria: A lot of those supplements that heal the gut, they're amino acids that come from protein. So focusing on protein, really getting rid of the sugar is important.

[00:38:37] Maria: The carbohydrates, to lower that inflammation. The grains, getting rid of the grains to lower the inflammation. Yeah, just if they are a lean, if they don't have insulin resistance or type two diabetes. The macros would just change. It just depends on what the body's at right at that moment.

[00:38:56] Ryan: Makes sense. Makes sense. I know glutamine is one that's used a lot for [00:39:00] healing the body and the gut and whatnot. Yeah. Cause that would be, yeah. 

[00:39:04] Maria: What's that? I just wouldn't use it if someone has cancer or something like 

[00:39:08] Ryan: that. Sure. Yeah. I got it. Everything's tailored. Yeah. for sure. Makes a lot of sense.

[00:39:15] Ryan: Okay, great. And then as a person, , getting through all their, they've done keto for a while and they really want to take it to the next level. What are some things to make this an enjoyable lifestyle that you, you would recommend to someone? 

[00:39:28] Maria: I, I, I think, I don't feel like left out at all with what I eat.

[00:39:32] Maria: I feel just. If you don't like to cook I would say get a slow cooker. An instant pot. Cause it does it for you, . If you don't wanna buy one of my books, that's okay. Go to the library. But seriously, like there's really good food in there. Mm-hmm. . And it does like, it is sustainable.

[00:39:48] Maria: It, it can be delicious and nothing like, I was on a television show. I was the, the chef and nutritionist and one of the dudes on the show said, Maria, I came on the, because he was [00:40:00] a participant that really needed to reverse insulin resistance. And he's like, Maria, I came on the show kind of being like, Yeah, I'll do the show, but I'm not gonna live this way.

[00:40:09] Maria: And he's like, your food makes me know I can do this. Nice. And that's my whole purpose is showing people there's little ingredients by adding some fish sauce or whatever these ingredients that help like make your food pop and taste like restaurant quality. And you're gonna save money by eating it at home.

[00:40:30] Maria: You're going to feel better by eating it at home than at a restaurant. And, that's what I wanna do is like, so if you don't wanna buy one, go to the library, check it out. Cuz most li if they don't have 'em, tell 'em to get 'em because that's a win-win for me and for you. 

[00:40:44] Ryan: Of course.

[00:40:44] Ryan: Yeah. And I would definitely recommend to anyone to get your your cookbooks. I know we. Favorites, tabbed, and we'll do a little prep on the weekend and it works really well. And you have some pretty nice food for the whole week. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. [00:41:00] And then a lot of people, they get their health under control and a lot of things are going better and they're looking at having a kid and they wanna improve their fertility.

[00:41:08] Ryan: Are there any things that you would recommend people add to their ketogenic lifestyle to improve fertility? 

[00:41:14] Maria: It depends on what their fertil, if they actually have some fertility issues. If it's something like P C O S or something like low testosterone in the male, it's definitely we want to, or for P C O S, we wanna shrink the fat cells to start reversing that insulin resistance that's going on.

[00:41:31] Maria: Mm-hmm. , right? But if it's something that like, maybe they're too lean and they have low progesterone, and in that. You definitely wanna increase the fat eat foods filled with cholesterol cause cholesterol's gonna make healthy hormone. That's, that's and eat organ meats. When you look at our ancestral history, when someone was fertile, they put 'em in a hut and gave 'em all the organ meats, they would kill the goat and, give them [00:42:00] the organ meats.

[00:42:00] Maria: But yeah, nobody likes the organ meats anymore, so like they make capsules or whatever for that. I personally only like a few organs like that, I would really like, love 'em. Mm-hmm. . But organ meat is the most nutrient dense food. So if you don't want to eat it, get the capsule. But yeah, focus on foods high in cholesterol for sure.

[00:42:18] Ryan: Awesome, awesome. And I've heard it said that you should always have your organ meats and these foods high in, nutrients and whatnot with fats that compliment them as well. 

[00:42:28] Maria: Food always has fat in it, so like even it's not that the organ meat alone has fat in it, so it's not. , it wouldn't be a fat-free food.

[00:42:38] Maria: You know what I'm saying? Like, it's not like you have to add butter to the, to the liver. Right. It's just there. So 

[00:42:47] Ryan: Makes sense. Built in. Yeah. . Awesome. Okay, great. Thank you so much. Those are the topics that I had wanted to cover today. Was there anything else you wanted to bring up?

[00:42:57] Maria: Like I'm all about, like I told you, I say yes to everything when you [00:43:00] ask me. Yeah. But like, I would just say, like, say yes to coming on a trip with me, because that's probably like, I, my favorite way of teaching is like going to Italy and just seeing the most beautiful places in the world and whether like, I've taken many of people on these trips.

[00:43:16] Maria: We just got back from Greece. and half the people never did keto in their life, but they were interested in learning and they had, they ate whatever they wanted on the trip, but now like they're keeping in contact with me and they're like, Maria, I'm really having great success. And so I just want people to know, oh, I don't wanna go on a trip and I can't have like limoncello or something, or wine.

[00:43:36] Maria: You can do whatever you want. I'm not a judgey person, but I wanna teach you my tricks. So come on a trip with me cuz it's 

[00:43:43] Ryan: amazing. 

[00:43:44] Ryan: Sounds great. That's, that definitely sounds like a great invitation that everyone should take up. So if someone were wanting to get ahold of you and they didn't know about all the amazing.

[00:43:56] Ryan: Social media, you have, website, et cetera. What's the best way for [00:44:00] them to reach out and or get more information about what you do? 

[00:44:02] Maria: Thank you, Ryan. If you go to ketomaria.com, you can scroll all the way down to the bottom. You can find my private Facebook group. Those are free support. You can find my Instagram account.

[00:44:14] Maria: You can find my YouTube channel. I also have a YouTube channel. paddle boarding with the humpback wheels. Nice. So it's not even nutrition base. But on Keto Maria, you can find my blog, which has all thousands and thousands. I've been blogging since. Blogging just came out. So, and there's no recipe, pop-up ads, so you can find all those recipes.

[00:44:33] Maria: The link on Keto Maria if you scroll down. Otherwise, on the other side there's the support. So if you want my one-on-one support, you can find that too. But you could also find the trips on Keto 

[00:44:42] Ryan: Maria, so. Oh, good. Yes. We gotta find those for sure. It's the best way to learn. Absolutely. Sounds amazing.

[00:44:49] Ryan: Great. Thank you so much for being here with us today, Maria. Thank you, 

[00:44:52] Maria: Ryan. You are awesome. 

[00:44:54] Ryan: Thanks, you too.