#48 Kyndra Holley – Peace Love and Low Carb
Subscribe for High Energy Wellness Tips
Episode #005 Christine Fox – Super Slow Weight Lifting
August 6, 2018
Episode #006 Julie Houle – The Power of Yes
August 13, 2018
Meet Kyndra Holley:
Hey there! I’m Kyndra – The face behind the popular food blog: Peace, Love and Low Carb and the author of multiple best-selling cookbooks, including: Craveable Keto, Keto Happy Hour, 30 Minute Ketogenic Cooking and The Primal Low Carb Kitchen Cookbook.
I am a lover of all things low carb and keto, and am a firm believer in the weight loss and health benefits of a low carb lifestyle.
After 15 years in the restaurant industry, I am a foodie through and through. In fact, if you ever sat down to a meal with me, there is a good chance that at some point during the meal, you would hear me exclaim “God, I love food!”
When I am not in the kitchen working on a new recipe, I can usually be found traveling the globe, throwing weights around in our gym, doing yoga, playing with our pups, hiking, or just kicking back and relaxing. My dream day is being surrounded by good friends and laughter. I live just outside of Seattle, Washington with my husband, 2 kids and our 5 crazy pups.
SHOW NOTES:
- I am a professional food blogger and cook book author
- I discovered a low carb way of living out of desire to lose weight and be healthier
- From there, it just kind of took on a life on its own
- I was just really unhappy, over-weight and I was working in a restaurant. And that just lead to late nights with alcohol, bad foods and decisions
- I had this friend who asked me if I was interested in the Atkins diet
- She said that I could eat bun-less cheeseburgers all I wanted. And I said, “sign me up.”
- That’s when I was just getting started with low carb
- It became a real passion for me: the food, wellness, cooking. And I have always loved writing and it led to this place of being able to live out a dream that I did not even really know I had, in the beginning
- That was about 12 years ago
- I have been blogging for 7 years now
- I did not really get into the health benefits outside of this “fast fix” for weight loss until I really got into blogging and writing books
- I realized it was a lifestyle and not a diet
- I have been really excited to be in this space because low carb and Keto had such a bad reputation for so long
- I started my blog in 2011 and low-carb was not yet popular. And then Paleo became very mainstream
- But I stayed the course. I stayed true to my beliefs and my methods
- And now, you can’t pick-up a newspaper, magazine or visit a website without hearing the word Keto
- So, it is really exciting to see it has gone mainstream and knowing that this is the message that I have been trying to spread for years
- Every day, I start with an integrity check, because I’ll never go against my beliefs just for money
- My personal experience with low carb and Keto started with the desire to lose weight
- And I have been really candid with my readers and general audience on social media
- I have never been a highlight person because I don’t want to give a false perception that everything is roses all the time and have someone sitting on the other side of the screen feeling worthless
- I have been upfront about everything and I have lost and gained 60 pounds 3 times
- And each time, I learned something new that helped the next time. That missing piece of lasting change, and I have been forthcoming
- In fact, I started feeling like I was not living my authentic truth because I have gained a lot of weight and I am still a pretty big name in this arena
- I felt like a hypocrite, and so I just decided to come clean on a post on my blog a few years back
- I realized I have a different opportunity to shine, and to help people feel that they weren’t alone, and this could be something so much more than just the food
- I think I have built a platform with trust and integrity and I pride myself in that as I continue to work on myself and help others to do the same
- The first time, I was just looking for a quick fix to get the weight off
- The first time around I was not really into working out yet
- I thought that I was fixed, and I went back in to my old ways, and then all the weight came back
- The second time around, I started cross fit
- I was really learning the importance of fitness and learning to love it
- And then after that, I just let my emotions get out of control
- Now, I am 60 pounds down again. and I have some more to lose
- This time around is really focusing on the mental and emotional side of it because I think it is so overlook
- What I am continuing to work on is to process my feelings and to really examine all the emotional baggage
- Eating slower really does help
- It gives you that opportunity to listen to the queues your body is giving you
- Not eating in front of the television, or cruising through social media on your phone because of those mindless activities, you don’t realize it and before you know it, you have reached the bottom of the bag and you did not intend to
- It is not that you are binging, but it is because you are not paying attention
- I used to diligently track, but I got a pretty good feel for the carbs and all the food that I eat
- I am constantly in my kitchen working on new recipes for my site and for my books, but I’ll eat the same things
- I have a good feel for net and total carb count and almost every food that I eat, without looking at the label
- But, If I feel like my goals are off track, then I’ll go back to tracking
- I definitely started out tracking and it was an important key. At the same time, it is a fine line and can become a slippery slope because it can start to feel obsessive. It can start to feel like a job and it can start to feel like this lifestyle is not manageable
- So, I don’t currently track
- I am very into intuitive eating these days and listening to my body
- I don’t get tired of foods
- I can eat the same thing everyday
- I just don’t think that any of this is a one size fits all approach
- And when somebody is really pushing that, I tell people to run away from that
- Because we don’t have the same bodies. Everybody is different.
- Me personally, I try to count total carbs, but I don’t eat foods that have sugar alcohols
- I tell people to just stick with real whole foods and ingredients
- I recently had to cut out dairy, eggs and gluten
- All of my recipes now are all dairy-free and Keto
- I was tested last June
- I had a blood test
- I try so hard to be able to eat eggs even though I know they are a problem
- In the beginning I thought to moderate these foods and that did not work. So, I did a strict elimination for 45 days and I was feeling really good
- After 45 days I tried to reintroduce, and the symptoms were even worse
- I can tolerate some dairy now, so I’ll have them occasionally, but my body prefers to not have it
- I am amazed that food has the ability to heal and it has the ability to hurt you
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HEAL YOUR GUT?
- I am eating a lot of fermented food
- I am drinking a lot of Kombucha and Sauerkraut
- I am taking a lot of grass-fed collagen, probiotics, glutamine forte and other supplements. And trying to be diligent about doing these things every day and avoiding grains, gluten, sugar and processed foods, of course
YOUR BOOK
- I was really excited to do that book
- It is just one of the most common questions I get asked, if they can have alcohol on Keto
- Well, I don’t think that alcohol is for everyone on the Ketogenic lifestyle
- And so, I was constantly answering it and I wrote some resources on my site about it and I was like, “you know what? I am just going to write a book about this
- It’s the only published low carb Ketogenic cocktail book that is out there
- So, the responses have been really good
- My favorite drink from the book is probably the strawberry basil lemon drop
- It is dangerously good
ADVICE
- Just get started, don’t let yourself get overwhelmed
- You probably are not going to clean up everything overnight, don’t be hard on yourself and just learn as you go
- Even if you are making very small changes and very slow progress in the beginning, that is still progress
- Utilize the free resources that are out there
HEALTH BENEFITS
- Better mental clarity
- Better sleep
- Inflammation is probably one of the biggest ones
- Just really seeing changes on my body
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?
- For me, right now, I am just continuing to work on my own personal health and wellness and weight loss journey
- I am currently working on a book and it is dairy-free. It will be out early next year
- And then, my next biggest goals for where I want to take my business and brand is branching into more videos and doing more YouTube
FAVORITE QUOTES
- Give yourself more grace. Spread some more kindness
HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU?
Website: https://peaceloveandlowcarb.com
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/peaceloveandlowcarb
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/peaceloveandlowcarb
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Peaceloveandlowcarb1
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeaceLoveLoCarb
Check out Kyndra’s favorite recipes here:
Kyndra’s Cookbooks: http://bit.ly/KyndraHolleyBooks
