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I only joined Instagram a few months ago and got quite addicted to it. I love browsing through loads of delicious and unique low-carbs recipes and was lucky enough to discover Natasha's profile (you can find her at @natashagildea) and her blog The Feisty Kitchen. Her story is quite similar to mine because both of us have been struggling with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and have been following a low-carb, paleo diet. Her photos are simply stunning and below is an example of one that I love from her many burger recipes. Low-carb, paleo burgers go great with leafy greens or keto buns (recipe from my apps & book)!
Fat Fast anyone? I've been eating Paleo/Primal for approximately 8 months now and more keto/lchf for the past 3 months. After getting a little relaxed lately, I decided to kickstart myself back into ketosis with a fat fast and switch over to fat burning mode. My body seems to respond really well to eating a ketogenic diet, so I'm sticking with this for as long as I feel good doing it!
I wanted to change things up for my fat fast this second time around. If you've ever done one, you probably know that eating 80-85% fat is sometimes challenging. So, I played with my macros a little and decided to go 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs to see how that worked for me. It definitely worked that same as the first time I did the fat fast, and I had a few more choices when it came for meals do to the extra protein I was able to eat.
Hands-on Overall
Serving size 1 burger stack
Nutritional values (per 1 burger stack)
Net carbs3.7 grams
Protein31.2 grams
Fat46.9 grams
Calories574 kcal
Calories from carbs 3%, protein 22%, fat 75%
Total carbs7.6 gramsFiber3.9 gramsSugars1.3 gramsSaturated fat19 gramsSodium1,351 mg(59% RDA)Magnesium65 mg(16% RDA)Potassium702 mg(35% EMR)
Ingredients (makes 4 servings)
Burgers:
- 1 lb ground free-range pork sausage (450 g/ 16 oz)
- 10 green olives, chopped (28 g/ 1 oz)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp Lemon Garlic or garlic salt
Toppings:
- 1 package Halloumi cheese, grilled a few minutes on each side (200 g/ 7.1 oz)
- 1 avocado (200 g/ 7.1 oz)
- 1/2 cup micro greens
- 1 cup arugula (rocket), or to taste
- 4 tbsp pickled red onions
Instructions
- Gently mix burger ingredients together in a medium bowl and form into 4 - 1/4 lb patties.
- Grill or pan sear to perfection (Be careful not to over mix- nobody likes a tough burger!)
- Serve on arugula, lettuce wrapped or in a bun.
- Top with grilled Halloumi cheese, avocado, pickled red onions, micro greens, red pepper chili flakes, and some @flavorgod Spicy for a kick!
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About Natasha
I've lived in Northern California my whole life, with the most recent 10 years in Redding, California. Currently, my profession is a pharmaceutical rep, but I'm working on becoming a Nutritionist and I enjoy spending my time creating recipes and using Instagram as my food blog for now. My husband and I enjoy playing tennis, doing anything outdoors and both of us love photography.
For about the last 8-9 years on and off I had seemingly random health issues come up that I would go to doctors for and they would say I was fine and nothing was wrong with me. I had arrhythmia all the time with a heartbeat of sometimes over 220 bpm. Felt like I was having a heart attack, but after multiple stress tests, EKGs, and blood work, my cardiologist said I was fine.
Next came the weight gain and inability to lose weight despite being very active and eating mostly clean. Then came all the hair loss, fatigue, always freezing, and on and on and on. Classic hypothyroid symptoms which after seeing my doctor, it was determined that all my labs were "within range."Next came the ER when I had acute pancreatitis and had to spend the weekend in the hospital. My thyroid labs were well out of range at that point, I had an irregular heartbeat and heart rate in the 30's, and extreme pain. More tests confirmed that my gallbladder was functioning only around 4% while most healthy people function at 75% or higher. I went to more specialists and had an upper endoscope done which showed I had 2 bleeding ulcers and leaky gut.
Hmmm. So, after taking matters into my own hands, I've determined that years of being undiagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis had impaired my gallbladder. And I had some serious food sensitivities that I need to fix. More labs and tests, and hundreds if not thousands of dollars spent on different supplements that may have only helped slightly and then my doctor put me on a vegan, plant-based diet.
After 15 months of that and feeling worse, I found Paleo. I decided to give it and after a short amount of time my stomach problems started to get better. I was so terrified of eating any fats/oils due to what the doctors told me after my gallbladder results, but I felt fine when I slowly introduced fat. Fast forward to today. I have virtually no hypothyroid symptoms, my anti-boides are the lowest they have been in 4 years, my thyroid levels are showing that I am converting T4 to T3 on my own (off meds for 8 months), my female hormones are back in balance, and I'm finally starting to lose weight again! I'm feeling the best I have felt in over 4 years and I'm convinced that it's all due to changing my diet!
You can find Natasha at The Feisty Kitchen and @natashagildea on Instagram!
Pork & Halloumi Burger Stacks
Step by Step
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground free-range pork sausage (450 g/ 16 oz)
- 10 green olives, chopped (28 g/ 1 oz)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp Lemon Garlic or garlic salt
- 1 package Halloumi cheese, grilled a few minutes on each side (200 g/ 7.1 oz)
- 1 avocado (200 g/ 7.1 oz)
- 1/2 cup micro greens
- 1 cup arugula (rocket), or to taste
- 4 tbsp pickled red onions
Instructions
- Gently mix burger ingredients together in a medium bowl and form into 4 - 1/4 lb patties.
- Grill or pan sear to perfection (Be careful not to over mix- nobody likes a tough burger!)
- Serve on arugula, lettuce wrapped or in a bun.
- Top with grilled Halloumi cheese, avocado, pickled red onions, micro greens, red pepper chili flakes, and some @flavorgod Spicy for a kick!
Nutrition (per serving, 1 burger stack)
Calories574kcal
Net Carbs3.7g
Carbohydrates7.6g
Protein31.2g
Fat46.9g
Saturated Fat19g
Fiber3.9g
Sugar1.3g
Sodium1,351mg
Magnesium65mg
Potassium702mg
Detailed nutritional breakdown (per 1 burger stack)
| Total per 1 burger stack |
| 3.7 g | 31.2 g | 46.9 g | 574 kcal |
| Pork, minced (ground), 20% fat, raw |
| 0 g | 19 g | 23.8 g | 296 kcal |
| Green olives |
| 0 g | 0.1 g | 1 g | 10 kcal |
| Egg yolk, fresh |
| 0.2 g | 0.7 g | 1.1 g | 14 kcal |
| Garlic powder, spices |
| 0.5 g | 0.1 g | 0 g | 3 kcal |
| Salt, pink Himalayan rock salt |
| 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 kcal |
| Halloumi (Cypriot cheese) |
| 1 g | 10 g | 13.5 g | 165 kcal |
| Avocado, fresh |
| 0.9 g | 1 g | 7.4 g | 80 kcal |
| Microgreens, mixed, fresh |
| 0.1 g | 0.1 g | 0 g | 0 kcal |
| Rocket (arugula), fresh |
| 0.1 g | 0.1 g | 0 g | 1 kcal |
| Onion, red, fresh |
| 1 g | 0.2 g | 0 g | 6 kcal |
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