For as long as I can remember, I was both blessed cursed with a ‘Big Sweet Tooth’ and hated carbs.
Soon after starting Keto it didn’t take long to realize...how a tiny midnight snack (aka Cheat Meal) could quickly throw my perfect plan into a spiral.
Out of ketosis!
A full week’s progress gone in one night.
And it wasn’t for lack of determination. Two years ago this is how my days played out…
Black coffee with no milk or sugar. Salad for lunch 5 days in a row (no dressing, obviously). A couple pieces of celery sticks for dinner.
I even had days where I'd fast until lunchtime before eating.
If this sounds familiar you can probably guess what came next…
I’d roll in bed for what seemed like hours, trying to “Hush My Hunger”...but there was no ignoring those ‘Midnight Munchies!’
So I’d make my way to the kitchen thinking I could grab a celery stick or crunchy carrot, and that’s when I'd stumble on...
…a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in the freezer!
Pure pleasure I’d almost forgotten.
“Just one spoonful,” I’d tell myself.
Yet it only takes a quick minute for that spoonful to turn into a full pint. It doesn’t stop there…
...out comes a bag of tortilla chips and salsa and God knows how long we’ve hid those Oreos in the pantry.
Damage done! Falling off the Keto bandwagon (again!) :(
Some nights all I wanted to do was break down and cry.
...I hated hiding behind flowy tops and baggy pants.
...I hated ‘wishing I wasn’t there,’ anytime someone pulled a phone to take a selfie (“God, how will l look”)
But that was two years ago...my story has a happy ending.
Choosing any kind of outfit is a pleasure now.
I’m here to tell you that having a ‘Big Sweet Tooth’ doesn’t have to mean suffering endlessly anytime you catch sight of a brownie, or smell fresh cookies.
It sure frustrated me that no amount of willpower could satisfy those crunchy cravings. Yet I knew there had to be a better way…
In my experience, it’s easy to start a diet...but staying on it? That’s a whole other story.
Hi, I’m Helen (founder of Schoolyard Snacks), and I want to share with you my hack for how I’ve managed to stay on Keto for the past 2 years.
I’m not here to tell you the myriad of benefits of cutting carbs and sugar.
I could go on and on about how losing over 30 pounds led me to have more energy than ever, helped me improve my self confidence, and ladedadeda...but I’m not gonna do that because if you can’t do the same, then what’s the point, right?
If you’re reading this, you probably already know about the benefits of Keto. Like me, you probably know the hardest part is actually sustaining a low carb lifestyle.
So how did I go from eating plain grilled chicken breast and broccoli every night, wanting to bang my head against the wall...to rocking Keto with a smile for 2 years now?
It Started with Me Desperately Trying to Find a Cure for My Late Night Sweet Tooth Cravings...
I thought to myself, if I could somehow eat chocolate cereal in front of the TV every night like I did growing up, I could be on Keto forever.
So I went through the grocery store and tried looking for a cereal without the carbs and sugar.
I spent an hour flipping through all the labels on the back of cereal boxes.
Nothing, nada.
I went home that night and turned my kitchen into a lab.
I started whipping together all the ingredients I had to make “cereal.” It was a massive fail. The concoction was soggy and tasted of disappointment.
But I kept trying for several months, and one day. Ta-dah! Perfect sweetness...I even got the the elusive *crunch* right!
I gave my partner Dylan a spoonful (I didn’t tell him it was low carb or sugar-free) and he gave me the thumbs up.
That’s when I knew I was onto something…
Here’s What Happened When I Was Able to Stop Depriving Myself of My Favorite Treats...
Instead of thinking of all the things I couldn’t enjoy everyday, my thoughts started shifting to all that cocoa cereal I could have at night again. While I was at my desk during the day, I knew that my Netflix & Cereal session was waiting for me at home.
It was like I was cheating every night, without cheating at all!
And every night, my cereal satisfied my sweet tooth so that I wasn’t even craving *actual* junk food anymore.
But There Was a Problem...
Like most of you, I work a full-time job. And making cereal takes A LOT of time.
I still remember spending 3 hours in the kitchen just to bake a tiny batch enough for one bowl.
And then 1 minute later, it was all gone.
I thought to myself...there must be a better way.
So Here's What I Did:
I spent the next couple of months finding and working with a manufacturer to bake and package small batches of my cereal recipe. I made a website, and before long, I was getting orders of my Keto Cereal faster than I could ship out packages!
Fast forward a year....what started in my kitchen has become a nationwide phenomenon.
People started telling their friends on Facebook, and before long...I was selling a bag of cereal every 4 seconds to over 200,000 fanatic customers!
5000+ Five Star Reviews Later...
And I Couldn’t Believe What Happened Next...
My fans started asking me to make low carb version of other snacks they were craving too.
That’s when I went back into the kitchen and created our Keto Cheese Puffs (in Cheddar Cheese and Flaming Hot).
These were so popular, our first batch sold out in a record 10 days.
“But Helen...How Can I Get My Hands On These If You’re Always Sold Out?”
As you're probably aware, we’re not some big company.
We bake our products in small batches and it takes time, which means we have limited inventory available.
In fact, due to the lead times to source quality ingredients and schedule production runs, it can take up to 3 months just to get our products back in stock when we sell out.
At the time of writing this, we’re sold out of several flavors of both our Keto Cereal and Keto Cheese Puffs.
But if our snacks are sold out when you visit...first, I just want to say I’m really sorry.
Thanks for your patience as we deal with these growing pains.
We’re working on expanding our production and warehousing capacity, but it will take several months before we can keep up. In the meantime, we’re working around the clock, so if you don’t catch us in stock this time, please keep coming back and checking!
-Helen (Co-Owner, Schoolyard Snacks)
