Kefir Kefir Kefir

[KBwarrior]

I want to make my own, where do I get the grains.  The guy at a store I bought some lifeline kefir from told me that I could just take a couple tablespoons of the lifeline kefir and put it in fresh milk to make my own.  I thought I needed the grains.  Can I make grains from store bought kefir?

[charleslong]

Do a google search for kefir. You can buy grains online. Ebay is a good place.

You cannot make grains from store bought kefir. If your store kefir is live, you can add some of that to milk and make another batch. Usually it will turn out fine.

[Geronimo8201]

Also try boiling the millk twice and then letting it cool to room temperature before you add the grains and keffir.  Boiling the milk gets rid of the initial pasteurization and lets you ferment it properly.  If you do it with just regular store-bought milk before boiling it, your results will be very slow and may not even work.  If you can, however, using raw millk from a local farm will give you the best results.

[KBwarrior]

I'm going to try out the raw stuff this weekend.  I'm pretty excited.  I've never had raw milk before.  Does anyone know where I can learn nutritional information about kefir.  I hate to look at the labels on the comercial stuff.  Mine will be better than that right?  I don't understand why all the sugar?  Doesn't the keifer ferment all the sugar in my milk.  How much should I consume per day.  I should have enough kefir grains to make a quart a day.  Is this amount recommended?

[KBwarrior]

Ok, the kefir is fantasitc.  Now I am wondering how much I should consume.  I'm making around 1quart a day.  I drink 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at lunch.  Is this too much?  Also should I be concerned about the fat content?  This is raw whole cow milk.  It probably has more fat than regular whole milk.

[Geronimo8201]

It won't have more fat than regular whole millk, but you should definitely keep a close eye on how your body responds to consuming half a bottle at breakfast and another half at lunch.  The high fat content could be too taxing on your digestive system during the day and kind of defeats the purpose of the warrior diet.  However, if you're consuming this as a post-workout meal, then you're going to reap fantastic benefits.  But if you're consuming this much kefir daily without a noticeable decrease in productivity, energy, or focus, then you should be good to go.  For me, consuming foods to high in fat during the day really messes with my digestive system and I feel a bit of a loss of that fasting energy.  But if you're good to go, then all the power to you.

[KBwarrior]

Last night I decided to have some of it for dessert after my main meal.  Also lately I do a short (5min or less) intense KB workout right out of bed (I recommend waiting until you get your balance before picking up the bell).  After my shower I go straight for my water, kefir and supplements.  At 11:30ish I have my second workout.  It's about a 45min KB or weight lifting / bodyweight workout .  I have warrior milk, salad and kefir afterwards. 

I have noticed that I can't eat quite as much in the evenings lately as I was before.  When I first started I was eating 15egg omlets as part of my main meal.  Now I couldn't eat more then 10 eggs.  Of course I weigh a lot less now so my needs may have changed.

-KBwarrior

[Geronimo8201]

Looking at your schedule, it looks like your incorporation of kefir is perfect.  As long as your stomach's feeling good, you should be fine.  As far as eating less now than you did when you first started the Warrior Diet, I've actually noticed the same.  I've been on the WD for 1.5 strong years now and I realize that I'm eating much less than I did before.  If you read the book 'Maximum Muscle Minimum Fat' carefully, and understand a little bit about biology, you'll see that intermittent fasting really increases your body's efficiency.  After being conditioned by the WD, your cells are almost acting like catalytic converters in a wood stove.  Your cells are excreting less waste and really getting the most out of the energy you're taking in.  My friends and coworkers have also commented recently on the fact that I'm not eating as much as I used to when I first started on the WD.  However, I'm still sticking to the principles of the WD and really overeating during the evening.  You are too (10 eggs may not be as much as 15 eggs, but it's still a boat load!).  Just keep listening to your body and measuring how you feel.  This lifestyle is not an exact science and needs constant tweaks and adjustments.  Just be sure to keep in mind that, if you're going for full-out day tomorrow, you need to fuel yourself tonight and may have to go a little bit beyond that limit of feeling full and really make sure you're ready for the next day's strenous activities (such as an all-day mountain climb, marathon, triathlon, etc.).

[KBwarrior]

Thanks for the reply.  It's good to hear from someone who is sticking with it for a good period of time.  It's nice to see that this is a sustainable diet.  What kind of excersice do you mostly do?

My coworkers talk about my eating habits nonstop.  A few have converted to WD, though I really didn't persude them, and the rest think I'm nuts.

The funniest is my Mom though.  She's worried that I have lost too much weight.  She doesn't think I'm healthy now.  Strange how nobody was concerned about my health when I was struggling to climb stairs at 27% body fat!

Also I was talking to my dairy farmer, he was telling me that he doesn't remove the butter fat.  He explained that in the case of whole milk the butter milk is removed, processed separatley, and half is added back in.  I might have missunderstood him, but I think that's what he was saying.