KetoDose - The Vegan Low Carb Snack with Sugar-Free Amazonian Chocolate

from Customer Avatars to Keto Cacao Nibs
almost 5 years ago – Mon, Jul 08, 2019 at 09:41:48 AM

To a beautiful, peaceful long weekend for everyone! Anything but peaceful here but we are finding it. First, I really appreciate the support of our new backers, thank you. We are at over 40% funded in the last few days. And we want to get to 50% by the end of today, to be featured in Projects We Love.

I've been in Miami, decompressing en route to Colombia. There is a lot to do in Colombia, and when I arrive, I want to "react" as little as possible, to flow well. So this detour is necessary to get my mindstate ready.

I've been surprised in the past few years by how much diet might impact how you feel in life. Kicking out gluten 3 years ago, starting keto...Maybe it should not be surprising, since its one of the most fundamental activities of life, as is sleeping. But, can something really change the game. As someone who surrounds himself with many people who have looked for an edge, for a hack (like biohacking), that's been interesting to ponder on.

Ive always felt that the mental work is more important, can be more lifechanging and move the needle? I personally, feel like blindspots and not having enough mentors is what sets me and many others from realizing our potential. But food, sleep, the secrets are so disperse and different. What change has made the most difference for you in your happiness?

Ive been a little bit stressed, because really, I wonder if we are communicating correctly to our customer avatar on this Kickstarter. In reality, this is one of the first times we are selling to the United States. We know that our products are best for passionate mostly plant-based consumers who do not eat many sweets, who do not look for dubious sweeteners, and who eat clean. Who recognize and are educated about ingredients, cook food themselves, evangelize, and scrutinize like crazy. So, it has been interesting, to just sort of sit through the last few days, and digest and recover from a crazy two weeks and pinpoint what I know and don't know beyond that. It's been really humbling to have people support who are NOT like this, but really just believe in the mission, and its cool because I know we will not let them down on a taste and nutrition perspective even if its not the "perfect" fit.  And we we will have fun on the way.

A few things have happened since we last spoke - one is that we have received and keep on receiving overwhelming support about our Keto Cacao Nibs  (cacao nibs slightly sweetened with keto sweeteners yacon and monk)  from bloggers and professionals.

So we introduced a new reward that is an incredibly cool thing to do, I was pushed to do it by my team and think its an amazing idea after sleeping on it. 2 Bags of Keto Cacao Nibs are now included in the new reward called the Cacao Starter Kit. We are giving folks a huge discount for them, and for good reason....we are debuting them on Amazon soon, but have about 40 units that are stored right now in the States after this conference, and its an opportunity for folks who have tried them to buy them again and for those who havent to see if they want to increase their reward. Plus, Amazon has a funny and ironic way of not accepting Colombian products so easily, leading to delays, because of trade laws and double-checks. So, all in all, we can get closer to our funding goal, and folks do not have to pay the high shipping fees from Colombia ($15, versus free on the Kickstarter) and get them right away. So, if you tried them and liked them at KetoCon it might be a good opportunity to amend your gift, let me know if you have any questions.

As always, the backers here spreading the word and supporting us are the folks making this kickstarter possible, so share our link and tell one friend who might absolutely LOVE this.  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ketodarkchocolate/ketodose-the-amazonian-keto-bars-covered-in-dark-chocolate 

Warmly,

Danny

Accountability from Americans...and Keto quick Intro
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 03, 2019 at 10:04:07 PM

Just over 4 days in and with a recent pledge now over 33% funded!!!!! - the comments, the monetary pledges for our project, and positive energy make us SO excited and motivated to do 20,000 times more. Please keep it coming, and if you want to share our message, ill post some words at the bottom of this update that you can grab. Back to Austin Texas, where we last left off. Actually, lets jump to Medellin here for a second. 

It was really about 4 weeks ago to the day in Medellin that we decided to do the Kickstarter (we finalized the products after 7 months of R&D 4 weeks ago, and sometimes you cant time when those babies are born)...so rapid execution, something that I've gotten more used to recently, has pushed us incredibly. Although this has been my vision, there has been enough team and supporters here that would dwarf the thank you and acknowledgements in a book...and there has been the flexibility of the folks who have helped us to bend to what we've needed. Keto is something that really helps me for mental clarity, but, I can tell you that at KetoCon this weekend, between pressing that go button on the Kickstarter, and debuting with a booth and crazy amounts of supporters and keto experts trying our products, patience was needed by some key contributors because sometimes, all mental systems fail if you are bombarded with too much info...

One thing that I have seen with several of my closest friends who have supported us, and in particular, Amelia who launched with me at KetoCon, is how much accountability helps all parties in a project. I started this year training for a marathon, and came to rely on an amazing group of people, Juan Cano, my brother Nick, Tommy Joiner, to give me tips on training, and that created this accountability. However, it was also a very personal journey. The kickstarter has been a journey into facing lots of fears, and fast, and accountability has been absolutely unbelievable. Sometimes, there are still reactions and frictions. It has been cool to continue to work on very open communication with two friends of mine in particular that do not stray from being direct with me. They know I thrive off of it. And they themselves do, and that has been cool, as in Colombia, you rarely encounter that. Its a good re-introduction to the USA and reminds me how much I miss it as a new york boy. 

A coach of mine talked to me about shame recently, and said that shame is something you can't exactly delete, but you can look at it at first, and then have it evolve. In my fear of putting things out there, in the past I have not looked directly at my shame of sharing and being proud of myself, for years. And its been incredible to get accountability, and get this support, to be able to do that, and man up, and rock the Kickstarter video even though there were many reasons not to (an employee had to leave the company that same day of the main factory video shots, unexpectedly). that shame is different now. We have not had the chance to market much, get on podcasts, and spread the word more, but with 4 more weeks, it will come. And it has been amazing to focus on friends, and friends of friends, and the KetoCon community as this focal point. really cool, and really personal.

A little note about Keto, as I want to start talking about it - I posted a bit of information on what motivates me and my relationship with health foods on instagram at @tilintilinchocolate. It's my history with dad. However, I also wanted to provide some resources for understanding ketosis.

So, what is Ketosis? A few friends asked. Ketosis, you hear about a lot now and for those who don't know it can cause a big reaction to them, an objection, because they think of...fat. And fat is very central to ketosis, but I would argue that education on carbs and protein is even more critical in executing on it. See, ketosis is a state that the body achieves when you restrict glucose severely in your body, when you do not introduce carbs into it for an extended period of time (2+ days, and varies often from person to person). When all the carbs in your body (stored in reserves as glycogen) are metabolized by the liver, your body, always humming, needs an alternative fuel source. And so, it relies on fat. And your brain cannot metabolize fat directly, it could not metabolize fat quickly enough to survive. So fat is converted to..."ketones" in the liver, which the brain can use. In this state, I'll share two things you should remember and some benefits.

1. Your ideal ratio of fat-protein-carbohydrates ratio is 75%-20%-5% respectively. That means, with 500 grams of food, you can only eat 25 grabs of carbohydrates, which is way less than that one Starbucks frappucino has.  The thing is, carbohydrates are in almost everything. It’s not just leaving out sugar when drinking a coffee. Carrots have carbohydrates. Peanuts do as well. Milk has lactose. And to add to that, when your body eats too much protein that cannot be broken down into amino acids that nourish and ensure the functioning of your body, it’s also broken down into glucose. This causes a big problem - you can’t eat meats like chicken, or leaner cuts of beef. The overarching issue then, is that for the way our body has been programmed, getting into ketosis is hard because it’s restrictive, and the restrictions are not so obvious. They are subtle!

2. Getting into a state of ketosis is hard, but it can be measured, and more easily maintained over time as your style of measuring carbs grows (everyone measures and you can eyeball or weigh, or just restrict entire foods). You measure your state of ketosis, and "ketone bodies" or molecules in your body, and you do this by using different products that 1-you can take urine tests on daily with daily stips, 2-you can breathe into devices for proxies. 

So, it's easy to mess keto up, because you can barely eat out in restaurants in the diet, because from the sauces to the carrots to the sweetened cashews there are issues here with Keto. The good thing is that, outside of that, with your strictness, with your goals, youll totally reframe how you look at clean fats and food, and once started it has a myriad of benefits. Particularly, it is popular in the United States for losing weight...and it deserves lots of recognition for that!

For now, I'll leave you guys with two data points, and with that copy below as promised. If anyone wants to do keto thru the next 28 days of the kickstarter, let me know, and please share with even one person, and support if it calls on you to pledge.

One study found that people on a ketogenic diet lost 2.2 times more weight than those on a calorie-restricted low-fat diet. Triglyceride and HDL cholesterol levels also improved (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12679447 / https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101#types)

Another study found that people on the ketogenic diet lost 3 times more weight than those on the diet recommended by Diabetes UK (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17971178 / https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101#types)

COPY TO SHARE

...for folks in keto, or who just dont like sugar, rescuing them from bad keto dark chocolate snacks is essential. Our Kickstarter for macadamia and brazil nut bars covered in keto dark chocolate is not just a response to that, but its a mission for us. Many of our ingredients are sourced from the rainforests of Colombia, providing access to clean, healthy fats. We are so passionate about this that we handmake our bars right now, and we want to bring them all over the world, while paying fair trade prices, 15 grams of fat, less than 2.5 net carbs per bar. LINK: bit.ly/keto-kickstarter

Have a great 4th.

Warmly,

Danny

Quick rewards update #1
almost 5 years ago – Mon, Jul 01, 2019 at 08:38:24 PM

We listened to your messages and comments and decided to offer a more flexible variety pack of single boxes at the $24 level that include 3 of each instead of restricting it to a box per flavor. If any one of you who have ALREADY pledged would like to change the flavor of bars - we will open this up so that NOW you can have any assortment you like from Brazil Nut Kingdom to Chocolate Jungle, to Hemp-Matcha-Macadamia, just let us know! Want all Brazil Nut Kingdom or want 3-3-3, just let us know! 

Also, we'll be organizing logistics to be planting cacao trees in support of any donations/pledges that are $10.

Lastly, we also want to always be super transparent as to the ingredients in everything and will be updating the listing as we get back from KetoCon and made the new listing clearer on net carbs as well! If we could make this better and clearer in any way what shoud we do. And, thank you again to everyone who has supported us in words, spirit, sharing, good vibes. Its been an amazing day. 

Also, we've updated the title to "KetoDose/Sustainable Low-Carb Bars with Sugar-Free Chocolate" - let us know if that resonates or doesn't.

Ok, enough product stuff today, time for a ketolicious dinner.

Warmly,

Danny