Various Ways of Working With Lots of Text and Files

Table of contents

  • Find and replace text in a single text file
  • Find and replace text in multiple files
  • Find and replace multiple regexes in all files in a folder recursively
  • Sort a list of text
  • Get unique / remove duplicate lines in a list of text
  • Select a column of text
  • Find text in a single file and copy all matches to the clipboard
  • Add text to the beginning of each line of text
  • Copy differences (diff) between two files
  • Rename multiple filenames in multiple folders

The instructions below use Visual Studio Code unless stated otherwise.

Find and replace text in a single text file

  1. Open the text file in Visual Studio Code
  2. Click Edit > Find or Edit > Replace
  3. Enter your search term and replace term
  4. Use optional options like
    • case senstive match
    • match whole word
    • regular expression
    • preserve case
    • replace first match
    • replace all matches at once
    • find in selection

Find and replace text in multiple files

  1. In Visual Studio Code, right click on a folder and click “Find in Folder…”
  1. Enter your search term and replace term
  2. Use optional options like
    1. case senstive match
    2. match whole word
    3. regular expression
    4. preserve case
  3. In the search results, you will see a preview of the text change.

If you click on a preview in search results, you can can the a side-by-side view of the change in each file.

Find and replace multiple regexes in all files in a folder recursively

Modify this JavaScript and run using NodeJS.

Sort a list of text

  1. Select all the text to sort
  2. Right click on the selection and click “Sort lines”

Get unique / remove duplicate lines in a list of text

  1. Select the list of text
  2. Click View > Command Paletter
  3. Click one of the unique sort options

Select a column of text

  1. Put the cursor at one corner of the column of text you want to select
  2. On Windows, click and hold “Shift” + “Alt” keys and drag the cursor to the opposite corner of the column of text you want to select
  1. You can then start typing to replace the text or copy the text to the clipboard

Find text in a single file and copy all matches to the clipboard

  1. Open the text in Visual Studio Code
  2. Click Edit > Find
  3. Enter a search term
  4. Click Selection > Select All Occurrences
    All matches will be highlighted. Notice the different highlight color in the two screenshots below.
  1. Right click on the highlighted text and click “Copy”
  1. You could then paste the copied text in a new file

Add text to the beginning of each line of text

  1. Click Edit > Replace
  2. Use the following regex search

Copy differences (diff) between two files

Let’s say you have two files and you want to get only the differences between the two. Visual Studio Code will show you a diff between two files as follows:

  1. Open both files
  2. Select both files in the OPEN EDITORS section
  3. Right click and click “Compare Selected”

You will then see a nice diff between the two files.

But, you won’t be able to copy only the changed lines or export the diff. On Windows, you can use a tool called DiffMerge by SourceGear. If you open both files, you’ll see a similar view.

You can then click Export > File Diffs > Traditional > In Text > To Clipboard to copy the diff to your clipboard.

You can then paste the diff in a text editor like Visual Studio Code and extract only the text you are interested in.

Rename multiple filenames in multiple folders

Let’s say you have many files and you want to rename the filenames all at once. For this, I find it easy to use a tool like Rename Expert. For example, in the screenshot below, I did the following:

  1. Added all files the filenames of which I want to rename
  2. Under “Actions”, chose the actions I want done. In this case, I did 2 actions:
    1. Replace (to replace the first character of each filename with an underscore)
    2. Edit file extension (to change the file extension from php to jpg)
  3. Previewed the changes and resolve any conflicts
  4. Clicked the Apply button to run the batch renaming of files.

Choosing Keywords to Improve Search Engine Ranking

If you have a website or are publishing an article online, you can increase your chances of people finding it by carefully choosing keywords to use both in the domain, folder path, and page content. One tool to help with this is Google Adword’s Keyword Planner. As a trivial example, let’s say you are building a dictionary website. You could buy a domain name that has the word “dictionary” in it or you could use the word “dictionary” in your page content. Or, you could use a synonym like “lexicon”. If you enter both words in the Keyword Planner, you’ll see the average monthly search volume for those words. In addition, Google will offer keyword ideas. As you can see in the screenshot below, many more people search using the term “dictionary” than they do the term “lexicon”. You can also see the competition level in the Competition column. However, that’s for if you want to pay Google to place your link at the top of search results. In the example below, the competition is low for both keywords.

Now, since “dictionary” is a popular term, you can expect more competition with respect to organic (not paid) search results. As you can see below, there are 4.32 billion results for the term “dictionary” and 3.05 billion for “lexicon”.

Of course, you’re not going to just write “dictionary” in your website content. You’ll probably write something like “Chinese – English dictionary” or “Spanish – English dictionary” which will have different average monthly searches and search results.

Animal vs Plant Protein

Amino Acids

Proteins consist of units called amino acids. There are 20 amino acids. The body synthesizes some of them from components within the body, but it cannot synthesize 9 of the amino acids—called essential amino acids. They must be consumed in the diet. The amount and type of each amino acid vary based on the protein source.

Animal proteins such as eggs, milk and steak are complete because they contain all of the essential amino acids that your body needs to function effectively.

Plant proteins, such as beans, lentils and nuts are considered to be incomplete, as they lack one or more of the essential amino acids that your body needs.

Protein Quality Score

Due to the important role proteins play in our nutrition, it’s vital that we have a standard measure to determine protein quality.

PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score)

In 1993, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the US FDA made PDCAAS the official standard for comparing protein quality.

DIAAS (Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score)

In 2013, FAO proposed using a new evaluation method resulting in different scores called DIAAS. According to DIAAS, protein quality can be categorized as follows:

  • No protein quality claim – Score of <75%
  • Good protein quality – Score ranging from 75% to 99%
  • Excellent or High protein quality – Score of 100% or more

As you can see in the table below, all animal-based proteins are of high quality whereas plant-based proteins are either just good or poor in quality.

DIAASaPDCAASb
Animal-derived foods
 Whey protein isolatee1.000.99
 Whey protein concentratee1.071.00 (1.07)
 Milk protein concentratee1.201.00 (1.21)
 Skimmed milk proteine1.051.00 (1.12)
 Whole milk powdere1.161.00 (1.16)
 Caseine, f1.091.00 (1.20)
 Cow milke1.16 
 Sheep milke1.09 
 Goat milke1.24 
 Whole egg, boilede1.131.00 (1.05)
 Beefe1.121.00 (1.14)
 Porke1.141.00
 Chicken breaste1.081.00 (1.01)
 Tilapia (fish)d1.00 
Non-animal-derived foods
 Soya protein isolatee0.840.93
 Soya floure0.890.98
 Wheate0.450.50
 Pea protein concentratee0.620.75
 Cooked peasf0.580.60
 Oat protein concentratee0.670.69
 Cooked rolled oatsf0.540.67
 Rice protein concentratef0.370.42
 Cooked ricef0.600.62
 Ryee0.480.59
 Barleye0.470.59
 Pease0.650.79
 Sorghume,f0.290.29
 Cooked kidney beansf0.590.65
 Roasted peanutsf0.430.51
 Corn based breakfast cerealf0.010.08
Source
  1. Only values that used the scoring patterns for children older than 3 years, adolescents, and adults were selected
  2. aValues for DIAAS were calculated from the ileal digestibility of amino acids
  3. bValues for PDCAAS were calculated from the total tract digestibility of crude protein
  4. cAll values for DIAAS and PDCAAS were selected in humans, if available, growing pigs, or in growing rats in that order
  5. dMeasured in humans
  6. eMeasured in pigs
  7. fMeasured in rats

Essential Amino Acid Comparison Between Steak and Broccoli

Since essential amino acids are essential, it’s important and interesting to compare how much of them you get when you compare the same amount of an animal protein to a plant protein. The following table compares 1 oz of steak to 1 oz of broccoli.

%RDI = % Recommended Daily Intake

Essential Amino Acid1 oz Broiled Sirloin
Strip Steak		1 oz BroccoliRatio
Tryptophan (mg)
(% RDI)		55
(20%)		9
(3%)		6.7x
Threonine (mg)
(% RDI)		332
(32%)		25
(2%)		16x
Isoleucine (mg)
(% RDI)		378
(27%)		22
(2%)		13.5x
Leucine (mg)
(% RDI)		661
(24%)		37
(1%)		24x
Lysine (mg)
(% RDI)		703
(33%)		38
(2%)		16.5x
Methionine (mg)
(% RDI)		217
(30%)		11
(1%)		30x
Phenylalanine (mg)
(% RDI)		329
(38%)		33
(4%)		9.5x
Valine (mg)
(% RDI)		412
(23%)		35
(2%)		11.5x
Histidine (mg)
(%RDI)		265
(38%)		17
(2%)		19x
Source

As you can see, you get WAY more essential amino acids from 1 oz of steak than you do from 1 oz of broccoli. However, from a calorie point of view,

  • 1 oz of Broiled Sirloin Strip Steak has 60 calories
  • 1 oz of Broccoli has 10 calories

1 oz of steak has 6 times as many calories as 1 oz of broccoli.

So, what if you just ate more broccoli to consume the same amount of amino acids as steak. The highest number in the ratio column is 30x. So, you’d need to eat 30 oz of broccoli to get at least the same amount of amino acids as steak. But then your calorie intake would be 10 calories x 30 = 300 calories, which is way more than 60 calories for the 1 oz of steak.

Conclusion

Don’t be a vegetarian. Include animal-based proteins such as eggs, meat and milk in your diet. If you don’t like them, then at least drink a smoothie made with whey protein powder. Here are some nutrients you can’t get from a vegetarian or vegan diet.

How the Ultrawealthy Legally Avoid Paying Taxes

It’s not uncommon to hear that some of the wealthiest Americans pay less tax than the average taxpayer or, sometimes, no tax at all. However, there hasn’t been much, if any, proof or an understanding of how they get away with it until recently. ProPublica, somehow, got IRS records of many of the wealthiest Americans and in June of 2021, published an article and video showing what these people’s effective tax rates were and how they did it.

Tax Rate

In recent years, the median American household earned about $70,000 annually and paid 14% in federal taxes. The ultrawealthy, on the other hand, paid less than 3.5% from 2014 to 2018.

Wealth GrowthTotal Income ReportedTotal Taxes PaidTrue Tax Rate
Warren Buffet$24.3B$125M$23.7M0.10%
Jeff Bezos$99.0B$4.22B$973M0.98%
Michael Bloomberg$22.5B$10.0B$292M1.30%
Elon Musk$13.9B$1.52B$455M3.27%
Source

Buy, Borrow, Die

According to ProPublica, the ultrawealthy are able to pay so little or nothing in taxes by living off of loans. Income tax is tax on any income you receive, like a paycheck. For most people, your employer withholds your taxes due so when annual taxes are due, you pay or get a return of the difference of your final taxes owed. Therefore, the less your income is, the less you pay in taxes. Wealth in the form of stocks and real estate can go up and down and is not taxable until you sell. You probably have heard of some CEOs getting a salary of only $1 a year. This might sound like they are extremely generous and humble but in reality, it’s a strategy for them to continue to live lavishly but pay very little in taxes. Since no one can live on a salary of $1 a year, they borrow money to pay for food, housing, yachts, airplanes, etc. And because they’re so rich, they can get a loan at a very low interest rate, like 3%. As an example, if a CEO gets a salary of $1M a year, then their tax rate would be 37% and their tax bill would be, assuming no deductions, $370K. However, if they borrow $1M and pay 3% interest, then they only pay $30K in interest and $0 in taxes assuming they took a salary of $1.

Steps

  1. BUY an asset (buy stock, real estate; build a company, etc).
    As long as they don’t sell, they don’t pay any taxes.
  2. BORROW against their holdings
    This is like when ordinary people do a cash-out refinance on their house. Since the ultrawealthy have good credit (and can just buy the bank they are borrowing money from), they get a super low interest rate.
  3. DIE and still not pay taxes
    Use complicated trusts and philanthropic foundations to avoid estate tax. Their heirs can inherit stocks and other assets tax-free.

A new generation starts ultrawealthy and the cycle starts all over again.

Weight Loss With Glucomannan Fiber

Consuming foods high in fiber is important for your digestion and to feed your gut bacteria. But, it can also be very effective for weight loss. Fiber can soak up water in the intestine, slowing the absorption of nutrients and increasing the feeling of fullness.

Dietary fiber is a non-digestible carbohydrate found in foods. As such, it can be subtracted from total carbs since fiber simply passes through your body. Unlike other carbs, it does not get converted to sugar or get stored as fat.

There are 2 types of fiber based on water solubility:

  1. Soluble fiber: dissolves in water and can be metabolized by the “good” bacteria in the gut
  2. Insoluble fiber: does not dissolve in water

What is Glucomannan?

Glucomannan is a natural, water-soluble dietary fiber extracted from the roots of the elephant yam, also known as konjac. It is grown in East and Southeast Asia and is a very common food in Japan and Korea.

It’s the main ingredient in Shirataki noodles and comes in powder and pill form.

How does Glucomannan support weight loss?

Glucomannan is one of the most viscous dietary fibers known. It absorbs so much liquid that a small amount of glucomannan added to a glass of water turns the entire content into a gel. Chia seeds, which you may have heard of, are also high in fiber and also absorb water but it’s nothing compared to Glucomannan. Note that ground flaxseeds is another healthy fiber supplement but it doesn’t gel up nearly as much as Chia seeds.

In the picture below, you can see Glucomannan in powder form being added to water, and on the right, the Glucomannan after it absorbed all the water.

This thick gel lines the stomach and provides bulk and satiety / feeling of fullness which lowers your appetite so you eat less. In addition, Glucomannan

  • is very low in calories.
  • delays stomach emptying, contributing to increased satiety
  • like other soluble fibers, reduces the absorption of protein and fat

According to this article, reliable studies show that consuming Glucomannan as part of a weight-loss diet is very effective in supporting weight loss. Of all fiber sources you can consume, Glucomannan is the most effective in supporting weight loss.

Consuming Glucommanan

It is recommended to take 1 gram (1000 mg) of Glucomannan before a meal with two 8 oz glasses of water. The amount of time before a meal depends on how long it takes for the Glucomannan to gel up. When you get your Glucomannan, it’s a good idea to add water to it to see how long it takes to gel up. The powder form should gel up in a few minutes whereas the pill form should take about 30 minutes. In general, you can wait 15 minutes to an hour before eating.

WARNING: Glucomannan MUST be consumed with water so that it reaches the stomach before it turns into a thick gel. Consuming Glucomannan without water could cause it to gel up in the throat or esophagus causing blockage and choking. The government of Australia even banned Glucomannan because of this choking and blockage risk.

The amount of water to drink while consuming Glucomannan is important as it will affect the viscosity and effectiveness of the Glucomannan to support weight loss. For example, according to this video, the same amount of Glucomannan was added to a small and large glass. Then, different amounts of water was added to each glass. The result was the gel in the small glass was so thick that turning the glass over would not cause it to come out. The gel in the large glass, on the other hand, could spill out. The more water, the better.

Not all Glucomannan brands are the same

According to this video, the brand on the left did not coagulate as much a the one on the right. Therefore, test the Glucomannan you buy to ensure that it coagulates as expected.

Testing viscosity of Glucomannan by Nutricost

I bought a bottle of glucomannan pills by Nutricost on Amazon. To test the viscosity, I put water and glucomannan in 3 glasses as follows:

  • Left glass: Emptied powder from pill (600 mg) into 1/3 glass of water
  • Middle glass: Emptied powder from pill (600 mg) into 7/8 glass of water
  • Right glass: Put pill (600 mg) into 7/8 glass of water

I stirred the powder in the water but there was too little powder that the glucomannan hardly became coagulated.

I then added another pill (600 mg) and although the mix was more viscous, it wasn’t very thick. I then added another pill (600 mg) and blended the mix together.

Finally, the mix in the left glass became thick like a thick sauce. The middle glass was somewhat thick but due to there being more water, it was still very runny. The pill in the right glass still hadn’t melted after 6 hours.

Based on these results, I think

  • it’s better to consume glucomannan as a powder rather than a pill so the satiety effects will be quicker
  • it’s better to consume glucomannan blended with water (or in a smoothie or in food so that the glucomannan can expand before you consume it)

Buddy: Easy, Fast CI/CD

Whenever you make a change to a website, you need to deploy your changes to a production server. This can be as simple as uploading some files and as complex as having a multi-step process involving version control, building code, running custom scripts, checking links, image optimization, and then rsync-ing files to multiple production servers. To manage the build and deployment process, developers often use continuous integration (CI) and either continuous delivery or continuous deployment (CD). CI/CD bridges the gaps between development and operation activities and teams by enforcing automation in building, testing and deployment of applications. 

I’ve used Travis CI and attempted to use CircleCI but both seemed more complicated than I would like them to be. I then came across Buddy which got a lot of good reviews and looked super simple to set up. For me personally, I just wanted a simple way to commit changes to this blog’s custom WordPress theme in GitHub and have the changes SFTP’d to the production server. Though you can do that using GitHub Actions, it looked like more work and didn’t come with useful reporting and notifications like what you get with Buddy. Below is how I set up Buddy to detect whenever I commit or push to GitHub and then SFTP the changes to a server.

1. Sign up for Buddy

Buddy requires that you sign up using a work email address or to log in using your GitHub account. I wasn’t using this for work so I just logged in using my existing GitHub account.

2. Create a project

Click the “Create a new project” button. Since I logged in using my GitHub account, Buddy instantly showed me my GitHub repos. Click on a repo for this project you are working on. In my case, I chose “my-blog”.

3. Add a new pipeline

Click to add a new pipeline. You will be asked for a number of things including:

  • Name – I just called the pipeline “Commit / Push to GitHub Then SFTP to abdullahyahya.com”
  • Trigger Mode – I chose “On push” because I want to trigger the pipeline whenever I commit or push to GitHub.
  • Branch or Tag That Triggers the Pipeline – I chose “Single branch” and “main” since, well, I only have one branch (main) and no tags.
  • Target Website URL – I entered my blog’s website URL
  • Trigger Condition – there are a few options here but I chose to have the pipeline be triggered only if there were changes in the repository since last execution which is probably what most people want.
  • Set currently deployed revision on the remotes – Since I already had commits in GitHub that were in sync what production, I chose the most recently commit revision to avoid unnecessarily deploying everything from scratch.
  • Other – there are other options but I just left them at their defaults

4. Add an action

On the next step, you need to choose an action that will take place in the pipeline (when there is a change committed / pushed to GitHub). Since I just want to SFTP the changes, I chose the SFTP action. Browse all Buddy actions.

5. Set up action

Now, you need to set up your chosen action. In this case, I need to set up my source and destination file paths and SFTP login credentials.

If you click the Action tab / button, you can name your action and temporarily disable the action, among other things.

Test your action by clicking the “Test action” link. In my case, Buddy connecting to the production server of SFTP, created a test directory, deleted the test directory, testing uploading a file, and deleted the test file.

If your test fails, e.g. you get the following error, then you may need to whitelist Buddy’s IP addresses.

6. List all pipelines

When you are done, you will see your new pipeline listed along with any other pipelines you have. You can manually run the pipeline also.

7. Do a real test

To do a real test of my pipeline, I added a comment to a file directly in GitHub and committed it. Seconds later, I saw the commit message show up in Buddy. I then verified that the comment was actually added to the file on the production server.

8. Add more actions to the pipeline

If you click the Actions button / tab, you’ll see all actions in the pipeline. You can add more actions that run in certain situations. In this example, I added an action to send myself an email if the pipeline fails. You can also add actions that rsync files to a server, optimize images, perform link checking, run a custom shell script, and much more.

9. Done

So that’s it. Super easy. Intuitive. Fast. I like it!

Keto Weight Loss Food Menu

Alright, lately I’ve been obsessed with finding recipes and food for weight loss that I personally enjoy eating, especially Keto-friendly ones. To keep track of all my discoveries, I decided to just make this menu.

Microwave-Cooked Eggs

  • Eggs (I usually eat 4)
  • Shredded cheese (mozzarella or cheddar) – optional
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Microwave on high for 2 minutes (depending on microwave)

Air-Fried Chicken Drumsticks

  • Chicken drumsticks (skin removed)
  • Spices
  • 1 Anaheim pepper

Healthy Keto Protein Smoothie

  • 1 tbsp Navitas Acai powder
  • 2 frozen strawberries
  • 1 :ratio keto yoghurt (if not available, get Two Good yogurt – on 3 g of carbs)
  • 1 scoop pure protein powder
  • 1 tablespoon of Matcha green tea powder
  • Almond milk
  • 1 tablespoon Chia seeds

Keto Chicken Rice Soup

  • 2 x 8 oz packs of Shirataki Konjac rice
  • Chicken broth
  • Chicken breast (pregrilled from Costco)
  • Salt to taste

Keto Rice with Tomato Sauce

  • 2 x 8 oz packs of Shirataki Konjac rice
  • 1 8oz can of tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp of Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp of oregano
  • 1/2 tsp of black pepper

Riced Cauliflower or Konjac Rice With Scrambled Eggs & Minced Beef

  • Riced cauliflower or Konjac rice
  • Eggs
  • Minced beef

Keto Spaghetti

  • 2 packs Healthy Noodle (from Costco) – 120 calories
  • 1 18oz can of tomato sauce (105 calories)
  • Minced beef (optional)
  • Parmesan cheese (optional)

Air Fried Tofu

  • 1 pack tofu sliced into 1 inch cubes
  • Canola oil spray
  • Sea salt

Grilled Asparagus

  • Asparagus
  • Canola oil spray
  • Salt and pepper

Celery & Hummus

  • Celery
  • Hummus

Iced Green Tea

  • Green tea with Matcha
  • Erythritol

Vegetable Stir Fry With Chicken

  • Vegetable medley (Costco)
  • Lee Kum Kee Supreme soy sauce (0 carbs)
  • Pre-grilled chicken breast (Costco)

Broccoli, Chicken & Egg Scramble

Spicy Mexican-Style Riced Cauliflower

  • Spicy Mexican-Style Riced Cauliflower (Trader Joes)
  • Pre-grilled chicken breast – optional (Costco)

Riced Cauliflower Stir Fry With Chicken Breast

  • Riced Cauliflower stir fry (Trader Joes)
  • Pre-grilled chicken breast (Costco)

Peanuts

Available at Costco and Smart n Final

Whisps Crisps

Available at Costco

Keto yoghurt

No Sugar Keto Cups

Available at Costco

Beef Jerky

Available at Costco
Available at Smart n Final

Coffee

  • Nespresso coffee
  • Frothed milk
  • 1/4 tsp Erythritol (or Stevia or Monk fruit)
  • Cinnamon

Pickles

Pickles are very low calorie and low carb.

Available at Smart n Final

Cheese Sticks

Cheese sticks are very low carb, but high in protein and calories.

Garlic Spinach With Ground Beef

  • Frozen spinach (steamable in bag)
  • Minced garlic
  • Lemon juice
  • Ground beef
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Cucumbers Slices Dipped in Salt & Distilled White Vinegar Solution

Red’s Egg’wich

$12 at Costco

Egg Whites

  • $9 at Costco
  • High protein, low fat, low carb
Egg WhiteWhole Egg
Calories1871
Protein4 grams6 grams
Fat0 grams5 grams

Extra Lean 96/4 Ground Beef

  • $10 at Smart n Final
  • 96% lean / 4% fat
  • Top it with a slice of mozzarella cheese and eat without as is (no bun or condiments)
  • 1 patty contains
    • 112 grams
    • 150 calories
    • 25 g protein

Angle Grinder Uses

An angle grinder is actually a very useful home improvement too. Below are some things you can do with an angle grinder.

Cleaning

  • Use a wire cup brush to remove rust and caked-on cement and dirt from tools.
  • Use a wire wheel to remove paint

Cut bars, rods and bolts

  • Use a metal cutoff wheel to cut bars, rods and bolts
  • Use a metal cutoff wheel to cut off frozen bolts or screws

Cut tile, stone and concrete

  • Use a diamond wheel to cut through tile

Restore cutting edges

  • Use a grinding wheel to sharpen dull blades

Cutting out old mortar

  • Use a diamond tuckpointing wheel to grind out old, loose mortar

Lowest Calorie, Lowest Carb, Filling Food

Just out of curiosity, I wanted to find the lowest calorie, lowest carb food that could be considered a dish/meal. The goal is to be able to lose weight while feeling full after eating something that is relatively tasty with a flavor that everyone is familiar with. When it comes to filling foods, most people would think of rice or bread. Apparently, there’s something very similar to rice called Konjac.

It has a neutral taste and its shape is very similar to rice. But, it does have a slightly different texture than rice. Nevertheless, one pack (150g) contains only 5 calories and 0 net carbs.

Of course, eating plain rice alone, especially Konjac rice, doesn’t taste good. After considering various ingredients to add to Konjac rice, I decided that chicken broth is one of the best flavorings to add. Everyone knows what chicken tastes like and since it doesn’t contain meat, even vegetarians can eat (drink) it. It’s also not a forbidden food by any of the major religions.

This particular brand of chicken broth is organic, doesn’t contain salt, provides a mere 5 calories for 1 cup, and has 0 carbs.

If we cook one pack of Konjac rice with 1 cup of this chicken broth, we’d only be consuming 10 calories and 0 net carbs! Since 1 pack seems too little to make me feel sufficiently full, I’ll go with 2 packs and 1 cup of chicken broth (15 calories total). That’s nothing! (calorie-wise)

2 packs of Konjac rice + 1 cup of chicken broth.

The broth says “no salt added”. That may be good for people with high blood pressure but for me, the rice just didn’t taste good without salt so I added some. Here’s the finished dish.

I know it looks super boring and tasteless but since I added chicken broth, it actually tasted like chicken soup. On a scale of 1 (yuck) to 10 (yum), I’d give it a 7 (not bad). Of course, the only reason for eating this is to lose weight until you reach your target weight after which time you can adjust your diet so as to just maintain your weight.

Now, don’t go eating this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

  • The Konjac rice has 0 fat, 0 net carbs, and 0 protein = 0 essential nutrients
  • The chicken broth has 0 fat, 0 carbs, and 1g of protein = hardly any nutrients from protein

So, if you eat this and nothing else, your body won’t be getting any of the essential nutrients it needs from fat and protein.

This ridiculously simple dish is good in combination with other food so that your total daily caloric intake is less than your calorie expenditure so that you can actually burn fat and lose weight, especially for people who don’t want to exercise in conjunction with dieting.

According to one calculator, my basal metabolic rate (BMR) or, calories I would burn each day by being sedentary / not active, is 1788. You need to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound of body weight. So, if I was sedentary and could consume a max of 1288 calories per day (which is not easy to do considering how so many foods contain so many calories), then I could have a deficit of 500 calories per day and lose 1 pound of body weight per week or 10 pounds in 2.5 months.

Konjac rice with eggs

If you’d like to eat Konjac rice with something else that is full of nutrients and is healthy, then you may want to try mixing the rice with scrambled eggs. One scrambled egg has 100 calories, 8g of fat, 7g protein, and 1g of net carbs.

Konjac rice with chicken

Since we’re adding chicken broth to the Konjac rice, it would make sense to add real chicken as well. Pictured below I added pregrilled chicken breast from Costco. It tasted good and was super easy to make since everything was precooked.

A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of chicken breast provides 0 carbs, 165 calories, 31 grams of protein and 3.6 grams of fat.

Konjac rice is relatively expensive. For a cheaper alternative that still has much fewer carbs than rice, you can use riced cauliflower.

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