About to start my keto journey

(Hayley Smith) #1

Hello everyone!
Myself and my partner start our keto journey monday, its our payday so we can afford everything we need to start properly.
We are both approx 4 stone overweight and we eat so many carbs on a daily basis that we have been looking into the ketogenic life and decided we need drastic changes … even when on other diets i turn to carbs!
Any beginners tips would be amazing… .also tips on what foods you always buy from the store would be great :blush:
My partner has a very physical job and is worried about ‘keto flu’ so any tips any of you that have experienced it have for him would be great!!

Thanks <3

#2

Congratulations! This is exciting:)
My best advice is to stock up on eggs and bacon, avocados and high fat sources like coconut oil and butter, and switch to fattier cuts of meat like chicken thighs from breasts and medium ground beef from extra lean. For the first little while, just try to focus on upping your fat intake (look up recipes for “fat bombs”- these can help) and make sure you keep your carb intake to 20g or less. It will take time to get used to so don’t panic if you make a mistake, just “keep calm and keto on” and learn from it. There are many resources in the podcasts and this site, as well as YouTube.
Looking up a “ketorade” recipe to help prevent electrolyte imbalances (the keto flu) will also really help.
All the best to you both! It’s wonderful that you’re doing it together:)

(Roy D Rushing Jr ) #3

So far the trick for me is to not allow myself to go hungry. If I’m hungry I eat fats and fatty meats until I’m satiated. There were many times where I was craving that late night peanut butter and jelly sandwich or ice cream and I just had some cheese or a bit of fatty leftovers instead. It didn’t exactly hit the spot like one of those carby foods would have, but it did quiet my hunger considerably and allow me to sleep.

This diet is not at all restrictive when it comes to the quantities you’re allowed to eat, and you should take full advantage of that. Be aware that doing this will make your weight fluctuate wildly. In the last three days my weight has gone from 207 to 212 to 206. Clearly it was all water weight, but seeing those kinds of numbers on the scale can be distressing. Ignore it and keep going.

Butter is your friend. Add it to everything. The hardest part for me is eating to satiety without taking in too much protein. You got to get those fats in there to take up the slack.

I think I’ve largely avoided the keto flu by supplementing with magnesium and potassium. I know a lot of people use drinks like “ketoaide”, but I’ve just been taking a magnesium and potassium pill every night before bed and it seems to be working well. Do whatever is easiest for you, just be aware that you need salt, magnesium, and potassium in greater quantities now than you used to.

#4

The thing that I did when starting keto was completely replace my kitchen foods. I took out a big bag and tossed in ALL CARB AND SUGAR items.

BYE FELICIA! Chucked those demons in the bag and forgot about them. The next thing I did was go online and look up Keto kitchen staples and made a shopping list.

Coconut flour
Almond flour
Erythritol
Stevia liquid
LOTS OF COCONUT OIL

Heavy cream
Almond Milk
Sugar free chocolate syrup

Low sugar peanut butter
Bakers chocolate

LOTS OF CHEESE SNACKS
Meat sticks
Highly salted bags of almonds

Veggies!!!
AVOCADOS!!
Bacon
Tuna cans
Sausage

Something that I enjoy is buy lots of veggies (Broccoli, peppers, onions) chopping a bunch up, mixing them up, then partitioning them out into little baggies and storing them in the freezer. Its super slick when you want to cook up an omelette or egg scramble! Take a bag out of the freezer, oil up your pan, and cook!

Also if youre interested, Ive made a Google doc of lots of recipes I enjoy with all the macros calculated. Feel free to use it anytime.

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #5

You are amazing, thank you, grabbed a copy :slight_smile:

(Chris W) #6

First thing is to make sure after about 2 days in to up your salt intake this will help avoid the keto flu.
Of all the things you need to buy I would say the only two things I cannot live with out are coconut oil and almond flour. The rest are staples which you probably have already. Personally I would encourage you not use stevia or any sweeteners for several weeks. These can be problematic and your body will be making some changes.

Read ingredient labels, since you are refering to stone I assume you are in the UK and your labels are different than mine but really if you can avoid packaged food at first it will be the best.

KISS keep it simple stupid.
In the first few weeks stick to simple diets they are easy to figure out and you can grasp what your proper intake levels will be. You by no means have to make complicated recipes or you don’t need to buy exotic ingredients. The best advice I have heard is eat bacon and eggs for two weeks, then go from there. Sticking to your macros will help with this.
Also do not restrict your calories keep your macros at maintain, you will loose weight, if you start to cut calories it will make your journey less pleasant. This way of eating helps heal you inside, results do vary and we often see the case of one partner doing better than the other. Males and females react differently, as well metabolic problems will make things more challenging. Give it time, it takes a few weeks to start to see movement, don’t just pay attention to the scale, take measurements.

If you have questions ask.
KCKO

(Hayley Smith) #7

So much great advice here… i can’t thank you all enough :grinning:

Another stupid question… these keto supplement drinks, are they worth getting? Just a bit confused about them. Do you have along side eating keto normally or are they a meal replacement drink? :thinking:

Thanks guys

(Roy D Rushing Jr ) #8

If you’re talking about the drinks that actually contain ketones, I don’t think they will help you now, if ever. Those are referred to as exogenous ketones, which really just means that they were created outside of your body and then introduced into your body. I’ve heard a few podcasts that cited a few potential problems with them, but my main concern would probably be that introducing ketones into my body might cause my own ketosis to stall in response to the sudden glut of ketones. I’m trying to teach my body to make and use them efficiently. I want it hard at work doing that rather than just dumping outside ketones into the mix.

(Denise smith) #9

Your going to love the life style. I have been keto almost a year and would not go back. I have to think about tips because I want to make sure I am giving you good advice.

(Denise smith) #10

Make your own it’s much healthier

(Denise smith) #11

Stick with all natural foods for now, it’s the best way!