Am I doing this right? (includes stats + food diary entry)


(Chana K) #1

I would love some advice from all you Keto-ers out there. I started Keto 3 days ago and I just want to make sure that I’m doing this right and would appreciate any help. I have some questions and would just like to get any suggestions and advice.

I’ll start off with my stats:
Female, 5’5", 226 lbs, around 45% body fat (based on my average TDEE and a chart i saw from one of these keto weibsites)

Food tracking info: Using myfitnesspal. Calorie allowance is currently set at 1500. I’ve set my macro ratio to 5% (20g) carbs : 20% (94g) protein : 75% (117g) fat

Also, I keep kosher dietary laws, so I have some major restrictions:
I cannot eat dairy and meat together. If I eat dairy, I have to wait 30 mins before eating meat. If I eat meat, I have to wait 6 hours before eating dairy. (so… no cooking meat in butter!)
I also can’t eat any pork or shellfish. (no bacon or pork rinds!)

I also struggle from high cholesterol (low HDL, high LDL, high triglycerides). I was hesitant at first to try Keto because of this, but after reading some articles, I’ve decided to give Keto a shot while monitoring my lipids.

Here’s my food diary from today:
May 24, 2018
FOODS Calories Carbs Fat Protein Cholest Sodium Sugars Fiber

Breakfast
Cheese - Yellow Cheese Emek 28%, 50 gram 173 0g 14g 12g 42mg 320mg 0g 0g
Butter - Unsalted, 20 gram(s) 143 0g 16g 0g 43mg 2mg 0g 0g
Coffee - Brewed from grounds, 1 cup (8 fl oz) 2 0g 0g 0g 0mg 5mg 0g 0g
Medium - Eggs, 3 eggs 180 0g 12g 18g 495mg 180mg 0g 0g
Lunch
Del Monte - Organic Crushed Tomatoes, 0.13 cup (61 g) 10 2g 0g 1g 0mg 50mg 1g 1g
Eggplant, raw, 0.16 eggplant, unpeeled (approx 1-1/4 lb) 22 5g 0g 1g 0mg 2mg 3g 3g
Eggplant, raw, 0.33 eggplant, unpeeled (approx 1-1/4 lb) 45 11g 0g 2g 0mg 4mg 6g 5g
Oil - Sesame, 2 tablespoon 240 0g 27g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g
Tnuva - Yellow Cheese 28% Fat, 2 slice 198 0g 16g 13g 382mg 48mg 0g 0g
Dinner
Generic - Avocado - Haas (Medium) - (Lashawn), 0.5 whole medium (about 5 ozs) 125 7g 12g 2g 0mg 5mg 0g 5g
Kirkland - Raw chicken Thigh, 2 thigh 240 0g 12g 30g 150mg 120mg 0g 0g
Snacks
Dannon - Yogurt - Regular Plain, 150 gram 100 7g 5g 5g 13mg 77mg 7g 0g
Gad - Baby Mozzarella Cheese, 50 g 117 0g 9g 9g 27mg 123mg 0g 0g

TOTAL: 1,595 cals 32g total carbs 123g fat 93g protein 1,152mg cholesterol 936mg sodium 17g sugars 14g fiber (so net carbs would be 18 grams, right?)

Am I eating too much dairy? Is there such a thing as eating too much fat? Regarding my cholesterol, should I be getting my fat from avocados and olive oil more so than from animal fats?

Thanks so much!!!


(CJ Young) #2

Everything looks like a good start to me, you might want to watch the dairy though. I personally had to cut out yogurt (which is kind of a bummer) because it’s got quite a bit of sugar in it. Dairy is very personal though. Some people tolerate it really well and others don’t. For myself I see no difference between dairy heavy and dairy light days so I don’t worry about it too much. You might want to play around with that to see if you feel better on days with less dairy vs heavier days.

In regards to eating fat, make sure you’re eating to satiety. If you’ve eaten enough fat so that you are no longer hungry you’ve eaten the right amount. If you’re eating after that point you’ve gone too far.

I’m about six inches taller then you so I’m not sure if 1500 calories is a good number for your height/weight but you might want to not eat at a significant deficit until you’re fat adapted. Otherwise it could take longer, you might be very hungry, etc.

The other major piece of advice I have is keep with it for at least a month. Getting fat adapted takes a while so feeling “meh” and not loosing lots of weight right away is normal. Also, you should note that some women don’t see any weight loss for a month or two because our bodies take more time to get fully in the swing. Gotta go through a couple of cycles first sometimes. Of course others (myself included) loose weight like the boys so you gotta listen to you’re own body but as long as you feel good and you feel full you’re doing alright.

It’s very individual but the most important thing of all is to listen to your body and Keep Calm and Keto On!


(Leslie) #3

Try this out :slight_smile:
I hope it helps!
KCKO


(Chana K) #4

Thanks so much for your advice!! I was also wondering if I was getting enough calories, because the past 2 nights, I woke up in the middle of the night and was STARVING – hunger pangs and all – and had to eat something. How high should I go with my calorie intake??


(Chana K) #5

Thanks! I’ll check it out!


(Leslie) #6

Maybe try this one

I love the google!


(Alec) #7

Just so you are aware, this article is anti-keto!!

It is arguing that there is no difference between low fat and low carb diets. This is wrong, in my experience.


(Leslie) #8

Oh, for sure. I was just looking for a caloric intake recommendation. I don’t measure anything but I know that a lot of people are not getting enough total calories to keep up their BMR.

I would never endorse that article as a source of healthy help except for the total calorie intake part.

Perhaps I should have included a caveat.


(CJ Young) #9

It’s hard to transition into the mindset of eating until your actually full. I know it was for me. Every-time I’ve ever tried dieting before I’ve ended up starving myself and feeling terrible. Keto only started working for me once I gave myself permission to eat up to 2000 calories. Now I occasionally eat upwards of 2700 calories on certain days (usually cardio days) but I’m still loosing weight. I guess what I’m trying to say is that calories are not the most important thing. To fix your metabolism the most important things are your macro ratios and feeling full.

I found that once I was fat adapted I could do this intuitively for the first time in my life. Until you get there counting is a good idea, since it can be hard to tell, but maybe let yourself eat more if you’re waking up at night starving after having consumed 1500-1600 calories during the day your body is trying to send you a message.

By the way you should check out the Keto macro calculator at https://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/ . It’s a pretty good one I think. I typed in your stats (set the age at 30 because that’s my age) and it said 1855 calories at a 15% deficit so you should check that out. I think that myfitness pal sometimes is a bit too ambitious with it’s numbers. Also, it works off of the Standard American Diet so it’s recommendations aren’t the best. I get my macros elsewhere and then apply those to MFP.


(LeeAnn Brooks) #10

The one thing that piped out to me is the seasame oil. Seed oils are somewhat frowned upon. It’s okay to use for flavoring, but not cooking or adding a lot of fats.
Avacado oil is a good choice, as is coconut for high cooking temps. Olive oil is good for medium temps.


(Chana K) #11

Thanks for the advice. I did look up my macros using that ruled.me, but I think I may have set the deficit to 30%. Is there a problem with that?


(Chana K) #12

Yeah, I recently read about seed oils. I’m definitely gonna be using more coconut and olive oils!


(LeeAnn Brooks) #13

Yeah, you don’t want a deficit until you are at least fat adapted.
Stay under 20g carb, moderate protein, then eat fat to satiety. Don’t worry about calories except to make sure you’re not under eating.


(Chana K) #14

Ok. So my calories should match my TDEE or BMR? Also, when everyone writes to stay under 20 carbs, they mean net carbs, right?


(LeeAnn Brooks) #15

Don’t get too hung up on calories. Keep to the carb macro, determine your moderate protein macro, then use fat to eat till full. Only watch calories to make sure you aren’t under eating. If your full, stop eating. If your not, eat more fat.

If calories start to get too low, look at switching out some foods for more fat/calorie dense foods to up it some without adding volume.

The net vs total carb thing is a personal decision. I would say if you are struggling, stick with total carbs, but if not, there’s nothing wrong with net. You could do strict total carbs until you become fat adapted, then switch to net.
Honestly, I haven’t worried about the net vs total thing much. Most days my carbs would be well under anyway, but i don’t get bent out of shape if I need to go to net carbs on occasion to keep under the 20.


#16

Sesame oil is bad? But it makes the food smell much better after cooking with it.
This is not something that butter/pig oil/olive oil/coconut oil can do to me.


#17

I know a lot of people here have already said it, but I want to second their message about calorie restriction, especially at the start. You may just want to stop tracking them for a while. I can only speak for myself, but it only took me a couple of days into keto to realize that when eating the right amount of food with adequate fat, it took much longer than previously for me to get hungry. Hunger shouldn’t really be something you experience more of with this WOE than a conventional diet (unless fasting, but that’s different). You should be experiencing much less, and you’ll be a happy camper when that happens. I think determining the volume of your food solely by hunger and satiety signals and forgetting about calories for now will help. Let your body tell you when to eat and also when to stop eating. Best of luck to you, you can do it!!