Beginner Question

[awf0926]

Hi! I am beginning Keto. I just finished an egg fast and today is my first normal day of keto. I’m finding it very difficult to balance my macros exactly. My question is: if I eat enough fat and a low enough amount of carbs but don’t get the exact amount of recommended protein will I still be in keto?

[JRS08]

I think as long as your net carbs are 20 or less you’ll be fine. I find it tough sometimes to get enough fat and/or protein in. When in doubt, I increase my avocado intake, or olive oil, butter, bacon, etc.

Just eat enough to get you full, the rest works itself out

[amwassil]

The only thing I would add to @JRS08 comment is that staying sub-20 grams of carbs daily is the most important thing in the early going. You’ll have plenty of time to figure out everything else as you progress.

[KBG]

if I eat enough fat and a low enough amount of carbs but don’t get the exact amount of recommended protein will I still be in keto?

Short answer, yes.

The other two replies are good. Early on, keep it simple. Carbs below 20 grams. Eat healthy proteins and added fat to where you don’t feel hungry.

As time goes by you will learn your body and things will morph and change a bit. You’ll also find that not every day is the same. So if you’re tracking protein, some days will be higher, some will be lower and it’ll balance out. While tracking can be a good tool, don’t rely heavily on it. It’s best to learn to listen to your body and eat when hungry and stop when satisfied.

Edit: I forgot I wanted to say that if you are in ketosis, then you are doing keto. What puts you in ketosis is the low carbs part of this equation.

[JRS08]

Something else that might help you is meal prepping. I do it every week. Mess around with some food ideas and see what the macros come out to, then make that meal for the week with your desired macros. If you like the results, repeat, and stick with similar macros, if not, then you can adjust and find what works best for you.

I usually keep it simple, like one week I’ll do steaks, asparagus, bacon, butter, maybe some cheese, etc. Another week I’ll do chicken and egg salads, with olive oil dressing, cheese, some other random green veg, etc. My favorite seems to be eggs, bacon, spinach, butter, mayo, cheese, etc.

Have fun with it, eat what you enjoy, just keep carbs low

*Edit - I should have added that I do OMAD, which makes meal prepping even easier

[awf0926]

That makes sense thank you

[OgreZed]

I’m finding it very difficult to balance my macros exactly.

You’re overthinking it. There is nothing to balance. My simple concept of keto is “Minimal carbs. Adequate proteins. Fats as needed (for satiety).”

Keep your carbs low. That’s what keeps you in ketosis.

Make sure you get enough proteins. Your body needs them. Too many is better than too few.

After that, let hunger be your guide as to how many fats you need. If you’re hungry, eat more fats, some protein, but as few additional carbs as possible. If weight loss is one of your goals, stored body fat is available to satisfy part of your fat needs.

[Ilana_Rose]

If you eat nothing you will be in ketosis. What takes you out of ketosis is when you eat too many carbs and possibly if you eat FAR too much protein. You’ll never drop out of ketosis because you didn’t eat something though.

What @OgreZed said is right. You want to eat minimal carbs, a moderate amount of protein, and fill up on fats, but don’t eat more than you need to be satisfied. You never need to hit any macro on any given day if you’re not hungry for it. Just keep a tight control on your carbs.

[Jeramy_Koval]

I’m on my 5th week and found the best starting point for me was to focus on getting ample fats along with salt and magnesium. It took me about 3 weeks before I felt that I had found the right balance. I try not to think about macros. Getting fat adapted is more important.

[CarlKeller]

Carbs below 20 grams. Eat healthy proteins and added fat to where you don’t feel hungry.

To add on to this, I feel like protein is a big part of satisfying my hunger and it allows me to go long periods of time without eating. If I under eat protein, I tend to be hungrier, sooner.

Most of my success with LCHF, I attribute to having a good relationship with my hunger. If i feed it the right things, at the right times, it’s rewarded me with lost body fat and a sense of control I’ve never had in my life until recently.

[juice]

Keto Is This Easy

Keto is this easy (aka Keto for beginners) Quick Version This is for Phase One—the starter phase. It’s still not complicated later, but this is the really easy-to-explain version which will help you no end. Eat under 20g of carbs a day (usually 20g net when starting, but for some people 20g total carbs works better). Don’t worry about the scale. All it tells you is weight, it tells you nothing about body composition, even the “smart” scales. Eat plenty of good food—fat and protein—whil…

[KBG]

Your post is all about listening to what your body needs as well as noticing how what you feed it impacts how you feel and thus responding appropriately next time, continually learning and tweaking and adjusting as you go.

This is my 3rd time going keto. Hoping/planning for 3rd times a charm. The first two times I was one of those unicorns where the weight just eased off effortlessly and I was back in my skinny jeans crazy fast. This time, not so much. I guess we can’t be unicorns forever.

As a result though, I think maybe I appreciate keto even more and I also now know it’s actually not magic. I’m choosing to learn more and be more thoughtful with my choices. My foods are more nutrient dense with more of a variety and less lazy keto. I am focusing more on listening to my hunger, or lack of, before deciding to eat as opposed to fretting over hitting macros.

I’m looking forward to getting further enough along to where I am seeing trends or causes and affects like your protein example. I’ve read others here who say too much protein makes them hungry! It’ll be interesting to see where I find myself. But, until then, I think a focus on learning to listen to my body is key and also I expect more sustainable long term.

[David_Stilley]

@juice You beat me to it!

[amwassil]

Stay focused. Listening to your body gets lots of people in trouble.

Many are doing keto and telling their tales on this forum because they did. Your body doesn’t necessarily know doodly squat about what is and is not good to put into it or how much.

[juice]

Many are doing keto and telling their tales on this forum because they did. Your body doesn’t necessarily know doodly squat about what is and is not good to put into it or how much.

Once again, the advice is to be taken IN CONTEXT.

[Shortstuff]

Don’t stress about macros when you’re starting out, just keep carbs below 20g and eat enough food to keep hunger away.

[juice]

@juice You beat me to it!

You keep up the good work, I don’t venture over here all that often these days

[gingersmommy]

I’m finding it very difficult to balance my macros exactly.

Welcome. Before I started and for information on where to begin, I read a popular book on doing keto simply. I am pretty literal and felt I needed a “formula” for how to do keto. Calculated my macros and for maybe a month, I tracked them. Like you, it was making me crazy trying to hit the fat and protein macros. Then I found this forum and discovered DietDoctor.com. That opened up a whole new way. Took me a while to actually believe what people here were saying - we don’t have to be a slave to macros. Eat enough fat and eat to satiety and keep the carbs as low as possible. Sounds simple, but it works and is very freeing.

In the beginning, three meals a day helped me. After 2-3 weeks, I didn’t feel I needed or wanted eat as often. When you get to that point, it isn’t difficult to skip meals or eat OMAD.

Good luck on your journey. Here’s seeing you around!