Complete newby/Intro Any Advice Appreciated

(Chris) #1

Hey,

I just started a Keto Diet 2 days ago on 6/25. I am 35, 6’6" and 300lbs. Moderately active with a physically demanding job.

I did as much research coming into this as I could and tried to prep before hand based on the information I found. Seems to be a lot of fuzziness around the numbers when using a blood ketone meter.

Ill lay out what I’ve been in-taking, and what I’ve seen for my numbers and any advice or information you have would be appreciated.

The Macro Ive been following is 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carbs. I want to still intake a minimum of 2000 calories as to not wind up in the hospital for starving myself.

Day one -I woke up and had 8oz of coffee with a tablespoon of ghee butter and a tablespoon of mct oil. I usually drink my coffee black so this wasn’t much of a change as far as sweetness. This held me over until about noon before i got hungry.
-Lunch time I ate 4 rollups of thick sliced swiss cheese and thick sliced sandwich pepperoni
-Snack I had a homemade fat bomb consisting of coconut oil, cocoa powder, swerve confectioners, cashews, and a touch of vanilla.
-Dinner was a 12oz grilled ribeye steak with a butter, coconut oil, pink salt, pepper, and a few dried seasonings marinade. Asparagus with a parmesan-garlic cream sauce.
-Snack was a homemade cashew butter cup. same chocolate base as the other fatbomb, but this one encapsulated cashew butter. Also had a cup of hot earl grey tea.
-Throughout the day I drank about 120oz of water. Refilled my 30oz tumbler 5 times. figuring ice took up at least one of the fills.
Only tested my blood ketones once after the last snack and it read “low”

Day 2 - Tested my ketones first thing and it read .4

  • Breakfast was a cup of coffee with Ghee Butter and MCT oil again.
  • Went to 5 Guys for lunch with a friend around noon and ordered a bacon cheeseburger with jalapenos minus the bun. Eating it with a fork and knife was weird, but oddly enough it filled me up. Usually I would have eaten a large fry, and refilled my soda twice. No soda or fries this time and I was stuffed.
    -Tested my Ketones a half hour after lunch and was .7
    -Snack was a Raspberry Cheesecake Fatbomb .5g carb, 7g fat. Absolutely delicious.
    -2nd snack was 8 cheese crisps I made with ultra thin sliced cheddar baked for about 20 minutes on parchment.
  • Dinner was another grilled Ribeye steak 10oz with the same marinade, Brussel Sprouts and avacado slices with vinegar and avacado oil drizzed over.
    -Tested after Dinner and my Ketones were still .7
  • Snack was another Raspberry Cheesecake fatbomb. Sipped a few cups of hot early grey tea until bed.
  • About 100oz of water throughout the day

Today Day 3 - Coffee with Ghee and MCT oil for breakfast.
-Tested an hour later and my ketones were 1.5
-Lunch was Thick sliced pepperoni and swiss rolls. 5-7 cheese crisps.
-Tested an hour ago and was at 1.5

I’ve been staying well under 20 carbs so far in the last 2 days. My protein has been a bit higher than the 20% as far as I can tell using the calculators. My fats have been right about 75%. I know I need to figure out the protein a bit better than I have been.

That’s where I am at after only a couple days. Obviously I haven’t had any weight loss or anything yet and I’m not expecting any sort of magic or drastic effects. Over time, i would like to shed some weight(or same weight, with less fat), and see positive effects on my cholesterol(mine isn’t horrible, but my LDL has been creeping upward in recent years).

The ketone readings are really the most confusing part. Some places say you aren’t in ketosis until you hit 3.0. Some say 1.5-3.0 is a good range. Others say .8 . I understand that what I am reading is the Ketones in the blood that aren’t currently in the cells being used, which tells me the readings will differ from person to person. It seems to me the readings don’t tell you as much as we would like them to. If there is some info to clear me up on this if I am off base, thanks in advance.

I purchased some glucose strips as well to see where my blood glucose is trending. Hasn’t arrived yet so no info on that.

(Michelle) #2

I don’t know anything about monitoring ketones, but double check the cashews. I’m pretty sure they’re not recommended as they are quite high in carbs.

(Chris) #3

The Cashew butter I used has 8 net carbs per 2 tbsp. I measured out 2 tbsp and divided it between 8 cashew butter cups to keep them at 1 carb per cup. For the chocolate when making the cashew cups, I just left the nuts out since I was also using cashew butter, but the rest of the recipe was the same. I should have specified that also.

I used Cashew because I read in a few places it was a good source of magnesium. It also seemed to have less protein than peanut and almond which I am slightly high on already.

Ill make sure I keep a watch on the nuts and nut butters. Maybe do a bit more research. Thanks!

(Michelle) #4

Nuts are my weakness. I just stay away from them. A serving is so darn small!

(Chris) #5

I’m with you, Peanut butter on hot toast or toasted bagel was always my go to for a quick snack.

(Alec) #6

Chris
You seem to be doing this very expertly!! Bravo! And welcome to TeamKeto!

Some brief suggestions:

  1. Don’t do things on %s, it’s better to do grams. So our usual guidelines are max 20g carbs, 1-1.5g of protein per kg of lean body mass, and then fat to satiety. For you this means 20g carbs, 100-130g protein, fat until you don’t feel hungry.
  2. It is bettter not to snack unless you are hungry. If you are hungry, then eat. But don’t snack out of habit or thinking that you should. The preference is as few eating occasions as possible.
  3. Don’t worry at all about ketones. If you stick to under 20g of carbs you will be in ketosis. Ignore all the folks that tell you you have to be at x or y level.
  4. However measuring your BG will be useful. The details can get complicated. So do some searching in this site and read up on people’s experience of measuring BG.
  5. Don’t undereat. You are an active big bloke and you need calories. 2000 doesn’t sound like enough to me. I think you should have more. But you should let your body decide how much more. If you are hungry, eat more fat. If you are not hungry, then don’t eat.

Take it easy, and try not to obsess about it. You sound very analytical, which is great, but don’t let it take over your life. Keto becomes very natural after a while. I haven’t counted anything for a while now. No need: I just know what I need to eat and my body tells me how much.

(Alec) #7

Chris
One more thing, I wouldn’t worry about your cholesterol. Do some searches on cholesterol in these forums. There is really very little evidence for the theories connecting cholesterol levels with CHD and other disease. So my advice is to not worry about cholesterol at all.
Cheers
Alec

(Ellie) #8

What @Alecmcq said! I would also up your calories a bit and cut out the snacks. You can eat the fatbombs as part of a meal if you like, and if you are not full, but every time you eat anything you spark a release of insulin. More with carbs and less with fat, but it’s still there to an extent.
Try not to obsess over the exact level of ketones - trust the process.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

@Reign Chris, you seem to be well on track, and Alec’s advice is what I would normally post, so have at it, and keep ketoing on. Do keep us posted on your progress, we’ll look forward to hearing from you. :bacon:

(Chris) #10

Thanks for all of that @Alecmcq !

A Good bit of helpful info and reassurance.

I’ve been trying not to under eat which is why I set a minimum caloric intake at 2000 with no maximum. Im not so concerned with going over or even far over. More concerned with not getting enough at the moment. I have been full or at least satiated very often and realized how far below my minimum I was.

The weeks leading up to my starting Keto I was counting my calories and carb intake without actually changing my diet. Trying to see how dramatic the change was going to be. It was pretty crazy how much I was in-taking, and always hungry. That’s the only difference I notice right now after just a few days is my hunger is practically gone. I feel satiated much longer after smaller meals.

Looking forward to this becoming natural for me. :grinning:

@Jacymac Ill try to cut down the instances that I eat and increase the amount when I do eat. Starting tomorrow.

@PaulL Ill absolutely be hanging around. There’s too much experience with this diet here to think I could do it better on my own. Soon as something changes or I cant find an answer, Im sure Ill be asking! :grinning:

Thanks again!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #11

Just a bit of advice: in a week or so, you may find that you want to stop eating much sooner than you are now. Since you know what satiety feels like, and because you have started off so well, if you start getting your satiety signal earlier in the meal, just know that it’s okay to listen to it. Don’t force yourself to eat when you are really not hungry. Trust your body. You may also not be hungry in the mornings, and will naturally fall into eating two meals—or even only one meal—in a day. That is perfectly natural and a good sign. Listen to it. You are doing great!

(Chris) #12

So I took the advice to try and eat more, during fewer times of the day. Also trying to listen to what my body is telling me as opposed to following a schedule. I really have had no need to breakfast unless someone is making bacon nearby, Ill snag a few slices. The BPC seems to get me through until lunch easily.

The rest of Wednesday, and Thursday went great. Readings of my blood ketones were between 1.0-1.8. Highest in the mornings, lower mid day, medium in the evenings. Not sure if that is a typical trend or not. My Blood Glucose has been steady in the low 80’s. This morning BG was 81(lowest so far) and BK was 2.6 . Index is 1.7

I started cramping in my feet, calves and shoulders yesterday with also having loose stools. It was a hot day and I was sweating constantly. Figured it was my sodium, potassium, magnesium and dehydration. I dont care to take supplements usually, so I was trying to find foods I could augment with. Sports drinks(even the diet ones) seem to have quite a few carbs. I went for the large jar of dill pickles which was 1 carb per serving, a half pickle was a serving. Had one at lunch and one at dinner, and drank a good bit of pickle juice. The cramping stopped. Everything seems to have returned to normal.

Was a bit surprised today to see those readings.

(Ellie) #13

Great job, sounds like you are well on the way! Avocados have a decent amount of potassium I think, and there is something call no salt that has potassium too. Might be worth checking out as a seasoning rather than a supplement :grinning:

(Chris) #14

Thanks, Ill look into No Salt. Had some avacados today!

Edit 7/1 - BG is 71 , BK is 2.9 . Glucose/Ketone index is 1.3. still moving in a positive direction.

I know people keep saying not to follow the numbers, but its very interesting to see how and when they change. If you can determine what makes them change in certain directions, you can figure out what personally affects you in your diet. Its also motivating to see the numbers change.

(Tammy Kidd) #15

My favorite drink on hot days…I fill my large cup with ice and water add in a couple slices of lemon and some sea salt. Very refreshing. Keto on!

(Chris) #16

@tammy_steve1219 Going to try this one tomorrow at work. Sounds good and I definitely need ideas on different ways to keep hydrated before i get sick of pickle juice. :slight_smile:

#17

Since you’re deeply into the numbers, remember as you fat adapt, those numbers will most likely go down! Having blood ketones in two days is impressive, if you keep moving at that speed yours may go down quicker (which would be a good thing). Means you’d be burning more of them.

(Chris) #18

Just an update.

Just finished week 2. I have a steady level of energy throughout the day, even though its a pretty low amount, its a constant. It doesn’t matter if I eat or not, the energy remains the exact same.

Blood glucose has been sitting between 78-84 each day. Ketone readings from 2.8-3.9 . This mornings reading before a BPC was 3.6.

Started losing weight this past week and seemingly a bit of size difference. I was 300 starting and now 278.

My appetite is very low. Pretty much only eating 1 meal a day now in the evening. Any hunger I do feel throughout the day is satisfied with a small snack, usually something that is beneficial to electrolytes.

Here we go to week 3!

(Alec) #19

Your numbers look awesome!! You’ve got this! :+1::ok_hand:

(Chris) #20

Feeling good about it. Thanks all for the advice and tips to get me going.

Waiting for my BK to drop as mentioned above to show I’m utilizing the ketones I am making.