Day 1 and Planning

newbies
apps
(Sharon) #1

Hi all, Im a newbie to this diet and today is my first day. Im learning as I go and trying to get my head around how to calculate my things. Anyone got a good app I could use which is simple any possibly free where I can log what I have eaten etc. Any good sites out there too which could help?

I have just used an online keto calculator and the results are as follows:

Based on your inputs, we suggest you eat: 1305 calories. From those, 116g fats, 20 g net carbs, and 46g protein.

How can I now track these?

(Sammy J Shuford) #2

Encourage you to look up Dr. Ken Berry on youtube. Many vedios on Ketogenic diet.

(Sammy J Shuford) #3

Carbohydrate in diet is NOT NEEDED. Your Liver can make all the glucose you need

#4

IDK about your stats and personal needs but this is very low-cal and very little protein for many of us, even if one is a short woman (like me, for example). Well mine is special as I am starving below 130g protein but 46g is really low. It may be enough to maintain some minimal musculature for a tiny one but probably not ideal.

You can just eat as much as you like for a start, that sounds nice to me :slight_smile: Especially that you are a newbie. Sticking to keto is already some level of challenge, you don’t need to force yourself to eat fixed macros… One doesn’t need that ever. What if one day one is hungrier, needs more…? We aren’t robots. If it’s just a very vague idea, that’s better but I like to figure out what is realistic for myself. Calculators aren’t reliable at all (but I understand if someone uses one as the very first idea as they don’t know how much they need yet). If you are hungry, eat more, that’s very basic and I hope you already have that attitude :slight_smile:

Focus on low carb, enough protein, not too low calories… And eat more if needed!

Good luck!

#5

I use carb manager app because it’s easiest when constructing recipes and searching the database. And you can favorite items so that they appear in the top of search results next time. Always compare the numbers to the particular product in your hand if it has a label. Even different production dates can yield completely different numbers. All food databases have this problem and CM was the easiest to correct.

Welcome! The posts here for newbies were priceless to me when I began my journey 2 years ago. Use them. They will help you a lot.

Even my doctor said “well it’s not a very sustainable diet” and here I sit two years later never having faltered. It is very, very sustainable and easy if you put the time into it to learn, learn, learn. Take notes. Reteach yourself how to cook from scratch without bad ingredients. Be patient. Trust the evidence. Stay away from all premade foods or ingredients that are not wholesome. (aka made in a lab or adulterated with needless additives)

After four months I was able to stop over 13 prescriptions. I didn’t lose a lot of weight at first. It was very slow going because there was so much to repair inside my body first. After two years I am 45lbs lighter, a LOT smaller in measurements, energetic and I feel great. I’m so much healthier than I have been the past 25 years following the standard American diet and the advice of nutritionists. Night and day difference.

Good for you for being among those who have taken back control of their own body.

Few great books: End Your Carb Confusion, The Big Fat Surprise, Metabolical

Many more great books other than those but they helped me. Look for doctors like Eric Westman, Ken Berry, Ben Bikman, Gary Taubes, Jason Fung to just name a few.

If you ever get concerned over cholesterol look up cardiologist Dr Nadir Ali on YouTube and learn what traditional medicine is not teaching.

(Sharon) #6

Hi so if I stick to this, which was calculated using my weight and height etc: 1305 calories. From those, 116g fats, 20 g net carbs, and 46g protein

I should be ok?

I have never been a big fat eating person so now I need to know what I can eat a day fats wise to get me to 116g

Would this be right?

(Sharon) #7

Thank you, I know once I get my head around what Im doing I will be ok. I always have cooked from scratch so nothing new for me there.

(Sharon) #8

So I only need to focus on:
1305 calories. From those, 116g fats and 46g protein.

#9

You will need more protein so go for fatty cuts of meat and it will easily meet your fat requirements. Start using butter as that adds a lot of grams to your day. Heavy whipping cream is heaven and adds fat. Coconut butter is delicious. Unsweetened Peanut or Almond butters, macadamia nuts, walnuts and pecans, and avocados (yum). Whole milk yogurts.

I have a difficult time staying under my fat grams :joy: because of all the places I can get it that I love.

But the absolute best place to get it is from fattier cuts of meat and poultry. Eat the chicken skin!

#10

Well what’s new is learning how to cook with lower carb ingredients. There is a learning curve. I had many a messes and disappointing recipes for my first year but I didn’t give up and kept at it. Today I have several binders full of amazing tried and true recipes for just about anything.

(Sharon) #11

Thanks, this is a help :blush:

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #12

The key to a ketogenic diet is to lower insulin by eating as small an amount of carbohydrate as possible. We recommend a limit of 20 g/day, because it’s likely to give success to everyone except the most metabolically dysfunctional people. You can increase your carb intake later, if you decide you want to (a lot of people don’t, once they get used to this way of eating).

So limit your carbohydrate intake, and then you can safely eat enough fat and protein to satisfy your hunger. It will probably take a few weeks for your appetite hormones to return to normal, and when that happens, if you have excess body fat to shed, your appetite is likely to drop significantly, so that your body can metabolise both the fat you eat and your excess fat. But just keep eating what your body tells you to eat. Forget about limiting calories on purpose, because that can be counter-productive.

As our insulin level drops, our metabolism increases, which is one of the reasons we don’t need to worry too much about calories. A ketogenic diet involves eating a fair amount of fat, because that is the body’s energy source when we don’t eat glucose (also known as carbohydrate). In fact, the body is designed to mainly run on fat and ketones, and the liver will make whatever glucose we actually need (about a teaspoonful circulating in the blood at any given time). So concentrate on keeping carb intake low, eat to satiety, and relax. Let your body do its thing.

Since, from your name, you are a woman, you may find that your hormones take a month or two to re-regulate themselves, before fat loss really begins. This is normal. Also, those stories of quick, enormous fat loss come from people with lots of fat to burn. The first 100 lbs…/50 kg go quickly, but the last 10 lbs./5 kg take much longer. So don’t be discouraged. It is also possible to put on lean mass even while losing fat, so don’t rely solely on the scale as your measure of progress. Keep track of your body measurements or the fit of your clothes as an additional indicator.

(Sharon) #13

Thanks :grinning:

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #14

You’re welcom. I forgot to mention that fat has almost no effect whatsoever on our insulin levels, which is what makes it a safe replacement for carbohydrates. It is also much more energy-dense, so it takes much less fat to get the same amount of energy as a given amount of carbohydrate would provide.

#15

Also - I learned in my first couple months from many wise ketoers to use fat as a lever. It took a while to turn around my appetite and hunger, and for me hunger would be my undoing. So I made sure to reach my fat grams each day to curb my hijacked and badly trained appetite. But as you become fat adapted most people don’t need as high of fat. It’s ok if you do eat more of it but tracking it becomes less important than tracking protein. Use fat as a lever: hungry? Eat something fatty to satiate you longer. I even switched to bulletproof herbal teas in the evenings and it staved off all those munchies I got used to while watching TV.

My particular brand of sweet tooth is actually a “fat tooth”. LOL So I personally have to be careful to not be overly excessive with my fat intake. But never in the beginning. You need it.

(Robin) #16

Hi, Sharon and welcome!
I used carb manager for the first several months It allows you to search for the food in your meal. I always found something at least similar to what I was eating. And the selected foods give you the ability to input how much of it you ate.

Of course, if you’re eating processed food, the labels will usually tell you how many carbs per serving. Which can be something silly like 8 servings, even though it’s really 2 for most people. So watch those sneaky labels.

If at ll possible, stick to real food. Veggies, fruit, and nuts have more carbs than you might think, so pay attention those. Meat, cheese and eggs have little to none. Go full fat when possible… like heavy whipping cream in your coffee! Yum. You’ll find the balance that suits you best.

Patience is key. We don’t become overweight overnight and we won’t lose it overnight either.

I learned that (for me) weighing myself everyday led to mental distress.
If you’ve been strict keto for a week and the scales say you’ve gained a pound, it can really mess with your head. So maybe weight once a month.

Instead, take your measurements and pay attention to the fit of your clothes. Oh, and take a before photo! The day will come when you actually want to show people, believe it or not!

Feel free to ask questions here. You will get some conflicting answers on specific topics. What works for some, may not for others.
But most of us agree on the basics. Try to stay under/around 20g of carbs.

Do NOT try to limit your calories. That will sabotage your efforts. Many of us spent years yo-yo dieting and starving ourselves to lose weight. Your body remembers this and may not trust you yet. So eat up!

Steady as she goes.
You are in for so many benefits beyond weight loss.
You got this!

#17

I always liked fatty sweets and not the low-fat ones… :wink: Of course, it’s not just the sweets, fat often gives great flavor (depends on the fat).

Fat vs protein: It’s individual. Fat doesn’t satiate me but I like it too much so I focus on protein. Some people aren’t even fine with a wide range of fat/protein ratio, they feel better lower fat or higher fat… There is a lot of things to learn about ourselves, we can’t get that info from others. I find figuring out things quite interesting :slight_smile:
And of course we are subject to change and not all days are the same… I wrote about not being robots, right? :smiley: Our fat/protein ratio may vary significantly and it’s quite fine (as long as it doesn’t interfere with other things. my own ratio can’t wriggle too much or else I will overeat like crazy. but it can vary a bit without problems. and a high-cal day - compared to out needs - is quite fine too if it’s occasional).

#18

Welcome. I would first decide what your goals are and make sure they are realistic. Yes, some are super-responders and lose a lot of weight in a short period of time, but most do not. Develop a system that you follow on a daily basis. Step by step. I decided that I would set 90 days as my window. I am someone who is data-driven. Before starting Keto, I did a DEXA scan and a complete blood test, which were repeated after 3 months. I wanted a baseline to know specifically what blood markers had changed and if my body composition had also changed. I also measured my blood ketones almost every day during this period. I also kept a journal of the food I ate but not caloric amounts. Hawthrone effect. I lwanted to know did I lose fat or muscle while in ketosis? I did this under the supervision of a medical doctor and a sports scientist. My motto was “Nothing is white or could be white.” The exception was eggs. All (in a box) processed foods were eliminated. My carb intake was between 20 and 50 grams per day. approx. I was consciously aware that my 1 cup of mixed fruit (blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries) had 15 grams of carbs. After one month, I did not measure my carbs from veggies. My protein sources were red meat, chicken, fish, and whey protein powder. I did not do any fasting on purpose in the beginning. I found that I was inadvertently doing some form of intermittent fasting, as I was not hungry. I also did extended-day fasts, but no longer do them as I feel the benefits are not worth the risk of muscle loss for me (over 50).
Increase your protein intake. Aim for 2 grams of body weight per kilogram. 70 kilos = 140 grams of protein. Look for veggies that you like that are low in carbs but do provide some fiber. Walk every day. This was my non-neogotable. I also, years later have a larger breakfast 1000-1300 calories 1x per week. I believe list helps better regulate hunger hormones. It is not a cheat meal, rather just trying to replicate the evolutionary idea that we also feasted.
This forum can be a tremendous source of knowledge. Keep in mind that what works for some, may not work for you.
Read or watch Dr. Jason Fung.

Good luck!

(KM) #19

Welcome.:slightly_smiling_face:

Congratulations on your first step toward a healthy body and a healthy weight!

As you can probably tell from all the advice, we are all different, we have all committed to figuring out what works for our individual bodies, and we are all rooting for you as well. I think you will find all the support you could possibly need here, so good luck to you, keep calm, and keto on!

#20

Hello and welcome. I have been doing keto and some fasting for 3 months so not as long as other members. I use carbmanager. I pay a premium but free is also good. I find it easy to use. What helped me the most and what I done differently this time is definitely use the fat macro effectively especially in first 2 months. Using fat helped me with not feeling hungry and crave food. All the best.