Hello Everyone, new to keto and need reassurance

[Michael_M]

Hello Everyone,

I want to start off by thanking anyone for taking the time to read/reply to this.

I am male, 30 years old, 6’1", 244lbs, 178lbs lean mass, BMI 32.4, 27.1% fat, 66.1 lbs fat.

I was previously on a diet of high protein/low fat/moderate carb for 2 months and lost about 14 lbs but was finding out that it wasn’t a sustainable lifestyle change diet. A friend turned me on to keto and the foods on this diet seemed like something I could maintain longterm (not to mention all of the health benefits that come along with it). On my previous diet, I was eating around 1600 calories.

I have been researching this diet deeply and think I am about ready to make the switch. I wanted to post what I came up with and hope to get some feedback about my choices and if it is ideal.

I read Reddit keto forums and from what I had gathered most everyone uses this calculator to get started: https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

I have tried many calculators and this calc seemed to be the average of the others in terms of results so I decided to stick with this as a baseline.

Calc Results
Set to weight loss deficit of 20%
Set to moderate activity
kcal Base Metabolic Rate: 2119
kcal daily energy expenditure: 2937

goals based on calc
calorie intake: 2350 kcal
set net carbs per day: (3%, 80 kcal)
protein per day: (24%, 572 kcal)
fat per day: (73%, 1698 kcal)

Exercise
Every morning right when I wake up I walk for an hour outside. This includes uphill and downhill and a moderate pace. Afterwards I do a few moderate exercises with resistance bands for 45minutes.

Real World Calcs
The diet I have created is as follows:

Actual Diet
supplements
vitamin d3 1000IU supplement

breakfast
-4 eggs (pasture raised organic) [fried w/ .5 tbsp Kerrygold butter +.5 tbs coconut oil]
-4 strips bacon (1 tbsp Kerrygold butter)

drinks
-120fl oz water
-green tea
-apple cider vinegar 1tbsp
-lemon juice 1tbsp
-1chicken bullion cube

lunch
3oz chicken thigh or 3oz hamburger 80/20/seasoning or 4oz salmon
-1 cup broccoli (1/2 tbsp Kerrygold butter) dash salt + (-1oz pepper jack cheese)

dinner
-3oz sausage/steak/lamb/bison + (2oz pepper jack cheese cooked w/1/2 tbsp olive oil)
-1 cup asparagus (1/2 tbsp Kerrygold butter) dash salt

dinner salad
-grease from bacon
-2 cups spinach
-2 cups kale
-1/2 avocado
-10 tbsp flaxseed
-5 cups beet greens raw
-1 tbsp flax seed oil

Cronometer Results
summary/food/nutrients

basically the actual diet I created boils down to these stats:
fats:66.6%
protein:22.5%
carbs: 10.8%

Questions
Okay, now that I have explained fully what I am planning to do I have a few questions.

1. My friend swears by Intermittent fasting, which I have been doing in my normal diet. Should I remove one of my meats from a meal and replace with fats in other meals and swap to 2 meals a day and fast mornings? My fats may be a little low, but based on my macros on the calc it says my protein is low, I am a little confused on what to swap in that regard. Some people say they go to 90g of protein (I’m assuming those were female posters).

2. My carbs are 10.8% but I am 21.2g of carbs all on greens, is this bad? I wanted to get my nutrient targets all 99%+ and if I reduce any of my greens more than they currently are I will have to supplement. As it is I have to supplement vitamin D.

3. My daily caloric deficit is 1086 for a healthy 2lbs loss per week. People on various forums say that just eating until you are not hungry is fine. I do not trust myself enough to track based just on huger, should I toss out all of this research and just go based on how I feel?

I know this was a long-winded post, thanks for reading~

[Suzanne_Leigh]

Hi Michael,
You’re thinking this through very well, and that’s a great way to start. I’ll have some good feedback for you, but I’ve got a starting question. In order for 21.2g net carbs to equate to 10.8% your calories, you would have to be eating only 790 calories. What is your actual calorie goal you’re basing your percentages on?

[Michael_M]

My calorie goal is based on the calc, within 100 +/- of 2350 kcal (leaves me with about a 1000deficit assuming i workout every day with walking bare minimum)
https://imgur.com/72qoykp is what my current diet is shooting for (2317 ish)

this is more calories than I normally ever eat on a diet, eating this much is new to me.

edit : this does seem wrong, maybe cronometer is incorrect…
it shows :
total calories 2317
protein: 126.8g
net carbs:21.2g
fat: 168.6g

I think those %'s are based on the total % value i had set in the keto settings possibly, not sure… new to chronometer also…

edit2:
Nevermind, the calorie breakdown I posted and was reading was total carbs and not net carbs. So the % values I posted is the total carb calorie value and not net carbs. 241.4 total carbs and not net carbs, but the net carbs are 21.2… is this an issue?

[Suzanne_Leigh]

OK that makes more sense. Based on 2350 calories, your 21.2 grams of carbs would be 3.6%, not 10.8%.

Re your questions: 1) IF is great across the board. I find some people do well skipping breakfast and eating all their calories later in the day, while others feel ravenous if they do that. Those folks do better eating whenever they get hungry earlier in the day, and closing their eating window earlier in the evening. I don’t think you need to worry about swapping per se, just narrow your eating into a window, say 16:8 if you can do it. And eat your meals in whatever manner and/or combination feels good to you within that window. You will need to experiment to find your best routine.

2. The carbs are fine as discussed above. Greens are awesome so definitely keep them in your plan.

3. If you don’t trust yourself, stick to the 2350 calories to start. If you notice that it’s too much food (probable once you’re fat adapted) you will naturally feel inclined to eat less, which you can do when the time is right.

Questions/info for you:

1. Did you mean to use 10 tablespoons of flaxseed on your nightly salad? If so, I think that could be way overdoing it. If not, you’ll need to adjust your menu because 10 tablespoons of flaxseeds will be adding lots of calories you’ll need to make up for elsewhere.

2. I suggest you play around with your food app and get a really good handle on it before proceeding. Because your percentages at the bottom of your post don’t equate to your percentages at the top. Either the menu you created is off, or the calories you input is off, or the app has a glitch.

3. RE protein, you may find it difficult to get into the 1.5mmol range of ketosis eating well over 100g protein/day. Or maybe not. It depends on how active you are and how much demand your body has for protein versus turning it into glucose. Only time will tell, but many of my male clients in the 200 pound range are successful in getting into nutritiontal ketosis when their proteins are lower versus higher. You can be your own n =1 in that regard. But if you have trouble reaching the fat burning sweet spot, and if that’s your goal, look at your protein intake first.

Good luck!!

[Michael_M]

thanks for the reply, the app calculated the % value for total carbs 241.4 and not for the net carb value of 21.2. Flaxseed was intentional to cap my fiber and potassium levels to 100% daily value, and they are high in fat. I dislike buying and taking supplements.

[Suzanne_Leigh]

Looking at your menu, I don’t see anywhere near 241 total carbs.

Got it re the Flaxseed. I’ve never seen anyone down 10 tablespoons. Have you eaten that before? And if so, how does it digest?

[Michael_M]

I buy the flaxmeal thats already ground up, some people have issues digesting it, but I have no problems and it keeps me regular. I incorporated it into my diet before with my oatmeal. Not sure how I am going to do it now without oatmeal, probably mix it with the bacon grease and put on my salads. 10 tablespoons is only about half a cup.

[PaulL]

A well-formulated ketgenic diet is actually quite simple: keep your carbohydrate intake less than 20 grams a day, eat a moderate amount of protein (around a gram a day per kilogram of lean body mass), and replace all the missing carbohydrate calories by eating fat to satiety. The goal is to keep your carbohydrate intake low enough that you can avoid secreting too much insulin and be able to mobilize your stored fat. You don’t need to count calories, because your body will tell you when you’ve given it enough energy, so eat enough fat at each meal to eliminate your hunger, and don’t eat until you’re hungry again, which will likely be quite some time later.

If this is too simple, of course you can count macros and use apps and measure your ketones, blood glucose, and insulin level, but the basic concept is pretty easy to manage. The idea is to become a fat-burner rather than a sugar-burner, in order to restore metabolic health, eliminate inflammation, and so on.