How do I get all the fat in?

#21

Heavy whipping cream in coffee or smoothie and salad dressing on a spinach salad. To really crush the fats add a tablespoon of mct oil in the smoothie.

(Duncan) #22

Ok, so I’ve been doing this for about 5 weeks and I have to say at first I just thought “I can do this intuitively”. I know what carbs are and I know what fat is so drop the carbs eat more fat. Now it has to be said for a couple of weeks prior I had already started a 16:8 routine. My first keto meal was green salad, spinach, avocado, some pumpkin seeds and two fried eggs all swimming with coconut oil. within two hours I could tell something was different, I had so much energy. I carried on like this for a couple of weeks, 16:8 two “keto” meals a day. I lost so much fat, face, back, neck and shoulders. I hadn’t realised just how much there was to lose. Sadly at this point nothing off the waist. However my wife was so impressed the new forming me, she joined me. A natural fear of excess my wife decided to do it from a recipe book.
Now 5 weeks on I find myself in the same place as MissAy. I don’t know how to have a sensible satisfying meal without drowning it in fat and possibly having more calories than I can use (or more protein). Having started intuitively not measuring macros etc I want to carry on this way. I feel great on this diet/lifestyle and definitely am changing shape and kind of feel there must be an easier way to gauge things to achieve the correct ratios. I don’t was recipes, I want simple information like for example: 1 chicken leg with skin, some broccoli, will need so many ml’s of oil. Or two eggs an avocado and some seeds will need so much fat extra. Just simple combinations to give ideas. Dropping the carbs is easy to work out but surely there is a keto for dummy’s book or web page out there.
Thanks in advance.

(Valerie) #23

Your life sounds similar: Trying to do keto for yourself while cooking for a family of six. It IS a challenge. And you are right, it is best just to keep things simple for yourself. I drink a double dose (14-16 oz) of bullet proof coffee every morning (w/ 2Tblsp cocoa butter-or butter-, 2 Tblsp Coconut Oil & 2 Tblsp heavy whipping cream). Do NOT try this until you are fat adapted bc it might make you sick before then.

Other things include adding butter to ALL veggies you cook. Sneaking in some MCT oil for cooking and beverages you drink.

Fat Bombs! My fave is SO easy to make: 1/3 Cup coconut oil, 1/3 C cocoa powder, 1/3 Cup Peanut Butter (or almond butter) and maybe some Erythritol for added sweet (but not necessary). Heat oil and PB slowly, stirring constantly. Once blended, add the cocoa powder and Erythritol if using and quickly (but thoroughly stir in). Remove from heat. Fill silicone ice tray, put in freezer. Eat anything leftover! I have a mini ice cube silicone tray and it’s 1 carb per “bell.”

Hope this helps and good luck!

(Chris W) #24

Don’t get too hung up the macros, they serve as a guide and it sounds thus far they are working well. But keep in mind your body is smarter than a piece of paper and it knows what it wants. So the second rule of thumb is to eat fat to satiety, follow it. Don’t get hung up on the protein guide either, some days I would way above, some days below. If you keep things too constant for too long your body will adapt, so switch it up. Do you listen to the podcasts? I recommend you do, there is a lot of useful information in them in regards to how get fat in.

One thing with the IF window though esp when I first started it was that I did not have the greatest full signalling, so I would break my meal up a little, wait and if I was hungry I would eat more. This seemed to be more so with my first meal than my second which was about 5-7 hours later, and because I work second shift was more of a packaged thing(cheese sticks, guac cups, etc) I could eat less than and not waste anything.

The goal of getting the fat in is to be able to not have to take the fat in once fat adapted. Your hunger should be much less by that point, it turned my appetite on its ear and I started to eat more fat, and still loose weight.
Also waist for men is pretty much the last thing to go, and if you had visceral fat that goes away first which is a good thing. I still have a little bit of my spare tire left, but I can see my abs for the first time ever.

(Duncan) #25

Yeah I can tell something is happening with visceral fat. My breathing is much better in, say, a compressed position (I do yoga) like the plough. And yes I love this knowing when I’ve had enough and I have to say that since doing this I have not been overly hungry and totally without cravings. In fact I get a bit hung up about substitute stuff like keto bread which my wife makes. I personally don’t need it. I am enjoying treating food more as fuel. The truth is I have never really cared for starch root veg, sugar, fruit etc. I a restaurant (in the past) I would swap my steak for the fat off friends or wife - I like fat, but always saw it as a guilty pleasure. Yes, I listen to every podcast I can find (I really like what Ken Ford has to say about keto) and I am swigging mct oil like scotch.
Thanks Valerie for the info and congrats Chris on the emerging abs. I can’t wait. I just want to wear whatever takes my fancy without having to check if disguises the bulges.
So would you say as a rule of thumb that if you are not hungry between meals you are getting enough fat?

(Chris W) #26

yes, on rule of thumb
give it few more weeks, you sound like you were progressing like was. I was very hungry until 4 weeks. I hit a funk from around 4-6 weeks, were I was hungry but not really sure always what to eat and when. 6 weeks I started to IF my hunger went away, 8 weeks I fat adapted practically, 16 weeks I was able to fast without any major discomfort(mostly mental).

(Jean Taylor) #27

I seem to see this question a lot and it always baffles me. I have never a problem getting fat at all. I have a problem getting enough protein lol. I guess I just love cream cheese, heavy cream, avocado and butter a bit too much…

Might try making more sauces and dips they’re a great way to use fat. If you’re avoiding dairy think broth based sauces with added fats. Dips or dressings could be mayo or olive oil based.

(Duncan) #28

Yeah I’m really convinced 16:8 fast is really useful. I was listening to Mark Sisson and he was saying that all the important work is done when you are NOT eating.

(Duncan) #29

I think you are right Jean. I love too, but once or twice I have gagged on my avocado drenched in olive oil where I think a rich creamy sauce would have worked better. No problem getting down the wedge of butter and fat bomb for pudding though. Thanks for your advice.

(Duncan) #30

should say I love fat too

(Chris W) #31

I am a fan of Ted Naiman more or less, I am trying to now build more better muscle to burn more resting.

I have for the most part let fasting happen on its own, IMHO it seems to me the more I watch this forum the more people try the harder time they have. If you feel hungry when you wake then eat, all the changes I saw happen to me in the first 4 weeks its actually kind of scary when I reflect. I was just following the macros the best I could and I felt awesome even when I did not always make them.

So i guess what I am saying outside of the macro guides, let your body do as it wants, force feeding it, under feeding or trying to make it do things its not comfortable with right now is not more important. That is not to say don’t shake things up a little, just don’t push it too hard.

I started IF by accident, I found myself not eating in the morning, whereas that had been my mainstay from the being of keto some 6 weeks earlier bacon and eggs sausage. I always exercised first then ate, but all of the sudden I did not, I went with the flow and eat later around noon. I never planned it, I never pushed it, it just happened. One day I was busy and before I realized it I had gone 24 hours.

When I decided to EF fast, I was convinced in my mind I did/could not do that before that point in time. The interest in what people were describing via the dudes podcasts peaked my curiosity. I did 48 hours, it was OK but not the best, mentally I was breaking rules, and I needed to eat or so I thought. A few weeks later the next time I pushed myself too hard, I was watching the scale I had expectations I was not meeting. I decided I need to fast, I went in under nourished, my metabolism was lower from a couple weeks of really cutting back. It was miserable I ended and I was worse off then when I started. The point being I was trying to loose weight too hard. I ended up 2 days later a few pounds heavier than when I started to cut and push about 2 weeks earlier and I felt like a giant POS.

So now I don’t try so hard, I have goals, but not expectations as my body has its own goals. I seem to see this in women on the forum a lot in more of the reading I do of old posts. When I weigh all the pluses of this WOE weight loss is actually getting lower, things like not having to wake up in the middle of the night because of BPH are way ahead of that now.

(Duncan) #32

Thanks Chris, I’ll check out Ted Naiman.
Must admit so far haven’t looked at scales, just the mirror. I was warned beforehand (some other podcast) not to expect too much wait loss.
I have to say I feel I am in this for the long haul. I like the way I feel on this and also I am inclined to believe the research on alzheimer’s and some of the other stuff on ageing that I’ve read.

(Chris W) #33

I am a numbers guy, I lost 22 pounds it 13 days on my second to third week eating keto, my weight was steady to slightly going up the until the days before registered ketones on a pee stick. I have a total as of today of 56 pounds from highest point, my BF has dropped from 31-32 to 20 (something like 36 pounds of fat) and I can make a whole list of ailments that are now fixed. I typically read or listen to 10 hours a week of things related to this WOE. GOOD LUCK

KCKO

(Rob) #34

The way I keep it simple is ‘go-to’ meals I can repeat, cooking things in bulk to be portioned and reheated over the week and available keto snacks/sides. The all day breakfast (eggs/bacon/cheese/pickles/etc.) is one. A go-to salad (leaves/feta/pre-cooked protein e.g. chicken or sausage, low carb dressing, bacon bits, avocado, etc.) is also good and easy to throw together. I also cook large joints in a slow cooker on the weekend that I can slice and reheat, or maybe 10 chicken thighs which can last for many meals. Then I only have to prepare veggies for each meal. Even some of those can be made ahead like boiled cabbage (with onion/bacon) or cauliflower mash. Having cheese, nuts (portioned out to reduce binging) to hand, helps. Maybe if the family sees your nice normal keto meals, they might want to join you?

As to the rest… don’t under-eat. 1280 is plausible but probably low unless you are very slight and inactive. You may be sending your body the wrong signals. I know you want that last 10 lbs, but what your mind wants and your body will give you are often two different things. You may need to keto AND do a serious exercise program OR your body might agree with your mind and give it up easily. It will all depend on your state of metabolic derangement (insulin sensitivity, etc.). If you are healthy, things will work much more easily. Either way, you need to give keto a chance to work properly so don’t restrict calories in the early stages.

Best of luck and KCKO :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

(Cindy) #35

I made this mistake too. I did super low calorie diets for many years, that I was still eating very little when I started keto. I wanted to lose a couple of pounds, so I ate less and less, down to about 900 calories per day. Nothing worked, and I didn’t feel good. I read here somewhere about trying fat bombs, so I switched gears, pumped up my fat and calories a LOT, and drop a couple of pounds instantly. So I finally get this!

(Ashley) #36

If you keep your carbs low, peanut butter, all natural with only peanuts and salt! Mix it because it will have oil at the top. 2 tbs are 32g fat. There is about 8g protein but honestly that is small. It’s really saved me. I eat two tbs a day to get all my fat in. I should be about 105g fat so it really helps me a lot!! It also helps me if I want something sweet. I know it isn’t sweet but for some reason peanut butter now tastes like dessert to me!

(Karen) #37

Natural sweetness in foods that used to not seem to be sweet. You have better sensitivity.

K

(Karen Parrott) #38

If you still have your gall bladder, going slowly, week by week may help with the transition.

Also, I’ve personally found that too much dietary fat keeps my body from losing weight. So by increasing your fat slowly, then you can find your personal success range where you can lose body fat, gain lean mass and get the benefits of both.

Onward and your body will give you the feedback.

(Tim W) #39

How to get enough fat?

Try starting your eating window/meals with 2-3 teaspoons or olive oil or avocado oil.

If you don’t like the plain flavor (Good quality olive oil should be a little spicy and maybe even burn a little going down) start with only one or two tsps, over time, you can build up to 2-3 tablespoons before a meal, this is a nice starter, lots of fat, low carbs, very satiating.

(Cindy) #40

I found a calculator on a Mito-Keto website. For my 115 lb small person, the calculations say I should be eating around 1050 calories. It seems low, but that website also advocated calorie restriction, so maybe this is why. So I’m aiming for 1000-1200 calories per day, although I’m not counting carefully - just sort of rounding and counting every few days to make sure I’m somewhere in the ball park. I’m doing this for Alzheimer’s prevention, so the main thing I’m looking for is mental clarity.