How far am I from keto?

newbies

#1

Hi. I do combat sports in my free time. I was talking to another athletic friend about diets recently and he told me I eat so few carbs. I tracked down my typical diet and realized that’s pretty true.

.
Bacon and cheese omelette breakfast
4 thick bacon 300 calories 20g protein
2 large eggs 150 calories 13g protein
egg whites 100 calories 20 protein
Cheese 100 calories 6g protein

Noodles with poached eggs and shredded pork lunch

noodles 450 calories 8g protein
with 2 eggs 150 calories 13g protein
and pork 250 calories 20 protein

Chicken dinner no oil

chicken thigh 250 calorie 32 protein

Snacks
black olives 200 calories
fruit and veggies 100 calories
protein bar 200 calories 20g protein
protein shake powder 100 calories 25 protein
milk 300 calories 26 protein

2650 calories 203g protein

Assuming no added sugar in my protein supplements, how far am I from being keto? If I kicked the noodles from lunch and replaced with something else would I be keto?
(The milk is fairlife milk 2 cups has 300 calories 26g protein 12g sugar).

I like fairlife milk and I like eating lots of fruits and veggies. How much further would I have to go besides cutting noodles to be keto?


#2

I am 5’9" 170 pounds trying to get to 185 and I work out hard 6 days a week


#3

I might be underestimating the fruits and veggies, I don’t really track them since they’re so low calorie. Something like a handful of carrots, and handful of snap peas, 2 apples, a banana, a bell pepper per day…maybe more


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

The difference between being in ketosis and not is your insulin level. The more carbohydrate you eat, the higher your insulin will go. The insulin threshold has been shown to be 25 μU/mL. Above that, the insulin instructs muscles to burn glucose, not fat, and instructs adipose tissue to store glucose as fat. Below that, the adipose tissue can release fatty acids to be betabolised and the muscle cells are permitted to metabolise them (which they actually prefer).

How little carbohydrate we have to eat in order to lower our glucose below the threshold is very individual, and it depends on our degree of insulin-resistance. Someone who is very insulin-sensitive might possibly eat 100 g/day and still stay in ketosis, but most people will have to set a limit of 20 g/day (the recommendation on this site). A few very insulin-resistant people might need to go even lower. It’s better to assume that you have developed some degree of insulin-resistance, and to cut your 112 g of noodles down to less than 20 g, just to be safe.

You can make a lot of progress simply by eliminating sugar, grains, and starches from your diet. If you eat only leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables (such as cauliflower and broccoli), you should get into ketosis quite easily. Certain high-fibre fruits and certain low-carbohydrate nuts might also work for you, but watch the quantities, as the carbs they do contain add up quickly.

To verify that your liver is producing ketones, you can purchase the inexpensive urine test strips designed for Type I diabetics, or you can use a blood meter to measure your level of β-hydroxybutyrate.

Your protein intake probably will not need to change, but you will need to replace the calories you are no longer getting from carbohydrate with calories from fat. This is a safe alternative, since fat has almost no effect on insulin, beyond the minimal secretion necessary to keep us alive—without insulin, we would starve to death; we just don’t want too much of it, because it damages the body when it’s too high. Also, since fat has over twice the calories per gram, 133 g of fat will give you the same number of calories as 300 g of carbohydrate.

Our fear of saturated fat is based on precious little science, most of which was fudged in the first place, so don’t fear saturated and mono-unsaturated fats. Instead, it is a good idea to avoid the polyunsaturated fats in the industrial seed oils (cottonseed, soybean, corn, cornflower, safflower, sunflower, and so forth), since they are highly processed, unstable, and react badly to being heated. Use butter/ghee, bacon fat, lard, or tallow, instead. And when you do use an oil make it one of the fruit oils (avocado, coconut, olive, palm), which are minimally processed and have a far smaller percentage of polyunsaturates.


#5

I already stay away from seed oils and stick to clarified butter and bacon fat if I need a frying fat, though I mostly just use nonstick pans anyway.

If it’s individual how to I know if I am in ketosis/how much I can eat and be in ketosis? Just keep reducing and testing until I’m in ketosis?

Looking at what I eat. The shredded dried pork I use in my noodles has a bit of sugar, my noodles have carbs.

If I cut that I have only the carbs from the fruits and veggies I eat, and the fairlife milk I drink. Fruits and veggies are super healthy so I’d prefer to keep eating that. I could cut the banana and live with that.

The milk has 12g sugar, a bell pepper has 7g. That’s about already 20g. Would that be the cutoff point for an average person as per your 20g limit?

Snap peas have a ton of fiber to balance out carbs, does this matter?

Does the amount you workout matter?


#6

Your carbs between 20g and maybe up to 60g being highly active should get there. If noodles actually means noodles, and not pasta those may not be (that) bad.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

That’s pretty much it. There is, unfortunately, no home test for insulin. But if we can see the presence of ketones, then we know that insulin is sufficiently low.

Bananas are very high in sugar. Try blueberries and strawberries, which have lower sugar and more fibre. Certain nuts, likewise, are friendlier to a keto diet than others.

Yes, if you really want those foods, then that’s how you’d do it.

The question is the amount of digestible carbohydrate (or net carbohydrate). Some people feel better limiting their total carbohydrate intake (which would include the amount of fibre along with the amount of digestible carbohydrate), while others are fine with counting only digestible carbohydrate. If you want to count your net carb intake only, then the digestible carbohydrate in the peas would be what you’d focus on. If you want to count total carbohydrate intake, then you’d include that “ton of fiber” in your addition.

If you live in the U.S., nutrition labels there give total carbohydrate, from which the fibre amount can be subtracted, if you are counting net carbs; otherwise, you’d count the entire amount listed under “total carbohydrate.”

If you live elsewhere in the world, nutrition labels show “carbohydrate” as the amount of digestible carbohydrate. If you are counting net carbs, that’s the number you’ use. If you are counting total carbs, you’d add in the amount shown on the “fibre” line.

So, in U.S. (and Canada, too, I believe):

  • net carbs = “Total Carbohydrate” - “Fiber”
  • total carbs = “Total Carbohydrate”

Elsewhere:

  • net carbs = “Carbohydrate”
  • total carbs = “Carbohydrate” + “Fibre”

#8

They’re 64g of carbs with 5g of fiber so they’d have to be out


#9

Okay so bananas and apples would have to be out. Looks like onions would be tough too which is unfortunate.

Snap peas have tons of fiber so they would be easy to keep.

One bell pepper, handful of snap peas, and the milk every day. If due to my activity level I could go to 30 or 40g of carbs I could fit a bit of onion, handful of carrots. I love broccoli and cauliflower so I could turn that into a daily.

I’ve heard from some of my athletic friends that “keto is for cutting, not for bulking”. What is your take on this?


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #10

The thing to remember is that everyone used to know that sugar, grains, and starches were fattening. It was only after we were successfully taught to fear fat (and on the flimsiest of evidence) that they were able to sell us on the idea that that stuff was health food. Remember the old saying, “A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips”? It wasn’t referring to the hamburger, it was referring to the bun!


#11

Ya, that definitely sounds like pasta. That’d be too much for sure.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #12

My take is that it depends entirely on whether you want the bulk to be muscle (keto) or fat (high-carb).

But I’m not a bodybuilder. Y’all look at the biology very differently from the rest of us.


#13

Calories in calories out. Small caloric surplus while working out will build muscle either way. So it’s more about what kind of energy I’ll have with the diet while gaining weight.

And I’m not bodybuilding I do combat sports and I’m moving up a weight class right now

The reason I’m so low carb compared to the average person is because I found myself way too easy to overeat carbs, and to me fatty meat is the tastiest food anyway. I’m mostly interested because I’m fairly close to keto anyway with my natural diet. Cutting the noodles would be no issue, cutting the fruit is way harder.

Fruit is mostly water by weight and is excellent diet food, very filling for how low calories it really is. If it wasn’t for having to cut fruits this would be a no brainer for me. I’m still leaning towards going for it.


(Allie) #14

I’m bulking on keto, 6lbs gained this year (up to 130lbs) which is mostly muscle and maybe a little fat too, but that doesn’t bother me at all as my goal is muscle and health gains not fat loss.


#15

reading only the first post and no others.
doesn’t your ‘calculator’ show carb intake?
lower, like 20-30g carbs can put one easily into ketosis and if you ‘net or total’ will be even more personal to you.

Keto Plan is keep carb intake around 20g and ya hit the biggest and best part of this plan.

after that, where it takes you is your journey :slight_smile: best of luck


#16

I didn’t use any tracker app, I manually added it up. I wasn’t really going specifically for keto before, I just cut out sugar and carbs because they’re so dense and also so easy to overeat and realized I was pretty close with my natural diet. With my activity level I think if I cut noodles from lunch and replace apples and bananas with berries I could hit ketosis pretty easily


#17

20g is hard. If I could do something like snap peas, carrots, a bell pepper, 12g carbs from milk, berries per day and keep it under like 30g or 40g that should be very doable. Add broccoli and cauliflower as veggies and whatever else is low carb


#18

so you replaced sugar for sugar? Now do not get me wrong on what works for you but sugar is sugar IS CARBS so?

did ya truly read up what Keto Plan is ALL whole real foods with a 'carb limit of around 20-30g and hit that?

It is ok easily do ‘drop sugar and processed foods as you do well just doing that’ but again that isn’t the ‘truth of the Keto Plan’ you wanna do thinking you are there?

BUT IT OK at all all times to walk here and learn to change you as you will journey thru the changes as you read more and gain more on it all!!
More learned eating change to you!! :sunny: As we chat about what we kinda want we find real paths forward!


#19

Berries are mostly water by weight, not sugar. A diet that needs me not to eat any fruits sounds dumb, but I wanna give keto a try. One apple is 20g carbs net, one entire cup of strawberry is only 9g carbs. Banana and apple are way denser than berries, but both are mostly water and outside of keto amazing diet food


#20

You are lost on what the Keto Plan is about.
You are lost on what sugar/carbs and are all about and key being…you might nt never be one who requires big healing change as one can achieve it so I don;t know why u requrie this lifestyle<.

are you 20-30g carbs in your count?

Are ya on this plan and what do u require for it? Why ya here?