How much is enough?

(Rylee's Oma) #1

Today is my very first day on Keto! How do I know portion sizes?

#2

For first few days - avoid all sugar and starches. Eat only when hungry and eat to satiety. But without sounding cheeky :blush: you need measuring cups and spoons. And buy a cheap digital scale. And find yourself a free/cheap app to monitor macros.
This help when first learning how to track your macros. The basic rule is to eat to eat to satiety (not portions per se) but you need to know what you’re taking in especially when it comes to carbs. And carbs can be sneaky and easy to overestimate. E.g. a 1/4 cup of nuts can quickly become 1 cup and may put you over your daily limit. After a bit - you’ll have an idea what’s what. Have fun! :grinning:

(LeeAnn Brooks) #3

I’m struggling with portion sizes too. Everyone says “eat to satiety” but what they don’t understand is that many of us have totally screwed up our satiety signals with bad diets in the past. If you know your body well and know when you are full, certainly follow this advice, but if you’re like me and dont interpreted these singnals properly, you CAN overeat.

If you have a food tracking app, you can set your settings to “maintain” and enter all your figures like weight, sex, height. It will give you a guideline for daily intake of calories. It’s best to use maintain vs loss until you become fat adapted. For most people you will still lose (though much of it will be water weight initially).

(Rylee's Oma) #4

Aaaha! Thank you! Yes, I have been on “diets” forever! After each of my children (3) I have lost most of my weight, only to put more on after each birth…like a yo-yo :frowning: I did do the Atkins plan and did well…had another baby and lost control. Too busy to think about me and weight…I am now reaching 50…yikes and menopausal…kinda.
Thanks for the support!

(Raj Seth) #5

Yes and maybe no. The body will send proper satiety signals once the carb bypass is decommissioned.

I went low carb Oct 2017, and Keto Oct 31, 2017. I never tracked calories or portion sizes. Just minimized carbs. Target 0. For the first week, I ate like before till it hurt. But the bloated feeling never subsided. Within a week, I was just eating less, for pure belly comfort. Within 2 weeks I was skipping meals voluntarily. Lost mucho inches and pounds. Easily.

Pre keto, I could down an entire pizza, 6-8 Dunkin’ Donuts, etc. 300lbs, 50” waist, on a 5’8” male body. Now, 210lbs, 36” waist.

Trust your body’s satiety signals. They are tuned to fat and protein. There are numerous signaling pathways. Jason Fung lists them on his blog and in his books. It’s only refined carbage that bypasses these signals.

Trust the process
KCKO
KETO for LIVING
Keto for Life

(LeeAnn Brooks) #6

I’m a 5’2” female currently 138. In the past I binge ate, so I can’t tell now when I’m full. I was doing fine following a meal plan that varied daily calories between 1200-2000 with most days between 1600-1800. But when I’m went on my own, I started packing all the weight back on.
My macros are dead on with an average of 15 total carbs per day. What changed is my total calories went up to over 2000-2200 per day. This is way too high for my size.

Sorry, but you can overeat on Keto.
I have no doubt I will eventually learn to understand my body signals and learn to eat to satiety, but until then, I do need to watch portion size/calories.
The most telling thing is I was never really hungry while following the meal plan, so I’m sure I was eating to satiety then. I just can’t tell the difference and overeat without the guidance the plan provided.

(Raj Seth) #7

Maybe try zero carb? Maybe try the bacon experiment? Or maybe just size the portions till your body unlearns all the bad carbage lessons and graduates to telling the truth again!!

I haven’t lost a pound in 4 months with no portion control. Lost 4-6” though. But I’m also EFing regularly. 50 of 137 days fasted. So no portion control on 36% of days. I mean “no portion” :grinning:

(Empress of the Unexpected) #8

What’s the bacon experiment?

(Raj Seth) #9

Google it. Dan Quibell. Eat only bacon for 30 days. 2# daily for men, 1.5# for women. Guaranteed ketosis, plenty sodium. Mega weight loss. Improved numbers. Can do for shorter periods if you want

Bacon only fast or bacon only feast - you decide what to call it :grinning:
Also has a paid service for support https://thebaconexperiment.com
But how much support does one need to eat only Bacon for a period of time :rofl:

(LeeAnn Brooks) #10

I haven’t had an issue staying in Ketosis. My macros are dead on and I’m typically around 15g carb per day, total, not net. Plus my Keto sticks have never gone below the high range.

But I don’t believe I’m fat adapted yet. Should be right on the cusp.

The bacon thing might work. Odds are, I would overeat for the first few days, eventually growing so tired of it that I’m eating less and less.
But something tells me that’s not the point of the experiment.

#11

Trust in the process. As you move away from carbs (and it may be a bit bumpy to start) and get them down you will find that it will be easier to listen to your body. Right now its messed up - and you’re right, you probably have a hard time knowing right now. And some overeating will likely occur - but because the food/meal composition is different - your body will respond appropriately. But one day it will happen and you’ll say to yourself “oh now I see what they are all talkn about!” Or the most coveted of all “OMG, I forgot to eat!”.