I have been seeing a stall of my weight and then increase of couple of pounds. I downloaded this app called carb manager. Now I see that my carb level is much higher than 20g. mostly from vegetables. I am confused how to plan my meals now. Can anyone share their meal plan as to how to get carb less than 20g per day? thanks
How to manage carb intake?
Shortstuff
(Allie)
#3
Planning and adjusting the amount of veg in advance, if that’s what you need to do. I used to, but not anymore as I tend not to eat veg these days.
amwassil
(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.)
#4
Track your carb intake and be honest with yourself. Wishful thinking doesn’t cut it. Start reading nutrition labels and looking up foods on the USDA food database. Carbs are ubiquitous and can add up very fast every easily. You do not need vegetables. Since they’re the most likely culprit in your carb creep, eliminating them might get you to sub-20 grams per day. If you don’t think you can live without your daily veggies I suggest you try any variety of bok choy. It has less carbs and more micro nutrients than anything else. It looks and tastes like a combo of romaine and celery.
If getting the vegetables low doesn’t suffice, the next suspect would be dairy. Dairy is the source of much very good fats and proteins, as long as you aren’t sensitive to one or the other. Dairy has a wonderful fatty acid profile. However, lots of dairy contains lots of lactose, so again you have to read labels and use the USDA food database to find lo/no carb cheeses. There are many zero carb cheeses. Also, use only the highest fat content creams, like whipping cream, heavy cream, double cream, etc. They still contain small amounts of lactose, but lots less than milk, half&half and so-called “table” and “coffee” creams.
If none of the above works, then just go zero carb / carnivore as suggested by @MarkGossage. Then you don’t have to weigh or measure anything.
Shinita
#5
Avoiding plants is an option - and my only chance staying below 20g (it’s not guaranteed, my animal food has carbs too, not negligible amounts and I actually make sure I consume very very little lactose. but I eat eggs and liver - and I don’t do strict carnivore, just carnivore-ish. I use spices and condiments, put onion into my stews, these adds up even if I don’t go overboard with my amounts. well, going over 20g is merely possible but I never did that this far, carnivore with tiny plant matter to compliment my animal dish is safe for me. especially that I am in ketosis with more carbs but that’s still not ideal for me at all).
But if you plan well, focus on very low-carb plants and use small amounts, there are other options with much more plant matter… I never managed to do that myself though I could plan such days… But something always happened, that style is too stressful and impossible for me. But most ketoers do it fine.
I saw people who ate carbs for every dish, often it was the base and stayed below 20g but it’s better if you consider plants little extras, spicing up things and you base your meals on fatty animal protein. You don’t necessarily need to add vegetables when you eat eggs or meat (except if you know you can’t do it without. but maybe try? we can change a lot!). If you really need some, fine, but try a pickle or a little red radish… I used mustard when I tried out carnivore and felt a void. If you eat every little meat with a big cauliflower mash, that surely won’t be fine.
Many people use yogurt with berries or handfuls of nuts for a snack or small meal. That’s often too much carbs for a little food but there are other options (like, just eat more normal food but I understand various desires… I like crunchy handmade cheese whisps, 0 carbs as my fav cheeses are lactose free. I eat them during my bigger meals but whatever floats your boat).
Alexaar
(Alex)
#6
Sticking with nonstarchy veg and avoiding fruit other than berries it’s totally doable, just weigh out portions and enter them in cronometer for a week or so until you get used to eyeballing them.
Avoiding fancy dishes or nuts helps, just good meat + fat + some steam green thing or cauliflower mash allows for a lot of variety.
JPalacios
(Jennifer M Palacios)
#7
Hi! I have been keto for almost 8 weeks and I have been using the carb manager app too, but just here and there. This week I started tracking everything I eat and drink, only paying attention to my net carbs. Before trying to hit my macros had me obsessed and it would really stress me out.
I have lost a little over a pound since Monday, just making sure I don’t go over on carbs.
What I have done is focused more on meat and eggs. I do have veggies but I cut down my portion size to almost half of what I had been eating. If I feel I am still hungry after I am done with my dinner, I will eat a little more of whatever protein I made. I also eat a little sour cream, avocado and/or cheese with a meal and it helps keep me full. If I feel snacky after lunch, I will eat a couple of sausage jerky links.
Example:
Breakfast: 1-2 eggs, bacon and/or sausage, sometimes cheese.
Then I have my coffee with HWC and coconut cream. (just a little)
Lunch: 1 turkey and/or beef patty/cheese/bacon and some avocado
If I need to snack, I have a couple of sausage jerky links. (Duke’s brand)
Dinner: Ground beef, sour cream/cheese and broccoli.
I usually have a small snack at night, something like SF Jello and a little bit of whipped topping.
I know that the SF Jello is something I should probably stay away from because of the artificial sweetener but I will occasionally indulge.
Honestly, I have just made sure to measure everything and log it in the app and stay below those 20 net carbs. Doing that, I have noticed how many carbs I was sneaking in before with my veggie portions.
Also, what has really helped me this week is…I put my breakfast and lunch together the night before so that I can measure everything. I input it all that evening into the carb manager app and then the next day, I don’t have to wonder how much of what I am eating for breakfast and lunch. My carbs are accounted for and it makes it so easy for me to know how much of what I will have for dinner.
I’m still a newbie at this whole keto thing but switching it up this week has made a world of difference. You will get it, it just takes some trial and error.
Plus, everyone on this forum is super helpful. 
lfod14
#8
Most of the time some extra carbs from veggies aren’t an issue unless you’re going WAY over, if it’s the veggies doing it just dial them back or leave them out at a meal or two. I don’t do meal plans, I see what I have and make stuff. Since you just started tracking it’s hard but soon you’ll be able to watch and catch these trends and catch the stalls early on. How much fat are you eating daily? Many of us can’t go stupid with it and still loose. I can’t loose if it’s much over 100g, optimally I keep it 80g or under, depending on the day and what I do physically.