Hello! I am brand new to Keto, and I’m having a little trouble in the protein department. I have done several calculators online, and they all come with a wide range of numbers for my protein goals. I’m female, 33, 4ft 11in, 129lbs, moderately active. I’ve done about 5 calculators and they have put my protein intake anywhere between 51-77 grams per day. I’ll be honest, I am having trouble staying anywhere near that protein goal - I’m waaayy over. I feel like everything has tons of protein. Just eating a small amount of bacon or chicken or eggs or cheese with each meal seem to put me over! Does anyone have any ideas for low protein meals? I feel like I’m missing something here. Every meal plan I look at has super high protein goals, and mine are much lower. Thanks for the help!
How to stay below my protein goal?
The way I’ve seen it explained (though I’m pretty new to this forum so I may get corrected) is that your carb grams is a LIMIT, your fat grams is a LIMIT, your protein is a GOAL so it’s fine to exceed (within reason of course).
You’re young and active, I honestly wouldn’t worry about it unless your intake is excessive OR your results are telling you that protein is holding you back. For most its not a big deal.
Not exactly.
Carb - limit to 20g net
Protein -.8-1.25g per pound of lean body mass. The more active you are, the more you can push the higher end of that, but too much protein will turn to fat.
Fat - eat to satiety. There is no real limit. Your hunger should dictate how much fat you get in.
@Anniegirl9 has it right. Carbohydrate is not essential to health. Our minimum daily requirement is 0 grams. Eat as little as you can manage, so as to avoid stimulating the secretion of insulin, which is the body’s fat-storage hormone.
Protein is essential to health; we have to have some. Just how much is the right amount, however, is something on which the experts disagree. I have seen recommendations ranging from 0.6 g/kg of lean body mass per day all the way to 1.5 g, so there is apparently some room for variation. The only warning here is that too little means malnutrition, and too much stimulates insulin production (although at half the rate of carbohydrate).
Fat stimulates insulin secretion the least, so it is a safe source of calories to replace the calories you are no longer getting from carbohydrate. Eat enough fat at each meal to eliminate your hunger. Don’t worry at the beginning if that seems like a lot of food; once your satiety signaling kicks in, your body will tell you when you’ve given it enough.
Remember that foods rich in protein are never all protein. Even steak is only 25% protein, much of the rest being fat. Eggs have fat and protein in the perfect proportion for a ketogenic diet.
Also remember that if you are trying to calculate what percentage of your diet should be what, the calculation is done as a percentage of total calories. Protein and carbohydrate contain about 4 calories per gram, whereas fat contains about 9, so it is twice as energy-dense as the other two. So a meal containing 50 g of protein and 50 g of fat is 69% fat and 31% protein (450 / 650 = 0.6923 and 200 / 650 = 0.3077).
Thanks so much everyone for the help! And my apologies for the delayed response. 4th of July week gets a little crazy with no babysitters!
so I think i had this a little backwards. I thought that My protein was a limit and the fat was a goal. I’ve been playing around a bit with different dinners and vegetables and fats, and it is starting to come together a little more. Eggs are indeed perfect, but I don’t want to eat them for every meal of the day, lol! So finding another protein with a good balance (and doesn’t blow out one of my other categories) has been challenging. But I have found a solid daily menu that I can stick to, and experiment when I’m ready.
Thanks a bunch for the help!
I’ve never been concerned about getting more protein than the online calculators and .8 x LBM say I should have, and I’ve never experienced a stall. It’s worked for me anyway. I usually run around 25% a day.
Dr Phinneys Virta Health chart has you between 9-15 ounces per day for your height and “referenced body weight “…I’m 5”10 145 pounds and can have 12-19 ounces of meat— my protein! So 84-133 grams 