New to the game

(Anastasiax Juarezx) #1

I am new to keto and don’t know where to start… help?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

Start by cutting your carb intake to a level that allows your insulin to drop. We recommend a limit of 20 g/day, since it works well for most people. Keep your protein intake moderate—we recommend somewhere between 1.0 and 2.0 g protein/kg of lean body mass/day. Then add enough fat to your diet to satisfy your hunger.

Remember that meats are generally 1/4 protein, so if you wanted to eat 80 g of protein a day, you’d need to eat 320 g of meat. There will be fat in your meat, so if you cook with animal fat and add a bit of butter to your food, you should have no trouble eating a ketogenic diet that will satisfy your hunger.

These are the basics; there are a lot of tweaks, but start here.

(Robin) #3

You should read the category for beginners.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

If you have time to watch a video, this one by Dr. Stephen Phinney is a good one. (Dr. Phinney is the researcher who coined the term “nutritional ketosis.”)

(Scott) #5

At first it seems like an upside down world and you are just trying to get your head around it. Bad fat is good and good fat is bad. Carbs are bad and sugar is toxic. Stay with it and keep learning. I started keto and liked it, then went carnivore. Been two years since I ate a plant. Never thought I would enjoy that journey but I did. Four years keto now and I am never going back, it works for me.

#6

I see keto as simply “Minimal carbs. Adequate proteins. Fats as needed (for satiety).”

First, determine your macros, keeping in mind that the proteins macro is a lower limit, while the fats and carbs macros are upper limits.

So, two priorities:

  • You need to keep carbs low to stay in ketosis.
  • You need to make sure you get enough proteins. Your body needs them. Being significantly low on them over an extended period can cause the body to get it elsewhere. That may mean break-down of muscle tissue. Not good.

After that, ideally, it should be hunger that determines how many fats and additional proteins (and thus calories) that you need to be eating, if only because leaving yourself hungry all the time means keto won’t be sustainable. You don’t need to eat all of the fats macro if you’re not hungry, because the body can make up the difference with stored body fat.