Newb check up

[frostman666]

Hi there guys.
I have been toying with the idea of trying the Keto diet for a while and today I finally jumped in. It is still very confusing - there is so much stuff just floating around on this forum and everywhere else. I was not sure if I should try to wing it by myself or simply buy the prefabricated food boxes, but in the end I started by myself.
What worries me a bit (maybe worry is not the right word, surprisest is probably a better choice) that this is my first day and I basically only had two meals. Now it is 7:30pm, I am at 80% of calories, 75% protein, 80% fat of my recommended daily dosage and I am not hungry at all, quite the opposite.
I had a very brief sugar craving after lunch, but that might have been just a matter of habit. As a strong sugar addict, I am used to having something sweet after every meal (except breakfast) and then in the evening kind of going into overdrive - after dinner I crave something sweet, which in turn makes me crave something meaty again and then sweet… you know where I am going with this.
.
I assume it is s nonsense to force myself to get the recommended daily dosage if I do not feel hungry - ever, correct? Except perhaps proteins if I work out that day?
The reason why I started this post is that it feels strange and I am worried that I may have screwed up when calculating my macros or perhaps I overestimated my physical activity and I would rather take corrective steps sooner than later.
I am 194cm (6´3") male, 45 years, 126 kg (278 lbs), 25,4% fat. I have a sedentary work and work most of the day. I go to the gym 4 times a week (mostly lifting weights), from 7:00-8:00 am before work.
From what I have been told by one of the calculators, I should aim for:

9780kJ, 180g of protein, 171g of fat, I actually lowered the proteins because when I looked at the numbers I did not think I would be able to eat that much and that I probably overestimated my activity when inputing my data.
Now the day is almost over and I am at 7805 kJ, 136g of protein, 139g of fat and 21 g of carbohydrates and feeling very full, not hungry at all.

And there is another thing. I have no idea how to stay at or below 20g. Even though I only had egs, bacon, half a cucumber and a small tomato for breakfast, that already put me at over 11g of carbohydrates. I actually had to decrease the vegetable intake during my lunch drastically (about 100g of mixed broccoli, string beans, zuchinni) which put me just over the limit for the day. Lucky I am really full now, so I dont even want to eat dinner, otherwise I am not sure what I would eat.
My friend, who started keto last week with one of the companies offering the complete service, was told that on top of whatever they are feeding him, he can eat as much as 1kg (or perhaps even more) keto friendly vegetables a day. I mean, if I ate 1 kg of cucumber (which has one of the lowest amounts of carbs), that alone would put me at 25g.

TLDR: I would greatly appreciate if someone could have a look at my numbers I posted above and either assure me they are OK or advised what to change.
Thanks a lot.

[juice]

Sounds like you’re going great.

While there’s an argument raging on this board (and elsewhere, perpetually) about counting calories or not, I don’t worry about them too much. The main reason for right now is that the idea for the next few weeks is to get your body switched to burning fat rather than carbs, which makes CARBS the most important thing to concentrate on. Under 20g is a hard cap (for now, anyway).

I’m also in the “don’t worry too much about protein amounts” camp, but again, there’s arguments all over about that too. (I used the Ketogains macro calculator, but it’s kinda irrelevant because I usually eat my protein past it anyway by doing things like having just a steak for dinner.)

You’ve also discovered one of the hidden excitements about keto - planning. If you don’t plan what you’re eating, even minimally, getting over 20g net carbs is super easy, even with vegetables. (Tomatoes is a great example.) Mostly it’s a case of learning what does and doesn’t work for you in terms of staying under 20g. An app such as Cronometer is a great way to check on foods as well as plan and log your intake. It also helps you sort out which foods to eat while staying under 20g carbs.

“Eat to satiety” sounds like what you’ve done, which is great. Shoving food you don’t want to eat into yourself is, as you say, silly. OTOH, you don’t want that level to get too low so that your body thinks there’s a famine going on and so it needs to store fat as much as it can. (Note that fasting is very different from a calorie-restricted diet.) Again, this is where planning helps.

The advice given to your friend sounds utterly bizarre, TBH. Always remember that most companies only care about money, not anyone’s wellbeing, so they’ll say anything to get that money. A quick look at IG will reveal any number of “keto” IGers who haven’t got the first idea about keto. So yeah, be wary.

Anyway, sorry about all of the caveats I’ve put in that response, but the TLDR is the first paragraph.

Anytime soon a horde of Americans will be along to correct what I’ve said, which is good, because then we all learn

[frostman666]

OK, since the eagerly anticipated invasion of the American hordes did not really happen, I will continue myself:).
First - thank you for your input and you kind words of encouragement.

I am at day 4 now and it is going OK. I lost about 3 kg (which I know is water, so no big deal).
What I find curious though is that my scale tells me that the water percentage in my body is actually increasing slightly every day, instead of going down. From 51,2 to 51,8. And is also says the fat percentage is going down - again slightly every day - from 25,4 to 24,6. I weigh myself every day right after I get up.

In any case, I know that all it takes is to lean a bit to the left or right or forward and the scale shows a bit different results every time, so I don´t pay any attention to it - but it is interesting.

The following days were a bit more difficult than the first, but nothing dramatic. I had some cravings, but those mostly happened whenever I was browsing this forum looking at all the wonderful recipes others posted.

But they were nothing like what I used to experience. Whereas before my stomach used to violently kick the door in, screaming “FEEEED ME!!!”, now it gently knocks and politely waits until I concsiously aknowledge it - am I really hungry?

Which is most surprising of all. I dont really feel hungry anymore - at least not how I remember it. It is more like a funny, a bit uncomortable feeling in my stomach. It is actually quite difficult to discern if it is a slight feeling of emptiness or the other way around - if it is still full from the previous meal. I could eat, but it also feels as if I could go without food for another day if I really wanted to.

I am still finding it difficult to eat anywhere close to my target amounts. I only eat twice a day, otherwise I would have to force myself (which obviously I do not want to do). And eating almost 90g of protein and 80g of fat in both of these meals seems like an impossible task anyway - I would probably burst (or barf from all that fat without any carbs to help to keep it down). I do not really understand how the people who eat once a day do it. Are they actually able to eat such huge amounts of food in one go?

Anyway, second day I ended up eating around 66% of protein and fat and yesterday 60% fat and 53% protein of my target numbers. Which brings me to my next question - can you estimate where is the percentage where I run a risk of confusing my body into thinking it needs to store fat, which you mentioned? Will I be OK if I stay around 50-60% for a prolonged period of time?

Thx again - any new insights will be highly appreciated.

[Ruina]

Keto is really pretty simple… but the tweaks can be confusing.

Carbs under 20 grams
Enough protein to keep your body healthy
Fat to satiety
Get your electrolytes: salt, potassium, magnesium

Complications:
20 grams net vs 20 grams total. Net grams are total grams minus fiber. Net grams would probably get you closer to 50 total grams if you eat lots of veggies. I kind of do a hybrid system. I eat a bit of veggies, and don’t worry about the fiber. But any processed food I have, I count total.

Can you have too much protein? How much is enough? The debate goes on. The standard advice is 1-1.5 per kilo of lean body weight. (Not ideal body weight. Ideally you do have fat on your body.) Most people naturally eat the proper amount of protein. And the amount you “should” eat is an average. Some days you need more, some less. My philosophy? Chill.

Fat to satiety. The macros are an estimate of what that will likely be, but not a goal to eat to. At first don’t worry about too much fat, but don’t force it either. As you become an efficient fat burner you will likely need less. Intermittent fasting comes naturally to some people at this point, even one meal a day. Fasting becomes comfortable. Crazy but true!

Anywho, looks like you are off to a great start😎