Hi, Newbie here. Can’t seem to get daily meals under 20g carb. What am I doing wrong?
Breakfast
4 hard boiled egg whites
2 tblsp mayo
Spinach
Lunch
Iceber Lettuce
1 Plum Tomato
2 Tblsp Salsa
Half of Avocado
4oz Roasted Chicken
1oz Shredded TJ Lite Cheese Blend mozz, cheddar
Dinner
TJ riced cauliflower
Spinach
1 morningstar prime griller or 4oz TJ grass feed sirloin
Snack
1 cucumber
2 Tblsp Guacamole
4oz blueberries
Net carbs 31
Thanks for any info…
Eating too often… cut out the snacks… maybe skip breakfast.
Blueberries are the highest carb berry try raspnberries or strawberries instead.
Is the tomato and salsa and lettuce really all necessary?
Just have 8oz of chicken instead?
I have no idea what " 1oz Shredded TJ Lite Cheese Blend mozz, cheddar" just have a lump of cheese.
Does that help a bit…
Alternatively just eat the meats an ditch the rest… 
Yes I agree on the snacking if at all possible to not do it. Just eat more at meal time so you can go longer but stick to natural meats ( nothing processed).
Veggies are good but I am not sure what your portion sizes are. Ditch the blueberries. Also ditch the pre-shredded cheese. Natural cheese is better.
no fruit for now! only special occasions…and really watch the amount you eat.
salsa tends to have sugar!! check label.
also for grillers, and if store bought Guac…check for hidden carbs. its is crazy when you buy vs make what can be in the ingredients.
eggs: no need to take out the yolk i think its good to have that fat?
that being said i think 30 is not horrible, because i have read 20-30 can still be Keto for some. Buy the strips to check you have entered Ketosis but realize you will not test positive forever as once you become more fat adapted and efficient with using ketones the levels will decline.
Hello and welcome Ketofreshstart.
Four ounces of blueberries is 13.7 net carbs on cronometer.com.
If you substitute one ounce of raspberries, you can get that down to 3.1 grams and still get some good antioxidants in your diet. Just realize that berries won’t do much to satisfy hunger. You need protein and fat to do that.
I also agree that you should try eat more at mealtime and try to avoid snacking. The more time between meals we have, the lower our insulin levels stay and the more opportunity we have to burn fat.
Tomatoes and berries can add up. Lose the snaking and eat fattier meals if needed. Watch the salad size and dressings, some have added sugars which can add carbs.
Take a hard look at lunch - roasted chicken instead of a fatty meat?
“Lite” cheese blend.
Tomato + salsa + avocado = lots of carbs.
Try full fat cheese, avocado mayo and 20/80 ground beef wrapped in a lettuce “bun”?
Thank you all for the info - very enlightening !!! I will definetely try it.
Why just egg whites? This is a high fat diet, eat those nutritious yolks!
Shorten you eating window and keep the meals simple.
I was trying to avoid red meat but I can see its more about the fat than the type of meat. So even though chicken is protein its not high enough fat to get me to ketosis.
I agree with everyone else’s anaylsis. Remember everything should be full fat, eat yolks. 
Don’t bother with lite because there can be additives and starches. When I make eggs for breakfast I’ll use 2 eggs scrambled with 1 tbsp of pico de gallo, 0.5oz mexican blend shredded cheese, 1 tbsp guac, and 1oz ground sausage or bacon.
Total carbs w/ sausage: 3g
Total carbs w/ bacon: 1.5g
I mostly eat red meat because I love it and for me it keeps me fuller longer. I would take a second look at the cauliflower rice. I bought some thinking it was perfect, but when I got home and really investigated the ingredients I was shocked at how much carbs there were for such a small serving, so now I just steam fresh veggies instead of going for pre-packaged convenience ones. Snacking isn’t your friend, so try to avoid it by eating a higher fat/protein breakfast. My breakfast is usually 800 cals including my BPC and it has me full until dinner. I don’t eat fruit because now its just too sweet for me.
I only eat fish, and that was recent (less than a week ago) and eat soy meats and chicken. If you do eat soy meats, I recommend beyond beef because it’s amazing and has far few carbs than morningstar farms or Gardein. I add some grass fed butter to it when I’m eating it. So good
Kudos to @Ketofreshstart for asking what is the essential question when starting a low-carb way of eating. By listing what you ate for the day, and not merely insisting you’ve “been keto,” this thread represents the heart of making and understanding an effective change to low-carb living.
I think you might still be thinking in the old “food pyramid” mindset. Of course, you could just really love your veggies, too. For example, a salad for lunch with roasted chicken would have been a good CICO meal but for keto, you can change that to something more filling and fattier. For example, chicken thighs with full fat ranch dressing…or have fajita meet with avocado, sour cream, full fat cheese, and ranch dressing (fajitas without the tortillas).
So build your meals around a nice chunk of juicy protein and as much fat as you want (don’t make yourself it more than you want), then think of your vegetables more as a garnish…with berries being only an occasional “dessert.”
I have been on keto for 3 months and I have 40g of bluberries every day without going over 20g of carbs a day.
You are saying ‘net carbs’. It took me a week at the beginning to work out the difference between ‘carbs’ and ‘net carbs’ and only then did I manage to eat all the veggies I wanted like avocados, etc.
Exactly… chicken thighs (with skin on) will be better than breast as a better fat and protein combo.
Only avoid red meat if you have a personal aversion to it. And presuming you are thinking you should avoid it because it is bad for you… watch this video and I highly recommend reading her book (or listening to the audiobook), “The Big Fat Surprise”. It is FANTASTIC and a great eye opener.
Also, keep in mind that you can eat chicken all you want and still get into ketosis. What gets you into ketosis isn’t the amount of fat fat you are eating, it is the number of carbs you aren’t. A couple of months ago I went to an AYCE Asian Buffet. What seriously lowered my ketosis levels for the next few days wasn’t the lack of fat - that one meal was 283g by itself - but rather the 622g of carbs that came with it. The average American get’s plenty of fat, but what keeps them out of ketosis is the number & frequency of the carbohydrates they are eating.
What the fat does is help get you satiated and not need to eat. Keeping the carbs low keeps your insulin down. When your insulin is low for extended periods of time your body can access your fat stores and break down the fat to produce the ketones. The longer you keep your body in this state the more your body learns to use it better. Eating the fat simply helps satiate you to keep you from feeling hungry longer and gives your body more of the fuel source you are trying to get it to use all the time.
I make my own just steam the cauli when soft use the (lost in the drawer) potato masher add in butter and whole cream, turns out perfect each time, Maybe add in some green onion as a garnish.
the Red meat is your best source of iron and has teh most complete nutrient complex, and forget all the crap your doctor told you about red meat and get eating.