Newbie keto eating diary (advice welcome)

#1

Hi,

i started a keto diet just a week ago but still have some trouble finding a balance.
Feedback of the ‘oldies’/everybody really, is therefor much appreciated so i thought perhaps i if write down in this topic what i eat, (as kind of daily food diary),

Some background…
My goal is not to loose weight, my bmi is 20 and i never had an (over)weight issue. i have a high metabolism. i’m interested in better health, and general feeling better. assumed the fat burning helps with more even energy distribution…

As a starting point, i had my cholesterol tested last week haven’t heard the results yet, will post them as a get them.

for what i got so far is that i was too enthusiastic. i tried to limit my carbs but i think i ate too much (fat, other things). so i’m trying to find my balance there…

this morning i did not eat. Apart form keto, i want to do some experiments with (intermittent) fasting. i ate last night around 18:00. and i had some lunch 13:00 today (must say i didn’t really feel hungry but i want to start the fasting slowly)

lunch today.
3 slices of bacon
1 egg scrambled
1 tomato
some cream cheese i mixed through the scramble egg.
3mg of curcoma (yellow root)
1 spoon of flaxseed oil for omega 3
i used ghee as butter

Some resources i liked:

i guess the listening to your body, eat when you’re hungry is my biggest challenge. instead of the more common 3 meals a day at fixed times…

Comments welcome,

Regards,
Bjorn

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #2

Welcome! So this is hard for you because you aren’t hungry or because you want to eat all of the time?

I get what you’re saying in terms of planning. You can’t carry around a meal all day in case you get hungry. You do have to plan your meals but the longer you are eating like this, the more you will understand what your body “usually” wants or what it’s schedule will be and you can plan better.

#3

its more that social convention dictates the 3 meals a day so a bit unusual to skip breakfast, lunch…
So, not hungry, or at least less hungry than ‘oh its 12:00 i should eat something’

i think i’ll carry some nuts with me.
And in one of Thomas Delaue video’s i saw these small carto packages of coconut milk. i’ll have to check those out. (i bought some cans but they aren’t useful during a hike or visiting a customer :wink:

i also enjoyed watching videos about 1 day a meal. i’m not there yet, and not even sure i want to get there but its an interesting concept. for now just skip one of the 3 when i’m not hungry, see how that goes…

Peta Marie, do you combine keto with fasting?

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #4

No but I suffered from anorexia and disordered eating in my early days. Something happens to my brain when I withhold food. That euphoria people talk about is more like mania for me. Yesterday it was 6 pm and I got hunger pains and realized I hadn’t eaten since morning but didn’t want to eat. I made myself have a tea with cream and then I wanted to eat and I did. I get how useful it can be for some people and respect that, but for me it’s a risk I’m not willing to take right now. I think if I’m eating low carb for years then I might be confident in myself, or know that my body is healthy and my brain can handle it but for now things are going well, I feel great and I’m not willing to mess myself up.

During the work week I eat breakfast and when it’s lunchtime I eat lunch. When I get home I usually eat something very small, because I’m not super hungry but if I skip dinner I want something right before bed. If I eat a small dinner I don’t. Everyone is so different. This is what’s working for me right now.

#5

yes i like the higher concentration levels of fasting but don’t have trouble eating when i get the feeling…

diner tonight (carbs):
240 gr vegetables @ 5% = 12 gr carbs
100 gr meat @3.5% = 3.5gr carbs
some cheese 0
1/2 avocado ?
1 spoon of mascarpone (soft cheese) 4% ? 1gr?

some garlic, herbs 0%

some nuts this afteroon
40gr @ 10% = 4gr carbs

so total so far 20.5gr carbs

i read somewhere that keto is between 60 to 80 fat. but i don’t understand how to get there.
eg. vegetables in this meal are 240gr, there is now way to add fat so the total gets to 60%
even when i add some soft cheese and 1/2 avocado (only 40 to 50% fat) i never get to 60
what do you guys add?

#6

Cook your meat and vegetables in some kind of fat (tallow, lard, butter, olive oil, coconut oil etc).

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #7

I prep bacon on the weekends and use the grease for cooking veg later on. I heavily butter fish that I’m frying. I eat hard boiled eggs and fatty meat. For my veg lately I’ve been shredding them and mixing in anchovies and eggs and baking them into little patties that I keep in the fridge.

#8

if you have 240gr of vegetables of 0% fat you have to add 240gr of buttr/fat etc of 100% fat to get to 50% total.
is that what you are doing? seems a bit much…(?)

#9

I don’t understand your question. What do you cook your vegetables and meat in? I cook mine in fats. Don’t overthink the macros. I pay no attention to it.

#10

i can see the egg/anchovies thing
just curious, how many eggs a week do you eat?
but an egg is ‘only’ about 63% fat so you never get to 60% total.
sure it brings up the total fat but i’m still confused about 60 to 80% fat total

#11

the question is:
from what i understood so far is that keto diet (so the total you eat) is between 60% to 80% fat.
how do you ever get to that percentage?

here a quick google, many more to find…
https://blog.kettleandfire.com/keto-diet-food-list/

#12

Here is what I eat daily and it works great for me:

Breakfast: coffee and 3 eggs (on weekends with bacon)

Lunch: some sort of protein and a vegetable

Dinner: usually fatty meat and a vegetable. I cook both in beef tallow or butter

Occasionally if I need a little more I will have a mid meal snack of salami and cheese, or a 1oz shot of olive oil, or macadamia nut butter.

I tracked my macros for about a week and the fat level was slightly higher than 60%. I no longer do that though because there is no need to obsess over it.

(mags) #13

I really wouldn’t worry about percentages. It gets too complicated as you are discovering. The most important thing us to keep your carbs below 20 grams. I rarely boil veg any more. Cook them in fat…they are so much tastier that way. Always use the fattier cuts of meat. Chicken thighs instead of breast. Eat the skin and fat on the meat. Olives and avocado are great for adding fats to a meal. Good luck.

(Allie) #14

Forget the percentages and count in grams. Carbs below 20g when you’re starting out, and see how you get on.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #15

I also don’t count percentages. I personally do well eating more protein than is “recommended” and my only rule is keep the carbs under 20 g daily. I’m keeping it simple and doing life.

(Carl Keller) #16

Macros are good guidelines but the fact is, everyone is different so don’t believe everything a macro tells you. Eat when you are hungry and keep net carbs under 20g per day. RIght now, that might mean 3 meals a day but later, as your body gets used to using fat for fuel, you might find that you can do 2 or even 1 meal a day. But don’t get ahead of yourself.

Today I had 94 grams of fat which was 64% (your % should probably be higher) of my total calories. I got that from 5 chicken wings, 6 ozs of grass fed beef, 1 table spoon of butter, 1 teaspoon of coconut oil, 6 almonds, 1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds, 2 tablespoons of thousand island dressing and 2 tablespoons of cheddar cheese. It’s quite easy to get fat into your diet if you know what foods do the trick:

#17

ok i’ll let the % fat go for now (leave it a mistary :wink:

food today:
breakfast,
220gr yogurt 0 carbs, with 30gr wallnuts = 2.4Gr carbs

lunch:
Some smoked salmon, cheese and salami (i think only the salami has carbs) so total 1gr carbs
So far total = 3.4gr carbs

planned dinner:
250gr vegetables -> 12.5gr carbs
100gr meet -> 3.5gr carbs
dinner total 16gr
day total (so far, including planned dinner, 19.5)

by the way, the <20gr carbs, were does that come from?
i read somewhere that it should be < 100gr carbs to stay in keto.
Is the 20gr for loosing weight?

(Allie) #18

20g is recommended as that’s the amount that guarantees ketosis for most people. Different people have different carb tolerances, some are OK on up to 50g but 100g would be pushing it for most people.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #19

I used to eat yogurt all of the time but can’t find one with low enough carbs. Where are you getting zero carb yogurt? Like, what brand?

(Running from stupidity) #20

All of these things Magsy said.

Under 20g carbs.

Eat plenty of real food.

Get plenty of salt/electrolytes.

That’s all you need to think about early on.