Newbie: Track fat and protein or just carbs?

#1

Hi everyone! First post here.
I am 50 years old, 5’2”, currently 181 lbs, goal weight 140. I started Keto 12 days ago and lost 4 lbs the first six days. I have been up and down a bit the last week stuck around 181. So I came to the forums for advice/support. I am definitely impatient and know that. (Per advice, I hid my scale in a really difficult out of reach spot last night. Then proceeded to break a sweat this morning digging it out because I just had to know. Ugh.)

I’ve read a lot of advice here for newbies and am a little confused.

Some people say to just keep track of carbs in the beginning. (I’ve pretty easily kept it to less than 20g total carbs since I started.) Shouldn’t I pay attention to my protein and fat macros?

The hardest part for me so far has been finding ways to get 75% fat so if I don’t need to get those fat calories it may be easier for me. But isn’t that really the Keto differentiator from other low carb ways of eating?

Thanks for your help.

(Karim Wassef) #2

Carbs < 20g for a couple of months.

During that time, you’ll learn more details but focus on carbs for now

#3

Thanks!

Okay so low carb, and nix the whole protein and fat macros ratio?

I’ve hit the 5/20/75 macro ratio almost exactly every day but if I don’t need to think about that it does seem to be a lot easier.

(Karim Wassef) #4

They will matter later … but for now, it’s unnecessary complexity. Keep it simple. Focus on one thing and get comfortable for the long ride.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

As @Karim_Wassef says, start out sub-20 grams per day carbs and focus on proportions of fat and protein later. Keeping the carbs sub-20 is more important than whatever exact ratios of fat and protein you may decide to aim for. Lots of folks here will tell you ‘eat to satiety’ and don’t bother to weigh, measure or track anything other than carbs. That seems to work for many. It doesn’t work for everyone because we don’t all experience hunger and satiation the same way. Concentrating on carbs first will train you to be observant and to pay attention. :wink:

(Charlotte) #6

Being new to keto and trying to track everything, meeting macros, etc can be overwhelming and add stress which can he counterproductive to the process due to cortisol secretion. So…

Keep.It.Simple

Macros are not law… they are a guide, a jumping off point. You will learn quickly that a calculator is just a blanket, best guess, arbitrary number that does not necessarily fit your individual system. You will have to experiment a lot to find the right mix of macros. Its a frustrating, disappointing process that will cause you to feel discouraged, but you will also have some wins too. Find what approach works best for YOU.

So…

Some people make this easy on themselves and only track carbs in the beginning. Eat until their full and only eat again when they’re are hungry. Some days they’ll eat lots and lots, some they’ll will eat very little. Just don’t get too hung up on the numbers in your diet. Mainly focus on your carb intake and how you feel. Keto is actually very easy, but newbies (i did this when i started) get too hung up on “doing it right” that they don’t realize that there is no ideal, textbook, “right way” of doing keto because it is such a highly individual based process that no two people are going do keto the exact same way.

Welcome to the roller coaster that is keto. It’s a wild ride. :slight_smile:

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #7

LOL. Weighing and tracking gets you off the roller coaster. Of course, if you like the ride… :face_with_monocle:

(Charlotte) #9

Some days the scale will be down and a person is filled with optimism, some days the scale is up and they get discouraged. Thats true of everyone especially when they are new to keto and trying to figure everything out. We see it day in and day out. So regardless of whether a person tracks their macros or not, its a roller coaster of ups and downs, thats what I was saying.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #10

@Luckymisslucy Thanks for clarifying. I meant no offense.

Macros are intended to help people get consistent results whether that be weight loss, muscle gain, overall metabolic health or dealing with specific issue(s). They are not intended to add unnecessary complications for the sake of complications. They’re guidelines, as you pointed out, that must be tweaked individually based on self observation and awareness. For many of us, hunger and satiation are not reliable guides, so eating consistently day to day is necessary. Using macros enables us to do that.

(Karim Wassef) #11

I refer to it as noise in the data… meaningless. Just keep going and be calm.

#12

Heck, life is a darned roller coaster! :slight_smile:

I’m going to try to back off the Keto macro stuff and just do low carb for a while then. I have a tendency to want to track everything. I’m a data nerd so I need to break out of the macro ratio/fat percentage mindset and get on board with the singular 20g carb number. Weird that being more relaxed about it seems so hard for me!

Thanks all for your advice!

(Marianne) #13

Amen. I detest the scale and haven’t weighed myself at home since I started this (4 mo.), except when I have gone to the doctor’s. The scale because it is a total mind eff. There are days when I am concerned that I am stalled or not losing and part of me wants to “know,” but to what end? Like @CarlKeller said, “weight is just a measure of your relationship to gravity,” or something like that. In the scheme of things, it is meaningless. Your clothes and appearance will tell you where you are at, plus, it’s not a race - you will get there when you get there.

#14

Keto is just another name for a very low carb diet. Maybe there are tiny things that differentiate Atkins from Banting from Protein Power, etc. But the bottom line is to keep carbs very low and get adequate protein (which is more than the RDA is telling you). After that, eat enough fat so that you’re not hungry and then stop eating.

If after a few weeks, if you’re not losing weight, then you can look at how much fat you’re eating–it might be too much or it might be not enough. Either one of those things can be true even if you’re “eating to satiety,” so it’s not always a good guideline. But it’s definitely the easiest and the one to try first and to try for at least a couple of weeks.