Omg. The math!?!?!?!

[J_A-M]

It’s because you can overdo and underdo potassium so, no one wants to tell you to take tons of it. It’s something you kind of just tweak until you’re feeling good. You do need extra salt though. Salt everything. Keto flu can happen anytime for people who eat low carb, not just in the beginning. It just means extra electrolytes needed.

[Rajseth]

With high triglycerides, it seems so counter-intuitive that I am really struggling. Trying! But seriously struggling!!

I have had trigs over 300 (even over 500) for 20 yrs. went keto November 2017, Trigs dropped to 140 by Jan 16, 2018. YMMV
Fat phobia is real and very deep seated. We have heard it from every “credible” source for decades. I believe fat phobia is the biggest hurdle to successfully launch Keto.

Get over it. Embrace fat. Love it. It’s tasty. It’s what food was meant to be. Once you rediscover fat, cloud nine (kCals/gm) will be attained.

As for protein - don’t worry about it. Enough protein will naturally come with the fat.

Exception: if you are only eating 3 sticks of butter all day every day… hey!! now that’s an idea . Have a hot dog with each stick of butter - protein and fat. Done!!!

[Capnbob]

that’s why I think referencing the amount of protein that you eat to your LBM is kind of a futile way of putting it since it is so hard to know exactly what that number is.

That’s why these exist…

http://www.calculator.net/lean-body-mass-calculator.html
Takes seconds to do and is good enough to give you the basis for the protein calculation. It is used because protein you intake relates to protein you have (muscle and skin, etc.) and LBM is easier to calculate than Muscle Mass.

The additional confusion is that many people make up their own algorithm and spout it as “science” e.g g/lb of LBM or g/lb of BM, etc. The actual science (on safe levels of protein - from too little to maintain muscle mass, to so much you poison yourself with the ammonia produced by breaking it down) uses metric measures so it is best to keep to that approach - g of protein to KG of LBM (divide lbs of LBM by 2.2).
Given that the research seems to show that within these limits (which are very wide) it is much more a n=1 issue than right or wrong. It is very hard to have too much protein (that is a lot!) or too little (you’d better love pure fat). The key issue is deciding on the amount is important if you use it to define how much fat you still need to eat to a TDEE etc. If you trust your satiety signals and eat fat to that level, then it doesn’t matter that much.

[Kathy_Miller]

@Rajseth That gives me great hope!!! Thank you so much!

[PaulL]

@Kathy_Miller As Dave Feldman’s research has shown, lipid levels in the blood are much more dynamic than used to be thought. A lot of people can manipulate their triglyceride and cholesterol numbers by how they eat over the preceding three days (see www.cholesterolcode.com for more information). The key reference points are HbA1C, which is the measure of how glycated your red corpuscles are, and the ratio of triglycerides to HDL (the lower the better, for both of these). The hypothesis that the amount of saturated fat in your diet increases your risk of heart disease has never been verified by a randomized, controlled study; in fact, all the studies that have been done tend to contradict this hypothesis.

[Baby-Panda]

OMG. I was totally in your place a few weeks ago. Trying to get my husband to keto with me wasn’t gonna happen, so I figured out a way I can make one dinner and just modify it for me without making him feel bad (or making extra work for myself). This also works when we eat with my extended family. I show up a little early and figure out how I can rearrange things to keep it keto.
Examples:
Burritos. I just put everything in a bowl, and he eats his in a tortilla. (Usually chicken, avocado, sour cream, cheese, and a little salsa. So freaking good.)
Sandwiches. Stick it in a lettuce wrap. Easy. (I like iceburg for wraps, they seem to hold up better). Or skip the lettuce wrap and just use the meat to wrap the cheese and other stuff. (Keep an eye out for sugar in the meat.)
Sometimes he wants potatoes, so I make 1 potato-worth of whatever, and don’t put any on my plate.
Pasta. Usually it’s pasta, sauce, and veggies. I make exactly enough pasta for his one serving (no leftovers or I end up in the fridge at 2am like a scavenging raccoon… pasta is my kryptonite). Then I put the sauce over my veggies. Same idea, keto friendly. (Alfredo over green beans is amazing)
Stir Fry. He gets rice as a base, I get extra veggies with some extra olive oil. (Same thing about no leftovers).
Casserole. It’s a one pot thing, so I just make it keto. It tastes great, so he doesn’t even care. (Cauliflower is amazing for casserole bases, rice it or chop it into pasta size pieces…can’t even tell the difference)
Burgers. Lettuce wraps again and no condiments. If you season the meat well enough, it doesn’t need it. Add some avocado and cheese and you’re set.

You can do it!

I actually took two weeks at the very beginning just cutting out grains, sugar, alcohol, and potatoes. I called it the “meat and veggies diet”. During that time, I tracked everything in an app (I use Carb Manager) to get a feel for how many carbs/protein/fats I was actually eating, without being strictly keto. Those two weeks were a blessing. I wasn’t counting calories, or macros or anything. If I wanted a cracker, I ate a freaking cracker. But only one. And then it went in the app. I had fruit, and milk, and a lot of other things that aren’t keto, but I found out, once I put them in the app, how very not keto they are. I had a few days where I really wanted cereal, so I ate it. And then realized I just at 3 days worth of carbs. Oops. It really helped me learn, in a no-stress sort of way.
I look at it like “I’m priming my body for this new big thing” . Then, when I started keto officially, I didn’t feel super restricted. Now, I’m still trying to add in enough fat, but my carbs are never a problem.

I’m so sorry this is so long, but I know how you feel! Keep at it and your body will thank you. And please please please keep us updated.

[J_A-M]

corpuscles

I just have to wander back in because this word caught my eye in the conversation and it’s going on the gross word list.

[Keto6468]

I do the same for my carb burner, always thin, DH.
We eat together, but his dinner includes the starch.

K

[Bellyman]

I agree with @Akirby83. What the OP needs right now is a simplification, not more math.

I am in her ball park re age and height, I may have a bit more LBM but not by much. I track everything that goes into my mouth with Cronometer, and my experience has been that about 4-6 oz of meat, 2-3 eggs, and 3 oz of cheese and/or other dairy will give about 60-80 grams of protein a day.

This is a suggestion that people can actually measure and hold on to. Then later once they have established a routine they can tweak their macros.

Very practical post! Thanks. Easy to quantify.

[Kathy_Miller]

Thanks, y’all!

This process isn’t nearly as overwhelming with the support of this forum. I’m doing pretty well—basically getting the carbs is not a problem. Well. That day I went over bc I had half a banana bc I was afraid I had low potassium. And I did t have the ketorade ingredients. Protein I generally can get. The fat though. That number is High and still freaks me out. I’m doing better, but…
I do feel good. Not sleeping the greatest, but I wasn’t really sleeping that well anyway. (Hello, hormones.)

So teacher appreciation is next week and I’m having to make at least 2, possibly 3 batches of cookies. This is a test. Warm chocolate chip cookies is definitely my kryptonite. Keep your fingers crossed!!