Hi,
I just started Keto around 4 days ago and to be honest I am totally confused.
My macros say I should be at 30g carb, 56 protein and 86 fat, and I am finding it very hard to keep to each of these. I am also starving, what am I doing wrong, someone help me figure out how to get this straight.
Thanks
Shelley
I am afraid I prefer to keep it simple.
Limit your carb intake to 20g per day and eat protein and fat to satiety. Avoid anything which is not real food ie processed foods and artificial sweeteners. Bingo. Sorted!!
But I was told I wonât go into Ketosis if I go over on my protein and/or fats.
Untrue, limit your carbs and eat medium protein and higher fat to satiety. Donât worry about the amounts right now, just eat til full, stop when full. You will go into ketosis. People try to make it more complicated than it is and confuse others, trust me Iâve been there. Just watch your carbs, keep them as low as possible. Youâll be fine ketosis will come within a few days if switching over. It takes time for your body to adjust. Iâd you feel not well add more salt. Electrolytes are key!
also, I made myself extra lean ground turkey burgers, 2 small burgers (3ounces) and that is 17grams of protein and 6.8 grams of fat, and Iâm thinking, wow I had no food.
What about sugars, how do I know how much is okay?
I heard about the Keto flu, and actually I have flu symptoms, is this coincidental?
@shellsown1
30g carb, 56 protein and 86 fat: 120 carb cals, 224 protein cals, 774 fat cals. Total 1118 calories.
No wonder youâre hungry! What youâre going through I call âcarb hungerâ. Itâs like that flesh eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors constantly demanding to be fed. If you continue eating the way youâre currently eating, it will not end until you give up. What I suggest you do is this: STOP eating and do a 3-4 day water fast. Why? Because what youâre doing now is just feeding the monster enough to keep it demanding to be fed even more. On day 2 of a water fast, the monster will die - screaming and kicking, to be sure - and on day 3 you will be liberated. Once in ketosis the hunger will virtually go away and you will be in a much better place than you are now.
After you get into ketosis, I highly recommend you review your current macros. I donât know your size and weight, etc. But I suspect if you drop the carbs sub-20 grams per day, and up the protein and fat you will be OK. DO NOT eat lean meat! Keto is not a starvation diet! You do not need to feel hungry all the time.
BTW. There is not such thing as âketo fluâ. There is a thing âcarb withdrawalâ that you might or might not experience for a while. If you do, stay hydrated and consume lots of salt. It will pass.
Best wishes.
I wonât be able to do the fast, so this is not a choice.
I will try to reduce the carbs and see if that helps.
Currently I have a protein shake in the morning, by itself it is 31 grams of protein, so that takes up a majority of my carbs, but I want to continue on that because I donât eat breakfast.
Is going well over protein still going to allow me to be in kitoses?
What about sugar, how much is acceptable?
Your carb number should be an absolute limit, protein a guideline that you can go over, and fat to satiety. Sugar should be removed from your diet as much as possible.
No wonder, that isnât much food at all. If youâre choosing extra lean ground turkey, make sure to add some fat with it, as fat leads to satiety and helps teach your body to burn fat rather than carbs.
I agree, but I only have 56 grams of protein a day and it takes very little to get there.
I am worried if I go way over this wonât work for me.
If you donât do the fast, youâll continue to experience discomfort until all your glucose and glycogen stores are gone and your metabolism is forced to start burning fat. That might take a few days or longer, depending on exactly how much carbs youâre consuming. If youâre not measuring, then your âestimatesâ might be off.
To give you more precise suggestions, weâre going to need more precise info: weight, height, what youâre eating now (exactly), when you eat it, your goals, etc. But just generally, if you get your carbs down to sub-20 grams per day and eat enough fat and protein that you donât feel hungry all the time, you should be OK.
One specific suggestion: dump the proprietary protein shake. There are far better ways to get protein without paying a 31 gram carb tax. Even if you want to drink it.
Most definitely could be, make sure your salting foods and getting a decent amount.
I agree with this. No need for protein drinks on Keto. (Also, just for the sake of clarity, I think she said itâs 31g of protein, not carbs.)
I was on Dr. Poon until now, so I have not been on carbs for a long time already.
My height is 5â1 and weight is 146 pounds, I need to drop 20 pounds.
What do you suggest I have for breakfast, I donât want to cook anything. If I eat two extra large eggs, that is 17 grams of protein by itself, so everything seems to me to have a lot of protein.
what I eat now is half a protein shake (because a full one is too much protein), I have it with half and half cream. I also have a coffee with half and half cream. For lunch I will have either eggs or turkey burgers with some cucumbers, lettuce, avacado.
in between I will have some cream cheese.
for dinner I have steak or fish or chicken and I have it with special Dr. poon noodles (that are low carb) and I have some grated cheese on it, and some salad.
For a late snack I have unsalted almonds.
This is just an idea of what I have been eating.
Is there a reason why your doing protein shakes? If you donât eat breakfast no worries thatâs a start on fasting some, eat a big lunch or a big dinner, for example I am 195lbs and I have lost 60lbs, I donât weigh things or calculate protein etc all i do is keep my carbs low, eat til Iâm full and call it good. I donât eat junk though I eat real foods. Iâll eat 80/20 or 73/27 burgers. Butter and salt my stuff, cheese if I want it. Eggs and bacon! Yum. The protein shakes arenât worth it in my opinion. Your better off waiting till your hungry and eating some food.
Throw away those protein shakes, take a deep breath and listen to the premier episode of the 2 Keto Dudes Podcast entitled, Getting Started. And then start over.
You do not need products. You do not need processed food stuff. You do not need carbohydrates. You do not need, at this early stage, to be limiting your calories or even paying much attention to the protein and fat macros. You do not need Keto hype.
You need real food. You need water and salt. You need to fry some eggs in butter. Or some such thing. You need to keep those carbs as low as possible and eat meals made up of protein and fat and eat until youâre full. Satisfied. Satiated.
You can start thinking about your macros and caloric intake and such things after youâve come out the other side of this âinductionâ. And then a few months later you might tweak some stuff again.
This community is here for you. You wonât get spammed with product offers here. Ignore all that noise and carry forward. What we put in our mouths, how we eat, when we eat- itâs IMO central to our humanity. Changing it changes everything. It takes time and isnât the easiest thing any of us have ever done. But itâs worth it. The most important part to me has been learning to be at peace, even when itâs been confusing and difficult. Wishing you peace.
Early on, hunger can be the body have a âtemper tantrumâ because itâs not getting the carbs itâs used to. Feed that hunger with fats, some proteins, but as few additional carbs as possible. My go-to is two slices of Canadian bacon on a slice of cheese. Just fold over and eat.
My simple concept of keto is âMinimal carbs. Adequate proteins. Fats as needed (for satiety).â
Your macros seem low, especially the proteins. How did you come up with them?
Ketosis is driven by carb restriction. Weight loss is driven by caloric restriction, which is a slow process. For many, ketosis just makes caloric restriction easier because hunger is no longer being artificially driven by carbs and insulin.
They are actually not Dr. Poonâs, but I get them there. They are called Konac Spaghetti (Nu Pasta) 6 g carb, 1g protein, 0 sugar, 1 fat (for a package). I really enjoy these as they are the closest thing I can get to a pasta.
I went online and found a macro calculator and I also spoke to a keto so called specialist, she agreed and came up with the same macros.