Starting Keto Monday!

(Davis Smith ) #1

hoosiercane

2m
Hi, I am starting Keto on Monday. I am actually using a meal delivery service for the first month. I have been tracking my foods on an App the past week jsut to get used to doing this. MY BIGGEST concern, is me eating all this fat, and ending up eating too much protein to kick me out of ketosis and then I just end up gaining weight.

I guess my question is, if I stay at 20 carbs, but my protein is too much and not enough fat, am I worse off doing Keto. This might not make a whole lot sense, and this is all pretty intimidating haha. I am more worried when I am cooking and ordering on my own, but still want to make sure I hit the macros. This week my fat has been very low, and even though I havent started keto, I dont know how I can add fat, other then eating steak instead of fish and chicken. Any help would be appreciated

(Michelle) #2

Butter on everything
Spoonsful of coconut oil, MCT oil
Cream cheese on celery
Coffee with HWC, butter
Avocados.

#3

No. If you stay under 20g if carbs you’ll be fine. Especially at the beginning. If you over eat protein it can raise your blood sugars, if you eat carbs it will raise your blood sugar.

You’ll be fine. Look around the forum and don’t over think it :slightly_smiling_face:

(karen) #4

Welcome and congratulations on starting keto!

… if you’re afraid of eating too much protein, track it. The usual guideline is anywhere between .8 and 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. (remember, that’s grams of actual protein, not grams of meat.)

In my opinion, the most important thing about starting keto is to stop eating carbs. Period. That’s your main job right now. Don’t eat carbs. (yes, you can have a few, it’s inevitable when eating any veggie and some dairy products, but aim for those “incidental” carbs only, less than 20 net (total carb - fiber = net carbs.) Be aware of your protein intake, you don’t want to overdo it but protein doesn’t create anywhere near the insulinogenic response of carbohydrate. Don’t worry about eating fat. Have some bacon, have some butter. Have some buttered bacon. Have some sour cream, some olive oil, some hollandaise sauce, some whipped cream, a handful of macadamia nuts. Don’t be hungry, eat fat!

  • eating fat to satiety is the goal, in other words you add a tablespoon of this or half a slice of that and realize that this has filled you up, but in the beginning you may not be as attuned to this, so just eat - fat - til you’re not hungry. Your body will adjust and learn, but it’s been eating a glut of carbs for the X years you’ve been alive, so give it a little slack, it has some practicing to do!

You may find that in this initial phase you don’t lose a lot of weight or it’s primarily water. Every body’s different. Once your body is “fat adapted” and easily burns ketones instead of carbs for its energy, it will happily burn Your fat, at which point you can adjust your macros if you feel a need - you may find that your body adjusts on its own, you may be able to increase your carb intake over the minimum 20 and stay in ketosis, you may find you’re steadily losing weight without changing a thing. But the first thing you have to do is get over the “carb hump” - the craving and the actual dependence your body has on this macro nutrient.

ETA: drink lots of water and eat plenty of salt. Your biochemistry is changing and you need more of these things, otherwise you may feel pretty crappy. Consider taking a magnesium supplement and (with caution), upping your potassium a little bit, or hunt down a recipe for keto-ade to give you the right balance of these minerals.