Three days in....how do you

(Kat) #1

Three days into keto and I am really struggling to hit my fat. What are people eating?

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #2

Don’t worry about it too much. It takes time for your gut to work up the enzymes to handle the high fat load. Just eat to satiety and if you get some intestinal upset, back off the fat a little for a few days. When I started, I went straight for the coconut oil by the spoonful and it went straight for an immediate exit. I was able to handle a tablespoon of it several weeks later and now can do a couple of tablespoons over my food.

(Kat) #3

Worried I’m just not eating enough tho. I’m keeping below 20g of carbs. Going a little over on protein. But way off fat. Prob hitting 1000 cals. Should be at 500

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #4

Maybe up the protein as it’s fairly satiating for now and ease back into the fat over the next few weeks. Some people do keto between 50 and 100g of carbs, but since everyone’s different, some may never get into ketosis at that carb load. 20g’s of carbs pretty much guarantees it for almost everyone, however the odd person may have to go less.

(Kat) #5

So what do you suggest protein to be?
I’m currently 76g protein, 125g fat, 19g carb

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #6

The golden rule is <20g carbs, 0.3 to 1g of protein for every kg of lean body mass (do you have an idea of your LBM number to base it on?) and add fat to satiety. Quite a few folks are finding it’s better to be on the lower end of the protein scale.

Here’s a bit more on the protein bit: Protein Clarification

At three days in, don’t worry about it too much. :slight_smile: So long as you’re working towards the guides, you’re all good for now.

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #7

Sorry… I think I misread your initial problem statement! My bad!

For more fats, look to butter, ghee, mayonaise (homemade is best), avocado, bacon, bacon nectar, lard, tallow, coconut/olive/avocado oil on everything, fatty nuts (macadamias)…

(Kat) #8

My protein may be a little low? Lean body mass would make protein 108g? I’m not a million miles away.

I’ve had advocado. Coconut oil. Bacon, ceaser dressing and egg and still have 40g of fat left. Short of me going and eating spoons of pure butter I don’t know what to eat.

Three days in, have a headache but ketostix are neutral

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #9

That protein seems really high. I had a dexa scan (which is about the only real way to know for sure) and as a large framed, heavy set man, my LBM was around 83kg. That makes for around 83g of protein (tops!), can’t get into ketosis at that load, so I keep my protein to under 0.5g/kgLBM at less than 40g of protein daily.

Protein used to be recommended to be 1 to 1.5g/kg LBM, but I think @richard said more recent studies show it should be more around 0.3 to 1g/kg LBM.

(Kat) #10

Calculated it wrong. Used my lb LBM

Should be 49g?

Ive basically gone 5% f, 75%c, 20%p and put it in MFP to meet 1500 cals?

(Kat) #11

Thought this would be easy, but it’s not! Worrying I will get this wrong and gain weight rather than loose

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #12

Don’t stress it! It gets easy. :slight_smile:
Most people here tend to not focus on calories. It’s a bit of a bogus number. Calorific requirements vary sometimes more than 50% between different people and tools like MFP throw everyone in the same boat. Your body, once it’s signaling is repaired, will tell you what you need. KCKO is the suggestion around here. Eat carbs under target, proteins to target, and fats to satiety…that’s what seems to work for the vast majority, but outliers do exist. I thought I was one as it took me well over six months to settle into solid keto, but now it’s working. Change can just take time. Some people drop weight from day one on keto, some gain for a couple weeks first. Some don’t stress over it and some panic at gaining 1/2 a lb. KCKO. :smile:

(Kat) #13

Kcko?

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #14

Keep Calm and Keto On. (Personally I hate those KC?O sayings, but that’s what seems to work) :grinning:

(Jim Russell) #15

This is excellent advice. I would not stress out about hitting a certain calorie goal. In the beginning, just keep your net carbs below 20 g, keep your protein moderate and eat fat until you’re not hungry. Try to avoid snacking between meals as this can keep your insulin level elevated which blocks your fat cells from releasing fat. If you do find you need to snack, try eating a little more during your meals.

As you get into ketosis, you may find yourself less hungry. This is when your body realizes that it has plenty of fat stored on your body and it can just burn that instead of eating it. It takes a while for your body to really get fat adapted. How long varies from person to person. But it’s definitely longer than 3 days. Just keep at it, you’ll get there.

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #16

…and if you really need to snack due to hunger, there are lots of keto-friendly snacks like fatty nuts, (my favourite!) some cheese, pork rinds, tabs of butter (seems gross at first, but that soon passes) etc. We’re also finding that salts have a strong impact on hunger too and folks that are skipping meals and fasting for days have found that a bit of salt on their tongue stops hunger. Make sure it’s really hunger though and not emotional/habitual eating (a REAL big problem in the beginning for me), which can be hard at first.

Yep, think more like weeks typically and sometimes several months (as in my case). Once fat adaption has taken place, many people really notice the dramatic drop in hunger and the feeling of needing to eat. Many start to spontaneously skip meals, sometimes for days, and many have an urge to exercise and move more too. I’ve since dropped the notion of three meals per day and now just eat when hungry.

#17

I struggled to get fat in too when I started. It’s a whole new way of thinking. Think about frying your eggs in butter, keeping bacon grease for future cooking and salad dressing, and using sauces and flavored butters/olive oil with veggies. Avocados help too. Good luck!

#18