Keto – Where Do I Start?

So, you’ve heard about this Keto “Diet” and you want to know more or you want to try it for yourself. Well, I am by no means an expert on this as I’m still learning myself. But I wanted to share a few things that have helped me get going on this way of eating.

First of all, this is not a “diet”, it’s a lifestyle, we call it a “way of eating” or “woe” for short. So you’ll see this in a lot of blogs and Facebook groups. Keto is a High Fat, Moderate Protein and Low Carb way of eating. It really needs to be the way we eat for the rest of our life. If you go back to eating carbs you will gain back the weight and be right back to square one, trust me I’ve done it. Now, that’s not to say you can never eat fruit or have a carb again. My way of thinking is that when I get to my goal weight then I will add in some fruit now and then and I’ll enjoy pasta here and there. But I also know from experience that it’s a slippery slope and I have to be careful to not completely go back to old bad habits. I’m just being honest here, and I may change my mind when I get there. I don’t like the feeling I get after eating a bunch of carbs – they make me feel blah!! So here’s a list of Keto friendly foods. The easiest way to do this is “if it’s not on the list, then don’t eat it”.

Another thing to keep in mind is that every body is different. What works for one may not work for another. What food causes issues for one person may be fine for someone else. We need to pay attention to our own body and learn how food affects us personally. I can eat dairy, I love the cheese and sour cream I can have on this woe. However, some people have realized their body doesn’t tolerate dairy very well. So, they have to cut it out, at least temporarily. Just take your time, if you’re not getting the desired results you may need to cut out a particular food for a while or you’re body may be healing itself and it needs time to adjust.

Your first step to getting started will be to figure out your Macros. Don’t let that mess with you. Macro is short for Macronutrient; Your Macros are Fat, Protein and Carbohydrates. These are what we will be focusing on. We want to get a ratio of 70% fat, 25% protein and 5% carbs. Now remember this is a very different way of approaching weight loss. We are so accustomed to hearing how horrible fat is for us and I grew up in a Low Fat/High Carb world. So give yourself time to get used to this. You’ll want to use a Keto Calculator to do this. Here’s what mine looks like from the first of the year.

Next, you’ll want to have a way to track your food. I use My Fitness Pal and I know some who use Carb Manager. I have used both and like different features of each. I almost wish I could combine them to get what I want. You’ll need to go into the goal settings and set your macros. Note: The free version of My Fitness Pal (MFP) doesn’t allow you to set your goals by grams, only by percent so the numbers will be different. Don’t let that stress you out, this will just give you an idea of where you are. Below are some screenshots of each app on the same day to give you an idea of what they look like and the differences.

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Above is from My Fitness Pal (free version). It has a very broad data base which I really like. You’ll notice that I was able to put in the restaurant’s name to pull up the entree I wanted. Now, this may or may not be correct, but it will at least give you an idea of what you’re eating. If you’re eating out and you know in advance where you’re going, I suggest pulling up the menu online and figure out what will fit into your macros before you get to the restaurant. If you do it early in the day, you can adjust your breakfast and lunch to make sure you stay within your limits. The trick is to plan ahead as much as you can.

Some people count net carbs and some count total. I count my total carbs, again you have to figure out what works for you, if you’re counting net carbs and you’re not getting results, start counting gross. But the free version of MFP doesn’t let you set your carbs by grams only by percent so it sets mine at 16 but I know my limit is 20 grams so I still went over by 4 total carbs. I also like to look at the pie chart on the right, it shows the percentage and helps me to see the visual image of my day.

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Carb Manager is nice because you can set it up for exactly how many carbs you want and if you want it to track Total or Net Carbs. Unfortunately it doesn’t have a huge database. There are pros and cons to each one and there are a lot more out there to choose from.

But you see the difference in these two apps for the same day and same food. I would suggest you just pick one and go with it. If you’re not seeing results you can look over your food diary and make any needed changes. Some people are able to quit tracking when they get used to eating this way. Pay attention to your body and how it reacts to foods, use the tracker as a guide for your macros. Give yourself time and don’t beat yourself up if you slip up, just get back to it. You can do this.

This will get you started. Comment below with any questions and if I don’t know the answer I will do my best to find it.