Completely new to LCHF Keto

Jackie9950
Jackie9950 Posts: 374 Member
edited November 21 in Social Groups
I read the website that was posted in the introduction and I am excited to start. I know I will miss my starches but I think this is best for me. I could really use some friends on MFP that are also low carb dieting. Please consider adding me! Also, what do you set your macros at? Thanks for any advice!

Jackie

Replies

  • nill4me
    nill4me Posts: 682 Member
    edited July 2015
    I try to stay around 20g net carbs per day, and around 80g protein, and fill in the rest with fat to be satisfied. From a percentage perspective, that usually lands me around 75/25/5 for fat, protein and carbs if that makes sense? I'd have you scrounge my diary, but I've been a logging slug for the last few weeks.
  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
    Set your macros in MFP to:

    70% fat
    20% protein
    5% Carbs

    Log every food religiously
    Should a Person Have a Food Diary for the Keto Diet?

    Try to limit your carb intake to 20 grams (less is better), but never go over 40 a day.

    This is VERY important!:
    "Keto-flu" and Sufficient Intake of Electrolytes

    Fruits are pretty much out. Try strawberries, raspberries instead. Blueberries ~ but 2 oz max.

    Eat fatty foods like cheeses, fatty meats, chicken WITH the skin, heavy whipping cream and many dairy products except milk. Yogurt is hard to find (that is suitable for carb count), so forget that. NEVER cut the fat off your food ~ eat it!

    Some people can handle small amounts of no-calorie sweeteners, but a lot of people can't handle large amounts of no-cal sweeteners

    Avoid foods that grow beneath the ground (starchy)

    All breads/flours/pastas/rice/grains are out.

    Just about any nut is good, but limit them to 2-3 oz. servings per day. Pecans are the best carbwise.

    Do NOT subtract fiber from carb count

    Make friends with people on this group that have a track record of good weight loss, and LOOK at their diary. See what they eat. (you can add me)

    Read EVERY food label and make sure you know the serving sizes.

    If you eat mostly at home, GET a digital gram/oz scale and weigh ALL your major foods that have carbs and calories.
    Should You Use a Kitchen Scale to Weigh Your Food?

    Don't worry about making mistakes with this way of eating

    Experiment, if things don't work, try eating less carbs, or less calories.

    Purchase refined coconut oil, butter, mayo.

    Skip breakfast and any and all meals you want to, especially if you're not hungry

    Almost every other diet, you can cheat, and not get caught or suffer ANY consequences, BUT you can't cheat the Keto diet, if you eat too many carbs consistently every day, you will not get into ketosis and/or be Keto adapted!

    Ask lots of questions here and on the LCD forum
    Low Carb Discussion Group on MFP (LCD)

    You DO NOT have to exercise to lose weight. I lost over 70 lbs without doing any exercise AT ALL! I couldn't, I have sciatic nerve damage and water on my knee. I just recently started doing work outside, and it is getting my strength back slowly.

    Make sure you get enough electrolytes!:

    Learn how to prepare lunch and dinners in batches....

    Plan your which restaurants to go to. Some are more challenging than others to eat at. Sandwich shops, bread shops, bakeries avoid

    Read some of my links below my signature...

    I hope this helps,
    Dan the Man from Michigan
    Keto / IF / Sedentary
    92 pounds down, 32 to go.
    Previous Discussions on the LCD & Keto Groups
    DittoDan's Keto Sub Groups Blog
    It's Ketogenic or Bariatric Surgery! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
    Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups Updated
    Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet Updated
    DittoDan's Keto Blogs
    How I got Off of Diabetic Prescriptions Drugs Since I Started Keto Updated
    Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites
  • kimberwolf71
    kimberwolf71 Posts: 470 Member
    The above posters have given you great numbers and advice for keto. My first attempt at keto was horrible as I just didn't have the supports in place or stamina/know how to manage carbs at under 20 g, especially given my normal eating patterns. I have re-grouped and am starting LCHF. I may try keto again when I am feeling more knowledgeable and comfortable with the methods of keeping carbs that low and fats that high lol.

    I love the science of it and the success stories are phenomenal, I'm just not fully there yet but LCHF itself is doing wonders for me already.
  • Sharbysyd
    Sharbysyd Posts: 39 Member
    DittoDan wrote: »
    Set your macros in MFP to:

    This is VERY important!:
    "Keto-flu" and Sufficient Intake of Electrolytes

    Thank you so much for this! I'm going to start another thread so I don't hijack this one but I've had such problems with the fluttering and it's kept me from doing keto for about a year. I'll write more in my other post.
  • ColinsMommaOC
    ColinsMommaOC Posts: 296 Member
    DittoDan wrote: »
    Set your macros in MFP to:


    Do NOT subtract fiber from carb count

    Hi I am new to Keto (as in starting today) and I really appreciate your post because it helped summarize a lot of what I have been reading... one thing though: Can you explain why I shouldn't subtract fiber? I was researching Keto last night, and they said to use net carbs, which would mean subtracting fiber....
  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
    edited September 2015
    DittoDan wrote: »
    Set your macros in MFP to:


    Do NOT subtract fiber from carb count

    Hi I am new to Keto (as in starting today) and I really appreciate your post because it helped summarize a lot of what I have been reading... one thing though: Can you explain why I shouldn't subtract fiber? I was researching Keto last night, and they said to use net carbs, which would mean subtracting fiber....

    I'm not a scientist and have no study for it. All I can say is, that's the way most successful Keto'ers roll. In my studies, I saw the opposite as what you saw. Its an age old debate. The lower your carb count, the better. Ketosis is hard enough as it is ~ to get into it, the fiber thing is like "cheating".

    If you're able to lose "counting the fiber against the carbs" then go for it. But when you get 6 to 12 months into the diet and you get "stalled" on your weight loss, remember what I said here.


    I hope this helps,
    Dan the Man from Michigan
    Keto / Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program
    103 pounds down, 21 to go.
    It's Ketogenic or Bariatric Surgery! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
    Previous Discussions on the LCD & Keto Groups
    Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups Updated
    DittoDan's Keto Sub Groups Blog
    Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet Updated
    DittoDan's Keto Blogs
    How I got Off of Diabetic Prescriptions Drugs Since I Started Keto Updated
    Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites
    Low Carb Discussion Group on MFP (LCD)
  • edellaSut
    edellaSut Posts: 22 Member
    Dan, if you take insulin because you don't have enough of your own, you have to deduct fibre, or your dose will be too high. Its a fiddle, but you get used to it.

    An example, if my BG before eating is, say 4.8, I subtract my personal 'ideal level' (4.5) from the actual level (4.8) and get 0.3 . I am not insulin resistant any more, at all,so I don't have to multiply the 0.3 by a factor (usually 3 for many diabetics but often more) to get a correct insulin dosage, which in this case is 0.3 units of fast acting insulin.

    In a similar way, I will have the nutritional data for my meal and subtract the carbs, say 15g from the fibre, say 7g to get 8g of net carbs. Then, because there was no factor needed, I just move the decimal place to the left one place from 8 to 0.8, (which is the number of units of insulin to add to cover my food.) Finally I add the two numbers together (0.3 + 0.8 = 1.1 units total))

    So, rounding down, if I inject 1 unit of insulin, its just a smidge less than I need. If the amout had come to, say 1.4 and it was an active time of the day I would probably round up it and inject 1.5 units.

    This is probably more than you wanted to know on the subject but might be of interest to diabetics who inject insulin. Its not how you are taught to do it, but I am not primarily interested in lowering my blood sugar. I am most interested in lowering the amount of insulin I use that didn't start off in my own body. The rules are the same: whether you eat too much starch & sugar and cause spikes, or inject too much (or both!), your insulin resistance will increase and all The Bad Things will start to happen. And this might interest other people who don't want to be insulin resistant either.
    I will be
  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
    edellaSut wrote: »
    Dan, if you take insulin because you don't have enough of your own, you have to deduct fibre, or your dose will be too high. Its a fiddle, but you get used to it.

    An example, if my BG before eating is, say 4.8, I subtract my personal 'ideal level' (4.5) from the actual level (4.8) and get 0.3 . I am not insulin resistant any more, at all,so I don't have to multiply the 0.3 by a factor (usually 3 for many diabetics but often more) to get a correct insulin dosage, which in this case is 0.3 units of fast acting insulin.

    In a similar way, I will have the nutritional data for my meal and subtract the carbs, say 15g from the fibre, say 7g to get 8g of net carbs. Then, because there was no factor needed, I just move the decimal place to the left one place from 8 to 0.8, (which is the number of units of insulin to add to cover my food.) Finally I add the two numbers together (0.3 + 0.8 = 1.1 units total))

    So, rounding down, if I inject 1 unit of insulin, its just a smidge less than I need. If the amout had come to, say 1.4 and it was an active time of the day I would probably round up it and inject 1.5 units.

    This is probably more than you wanted to know on the subject but might be of interest to diabetics who inject insulin. Its not how you are taught to do it, but I am not primarily interested in lowering my blood sugar. I am most interested in lowering the amount of insulin I use that didn't start off in my own body. The rules are the same: whether you eat too much starch & sugar and cause spikes, or inject too much (or both!), your insulin resistance will increase and all The Bad Things will start to happen. And this might interest other people who don't want to be insulin resistant either.
    I will be

    My 10 years of injecting insulin (3-4 times @day) was never that precise. I chose a better approach, don't eat the carbs, in the first place. Result? Stopped insulin injections within the first month of starting the Ketogenic diet. (11 months ago).

    How I got Off of Diabetic Prescriptions Drugs Since I Started Keto Updated

    I hope this helps,
    Dan the Man from Michigan
    Keto / Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program
    103 pounds down, 21 to go.
    It's Ketogenic or Bariatric Surgery! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
    Previous Discussions on the LCD & Keto Groups
    Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups Updated
    DittoDan's Keto Sub Groups Blog
    Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet Updated
    DittoDan's Keto Blogs
    Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites
    Low Carb Discussion Group on MFP (LCD)
  • umayster
    umayster Posts: 651 Member
    edited September 2015
    DittoDan wrote: »
    Do NOT subtract fiber from carb count

    I never heard or read of doing gross carbs, most countries outside of North America don't include fibers in carb counts.

    edit- looks like if doing keto for health reasons and if eating sugar alcohols the gross vs net difference matters.
  • nicintime
    nicintime Posts: 381 Member
    edited September 2015
    umayster wrote: »
    DittoDan wrote: »
    Do NOT subtract fiber from carb count

    I never heard or read of doing gross carbs, most countries outside of North America don't include fibers in carb counts.

    Personally (YMMV) I have found that counting net carbs causes 'carb creep' for me, i.e. 'hidden' carbs that stall me and throw off my ketosis. This is particularly true if you don't count sugar alcohols as carbs, which many of the processed so called 'low carb' foods do not include in their carb counts.

    I have found that eating ketogenically is not worth it for me if I 'dance around the edges'. Nutritional Ketosis is such a great state to be in that I don't want to compromise that.

    Others do fine counting net carbs.

    If I was stalling and counting net carbs the first thing I would do is switch to total carbs.
  • ntinkham88
    ntinkham88 Posts: 130 Member
    nill4me wrote: »
    I try to stay around 20g net carbs per day, and around 80g protein, and fill in the rest with fat to be satisfied. From a percentage perspective, that usually lands me around 75/25/5 for fat, protein and carbs if that makes sense? I'd have you scrounge my diary, but I've been a logging slug for the last few weeks.

    I do the EXACT same thing but you can always start out slow. I know a lot of people who ease into low carb. I'd say you'd be ok with starting at 50 grams of carbs if you wanted to do that and then cut back as you feel comfortable.
  • umayster
    umayster Posts: 651 Member
    nicintime wrote: »
    umayster wrote: »
    DittoDan wrote: »
    Do NOT subtract fiber from carb count

    I never heard or read of doing gross carbs, most countries outside of North America don't include fibers in carb counts.

    Personally (YMMV) I have found that counting net carbs causes 'carb creep' for me, i.e. 'hidden' carbs that stall me and throw off my ketosis. This is particularly true if you don't count sugar alcohols as carbs, which many of the processed so called 'low carb' foods do not include in their carb counts.

    I have found that eating ketogenically is not worth it for me if I 'dance around the edges'. Nutritional Ketosis is such a great state to be in that I don't want to compromise that.

    Others do fine counting net carbs.

    If I was stalling and counting net carbs the first thing I would do is switch to total carbs.

    Got it, thanks. I don't generally eat faux sugar so never paid attention to that!
  • kirkor
    kirkor Posts: 2,530 Member
    '72 Atkins didn't include the concept of net carbs (not sure if it was a known thing back then?) -- I wonder if that's why avocados aren't on the induction food list ... They are high carb & high fiber so it could go either way depending on if you were a "total" or a "net" person.
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