Just started a ketogenic diet and feeling overwhelmed cause there is nothing to eat

vilenski193

Hi all. ,
I have spent my whole life doing low cal and low fat diets. I have recently put on twenty plus pounds do to family stress and am now trying to loose it. My sister is getting married in March! I went to see a doctor and she has put me on a ketogenic diet for now. I'm struggling ! I am finding nothing to eat and am getting pimples. I have lost some weight but am finding this really hard!!! This is so not the way I am use to eating. Please help me guys! Tips ? Support? Anything ? Thanks

ms_smartypants

Hi there ....Pinterest.com ...ruled.me and redditt.com has some yummy keto recipes

Sunny_Bunny_

Check out all of this great food!
There's lots and lots of stuff to eat. It's just an adjustment to develop a new set of staple foods.
I promise, when you get the hang of it, you will likely not feel deprived. But, that's only a state of mind anyway... Remember that.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10274397/what-does-your-low-carb-meals-look-like#latest

Also, I'm on mobile, so I can't check, but if your diary is open, people will be able to help you better.

Sunny_Bunny_

Also, here is a previous talk relating to the acne issue. It will explain a possible reason why you are having a breakout now but you will also hear how this WOE is usually associated with skin issues resolving themselves.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10279790/curing-acne-with-keto#latest

Kitnthecat

I did just peek at your diary and I would suggest that you gradually increase your fat intake, or try swapping out some of your items for higher fat foods, such as replacing the half and half with 18% cream, then switching to heavy whipping cream.

I know how hard it can be to switch over from a low fat mentality to becoming accustomed to eating high fat. I was never so fat and sick as when I ate low fat ! But I now know that we need fat in order for our bodies to process nutrients in foods and for good brain health etc. Plus, eating a higher fat diet keeps us feeling full and satisfied, so increasing the fat helps to keep us happy and not craving to keep eating carby foods. I should also say that increasing the fat content while decreasing the carbs is a magic combination. Just stick with it and your urge to keep eating will decrease.

What really helped me in the beginning was to try keto recipes. Now that I have been doing this for 10 months or so, I rarely use a recipe. I also rarely feel deprived. It's only when I allow my carb intake to go too high that I start desiring to eat off plan.

I would suggest that you try to recreate foods that you already enjoy eating, but redo them as keto. Swap out the carby items like bread, pasta, rice etc with cauliflower, broccoli and zucchini etc, and increase the fat content. Add some butter to eggs and meat after cooking. Make a cheese sauce with HWC, butter and cheese. It will help your meat and low GI veggies taste good, and it will keep you full and help you to feel satisfied. Make the foods you normally like to eat.

Check out the launch pad for links to websites with recipes. My favorite meals are really quite simple. Meat, eggs, a few veggies, some butter, cream and a bit of cheese and bacon for flavour.

Good luck!

jumanajane

Here are some websites that have good recipes......
ibreatheimhungry
alldayidreamaboutfood
ketodietblog
I totally agree about Pinterest...amazing resource. Feel free to look at my boards Jane Jouraida.

May I suggest thinking about all the things you CAN eat! Lol. Its like having a free pass to so many things we like but have been denied for years!!

reblazed

I'm very new to this but it looks to me that the amount of carbs and fats you have as a goal are reversed. I started with several slices of bacon per day and eggs done in various ways. It worked for me ... 20# in one month. Good luck. This is the most knowledgable and best support group around. Welcome

nvmomketo

Welcome to the group.

I peeked at your diary too. You may want to consider using the keto macro alculator to set up your macros with keto goals.
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

Most keto'ers have their carbs at 10% of their daily calories or less. I use roughly 5% which is about 20g for a 1500 kcal diet. Your calorie intake is quite low, it may be needlessly too low, so consuming 50g of carbs or more may make it hard to get into ketosis.

Protein is usually moderate, between 15-25% for many. Fat usually makes up the majority of a keto'ers diet; mine is set at 75%.

For foods, most people eat relatively normal meas. bacon and eggs for breakfast, which coffee and whipping cream or coconut oil or even butter. Dinners often just leave out the starchy carbs. My taco includes ground beef, cheese, avocado, salsa, some veggies like peppers or greens topped with sour cream; I skip the retried beans and eat it out of a bowl. Pasta night is a tomato meat sauce with armesan over spaghetti squash. Pizza cravings can be met with melted cheese topped with tomato sauce and pepperoni. Salads can have seeds, nuts, eggs or meat added with liberal use of a full fat salad dressing.

My advice would be to tweak whatever it is you normally enjoy so it is lower carb and higher in fat.

Perhaps peek into other low carb diaries for ideas. It takes time to create new habits. You'll get there.

ketold727

Welcome.
You have come to the right place and most opinion you will hear here are informed.

I have got my sister and her husband as well as other family members to start keto. I recommend the simplicity approach at the beginning. the recipesender and details are to much.

Breakfast
eggs / cheese / coffee with cream / use coconut oil or butter for omelets eat to satiety

Lunch
stick to meats. chicken beef
avoid sides
don't overeat

dinner
broth with butter and a meat / eat to satiety
mushrooms and green beans in butter
whipped cream with spend

it gets boring but stick to it for a week, log but don't worry about calories or protein too much just make sure card stay very low. after a week you can start getting fancy and there is a lot of awesome fancy stuff to be had.

Good luck!

vilenski193

So after reading what you all wrote ( thank you ) are u all saying I shouldn't do a calorie diet too. I am currently do 1200 cal per day also.

nvmomketo

vilenski193 wrote: »

So after reading what you all wrote ( thank you ) are u all saying I shouldn't do a calorie diet too. I am currently do 1200 cal per day also.

Not necessarily. CI must be less than CO in order to lose weight but some low carbers finds hat eating high fat reduces the need for a low CI (calories in).

Take me for instance. I set my calorie goal at 1420 in order to lose about 1.5 lbs per week. I started at about 185-190 lbs (but set my goals at about 175lb) and I am 5'8". I am middle aged and sedentary (although I am working to change that). Anyways, for the first three months I averaged 1500 kcal per day- slightly higher than goal. In that first three months I lost 35 lbs; that was 2 lbs per week. I should have only lost 20lbs.

1100-1200 kcal is pretty low. You may be able to increase that and still lose well. If you are petite and sedentary, that may be a good caloric goal for you. Have you worked out your TDEE? A rough caloric deficit of 3500 kcals is required to lose 1 lb, so to lose a pound a week you need to eat 500 kcal less than your TDEE. Approximately.

erindellamore

vilenski193 wrote: »

So after reading what you all wrote ( thank you ) are u all saying I shouldn't do a calorie diet too. I am currently do 1200 cal per day also.

As others said, this is quite low unless you are already close to your goal weight. I would recommend using that keto calculator that was posted above so you can accurately set yourself a goal for weight loss and give yourself a realistic calorie budget everyday. It makes a big difference being able to eat more and sustain a calorie restricted diet versus eating less and being prone to cheat meals, over eating and bingeing.

Casseroles made it super easy for me to meal prep and get a large amount of my macros in for the day when I first started. I realized I prefer to eat little snacks throughout the day instead of prepared meals but whatever satisfies you will make this much easier.

Lots if great ideas have been posted above, I recommend putting your feet up and spending some time researching meals online that sound particularly satisfying and then putting it into play. This is a wonderful lifestyle once you get the hang of it

macchiatto

Welcome! You've already gotten a lot of good advice. I do think focusing on what I CAN eat instead of what foods are not keto-friendly was helpful for me, especially in the beginning. Now I don't often feel deprived and my tastes are shifting.

Re setting goals, fwiw, I'm 39 years old, fairly sedentary outside of exercising several times a week, 5'7" and weighed 150.6 when I started keto. My goal was to get back to 133 (small bones, not a lot of muscle). Before I switched to keto I was eating 1350 cals/day (I got too hungry on 1200!), moderately low carb, but not losing weight.

When I switched to keto, I kept calories the same and put my ratios at 65% fat, 25% protein and 10% carbs. I have done some tweaking but I try to keep carbs below 20-30 net per day (and I focus more on net than total). I've lost 15 lbs in 2 months. Like a pp said, I don't think I'm really at a big enough deficit to be averaging almost 2 lbs/wk loss and I'm certain I wouldn't at this calorie level but different macros. I have had a few days in there where I ate more like 1000 calories or lower but that was a total of 5 days spread out over almost a month (a modified "fat fast") and otherwise I've eaten at 1350 or sometimes over, e.g. on some of the holidays.

Feel free to look at my diary if it helps. The password is caramel. I was sick for about 3 weeks so some things are off (e.g. didn't really exercise for a few weeks) and I've experimented a little since I'm only two months in to this WOE but overall things have been going well for me.

Sunny_Bunny_

I think you should still count calories as you were, but run your info through one of the macro calculators suggested to see if that goal suggestion was a good one.
I was one that stuck to 1200 calories for months and was able to lose about 1.5 lbs a week for about 5 months until I got closer to goal and things slowed waaaaaay down. But, my TDEE is fairly low because I'm not tall (5'4") and didn't have a whole lot to lose (38lbs total) and really didn't exercise either. So that wasn't a radically low calorie goal for me. I currently maintain weight at only about 1400 and have to stay under 1300 to make any progress at all, again, with no exercise.
Anyway, I would keep doing things the way you are but look into some of the shared meals from the link I posted earlier. These are real meals prepared the real people on this forum. I am someone that isn't personally a fan of complicated recipes with ingredients that I am unfamiliar with and prefer to keep things very, very simple.
If you haven't discovered "bulletproof coffee" which I prefer to call Keto coffee (since it doesn't suggest a specific brand name like Bulletproof...), then I highly recommend giving it a try. With a low calorie goal I would suggest having either 2 cups with 1/2 Tbs each of coconut or MCT oil AND butter, or 1 cup with 1 Tbs of each of those two things. You can add some stevia or liquid sweetener if you want, but keep it to the bare minimum needed for taste. Too much may cause sweet cravings if that's an issue for you. This is a great way to start your morning and promote ketone production which will help you stay in control of appetite and cravings as you go through your day. This will help you stay strong. If you don't like coffee, you can make this as a tea or broth instead. If you feel like you need some solid food too, then go ahead, but don't get stuck in the thinking that only traditional "breakfast foods" are for breakfast. Have whatever you want that fits your plan.
You may not feel that you even need breakfast. Many of us only eat 2 meals a day, or even just 1. Especially if Keto coffee/tea is part of our day. This helps tremendously to stick to a low calorie goal.
Anyway, feel free to look through my diary, it's public, to see how I eat. Very simple stuff. I enter individual ingredients of meals instead of building recipes in the app. It helps because I don't always use the exact same amounts every time I cook something. I'm not a recipe person...
Lately, I've been eating more snacks due to the husband being off work and hanging out, watching tv and movies with him, so my calories have been closer to maintenance for a while.

There's so much good to eat on Keto, it's just a matter of becoming familiar.

vilenski193

Can u please explain the keto coffee thing Again. I wasn't clear on it thanks a ton

Sunny_Bunny_

vilenski193 wrote: »

Can u please explain the keto coffee thing Again. I wasn't clear on it thanks a ton

The purpose of Keto coffee is to get the good fatty acids from coconut or MCT oil and butter in at the start of the day to boost ketone production and mental energy. Some of the fatty acids in coconut oil supply immediate energy that can be used by the brain without the liver having to break them down the same way it does other fats. This is a quick source of energy that will even provide brain ketones for non low carb eaters. Those particular fatty acids are more concentrated in MCT oil. The butter also supplies some unique fatty acids.
Anyway, you put your coffee, CO and butter into a large cup and blend with an immersion blender or use a nutri bullet type blender to break up and mix in the fats and it produces a delicious, frothy cup of heaven that will have you feeling full and energized til lunch time.

KarlaYP

I've heard recommended to start slow with the coconut oil! Bathroom issues can be induced by too much, at first!

KarlaYP

My recommendations for finding food to eat on a ketogenic diet:
First, the struggle is real! Everything I used to eat came from a box (cereal, frozen prepared and processed junk!), and bag (yea, chips...)! It was purely for convenience. I actually thought cereal was good for me! Finding new, easy to grab foods at first can be challenging. I kept sandwich meats (nitrates, I know, but good in a pinch!) of ham, salami, and roast beef, and pepperoni (pop a layer in the microwave for a minute, you have crisps, yummy when dredged through mayo...!)...lots of different cheeses for variety and ability to grab. This habit for convenience foods was the hardest to break (it felt like it anyway) for me. Once I realized how much better I felt (about two weeks in) I didn't want the junk anymore! Still don't!

I takes making the choice, then gets so much easier!

KarlaYP

Oh yea! The pimples!! I went through a few weeks of increased acne after beginning this woe! I felt it was a process of cleaning out that my body had to go through. It gets better! Hang in there!

daylitemag

I'm pretty new to this WOE. Started mid-October and I've lost about 35lbs. I have a lot to lose so it comes off pretty quick.

My best advice, eat a large, protein and fat rich breakfast. I eat three eggs cooked in either butter or bacon fat. Some days I mix in some cheese or ham to keep things interesting. Lately, I also add a Tbsp of peanut butter occasionally. I am so full and satisfied that I now totally skip eating lunch and at dinner I focus on meat and cheese. Nuts are also a good way to get fat and calories while getting full. Good luck. You've got lots of good advice here from the experts above. They know what they are talking about.

anglyn1

It's overwhelming in the beginning but once you get the hang of what you can and can't eat it gets so much easier. I usually have coffee with heavy cream for breakfast. The keto coffee above is a great option too, I'm usually just in too big a hurry for it before work. Lunch I eat leftovers most days. Or a pack of tuna with mayo and pickles. Snacks are usually Frigo meat and cheese sticks, tea with heavy cream, peanut or cashew butter, or mixed nuts. Dinner I usually have meat with a low carb veggie like cauliflower, broccoli, greens, or green beans. I find recipes on Pinterest. Some favorites have been philly cheese stuffed peppers, fathead pizza, low carb taco skillet, and twice baked cauliflower casserole!

Going out to restaurants is fairly easy for me now as well. In a pinch fast food bunless burgers w/o ketchup or onions work! Side salad w/o croutons. At Mexican places I get Pollo Maya which is grilled chicken topped with veggies and cheese dip. I ask for no rice and get guacamole instead. Japanese I get tuna and avocado salad. Chinese I get steamed chicken and veggies w/o rice. Steakhouses and Amercian style restaurants I get steaks or salmon with salad or steamed broccoli. All day breakfast places are awesome because you can get bacon or sausage and eggs! Make sure to ask about omelets because Ihop for instance puts pancake batter in theirs which ups the carbs and is bad if you happen to have celiac like me. If you ask they can make them with just eggs however!

Sunny_Bunny_

Karlottap wrote: »

I've heard recommended to start slow with the coconut oil! Bathroom issues can be induced by too much, at first!

OP, if you go with the amounts I initially suggested for a low calorie goal, like mine, that would be a good amount and be considered a slow start in adding coconut oil as @Karlottap suggested. It is a good suggestion too. I've heard of some saying it seemed to "clean them out quick" if they went all in with consuming coconut oil. However, when I very first started, I was following the recipe I found online that was a whole tablespoon of each CO and butter per cup and was having two cups and it didn't bother even my sensitive IBS-D belly. So this varies widely from person to person. The only reason I cut the amounts back was because it was using up too many of my daily calories! Left me practically nothing for the rest of the day.

deksgrl

I started eating low carb because it makes me feel better. After a month or so I stopped counting calories because once I settled into a routine with eating I was seeing that most of the time I was under my calorie goal. I have lost 22 pounds.

What I normally eat:

Breakfast: A protein shake, or bacon & eggs
Lunch: A salad with grilled chicken
Dinner: Some kind of meat and veggies with butter

Snack ideas: nuts, or pepperoni & cheese, boiled eggs, deviled eggs, tuna, veggies with cream cheese, etc.

lovesretirement

I like to keep things simple, too, and basically eat the same thing every day. I usually have the last meal no later than 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I drink lots of water and tea.

Meal 1: Keto tea (black tea, butter coconut oil, cream, sweetener) 2 boiled eggs
Meal 2: cheese or pepperoni or both
Meal 3: big salad, a steamed veggie with butter, meat, poultry, or fish
Meal 4: bacon rinds or sf jello w/HWC

My macros are set to 75/20/5 and calories run from 1200-1500..usually eat more cals on days I workout.

You have to find what works for you and your tastes. The fat will keep you satisfied and you will not be "hangry"!

DAM5412

While it's very hard to break old habits, once you wrap your mind around this woe and start researching and trying new things, you are going to be blown away by all your yummy food choices! I am just coming back to keto after a holiday hiatus and some of my go to foods (which I try to have on hand always) are:

Avocados
Almonds
Bacon
Butter
Cauliflower
Cheese (slices, sticks, wedges or blocks that I chip away at)
Coconut Oil
Deli meats
Eggs (boiled and wrapped well, they are great on the go)
Ground Beef
Olives
pepperoni
Spinach
Sour Cream

I'm not big on trying keto-adapted recipes, and I hate Fake food products, so meals are usually a fatty meat and veg for me, the family has a side of pasta, potato, rice or whatever.

Like any change, the more you know and the more you actually do it, the easier it becomes and the better you get at it.

Being brand new, pimples, keto breath and leg cramps are going to be nuisances. Just know that most withdrawal symptoms will end once you are adapted.

Best of luck, this is a great woe for health!

vilenski193

Thank you all so much for your imput! I HAVE FINISHED MY FIRST WEEK AND SURVIVED !!!!! Not gotten on the scale yet ( worried if I didn't loose weight I would give up ) giving myself another week. Clothes do feel a little better

vilenski193

Question: I'm gonna start working out. Does the ketogenic diet effect that at all? Do I have to do different excercise? Any diet changes ? Please advise thanks Aviva

vilenski193

One more question : does anyone have a hard time falling asleep with this diet. I occasionally did before but now I feel like I can't sleep

CMYKRGB

My diary is open. I stick to about 15-20 carbs a day and 1200 calories a day.

There's so much food that's keto friendly. The hard part is getting around the concept that fat is beneficial when you limit carbs. This is the easiest WOE in my opinion, because you can go anywhere, eat anywhere and still make good food choices.

KarlaYP

OP: working out is a personal choice. As long as you feel good, it's fine, but, if you feel weakness or fatigue, you may need to up the sodium, and wait the couple of weeks, or so, until fully adapted. So, go with how you feel. Sleep, ugh, is another electrolyte issue that I've struggled with. Magnesium citrate supplements (Epsom salt baths, topical sprays...) before bedtime can help. Again, keeping the sodium between 3000-5000 mg daily helps tremendously along with the magnesium. Electrolyte depletion occurs in ketogenic diets because ketones take them out with our urine. Without replacement you will eventually feel terrible, thinking you need carbs and that keto doesn't work for you. Find a way to keep the electrolytes up and it will help!

lowjax75

I've found that sometimes I do have a harder time falling asleep, but that's because I have more energy while eating a ketogenic diet than if I eat a SAD diet. With a SAD diet, I often felt sluggish and slow. It was easy to fall asleep. It is more difficult while eating ketogenically. I've never tried anything like @Karlottap suggested, but that's a good idea to try. Supplements or something with electrolytes (but not sugar full Gatorade) might do the trick.