New To LCHF...HELP

brklyn0691

Okay today was day one with my LCHF. I need all the advice I can get...Meals, snacks, exercise, etc. I am not doing this for diet or temporary. This is a major step in lifestyle change. I am at my largest and realize that my way of living has deminished. TIA

kpk54

Welcome! Click on the blue Low Carb Daily Forum above ^^^ and start with the Launch Pad. Lots of great information!

Sunny_Bunny_

Ok. Take a deep breath. ..
Congrats on making an amazing choice for your personal health and longevity! That's a huge step in itself! And then to reach out for help just shows you're willing to put in some work by getting information to support your choice.
That is fantastic!
There is a great thread full of meal and snack options. Many with recipes. But there is also a recipe sharing group as well. Links in the launchpad. I'll come back to add some for you once I submit this response. Gotta retrieve and copy one link at a time on mobile...
Also these are some great visual aids I recently came across from Dr Ted Naiman that can help to simplify the food choices you'll want to be focusing on.



And if those are too much to take right now, maybe this even simpler one will help.


Now, don't let what you can't have be your focus. Let what you can have be the focus. There's so much great low carb food! There truly is! There's no reason to ever feel deprived by not eating crap that makes you fat and sick. Enjoy good fatty meats and dairy and veggies smothered in butter and cheese and get healthier and leaner day by day.

Sunny_Bunny_

Real food prepared by real people here in the group.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10274397/what-does-your-low-carb-meals-look-like#latest

Sunny_Bunny_

Resources for recipes
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10039503/call-for-links-recipe-sites#Item_2

tierrafuego

I've been doing this only a few months but the good news is, it works! Seriously works.

My advice: Stay sane, get moving (even if just a little bit), gather info (Sunny's posts above are excellent) and keep away from obvious carbs. Oh, and drink a ton of water or tea, it really helps. Green veggies are fine, others are not. Anything that's fat or protein is fine, including cheese and cream but not milk or yogurt. Count your carbs. Track, religiously. Don't buy "low carb" stuff, just eat clean and real food. It works.

Breathe, smile, know you're doing all you can, today.

RalfLott

You can also have a fun, early spring cleaning party and toss/donate everything in your cupboards that has carbs/sugar/unpronounceables. Yippee!

A good guide book might be helpful.

Stephen Phinney, Jeff Volek, Art & Science of Low Carbohydrate Living (technical) and New Atkins for a New You (popular/practical) are great intros. The latter has meal plans, recipes.

Their YouTube vids are very informative, too. They explain that it can take weeks to compete the transition from carb- to fat-burning. I'd recommend the JumpstartMD YouTube site, which has not only a long, comprehensive introduction to ketogenic diets by Phinney and Volek, but also segments from the interview separated by topic.

nvmomketo

My advice is salt. Many new to keto don't increase sodium to 3000-5000+ mg per day. That's 1-2+ teaspoons of salt! I know I didn't at first because I couldn't believe that I needed that much salt. I mean, a low sodium diet is supposedly heart healthy, right? LOL

I paid for that mistake! I had fatigue, headaches, brain fog, muscle aches and muscle cramps for a couple of weeks before I finally started salting my water with a teaspoon of salt every day. I managed to avoid the nausea and BM issues. The so-called "keto flu" is actually an electrolyte imbalance and is easy to fix with sodium, and perhaps some extra potassium and magnesium.

Salt. Salt. Salt.

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

And if those are too much to take right now, maybe this even simpler one will help.

I like that! MEAL... I'l remember that.

bjwoodzy

Welcome! Nice to see someone new that is serious and ready to go gung-ho! You got this. I think it's great to just focus on enjoying as much fat as you can, lots of green things, and throw in some cheese for good measure. Of course, meat, too! And most people starting out do the best just focusing on 20-30 g per day max, of carbs, and not worry too much about calories. Once you spend a week or more doing that, you'll get an idea of your hunger level and how much you really want to eat vs how much you think your body needs, and then can start focusing with more precision, on your calories and whatnot.

Definitely hit up the Launch Pad (surprised @RalfLott hasn't linked to it yet, LOL)

A couple of my very favorite resources:

http://www.ruled.me - great "start here" page for keto newbies

http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ is where I started, to plug in my weight loss goals and get my personal macro formula

I love good food...here is a collection of stuff I have made and there are always pics

RalfLott

bjwoodzy wrote: »

here is a collection of stuff I have made and there are always pics

Nice!

bjwoodzy

Thanks. Enjoy.

bjwoodzy

Here is the link to the LCD Launch Pad, in case you missed it, @brklyn0691
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10103966/start-here-the-lcd-launch-pad#latest

bjwoodzy

Oh, and here's a REALLY nice shopping list infographic and more details on the basic groceries you will want, plus "nice to have" but not necessary... by the folks at KetoConnect, who are a nice couple that also have a helpful (and cute) YouTube channel full of recipe videos and they are really engaged with their audience in the comments, too.

I discovered them around October or so, and have made one of their mug cake twice now, and also bookmarked several of their other recipes, which all look really simple but still very tasty (I'm somewhat of a food snob, so yeah, it's good stuff).