Question about keto recipes/eating? Am I doing this wrong?

Rannoch3908

So I have been following a keto / LCHF eating plan after being suggested by my doctor.

But I feel bad about eating this way honestly. All the recipes call for putting butter in coffee, eating dressings like ranch and mayonaise based, making veggie casseroles with a pound of shredded cheese on top, plowing through tons of meat (steaks, chops, sausage, etc).

It just seems like I am eating worse than I was before. Am I doing or understanding something wrong here?

Here are some examples from the past week:

Eggplant Pizza
- Two eggplants sliced,
- 1lb ground bee
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1 onion
- 1 garclic clove
- 1 lb shredded mozarella
- salt, pepper, oregano

Cheesy Cauliflower
- 1 lb cauliflower
- 1 lb brocoli
- 1/2 lb shredded cheddar
- seasonings

Meatza
-20 oz Ground Beef
-2 Large Eggs
-½ cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
-28 Pepperoni Slices
-½ cup pizza sauce
-4 oz Mozarella Cheese
-To Taste Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Keto Cheesy Taco Caserole
-8 tsp Taco Tuesday
-3 lbs 80/20 Ground Beef
-2 Cups Pepper Jack Cheese (Shredded)
-4 Cups Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese (Shredded)
-2 Cups Frozen Pepper Strips (Green, Red, and Yellow) thawed

Blitzia

If your doctor recommended it, I'd double check with your doctor.

That being said, if your only goal is weight loss, then being in a calorie deficit is all that matters. Eating keto is just a tool to help you stay in a calorie deficit. Things like adding butter to your coffee or mayo on your food are supposed to help keep you full so you can eat less. But it's really personal preference - butter and mayo aren't calorie free. So you can use those calories on butter and mayo or you can use them on more food. Whatever works for you.

erika_307

Seems fine to me. I have been doing keto for 2 weeks now, and I feel the same way. It's so different to eat so many fats, and hard to grasp the concept that it's ok. But, I've lost 10 pounds so far, and feel a lot better already, so it can't be all bad. You could also try to focus more on healthy fats- avocados, nuts, salmon, healthy oils, etc.

Mr_Knight

Rannoch3908 wrote: »

- 1/2 lb shredded cheddar

Holy crap. That's about a 1000 calories right there, all on its own.

- 1lb ground bee

There's about another 1000 calories.

3 lbs 80/20 Ground Beef

3600 right there.

How much of this was eaten in one day?

kimny72

OP, are you tracking your calories? No matter what diet you decide to eat, how many calories you eat will determine whether you gain or lose weight.

Rannoch3908

I am obviously not eating the whole 3lbs of ground beef - it's a caserole so you eat a service and save the rest. But it's just cheese, cheese, cheese, meat, meat, meat, oils, dressings, fats, fats, fats.....my wife doesn't believe there is any way this could be healthy.

It's not just about weight loss - it's about reversing pre-diabetes, lowering changes of heart diseasse and high cholesterol. Etc.

Mr_Knight

Well, without knowing how much of this you're actually eating, there's no way to give a meaningful answer to "am I doing this right"?

That diet, in a caloric surplus, is seriously bad news. And with those ingredients, it's going to be extremely easy to overeat. So it comes back to the same question...

...how much of this are you actually eating in a day?

LINIA

For KETO, you can include veggies & salads. Only those who are ZC....zero carb eat none or eat very few vegetables. If you are monitoring your portion size, those foods and low carb veggies will satisfy some of the concerns your wife might have.

ninjacakegirl

I have to recommend Reddit to help you. I started Keto Tuesday and thoroughly researched r/keto and all of its resources before jumping in. There are plenty of things other than meats, cheeses, and cauliflower that you can eat - they have a public Google Sheet with a good list that you can use to tailor Keto to things you like to eat and you can create your own recipes with it. I've based my grocery shopping on their tips, and both my husband and I will be able to benefit from Keto (he's getting suckered in because I do the cooking more than he does! lol). I've already lost 4lbs since starting on Tuesday. Please check it out before you decide it's not for you; they can help if you're uneasy. reddit.com/r/keto

Also, here's the link to the Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kg5tJVTEqlHJTFiQ64ORQ0P6s3qEnjALPVFI_rIuW7I/pubhtml

2DUNNY

i eat LCHF diet and i do eat broccoli, berries and salad. i feel like my eating habits are MUCH BETTER than when i was just eating whatever i wanted. (my arthritis is more in control, not nearly as much pain as before, my cholesterol is improving, i have very low BP and overall my health is improving as per my dr who prescribed this diet for me.)

yes you will increase your fat, and it's difficult at first, i CRAVED watermelon for my first week. LOL i think it's all about balance. look at fiber content and subtract it from carbs to get "net carbs."
so for example, i used coconut flour to make our waffles last night, and it looks like alot of carbs, but it's mostly fiber. a 1/2 cup of broccoli only has 2 carbs.

***ETA: i had an avocado tonight, 12 carbs, but 10 of those are fiber, so only 2 net carbs + 21g fat--- that is a healthy fat.
HTH :flowerforyou:

2DUNNY

Blitzia wrote: »

That being said, if your only goal is weight loss, then being in a calorie deficit is all that matters. Eating keto is just a tool to help you stay in a calorie deficit. Things like adding butter to your coffee or mayo on your food are supposed to help keep you full so you can eat less. But it's really personal preference - butter and mayo aren't calorie free. So you can use those calories on butter and mayo or you can use them on more food. Whatever works for you.

i use mayo, butter & coconut/olive oil in my cooking alot on LCHF & it does increase calories quite a bit, so i agree you really have to watch. my avocado tonight was over 200 calories just for that, and i could have easily eaten 2 servings of my dinner if i weren't paying attention and logging.

xxprisinhaxx3232

I've been doing Keto for almost 6 months and have lost 63lbs in the process. Best decision I've made in a long time.
I used to be "freaked out" by all the fat and whatnot but i grew out of it when I started to reap all the benefits of the diet.
Did your doctor give you an amount of protein, fat and carbs to eat per day?
Just remember that Protein is a goal, fat until full and carb is a limit.
Fat is your friend.
KCKO!

nowine4me

Yuck. You didn't say what your goal is or if you have a specific health issue and if so, listen to your doc. Otherwise, fruits and vegetables are your friends, ........less ground beef may serve you well just sayin' is all

AlabasterVerve

My advice is to stop googling keto recipes (since they don't appeal to you) and look for "normal" recipes instead - just substitute any starches or grains in the recipes with vegetables (and fat for flavor and calories). Here's pics of 365 keto friendly meals I think most people would consider healthy to give you some ideas (from Burn Fat Not Sugar). Best wishes.

jenna_nicolo

For me, the point of Keto is staying satiated so I eat less overall. I find myself struggling to eat more than 1000 calories a day because I don't find myself hungry between meals. As long as you're getting your macros and vitamins in, I would say keep doing what you're doing but see if you can reign in the portion sizes if you feel like you're eating too much. Also, try to limit the saturated fat (meat/cheese) in favor of healthier fats (nuts, oils, fish) when possible. But I understand how strange it is to eat like 100g of a fat a day after being told you're whole life that fat is bad for you. I hope I helped! Good luck.

Bob314159

Simple answer re keto - having spent 20 years tying to avoid fats - I now eat coconut oil by the spoonfull and eat tons of cheese. I've lost so much weight on the last 2 years - I'm the lowest weight I've been in 30 years and my blood tests are all normal. I don't bother with keto recipes.

Rannoch3908

Mr Knight - 2000 calories per day. What MFP recommends for 2lbs a week weight loss.

Lost 18lbs so far.

But losing weight is not the number one goal - I don't want to lose weight but die of a heart attack from only eating cheese, fats, and meat!

And these meals appeal to me like crazy - love love love them and they are delicious and make great meal planning (caseroles save all week) BUT I am worried that it's just a bunch of meat, fat, cheeses, veggies. Wanted to make sure I am not doing this the wrong way.

I get all my meals from DIET DOCTOR online if you want to check it out. I am "moderately low carb plan"

I do NOT eat breakfast in morning - I intermittent fast 16:8.

For lunch is usually something like:
-- a salad with creamy dressing, avacado, chicken
-- vegetable based cup of soup (no beans or rice or potato)
-- pulled pork and sausage (no sides) from local bbq place.
-- chicken or egg salad wrap on low carb tortilla
-- leftover caserole from night before
-- hard boiled eggs and 1/2 avacado and cheese
-- lunch meat and cheese sandwich minus bread

perkymommy

I've researched keto and I didn't like the fact you eat so much high fat foods. I know it's taking the focus off of carbs but I'd rather just eat what I want and keep it within my allowed calories each day than to follow something strict like that.

nvmomketo

Rannoch3908 wrote: »

I am obviously not eating the whole 3lbs of ground beef - it's a caserole so you eat a service and save the rest. But it's just cheese, cheese, cheese, meat, meat, meat, oils, dressings, fats, fats, fats.....my wife doesn't believe there is any way this could be healthy.

It's not just about weight loss - it's about reversing pre-diabetes, lowering changes of heart diseasse and high cholesterol. Etc.

I've been eating keto, and lots of meat, cheese and eggs, for over 2 years. I started to address prediabetes (because I did not have much extra weight) and to improve my autoimmune problems. I also lost over 30 lbs. My blood glucose is great. My AI issues are much better. I am SURE my cardiovascular health is great too. Saturated fats do not cause CAD. That's an old myth. It's just a bit slower to die than "eating cholesterol causes high cholesterol."

It really does feel weird to eat fats after years of eating lean and lots of "healthy grains", but I feel so much better eating this way. How can meat, eggs, dairy and vegetables be bad?

Read the Low Carber Daily MFP group's launch pad for a list of resources. Good books include The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living and Keto Clarity. Peter Attia has some GREAT blogs on LCHF, keto, and cardiovascular health - if you like technical reads.

Good luck.

DharmainHeels

I am doing keto but I am a "vegetarian" (I eat fish now but I only eat salmon or tuna). I am not going overboard with the processed food, but I do like cheese. I will eat mostly fresh cheese from farmers markets and not all the processed cheese unless I really am hungry and its the only thing around. Most days I make a smoothie with pea protein powder, cacao, and coconut or almond milk for breakfast, have a big greek salad for lunch, and a piece of fish or veggie burger (made from pea protein not soy) for dinner with some salad and/or veggies and some cheese for a snack. I may also have a cheese omelette with spinach for lunch or dinner to mix it up. I also found a low carb yogurt that I love and I will have a cup of it that is 5 grams of carbs and have that with 2 tbsp. of nut butter as a snack.

I will have cream in my coffee. I am not making fat bombs or those crazy keto treats. I occasionally will do a bulletproof coffee.

DharmainHeels

erika_307 wrote: »

Seems fine to me. I have been doing keto for 2 weeks now, and I feel the same way. It's so different to eat so many fats, and hard to grasp the concept that it's ok. But, I've lost 10 pounds so far, and feel a lot better already, so it can't be all bad. You could also try to focus more on healthy fats- avocados, nuts, salmon, healthy oils, etc.

This is how I do my fat.

DharmainHeels

2DUNNY wrote: »

i eat LCHF diet and i do eat broccoli, berries and salad. i feel like my eating habits are MUCH BETTER than when i was just eating whatever i wanted. (my arthritis is more in control, not nearly as much pain as before, my cholesterol is improving, i have very low BP and overall my health is improving as per my dr who prescribed this diet for me.)

yes you will increase your fat, and it's difficult at first, i CRAVED watermelon for my first week. LOL i think it's all about balance. look at fiber content and subtract it from carbs to get "net carbs."
so for example, i used coconut flour to make our waffles last night, and it looks like alot of carbs, but it's mostly fiber. a 1/2 cup of broccoli only has 2 carbs.

***ETA: i had an avocado tonight, 12 carbs, but 10 of those are fiber, so only 2 net carbs + 21g fat--- that is a healthy fat.
HTH :flowerforyou:

@2DUNNY I would love the waffle recipe!

dasher602014

Seem fine to me! Did you doctor give you any guidance sheet? Is this because of weight loss or other health reasons.

There is a difference in carb levels for low carb high fat diets and keto diets.

There is a wealth of knowledge and resources with the LCD group on myfitnesspal:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group or you could try
dietdoctor.com

AlabasterVerve

Rannoch3908 wrote: »

But losing weight is not the number one goal - I don't want to lose weight but die of a heart attack from only eating cheese, fats, and meat!

And these meals appeal to me like crazy - love love love them and they are delicious and make great meal planning (caseroles save all week) BUT I am worried that it's just a bunch of meat, fat, cheeses, veggies. Wanted to make sure I am not doing this the wrong way.

If you love the food carry on - it's perfectly healthy. I've been eating "tons of cheese, fats and meat" for the last five years without issue, just the opposite, my health has improved. The majority of the meat I eat is beef and my added fats are mainly animal fats (butter, tallow, lard) with some coconut and olive oils. I also eat fruit, nuts, beans and a lot of vegetables most days just because I like them but meat and fat is the foundation of my diet.

My4happykids

Sounds like your Dr suggested something without giving you the WHYs of why he thought you could benefit from keto.
Do some research (both you and your wife). this is a website from England for families of kids prescribed keto because of seizures, they have great info on keto, recipes, and youtube channel for cooking videos. http://www.matthewsfriends.org/
You don't have to have creamy dressing bases you can do vinaigrettes if you prefer (just no sugars)
If you are having blood sugar issues you should really get it and your weight under control. high carb foods spike blood sugar, Fat brings insulin, ghrelin and leptin into balance.

My husband went on keto about 4 1/2 months ago, he is a diabetic taking 2 different insulins a day (5 shots a day) and oral meds too. And his BG was going up. Now he is only on an oral med and his cholesterol is normal. he hopes to get off meds for diabetes completely.
I decided around a month into the diet change that the whole family would join in. I didn't want there to be any reason for my husband to fail. I've lost 34 lbs and feel so much better my cholesterol has gone down more than 100 points. Our whole family feels better. We eat lots of veggies (that's where are carbs are from, our fats come from avocados, cheese, meat, coconut oil, nuts and some butter, our protein is from meat, cheese, and nuts. so as you can see many foods do double duty.

Catawampous

The best thing you can do for yourself is research. The link to the LCHF group is a good one. Remember it is fat to SATIETY not a license to overload yourself with it. I think this is where a lot of people get messed up. There is no need to put butter in your coffee unless you like it that way. Personally it sounds hideous to me so I don't do it. Use common sense. Want to fry a porkchop? Try a tablespoon of coconut oil. Not 1/2 a cup. See the difference? Don't get caught up in all the extra stuff. Change your habits slowly. Remove the carbs and add the fat a bit at a time and learn when you are full. You'll be fine!

willnorton

i truely believe that intramyocellular fat is the problem if you are a type 2 diabetic... its all teh fat that gets into our cells that wont let the insulin in to help get rid of the glucose..... i have done all the ways of eating... just for me, i feel cleaner and my numbers come down to normal when i am eating a plant based whole foods diet.... it just works for me... Dr. Michael Greger is the man!

willnorton

OR ?????????

everyusernamewastakenso

You need protein and fats in keto. It might seem odd at first so start slow. Focus on the protein aspect, look for lean cuts. Always stick to your proper calorie needs and try to do some type of exercise. Once you master that start to incorporate fats like cheese as a snack into your your diet.