Hi all! New here. HELP PLS
Jacqgh777
Posts: 150 Member
Happy Sunday. Need some advice. I’m starting Keto tomorrow. I’m 47 - Female and goal is to lose 25lbs. I work full time (a desk job) and have twins in high-school. I have to take time as from the gym due to some chronic pain and needing knee surgery but still on the go when I get home in the House.
What would you say is a good macro breakdown for me? 1200 calories will be my intake
I’m reading either
35% carbs, 50% protein and 15% fat
OR
5% carbs, 20% protein and 75% fat
Please advise and also what worked for you? Thanks ahead of time.
Jacqueline
What would you say is a good macro breakdown for me? 1200 calories will be my intake
I’m reading either
35% carbs, 50% protein and 15% fat
OR
5% carbs, 20% protein and 75% fat
Please advise and also what worked for you? Thanks ahead of time.
Jacqueline
0
Replies
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I would start at 5% carbs until you become keto-adapted. Once you're in ketosis and become comfortable with the diet, you can tweak your macros. Some people can eat more carbs & still stay in ketosis- others cannot. I'd work on establishing a baseline & then testing your ketones to gauge your reaction to additional carbs at least a month & a half in. 35% carbs sounds too high (ie not keto) to me. Everyone is different though! But in order to reap the benefits of the diet, you need to get into ketosis. 35% wouldn't work for me.1
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Adubs0 - Thank you! I think that’s a good plan. How long did it take you to get into Ketosis?0
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About a week. I love it! I test with a blood ketone meter, but now I pretty comfortably know when I'm in the low range or in the higher range pretty intuitively. And now that I am there, I don't have the desire to tweak my macros because my appetite is pretty supressed. I have about 40lbs to lose (well, more like 25 now) so my body has a good chunk of fat to snack on. It's really changing my relationship with food. There are plenty of benefits aside from weight loss. I didn't 100% believe all the reported benefits when I started, but at least for me, it's going so great!
Best of luck!1 -
ALSO- while you're starting out, pay attention to your electrolytes! Natural Calm magnesium and bone broth is what I use. Should mitigate some of the 'keto flu' symptoms. Salt, salt & more salt!1
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Thank you so much!! I do have a good magnesium supplement and I am awaiting my bone broth to be delivered. Did you eat a lot of fat in the beginning?ALSO- while you're starting out, pay attention to your electrolytes! Natural Calm magnesium and bone broth is what I use. Should mitigate some of the 'keto flu' symptoms. Salt, salt & more salt!
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About a week. I love it! I test with a blood ketone meter, but now I pretty comfortably know when I'm in the low range or in the higher range pretty intuitively. And now that I am there, I don't have the desire to tweak my macros because my appetite is pretty supressed. I have about 40lbs to lose (well, more like 25 now) so my body has a good chunk of fat to snack on. It's really changing my relationship with food. There are plenty of benefits aside from weight loss. I didn't 100% believe all the reported benefits when I started, but at least for me, it's going so great!
Best of luck!
I got some keto sticks and will be using them! Thx
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You should get your protein requirement in grams that you need to maintain muscle. So I wouldn’t just calculate a random percentage of 1200 calories for protein.
Generally 0.8g per pound of lean body mass is a good minimum goal. If you don’t know what your lean body mass is, you can just go with a generic 1g per pound of ideal body weight. That gives you some leeway which is good. So for example, if your ideal body weight (not your personal chosen goal) for your height is 120 pounds, you’d aim for 120g protein a day. Since it’s a generic formula, it gives you some wiggle room so if you only hit 100g sometimes it’s not so bad.
So in MFP, I’d set your protein percentage to whatever makes it around the grams you would get based on your actual ideal.
Or there are also macro calculators like this one you can use. But it will want you to calculate your lean body mass. It does provide resources for determining that.
https://ketogains.com/ketogains-calculator/2 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You should get your protein requirement in grams that you need to maintain muscle. So I wouldn’t just calculate a random percentage of 1200 calories for protein.
Generally 0.8g per pound of lean body mass is a good minimum goal. If you don’t know what your lean body mass is, you can just go with a generic 1g per pound of ideal body weight. That gives you some leeway which is good. So for example, if your ideal body weight (not your personal chosen goal) for your height is 120 pounds, you’d aim for 120g protein a day. Since it’s a generic formula, it gives you some wiggle room so if you only hit 100g sometimes it’s not so bad.
So in MFP, I’d set your protein percentage to whatever makes it around the grams you would get based on your actual ideal.
Or there are also macro calculators like this one you can use. But it will want you to calculate your lean body mass. It does provide resources for determining that.
https://ketogains.com/ketogains-calculator/
Thanks a ton. Appreciate your response. If I up my protein % to accommodate my ideal weight, should I take away from the fat % or carb %?
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Carbs are currently set at 5%0
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You should get your protein requirement in grams that you need to maintain muscle. So I wouldn’t just calculate a random percentage of 1200 calories for protein.
Generally 0.8g per pound of lean body mass is a good minimum goal. If you don’t know what your lean body mass is, you can just go with a generic 1g per pound of ideal body weight. That gives you some leeway which is good. So for example, if your ideal body weight (not your personal chosen goal) for your height is 120 pounds, you’d aim for 120g protein a day. Since it’s a generic formula, it gives you some wiggle room so if you only hit 100g sometimes it’s not so bad.
So in MFP, I’d set your protein percentage to whatever makes it around the grams you would get based on your actual ideal.
Or there are also macro calculators like this one you can use. But it will want you to calculate your lean body mass. It does provide resources for determining that.
https://ketogains.com/ketogains-calculator/
Thanks a ton. Appreciate your response. If I up my protein % to accommodate my ideal weight, should I take away from the fat % or carb %?
Fat is a variable. Set your protein as sunny suggested. Protein is a must. Set yourself a carb ceiling. I.e., 20g (you choose) Fill in with fat as necessary, to satisfy, keeping in mind the less fat you put in your mouth, the more that will come off your butt-or wherever it comes off from. I wouldn’t stress about calories until you are used to it. I ate like crazy when I started everyone is different. Best of luck!1 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You should get your protein requirement in grams that you need to maintain muscle. So I wouldn’t just calculate a random percentage of 1200 calories for protein.
Generally 0.8g per pound of lean body mass is a good minimum goal. If you don’t know what your lean body mass is, you can just go with a generic 1g per pound of ideal body weight. That gives you some leeway which is good. So for example, if your ideal body weight (not your personal chosen goal) for your height is 120 pounds, you’d aim for 120g protein a day. Since it’s a generic formula, it gives you some wiggle room so if you only hit 100g sometimes it’s not so bad.
So in MFP, I’d set your protein percentage to whatever makes it around the grams you would get based on your actual ideal.
Or there are also macro calculators like this one you can use. But it will want you to calculate your lean body mass. It does provide resources for determining that.
https://ketogains.com/ketogains-calculator/
Thanks a ton. Appreciate your response. If I up my protein % to accommodate my ideal weight, should I take away from the fat % or carb %?
Fat is a variable. Set your protein as sunny suggested. Protein is a must. Set yourself a carb ceiling. I.e., 20g (you choose) Fill in with fat as necessary, to satisfy, keeping in mind the less fat you put in your mouth, the more that will come off your butt-or wherever it comes off from. I wouldn’t stress about calories until you are used to it. I ate like crazy when I started everyone is different. Best of luck!
Thanks so much! I know protein is a must. Def don’t want to lose muscle. So carbs also include fibrous carbs as well?
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You should get your protein requirement in grams that you need to maintain muscle. So I wouldn’t just calculate a random percentage of 1200 calories for protein.
Generally 0.8g per pound of lean body mass is a good minimum goal. If you don’t know what your lean body mass is, you can just go with a generic 1g per pound of ideal body weight. That gives you some leeway which is good. So for example, if your ideal body weight (not your personal chosen goal) for your height is 120 pounds, you’d aim for 120g protein a day. Since it’s a generic formula, it gives you some wiggle room so if you only hit 100g sometimes it’s not so bad.
So in MFP, I’d set your protein percentage to whatever makes it around the grams you would get based on your actual ideal.
Or there are also macro calculators like this one you can use. But it will want you to calculate your lean body mass. It does provide resources for determining that.
https://ketogains.com/ketogains-calculator/
Thanks a ton. Appreciate your response. If I up my protein % to accommodate my ideal weight, should I take away from the fat % or carb %?
I followed the link and readjusted. This seems a lot more doable
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Looks good to me! I agree with @nill4me about the fat being the adjustable variable.
Best of luck to you!1 -
Thanks Sunny!! ☀️1
