Keto diet

I started a keto diet a few days ago with a limit of 30g of carbs a day, and I'm doing just fine with my carbs but I'm still just not getting enough calories and fat to make up for lack of carbs. Help?!

Replies

  • heather240
    heather240 Posts: 27 Member
    Hi. I'm just restarting keto myself. Most oils/butter contain about 100-130 calories if I remember correctly. Being that your just starting out I'd suggest filling the void with healthy oils. Avocado- coconut- olive- etc. It will fill that calorie void and train your body to use the fat for energy. This is just my opinion. Good luck to you!
  • bubus05
    bubus05 Posts: 121 Member
    The key is to buy full fat if given the option. Always go for the fatty one. Drink three cappuccino a day-shouldnt be that difficult-put a little double cream in it you are already around 450-500 cal. Use lots of extra virgin olive oil with your stakes and sauces, a TBS olive 130 cal. I love my home made mayo made with olive oil or avocado extremely high cal food i actually have to be careful how much l consume. TBH I struggle to stay within my limits, the difficulty for me is that most of my foods I have to make myself to avoid the 'bad fats' that shops are trying to sell me. These are just a few examples plenty of choices out there butter walnut etc virtually no carbs at all but healthy high fat high calorie.
  • mariomicro
    mariomicro Posts: 74 Member
    I find it difficult to believe that you can't make calories up with keto, unless you're vegan. Just up your meat intake and you'll be ok.
  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
    Keep protein higher than typical keto. This can help with feeling satisfied, helps maintain muscle mass, and will bump your calories up. I like to hit a minimum of 100gm but usually aim higher as I lift and am hoping to maintain muscle as much as possible even when I go into a deficit. If you still need more cal after your protein goals are met, then add higher fat dressings and dips to your salads and veg, cheeses, seeds like chia and pumpkin.
  • mommarass88
    mommarass88 Posts: 22 Member
    With creams, butter and oils you should be hitting your calories no problem.
  • mariomicro
    mariomicro Posts: 74 Member
    I have just started back on keto. I did well a couple of years ago, but since Covid and no work...I find myself eating and drinking more for lack of nothing to do. Exercise can only go so far. Looking for any hope and encouragment.
    Paradoxically, I've found that I can manage my diet better during the lockdown. All I do is shop for the essentials that I need and nothing else.

    Try to find yourself something to do and that keeps you distracted from food. Gardening, reading, learning a foreign language, etc.

    I eat only once a day, which makes my diet management easier.

  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    I have just started back on keto. I did well a couple of years ago, but since Covid and no work...I find myself eating and drinking more for lack of nothing to do. Exercise can only go so far. Looking for any hope and encouragment.

    Keto isn’t magic. You have to eat in a deficit to lose weight. You don’t actually need to exercise at all if you don’t want to.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Dogmom1978 wrote: »
    I have just started back on keto. I did well a couple of years ago, but since Covid and no work...I find myself eating and drinking more for lack of nothing to do. Exercise can only go so far. Looking for any hope and encouragment.

    Keto isn’t magic. You have to eat in a deficit to lose weight. You don’t actually need to exercise at all if you don’t want to.

    I think she's aware of that, and saying that she's been struggling with staying in a deficit (or controlling food), despite exercising. I get that, as I definitely spent a few months self-medicating with food, a habit I thought I had kicked. Keto helps some people with calorie control.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    NolesOG wrote: »
    I started a keto diet a few days ago with a limit of 30g of carbs a day, and I'm doing just fine with my carbs but I'm still just not getting enough calories and fat to make up for lack of carbs. Help?!

    Sometimes people have that issue because they cut carbs (which often means lots of foods that are high in fat and carbs) and don't have in mind what else they can eat, or else they still have their old ideas about higher fat foods being off limits, so end up eating lean meat and non starchy veg, and nothing else, or even using skim dairy and egg whites and such still. If that's the issue, look at some keto blogs and recipes to get ideas.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Dogmom1978 wrote: »
    I have just started back on keto. I did well a couple of years ago, but since Covid and no work...I find myself eating and drinking more for lack of nothing to do. Exercise can only go so far. Looking for any hope and encouragment.

    Keto isn’t magic. You have to eat in a deficit to lose weight. You don’t actually need to exercise at all if you don’t want to.

    I think she's aware of that, and saying that she's been struggling with staying in a deficit (or controlling food), despite exercising. I get that, as I definitely spent a few months self-medicating with food, a habit I thought I had kicked. Keto helps some people with calorie control.

    Many many people post here on keto that DONT track calories because x = z or some other nonsense someone somewhere told them. And born2run who I was responding to might not know that they still have to weigh and track food and eat in a deficit.

    Some people find it easier to eat in a deficit on keto, some on high carb, some doing IF, so forth and so one, but it all comes down to the same thing. Eating in a deficit and there are a shockingly large number of people who don’t seem aware of that.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Dogmom1978 wrote: »
    Some people find it easier to eat in a deficit on keto, some on high carb, some doing IF, so forth and so one, but it all comes down to the same thing. Eating in a deficit and there are a shockingly large number of people who don’t seem aware of that.

    Agreed, but her post said she had just re-started keto, which she'd used in the past, since she had been eating and drinking too much/without sufficient control, and couldn't out-exercise that. That didn't suggest to me that she was unaware that calories are what matter, but that she had been struggling with control over her overeating. (And she similarly didn't say she thought she had to exercise, but that she did exercise, but knew it wouldn't counteract the out of control eating/drinking).

    I just wouldn't assume that everyone who has had a positive experience with keto thinks it is magic. (And saying she has been eating too much suggests to me someone who knows that a deficit is what one needs to lose.)
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    Again, I wasn’t responding to her post at all but someone else and there are multiple people on MFP who have had success for a little bit on keto without counting and then argue that counting isn’t needed for keto. Or that “calories don’t matter” on keto; I’ve seen that over and over on various threads. So yes, I do think a distinction that keto still involves counting is helpful to people who might be considering trying it and read threads like this one about keto thinking “all I have to do is reduce my carbs and BAM! I’ll be skinny”.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited December 2020
    Born2Run was who I think we were both responding to, and the "calories still matter" thing just stuck out to me when she (or he, sorry if I am assuming wrongly) had already said too much food/drink was the problem, but no big deal. I certainly agree that in some cases there seems to be an assumption by some people that calories don't matter if the food is right or one is keto or what not.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    NolesOG wrote: »
    I started a keto diet a few days ago with a limit of 30g of carbs a day, and I'm doing just fine with my carbs but I'm still just not getting enough calories and fat to make up for lack of carbs. Help?!

    Before you go out of your way just to add more fat, how many calories are you eating? What wre your stats? Do you exercise?
  • NolesOG
    NolesOG Posts: 3 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    NolesOG wrote: »
    I started a keto diet a few days ago with a limit of 30g of carbs a day, and I'm doing just fine with my carbs but I'm still just not getting enough calories and fat to make up for lack of carbs. Help?!

    Before you go out of your way just to add more fat, how many calories are you eating? What wre your stats? Do you exercise?

    I usually average between 1200 to 2000 calories a day, what stats are you referring to? What little exercise I get is at work and it's not much.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    NolesOG wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    NolesOG wrote: »
    I started a keto diet a few days ago with a limit of 30g of carbs a day, and I'm doing just fine with my carbs but I'm still just not getting enough calories and fat to make up for lack of carbs. Help?!

    Before you go out of your way just to add more fat, how many calories are you eating? What wre your stats? Do you exercise?

    I usually average between 1200 to 2000 calories a day, what stats are you referring to? What little exercise I get is at work and it's not much.

    You should be good. I wouldn't worry about adding more fats.
  • charmmeth
    charmmeth Posts: 936 Member
    NolesOG wrote: »
    I usually average between 1200 to 2000 calories a day, what stats are you referring to? What little exercise I get is at work and it's not much.

    That is a massive range. I am female and 5'11"; it looks as though my maintanance is going to be a bit under 1800 calories per week, so 1200 calories would have me losing more than 2lbs per week, but 2000 calories would have me gaining a bit under 1lb per week. How tall are you? What deoes mfp give you as your calories for the rate of loss you are aiming for? But maybe you are not trying to lose weight. If you are eating low carb, then (as others have said), you need to be eating protein and fats to make up. Try avocados mashed with creme fraiche, maybe eaten with some bacon on a low carb crispbread, or mixed with canned tuna.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited December 2020
    charmmeth wrote: »
    NolesOG wrote: »
    I usually average between 1200 to 2000 calories a day, what stats are you referring to? What little exercise I get is at work and it's not much.

    That is a massive range. I am female and 5'11"; it looks as though my maintanance is going to be a bit under 1800 calories per week, so 1200 calories would have me losing more than 2lbs per week, but 2000 calories would have me gaining a bit under 1lb per week.

    If your maintenance is 1800, then 1200 would only be a ~600 calorie deficit, which would be more like 1 to 1 1/2 lbs a week under the MFP method. Generally 1000 calories deficit or more gets you the 2 lb per week loss. It is still a pretty big range though, as you said.
    NolesOG wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    NolesOG wrote: »
    I started a keto diet a few days ago with a limit of 30g of carbs a day, and I'm doing just fine with my carbs but I'm still just not getting enough calories and fat to make up for lack of carbs. Help?!

    Before you go out of your way just to add more fat, how many calories are you eating? What wre your stats? Do you exercise?

    I usually average between 1200 to 2000 calories a day, what stats are you referring to? What little exercise I get is at work and it's not much.

    Your stats would be current height/weight and goal weight, which is all helpful to know when giving advice about calorie and lb per week weight loss goals.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    charmmeth wrote: »
    NolesOG wrote: »
    I usually average between 1200 to 2000 calories a day, what stats are you referring to? What little exercise I get is at work and it's not much.

    That is a massive range. I am female and 5'11"; it looks as though my maintanance is going to be a bit under 1800 calories per week, so 1200 calories would have me losing more than 2lbs per week, but 2000 calories would have me gaining a bit under 1lb per week. How tall are you? What deoes mfp give you as your calories for the rate of loss you are aiming for? But maybe you are not trying to lose weight. If you are eating low carb, then (as others have said), you need to be eating protein and fats to make up. Try avocados mashed with creme fraiche, maybe eaten with some bacon on a low carb crispbread, or mixed with canned tuna.

    Mathematically, what you are saying isn't true. If you lose 2 lbs a week at 1200 calories, your maintenance would be 2200.