Helpful Keto Tips?

VastBreak

What is the best advice you could share for a person getting ready to start Keto?

Best way to make this transition?

Foods/Snacks to have on hand?

Exercise or no?

Skoster1

What is the best advice you could share for a person getting ready to start Keto?

First, keto isn't like a lot of diets where you can cheat and go right back on track. If you cheat your body will (generally) need time to get back into the ketosis state.

Second, be prepared to feel crappy for a while.

Third, keto is not magic and there will be stalls, temptations and everything else which just naturally happens with dieting. From what I've seen the people who ignore the short term stalls and just trust the process and their bodies do the best. The people who jump around with IF, cheat meals to 'kick start', ultra low cal periods, etc. tend to become frustrated and quit.

Fourth, focus on grams of macronutrients, not percentages, and do your homework to know how to set those.

Best way to make this transition?

Get rid of the food you don't want to eat, buy the food you do, be prepared for a crappy week.

Foods/Snacks to have on hand?

Anything which fits the macros you've set for yourself and which you like to eat. I'm currently drinking a glass of half almond milk half diet A&W root beer... Do I think you'd like it? No clue, but I do.

I tend to keep chicken, red meat, cheese, eggs, butter, coconut oil, lots of leafy greens, protein powder (just for ease, not because it's necessary), nuts and seeds, spices, heavy whipping cream, almond milk, etc.

Exercise or no?

Yes.

http://www.reddit.com/r/ketogains

Don't get caught up in the TKD/CKD stuff though, I lift 3x week 5x5 at 5RM (even though it's not a heavy lift, it's my max right now) and run three days a week and I do fine on SKD.

Booksandbeaches

What is the best advice you could share for a person getting ready to start Keto?

Best way to make this transition?

Foods/Snacks to have on hand?

Exercise or no?

Don't expect instant results. To become truly keto-adapted where your body burns fat primarily for fuel, you have to do this for 4 weeks and likely more. Your initial loss is water and it will be a big loss because you're depleting glycogen which is composed in part by water. Don't expect to have big losses every week. You'll set yourself up for disappointment. As long as the general trend is downward, you're fine.

You may not be up to exercising the first week or second week. Don't do it until you feel up to it. I didn't feel like exercising the first week. I had headaches and I was tired a lot. I can tell you exactly when I depleted glycogen. I woke up feeling better than before and the headaches were gone. Then I had energy to exercise. Until then it was like my body didn't know from where to get energy.

Snacks to have on hand - nuts (macadamia, almonds, or something else if you prefer), string cheese, hard boiled eggs, slices of ham, fat bombs (Google it or search it here), Bullet Proof Coffee supplies if you drink coffee (butter, heavy whipping cream, virgin coconut oil). Stick to eating real whole foods. Meal replacements/bars/shakes even if they are low-carb aren't ideal. Stick to meat, eggs, fish, nuts, vegetables and healthy oils.

If you fall back down, pick yourself up and keep going.

Make sure you take a good vitamin. Make sure you're taking a supplement with potassium and magnesium. If you feel constipated, take some magnesium citrate. You can find these over the counter at most stores.

Make sure you're eating more fat than protein.

youdontknowme9

See this topic is where I feel weird answering people.

I only felt crappy for about 36 hours...no longer. However, during that time, I pumped the water, fat and Salt intake to weird levels. (like I ate cucumber slices with tons of salt on them at work.....it actually helped with the grouchy while going through this) It was scary. But at about 36 hours, it clicked and suddenly had a ton of energy and wasn't so hungry.

My personal recommendation is to be patient, if you are hungry eat, if you are craving something then find something like it to fill your needs.

I'm no expert and I am still learning (this macro thing is interesting), but this group has been my best source of inspiration (other than Stephanie Person Skater, lol..gosh..I want her body).

Also, remember, when you go on this, every person has their own twist of how they do it. My boss was on a keto diet once but he was allowed sweet potatoes. Me, my diet that my doctor set up doesn't allow for any potatoes of any kind. So, each one is a bit different.

And yes, as soon as you feel like it, get active. It feels amazing after being so sluggish all the time to have all this energy, so I enjoyed using it up doing things I wanted to do.

And most of all, have fun! Keto is actually kind-of fun because it's not as restrictive as "diets". It's a lifestyle change that can change your life.

Skoster1

Make sure you're eating more fat than protein.

More fat calories, not grams, than protein calories.

VastBreak

Thanks for the advice, some great tips here! I'm traveling right now and am trying to set up a plan for when I get back to my regular schedule.

Do any of you fit quest bars into your day? The carbs seems pretty low and fiber pretty high. Wondering if they work well while in keto?

dsb188

I started off cutting out bread, potatoes, and rice but still ate a bunch of fruit and than transitioned to keto where i had no fruit and limited my carbs to under 50 g. I think I had an easier transition than going cold turkey. I would definitely suggest starting out with a higer amount of carbs and than scaling back. Also i would stock up on some keto friendly foods as well as google some recipes.

Also people react differently to keto. I know some people said that you shouldn't have jello or diet sodas because that might throw you out of ketosis but I found that not to be true. Also people say it takes 4 to 8 weeks to get fully adapted but it may not take that long. So its really trial and error.

People react differently to it but you may feel sick initially but it will get easier.

Booksandbeaches

Do any of you fit quest bars into your day? The carbs seems pretty low and fiber pretty high. Wondering if they work well while in keto?

I'm not really a protein bar kind of person. I didn't eat those even before LCHF, so I don't eat those now.

Quest bars were sued for false label claims. Here are the links.

http://www.strengthsociety.com/quest-bar-nutrition-lawsuit/

http://www.strengthsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/LabReport.pdf

VastBreak

I was wondering about soda, what type of effect it would have! I don't drink it often but a couple times a month it is appealing!

This week I think will be a bit of a transition week for me. I'm going to start heading the right direction but I don't have all my meals planned out yet and I need more quick grab items on hand. Lack of planning is where I fall apart.

I'm reading different opinions about dairy. Have many of you experienced problems keeping string cheese, cottage cheese or Greek yogurt in your menus?

Skoster1

I was wondering about soda, what type of effect it would have! I don't drink it often but a couple times a month it is appealing!

This week I think will be a bit of a transition week for me. I'm going to start heading the right direction but I don't have all my meals planned out yet and I need more quick grab items on hand. Lack of planning is where I fall apart.

I'm reading different opinions about dairy. Have many of you experienced problems keeping string cheese, cottage cheese or Greek yogurt in your menus?

I drink diet soda and it doesn't impact me.

Booksandbeaches

I was wondering about soda, what type of effect it would have! I don't drink it often but a couple times a month it is appealing!

This week I think will be a bit of a transition week for me. I'm going to start heading the right direction but I don't have all my meals planned out yet and I need more quick grab items on hand. Lack of planning is where I fall apart.

I'm reading different opinions about dairy. Have many of you experienced problems keeping string cheese, cottage cheese or Greek yogurt in your menus?

I didn't drink diet soda, so I don't know about the impact.

I eat string cheese. It doesn't seem to affect my ketosis. I have about two pieces for the day.