Tracking Macronutrients
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FitGuyMemphis
Posts: 10 Member
First off Howdy to everyone in this group! I found this site, and this group via Reddit! /r/keto and am glad I'm here!
Just wanted to point out the importance of actually tracking your macro nutrients and caloric intake while on keto so that you don't get carried away. I just say this because I myself kind of went overboard the first week or two and didn't see results like I wanted.
We all know by now that the idea ratio is somewhere around 60% fat/ 35% protein/ 5% carbs...so you want to make sure your calorie tracking and goals are set up that way, and then you want to make sure we are actually logging it on here so that you aren't going over your target daily calorie goals.
Keto is so incredibly easy to follow, and everything you can eat is SO delicious, that its easy to get carried away with...at least for me it was. I know the first week I realized butter and bacon was ok, I was eating a TON of it and probably exceeding my daily calories by 1000cals or so because I was just pigging out. Just because you keep the right balance of macro nutrients doesn't mean you can eat infinite amounts of all these good things
Portion control is key of course. Now I'm sure you all know this already if you have found your way to this website so maybe this rant is more for myself than anyone else, but I figured I'd just post a friendly reminder, and say hi to this community!
Look forward to getting to know everyone and sharing our keto experiences!
Take care
-Brian
Just wanted to point out the importance of actually tracking your macro nutrients and caloric intake while on keto so that you don't get carried away. I just say this because I myself kind of went overboard the first week or two and didn't see results like I wanted.
We all know by now that the idea ratio is somewhere around 60% fat/ 35% protein/ 5% carbs...so you want to make sure your calorie tracking and goals are set up that way, and then you want to make sure we are actually logging it on here so that you aren't going over your target daily calorie goals.
Keto is so incredibly easy to follow, and everything you can eat is SO delicious, that its easy to get carried away with...at least for me it was. I know the first week I realized butter and bacon was ok, I was eating a TON of it and probably exceeding my daily calories by 1000cals or so because I was just pigging out. Just because you keep the right balance of macro nutrients doesn't mean you can eat infinite amounts of all these good things
Portion control is key of course. Now I'm sure you all know this already if you have found your way to this website so maybe this rant is more for myself than anyone else, but I figured I'd just post a friendly reminder, and say hi to this community!Look forward to getting to know everyone and sharing our keto experiences!
Take care
-Brian
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agreed!
my first 2 weeks were a bust cause I was just eating way too much cheese, somehow thinking that being in keto alone would make me lose weight. its not magic! but now that I count calories I am very impressed at how easy it is to eat small portions0 -
I also agree.
It seems that some people over on r/keto just dont want to count calories and thats fine if keto is working for them with out tracking, I just find it so much easier to have the data on what im eating, always knowing I am not eating too much and not getting too fat.
I always recommend anyone who is starting keto to count calories and track food over on MFP, not only is it useful to have the data but its also pretty dam motavational and will make you think twice if you get tempted to have an extra snack or something with carbs in.
I was a little confused when I first heard about keto as it basicly sounded like "Eat all the meat and cheese" and I think many new starters hear the same thing. I dont think its such a massive problem tho as after you body gets used to keto it just seems to not need as much food, you wont be as hungry and just naturally eat less[YMMV]0 -
The biggest thing I've dealt with since adopting this lifestyle is how completely opposite it is to all the "nutrition" education I have gotten while in school as a Health Promotion major. Everything I basically practice and believe in, and plan to pass on to future clients, goes against all commonly accepted "facts" about fitness. All guidelines put out by the Government and various health organizations have it all wrong, and I plan to prove it.
So far I have seen awesome progress. I have been following intermittent fasting too...just a random schedule where I will just go 24-36 hours if I feel like it. On top of that I have been trying some extended water fasting for the purpose of detox and trying to give my body a real chance to heal. Right now I'm on day 6 of a water fast and going strong. In the past two months since adopting this lifestyle I have probably eaten a 2/3 less food than I typically would in the past and have felt better and had more energy, and am steadily loosing weight without loosing muscle! If I keep it up, in a couple months I am going to be more ripped and toned than I've been in my entire life!0 -
Have you watched the documentary Fat Head? If you haven't the whole thing is on youtube.
I plan do the new idea that heart disease is caused by high blood sugar for a 4th year biochem term paper. It is very interesting.0 -
This is my first day, and I seem to be having the opposite problem. I just don't feel hungry enough to eat more than 1200 like the calorie tracker says I should. Maybe that's just because I haven't been very active today. For the past week or so I've gotten so much exercise every day because of helping my girlfriend move that I decided to just rest a bit today instead of running around carrying boxes and stuff. My meals have been so filling though. I wasn't even hungry for snacks or anything. Now I have to eat some cheese or something before I go to bed so that the calorie tracker won't be telling me I haven't eaten enough. It's hard to believe I feel this full without even meeting the minimum amount of calories I'm supposed to eat.0
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I'm glad that someone pointed this out! I've been on keto for 50 days and I was only tracking my carb intake...turns out I had gained weight. Some people are able to lose weight without tracking calories (I was hoping to be one of them) but I realized that it is still possible to overeat on delicious keto food. It is also sometimes put forth that being on keto will help you understand when you're full and you will naturally want to stop eating--unfortunately, mindless snacking habits and boredom eating can really impede weight loss. Here's hoping careful monitoring will make the difference!0
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I started keto wanting to go from 185->140. The first month or two I managed to lose weight by pigging out on bacon and cheese and hard sausages, and then I plateaued. I started counting calories after the first 20 lbs or so and managed to get down to 145/150. Now I'm stuck and fluctuate drastically depending on how clean I eat.0
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I will be attending the Low Carb Cruise next week. Looking forward to spending time with like minded people & experts in Low Carb/High Fat/Paleo world. I have been low carbing for 5 years and have not only lost weight but become healthy.0
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Calories are still the key. Keto will just burn the fat off before the protein. If your weight loss stops you are eating your maintenance calories.0
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Well I completely fell off the wagon after posting this, as far as actually tracking calories/macros go...I stalled completely and wasn't seeing any weight loss so I finally sat down and figured out the macros and calories for everything I have been eating, and realized I was going WAY over my daily caloric intake. Just one meal was almost 2000 calories.
I have to remind myself that just because I am able to eat a double bacon cheeseburger (no bun of course) doesn't mean that I can make it a double with extra bacon and extra cheese every time without consequences.
So I'm starting out right tomorrow morning and going to get back to tracking everything to make sure I'm doing it right. Hope everyone else is doing well in their keto journeys!0 -
since you bring this up, do we have to eat 1200 calories a day? im afraid ill put my body into starvation mode. and i eat loads of chesse but im always at or under my calorie goal, does that make it okay?0
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I have mine set to 1600 cals per day. I hardly ever eat that much but it's definitely a lot fewer calories than I was eating when I was eating carbs and I'm losing weight on that.0
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MFP has totally helped me to ensure I am watching my calories along with a few calculators I found on line to help me determine my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). It is critical to know this so you don't go over it or too far under it (starvation mode).
It wasn't until I added Body Media Fit Link to my routine that I really started to get a good handle on my caloric output and my BMR. Right now my goal is to keep some consistency in my daily caloric intake under my daily expenditure (BMR + exercise calories) by 700-1000 calories ( which puts me personally at about 1400-1200 net calories). [MFP Cals set to 1400 max]
Doing that puts me 4-5,000 calorie deficit (3,500 Cal/lb of fat) in a week below my average maintenance caloric need.
Keeping protein high also ensures you are gaining or at least not loosing muscle mass which is also critical for continuous caloric burn.0
