First day on Keto, the challenges and surprises...

Ramrad
Ramrad Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
- Carbs: Can I just say that I absolutely love MFP's food tracker. It has really opened my eyes to what exactly I eat. I had never realized how many "hidden" carbs there are in things I consume on a daily basis. My biggest surprise: instant coffee: 9 g of carbs per pouch. And I usually have two a day. Guess that one's out the window for now.

- Fruits: This was a tough one because I LOVE fruits! I figured I'd go with something "safe" like oranges and mandarins. 19 g of carb in an orange! Mind blown... should've done my research :frown:

- Veggies: I really enjoy brussel sprouts. I know, right? I had 6 of them yesterday with my lunch and that added another 9 g of carbs to my diary :sad: was not expecting that!

- Fiber: Since I shouldn't have cereals and oatmeal, I decided to add flax seeds to my food and salad. That actually did not help much and it also has carbs so I have to be careful. I may just have to take fiber supplements.

- Potassium: Another one that seems to be very hard to get. I can't have banana, potato, or milk on this diet and I don't know of any other good sources so may just go with supplement for this one as well.

- Cholesterol: I really like eggs and I had three yesterday but that took me twice over the recommended daily intake. May have to resort to egg whites. There seems to be so many conflicting ideas out there as to whether eating a bunch of eggs in a day is healthy or not.

- Overall feeling: I did not feel much different than any other day. Ketostix still did not show anything. Might take a while. I did go to bed with a bit of a headache which was unusual but may have been unrelated.

Replies

  • RustyDogma
    RustyDogma Posts: 21 Member
    Hi there -

    I've been on Keto since September of 2011, and thought I'd pass on a few things I've learned along the way.

    If you live in the US, be sure you are subtracting the fiber from the carbs to get net carbs for keto. Six Brussels sprouts have 12g carbs with 6g of dietary fiber for a total of 6 net carbs. For keto, the 20-30g recommendation for carbs per day is NET carbs, not total carbs. While you were correct to dump the orange for Keto, veggies are good for you, and you should be eating a lot of them on Keto. Vaggiews are where almost all your carbs should come from.

    Cereal, oatmeal and flax seed are not necessary for fiber, your fiber should primary come from veggies, which have plenty.

    Eating dietary cholesterol does significantly impact your blood cholesterol. If you are not genetically predisposed to high cholesterol, you should be perfectly fine eating eggs regularly. Many folks on Keto eat 4-6 eggs a day, and many see a significant drop in cholesterol.

    Good sources of potassium on Keto are avocado, spinach, kale, salmon, mushrooms and full-fat yogurt.

    I encourage you to do some more reading! Check out: http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq

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