1 and 5. I started about a week ago, so I'm no expert! I was eating a pretty well-rounded relatively LF diet before. I tried not to over-do carbs but I wasn't restricting them at all. I started keto full-force, following my macros. I was pretty fuzzy earlier this week, but I followed the advice I read a lot about avoiding the "flu"- lots of water and increasing salt intake. I didn't have any aches, nausea, anything like that. But maybe I'm just lucky!

2. I do dairy but not much. Granted, I've just begun so the weight is coming off easy right now, but dairy seems to be fine for me right now. I know some people try to cut it out when they plateau.

3. I would eat Q/B/L if it fit my macros for the day, but for that to happen there would have to be very little of any of those.

4. I haven't had any carb cravings until last night, while my friends were eating pad thai next to me! I also purged my pantry. Again, only a week in, so I'm sure the cravings will pop up somewhere. There's just so much amazing food that I'd been denying myself in trying to be "healthy" that I can eat now! CARBS SHMARBS

6. http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

7. I caught some flack out at dinner last night and people shut up pretty fast when I told them I've lost 6 lbs in less than a week

Hope this helps! I'm sure there are more experienced keto-ers who have more/better advice!

I've been eating low carb and keto for nearly four years now - can't recall if I suffered any keto flu back in the beginning. I would recommend jumping in completely- following the Atkins Induction Phase is a really good way to start, imho. That eliminates a lot of the - should I, shouldn't I - questions from the start. It really helps with insulin resistance and any climbing blood glucose levels too.

Carb temptations are very few and far between at this point and as Ninanator said, usually connected to emotional issues. There are so many amazing keto-adapted recipes for substitutes that there is no real need to deny yourself an alternate version of a carby favorite.

I would never eat beans, legumes, etc., but that is because I am diabetic.Non-diabetics will have more leeway for these starchy protein sources. I do eat dairy in the form of whole cream (double-cream for you Europeans), real butter, full fat sour cream and various high fat cheeses. Cream cheese is the foundation of many of my recipes.

You also have a lot of leeway on your macros. I began with about a 60F - 30P - 10C ratio way back when and kept changing the ratios around. I was at 85F - 10P - 5C for a long while but recently switched back to an 80-15-5 because my body seems to crave a bit more protein in winter.

I will say that at my age (over 60), I am not very active and I do not lose weight quickly. I have lost 30 pounds over the years but I think that younger people will have more dramatic responses. Weight loss is not my goal - controlling blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure are my goals. And keto works very well in this regard. I also believe that because keto lowers your overall body glucose load it is protective against developing cancers and dementia.

Grocery shopping can prove a bit on the expensive side on those first few trips, as you must start building a new staples list. Once you have your pantry set up, though, I find keto to be quite reasonable to maintain, financially. My shopping cart will be full of things like cream, butter, eggs, fresh salad greens, fatty (cheaper) cuts of meat. I also believe that eating a true keto plan requires a lot of food prep and cooking. Ready-made foods are a huge no-no.

There is no need to justify your health choices to anyone else, except perhaps a doctor or a parent. I laughed at a smoker who berated me with 'you're going to have a heart attack with all that cream and butter'.

Oh, and definitely drink lots of water!

I'm a firm believer that keto is a way of life, not a temporary diet plan.

Hi there, and welcome to the lovely world of Keto

1- did you find its better to go hard on LCHF, deal with induction flu right off the bat and move on OR ease in to it?

Just do it. Sit down for half an hour and plan ahead some days (I always plan ahead in order to get my macros right) and start – not everyone gets an induction flu. I didn't know it existed when I started Keto and can't remember any discomfort at all.

2- what's your stance on dairy?

I've always been unsure whether milk is good for us as adults, so I've stopped drinking milk when I started Keto. I drink my coffee with almond milk now and milk now tastes sour to me. I do however now take Calcium supplements as I used to drink a lot of milk. I do however eat cheese every day. I love and it's great to shove up the fat...

3- what's your stance on Quinoa/beans/legumes?

I am not totally crazy about my carbs (I stay under 40 because otherwise I can't go on the toilet on less than 20..) so I do eat some Heinz beans occasionally, usually mixed with mince and cheddar, wrapped in lettuce..

4- what did you do to help deal with carb cravings?

Depends on what you're craving really.. there are some great alternatives for pasta etc, but if it's sweeties you are missing I recommend home made fat bombs! I was never sure about artificial sweetener but now that I've lost some weight, I'm sure the occasional artificial sweetener is not as bad for me as my ridiculous weight I used to have was!

5- what got you through induction flu, through carb cravings, through the transition to loving LCHF?

Can't say, as I don't think I went through induction flu..

6- what do you set your carb/fat/protein macros to?

10% carbs (though I usually stay under that), 65% fat and 25% protein. I recommend this website for getting started. http://cavemanketo.com/ As you can see tomorrow there's “Getting started on MFP” or something like that.

7- any other advice? Advice on food? On shopping?

Plan ahead, check your macros and you'll get used to Keto in no time – there is an abundance of pages on the internet (one I've already linked to), make friends on MFP and nose through their diaries, I'm sure you'll enjoy Keto!

1- did you find its better to go hard on LCHF, deal with induction flu right off the bat and move on OR ease in to it?

Go big or go home. Toss out all the starches and sugar and make room for meat! If you have induction flu, it usually means you're lacking in potassium or magnesium. Eat your buttered sauteed spinach and mackerel (high in Mg!) with a lot of Morton's Lite Salt on it. Or have some pork rinds with guacamole, avocado is high in Mg too. Either way, get some Lite Salt. Pronto. http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/food-salts/3/morton-lite-salt-mixture

2- what's your stance on dairy? I've read differing opinions from "our ancestors didn't eat it, we shouldn't either" to, "if it's high fat then have at it". Dairy doesn't bother me tummy/allergy-wise, I don't have much short of sour cream with my salsa chicken or a slice of melted cheese on an egg in the morning, but I do enjoy it!

If you're not allergic, and it's not got a lot of starches or additives as anticaking agents, I say go for it. There might be less than 1g of carbs per serving of cheese. Heavy cream has 1g of carbs per serving, but I add it to a lot of recipes... My general rule when I'm shopping is to look at the nutrition info for EVERYTHING and try to make sure it's AT LEAST 7g fat+8g protein per 1g of carbs. Preferably more like 15g fat+15g protein per 1g carbs. That keeps a nice 67/30/3 ratio.

Either way, wouldn't hurt to either introduce it slowly into your regimen, or cut dairy out as the first thing if you stall.

3- what's your stance on Quinoa/beans/legumes? Some say they have lots of protein so it's not so bad. Other reading suggests "NO! It's grain, or it's starch, it's not something to have regularly or at all!"

Beans are CARBY AS FUKC. This includes peanuts. CARBS ARE NOT JUST SUGAR. Starches are carbs too. This stalled me in my first couple months, heh heh. One serving of black/pinto/kidney beans is enough carbs for your whole day. I suppose if you're gonna go lift heavy and run for an hour or two afterward, it's fine, but generally speaking, beans are just slow sugar. Quinoa is basically 90% carbs as far as you're concerned. If you really need spaghetti, get some http://www.miraclenoodle.com/

4- what did you do to help deal with carb cravings? My house doesn't have much in the way for carbs, but as I get rid of them entirely (ie donating unused bag of rice to shelters and what not) I wonder what do people do to help with carb cravings? Drink water? Eat something? Take up cross-stitching?

Just slowly change your approach to carbs, and the cravings will seem sillier and sillier. I see donuts and go "haha, look at those people eating that high-fructose poison. I bet they're gonna get atherosclerosis. I bet I can outrun them." and eventually I go from feeling "man, that donut looks delicious" to "man, why did I ever like donuts?"

5- what got you through induction flu, through carb cravings, through the transition to loving LCHF?

Morton's lite salt, the ability to run 6 miles in under an hour without stopping to rest, and losing >40lbs off mah belly.

6- what do you set your carb/fat/protein macros to?

It's been a couple years since I really got into it, so I generally just buy the same stuff for lunch every day, and buy the same things at the store. By now, I know what's generally "Safe" for me to eat.

7- any other advice? Advice on food? On shopping? On handling people who can't keep their noses in their own business and say things like, "What's this health kick? The body NEEDS grains!" (shy of pretending to be on the phone or intermittent deafness)

-Configure MFP to have the proper macros.
-Have a cheat meal after a couple months. Heck, have a whole cheat day. You'll feel bloated and gassy and think "oh god, was I always like this?" The next day you'll wake up retaining 8 pounds of water, and your pants are tight, and you'll get even more resolve to be healthy again... for a couple months.
-You don't NEED vegetables. They're nice. They provide variety and flavor... but you CAN get all your nutritional needs met through nothing but eggs fried in butter for breakfast, bacon cheeseburgers for lunch, and a handful of almonds before bed (because you probably won't be hungry enough to cook dinner, haha).
-On that note, a lot of people feel more comfortable on keto by pre-planning their daily meals or making a weeks' worth of food and freezing it. Soups, salads, no-bean chili, scotch eggs, whatever.
-PRINT OUT YOUR FAVORITE RECIPES. Keep them in a three-ring binder!
-Make a list before you leave the house. Write down nutritional info from MFP for everything. DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE LIST. It makes shopping a lot easier.
-BUY A CROCK POT if you don't have one! And maybe a Powercrisp (http://www.amazon.com/Presto-05100-PowerCrisp-microwave-cooker/dp/B00006IUWC) and a microwave egg poacher (http://www.amazon.com/Chef-Buddy-Microwave-Egg-Cooker/dp/B004SJUGPI).