1st: If you go over on fat, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You're better off going over calorie-wise on the fat than carbs. Keep your carbs at 25 grams per day. That is key. And that is the hardest part of the diet (its hard for me). Eat meat, it has a lot of protein and fat. I hope you are using the MyFitnessPal app or tracking on this website?

2nd: I eat Velveeta cheese every day. It is American. I love it. It does have 2 grams of sugar/carbs per slice. I usually eat 2 slices a day. Sometimes more. It is my favorite cheese of all cheeses. You were probably told not to eat American from a "paleo" website. They don't like anything processed. This group Keto is NOT paleo. So you CAN eat it.

My funny cheese story:

I am 57 and never tried a cheese called Brie. All my friends were telling me how great it was. So I went to the store and bought some. It was expensive. Got home and sliced a small piece off and ate it. It was the worst tasting cheese I have ever eaten! YUCK! I am a 275 pound person that eats just about everything and I hate that stuff. I am going to throw it outside my house and see if the raccoons will even eat it! Give me some Velveeta ANY day over that stuff!

I hope this helps,

Dan the Man from Velveeta Land Michigan

I would not drink alcohol until you see how your body reacts to ketosis. Alcohol will kick you out of ketosis and set you back. I have had vodka with water and used a "mio" flavor drop to just have a social drink on occasions. I find it gives me a terrible headache though. I do use crystal light about 1x per week. I mostly drink water with lemon or cucumber.

Adding tons of fat to your diet is surprisingly easy, once you get used to it. When I first started keto, I had the same concern. I was so "brain washed" that fat was bad, that I couldn't fathom eating that much fat. It seemed so counter-intuitive, and crazy. Now that I've been doing it for 4 months, it's natural and easy most days. Here's a few simple ideas (google them):

1) Bullet Proof Coffee
2) Fat bombs
3) Lots of Bacon (don't drain it on paper towels!)
4) look up recipes on ruled.me, genaw.com/, reddit, or pinterest.
5) When cooking add lots of butter to everything (butter those veggies!)

Have fun!

mherbert0 wrote: »

The main problem with most "processed" cheese, is they are made from vegetable oil, which is high in omega-6 (pro-inflammatory). Additionally vegetable oil, is not tolerant to being heated, and when heated produces trans fats, and other unnatural molecules.

That being said, you can still eat american and other processed cheeses, but make sure not to heat them, and try to limit how much you eat. If you are having problems with inflammation (c-reactive protein), or low HDL, these are foods to avoid.

I never heard that before. I looked up Velveeta on Wiki and for the ingredients, it lists:

Milk, water, milkfat, whey, milk protein concentrate, whey protein concentrate, sodium phosphate; contains less than 2% of: salt, calcium phosphate, lactic acid, sorbic acid as a preservative, sodium alginate, sodium citrate, enzymes, apocarotenal (color), annatto (color), and cheese culture.

Can you tell me which ingredient above comes from vegetable oil?

Thank you,

Dan the Man from Michigan

Hi there! I have only been on keto for 3 weeks, but here's what I've found to be helpful:

1) Fat - I love fat so I don't have a problem getting enough fat. Stir fry your low carb veggies in bacon grease. It's a Southern tradition, so that's the way I grew up. Add bacon to the pot when cooking green beans, kale, collard greens, etc. Add butter to anything you can. (I love butter.) Avocados and olives are also a great source of fat. I have also started adding a bit of heavy whipping cream to my coffee and it's delicious. Try the recipe for Bulletproof coffee...it's surprisingly good. Also, switch to higher fat ground beef. Because I have always been on a DIET, I was used to buying 93/7 ground beef. Now I buy 73/27 or 80/20. (God, I love Keto.)

2) American Cheese - I eat American cheese occasionally. However, I eat the "Deluxe" American cheese slices. The package says "American Cheese" vs "American Cheese Product." They are only 1 carb per slice. I love a slice of American Cheese slapped on top of my 2 fried eggs (fried in butter or bacon grease.)

3) Alcohol-Imma be honest. I'm a drinker. Pre-keto, wine was my thing. Now I stick to whiskey. I find I drink less. So, I can still have my drink...whiskey has 0 carbs but you still need to account for the calories if you're on a deficit. I would say I have a drink every day or every other day and it hasn't interfered with keto yet. So far, I'm down 13 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks. However, when my weight loss slows, alcohol will be the first thing to go.

Sorry so long...I did so much research before starting Keto, I figured I'd try to give as much anecdotal feedback as possible. Especially about drinking, because people don't really like to talk about how much they drink. Good luck!

sljohnson1207 wrote: »

why 1300 cals?
<snipped>
I think mostly the American cheese thing has to do with the carb count, but if it fits your macros and calories, I'm not really sure why it would be off limits unless it is made from vegetable oil...but Dan showed us that Velveeta is not. I don't think Kraft singles are either, but I'm not certain.

SLJ;

In a previous life, loved V as much as the next guy (how else could one make a "homemade", reasonable facsimile of a Philly Cheesesteak Sandy?)

Might not be veg oils but it is "processed" (milk & milk "by products", etc) and those carbs (3/oz) are coming from somewhere (sugar).

tinyurl.com/k7dhs7m

Agree that we all have our "vices" and not only are none of us "perfect" but it's better to bend the rules once in a while if it helps you stay basically on track - but,

for me, the Velveeta on the steak would be just too close to that cheesesteak I remember and if the V is ok, why not go find me a fresh baked sub roll and do it up right?

DittoDan wrote: »

I never heard that before. I looked up Velveeta on Wiki and for the ingredients, it lists:

Milk, water, milkfat, whey, milk protein concentrate, whey protein concentrate, sodium phosphate; contains less than 2% of: salt, calcium phosphate, lactic acid, sorbic acid as a preservative, sodium alginate, sodium citrate, enzymes, apocarotenal (color), annatto (color), and cheese culture.

Can you tell me which ingredient above comes from vegetable oil?

Thank you,

Dan the Man from Michigan

Dan, you are quite right! My apologies. Neither american nor Velveeta seem to have any vegetable oil in them ... not sure why I thought that (will make sure to do my research next time )

DittoDan wrote: »

deansdad101 wrote: »

sljohnson1207 wrote: »

why 1300 cals?
<snipped>
I think mostly the American cheese thing has to do with the carb count, but if it fits your macros and calories, I'm not really sure why it would be off limits unless it is made from vegetable oil...but Dan showed us that Velveeta is not. I don't think Kraft singles are either, but I'm not certain.

SLJ;

In a previous life, loved V as much as the next guy (how else could one make a "homemade", reasonable facsimile of a Philly Cheesesteak Sandy?)

Might not be veg oils but it is "processed" (milk & milk "by products", etc) and those carbs (3/oz) are coming from somewhere (sugar).

tinyurl.com/k7dhs7m

Agree that we all have our "vices" and not only are none of us "perfect" but it's better to bend the rules once in a while if it helps you stay basically on track - but,

for me, the Velveeta on the steak would be just too close to that cheesesteak I remember and if the V is ok, why not go find me a fresh baked sub roll and do it up right?

...sauerkraut ~ "why not do it right and add a hotdog and a bun?"

UM yes please. And I'll take a Chicago Dog as well, if anyone's delivering.

Lisa1971 wrote: »

sljohnson1207 wrote: »

why 1300 cals? Are you very petite? Are you aiming for a very large deficit like >500 cals per day? How much weight do you have to lose?

Eat fat. Skin on chicken, fattier beef like 80/20, heavy cream, butter, cream cheese (watch the carbs, though), full fat greek yogurt and sour cream, avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, lard, bacon grease, olives, some nut oils are ok (check some paleo websites for the best oils to eat and cook with) egg yolks, cheese. I have no issues hitting my fat macro now. I used to because of all the brainwashing from before, but that has passed. Eat all the fats.

I think mostly the American cheese thing has to do with the carb count, but if it fits your macros and calories, I'm not really sure why it would be off limits unless it is made from vegetable oil...but Dan showed us that Velveeta is not. I don't think Kraft singles are either, but I'm not certain.

I also have a lot to lose (50lbs) so this seems do able to me. Do you think this is too low? I'm 5'3 and 182lbs. Not sure of my bf% because I don't have a bf scale.

MFP says I should be eating 1380 to lose 2lb/week. I'm just a hair under 5'10" and weight 189. I'm certain I'll be down to 1300 before it's all over with. What does it say for yours?

baconslave wrote: »

DittoDan wrote: »

deansdad101 wrote: »

sljohnson1207 wrote: »

why 1300 cals?
<snipped>
I think mostly the American cheese thing has to do with the carb count, but if it fits your macros and calories, I'm not really sure why it would be off limits unless it is made from vegetable oil...but Dan showed us that Velveeta is not. I don't think Kraft singles are either, but I'm not certain.

SLJ;

In a previous life, loved V as much as the next guy (how else could one make a "homemade", reasonable facsimile of a Philly Cheesesteak Sandy?)

Might not be veg oils but it is "processed" (milk & milk "by products", etc) and those carbs (3/oz) are coming from somewhere (sugar).

tinyurl.com/k7dhs7m

Agree that we all have our "vices" and not only are none of us "perfect" but it's better to bend the rules once in a while if it helps you stay basically on track - but,

for me, the Velveeta on the steak would be just too close to that cheesesteak I remember and if the V is ok, why not go find me a fresh baked sub roll and do it up right?

dean that is ridiculous. Your food diary is open. I looked at it and you eat and drink several foods that have more carbs than a slice of Velveeta. Your, wine, sauerkraut and Hannaford sausage. By following your logic, then I wouldn't eat sauerkraut ~ "why not do it right and add a hotdog and a bun?"

Remember, Keto is LOW carb, not NO carb. If we want to eat a food that has a whopping 3 carbs in it, we can ~ without dumb statements like that.

Dan the Man from I-Love-Velveeta Michigan

P.S. That wine you drink is processed.

good LAWD, people don't start that dumb "processed' argument in here!

I get enough of that crap in the Litterbox.

I eat what I want, processed or no, as long as it fits my carbs. And I am doing fabulously. YMMV. The End.

AMEN! Yeah, Keto is NOT paleo. I'll eat all the processed foods I want. And Lisa can eat American chees if she wants to.

Dan the Man from Processed Food Land

I don't have any problems with "clean" eaters either. Keto is inclusive, not exclusive. I don't like it when a Paleo Keto tells a newbie they must be Paleo in addition to Keto for things to work. That ain't so. You have to start newbies with where they are at now. You can't overwhelm them with highly technical things, and start telling them you can't eat processed foods. Let them start loosing the weight and be successful first. Then they will see that it works, and they will learn along the way that "clean" foods may help them a little more. To eat "clean" is a lot more expensive to boot. The "bang" for the buck ain't there with "clean" foods. You don't have to buy the doubly expensive virgin organic coconut oil when the discount LouAnna's (refined) will help you get your fat just as well as the unrefined stuff (that tastes overwhelmingly coconutty ~ I don't like it.) So which is better, a successful Keto dieter that uses some "non-clean" processed foods, or a dieter that can't afford or gives up on the diet because its just too hard to use the "clean foods"?

Dan the Man from Keto Land