I began low carb high fat last March at 100 gm a day and began to notice how good I felt (marked decrease of fibromyalgia pain!)the lower carb I went! On May 1st I went to less than 10, and am now at 20 a day.

The switch to LCHF can be either fast or slow depending on your choice. It takes some tough adjustments in the beginning, but becomes super easy, imo, once you're used to the food choices!

Carb withdrawals are real! One recommendation for fighting them is to forget counting calories (if you do) for the first few weeks. The habit of eating (read snacking) is hard to break at first! When you replace those snacks with LCHF choices, the desire decreases, thereby decreasing the calories consumed once the habit is broken. Another recommendation is to drink some broth that's generously salted everyday to fight the electrolyte imbalance (keto flu) that occurs during adaptation too! We lose them through our urine with the ketones produced from burning fat. Feeling tired, and sluggish, after beginning this woe is a sign that you need to replace the electrolytes!

Imo, lemon slices should be counted in the daily carb count.

My experience has been that I don't miss the foods that I thought I would! I hope you experience the same!

Also, please browse through the Launch Pad located at the top of the group forum page. It's loaded with valuable information that's a huge benefit!

Best of luck!

I didn't have a clue what I was doing when I started, but I found this group very early on. My first decision was that I would no longer eat sugar or starches, so I quit--cold turkey--all sweets (which had become part of my daily intake, sadly), breads, crackers, rice, white potatoes, cereals, and pasta. I did that for a couple weeks while I decided what else I needed to do, and I ended up settling on a loose Atkins type plan, settling on a goal of 40g net carbs per day (because I was breastfeeding at the time and that's what Atkins recommended for nursing mothers). I think easing into it over the course of a couple weeks is what prevented the dreaded keto flu for me, because I don't remember ever feeling crappy and going through withdrawals. I did, as suggested above, eat A LOT in the early days. I kept the snacks handy, because I knew if I got hungry my resolve might weaken. I don't really stress about exact percentages and such as long as I keep my carbs under 40 or so. I'm not sure if that's the best course to take, but I focus on sustainability. I started at the end of February 2015 weighing 236 pounds, and today I'm 176 pounds (lowest to date was 173-something earlier this week, but fluctuations of a few pounds are totally normal for me). Like the others said, check out the LaunchPad. Knowledge is power. Good luck!!!

When I decided to eat Keto I jumped in with both feet. But with everything it's been a huge learning curve. I try to eat below 20 g net carbs. Usually 75%f/20%p/5%c. Sadly I've had a lot of slip ups and it's affected my adaptation. I wanted the end goal to be weight loss but it quickly transitioned to wanting better health. I have too many benefits I've reaped to change. For me eating higher than 20-30 g leads to cravings.

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum but have been on /keto on reddit for about a year. I started about a year ago in order to lose weight for my daughter's wedding the following March. lot's of excuses as to why I did nothing about my weight in 2014. Anyway, I had research Keto and started on 1/5/15 - her wedding was on 3/28/15. I lost 36 pounds for her wedding with more to go. My start weight was 266.5. During our dance, she whispered to me - Dad you look great, keep it up. Whatever thought I would have had to quit the journey ended at that moment. I'm down a total of 71 pounds and still going. To be honest, I took some short keto breaks for a few days to "enjoy" life. Although I love this lifestyle. I finally bit the bullet on MFP this week to track why I've been stalled for a while.

It may be too late, but sorry for the long post. Some things I learned alone the way:

Don't stress and panic - I drove myself crazy in the early months afraid anything would kick me out of keto. It drove me nuts. If it happens for whatever reason, relax. GO back the next day and start again.

My weight will fluctuate during the week. - I track my weight every day. Sometimes it'll be up a pound or 2 and then it drops. Typically when I don't drink water, I retain water.

Plan your meals before you go out to eat. - There are few restaurants that I typically go to. I have a meal chosen ahead of time for each one that I eat when I go there. I don't go out often enough to become bored with them.

Don't stress family events. - everyone know I'm doing "low carbs" (easier to explain than Keto to the masses). If it's going to be a carb heavy meal. I'll eat before I go and snack on cheese or low carb options when i get there.

Enjoy life. - don't let the process stress you out to much. Words I should probably take to heart.

Congrats on your 71# ... that is something to be VERY proud of. Welcome.

I started keto full-fledged on 11/2. I kept my calories at 1350 but changed up my macros. I aimed for 65% fat, 25% protein, 10% carbs but really tried to keep carbs under 20 net/day. I waffled a bit in a range of carbs at first as I got the hang of what to eat, mostly 20-30 net/day, but still lost 8 lbs in the first 2 weeks so I upped my limit to 30 net/day.

My GP recommended it because my cholesterol was elevated. That was 9/15. I jumped into low carb with both feet not having a clue. I did a lot of research online, and after a month or so, realized MFP had a community.

I evolved rather quickly into VLCHF, or Keto (are they the same thing? I still don't know!) because it's anti inflammatory. The anti inflammatory benefit was almost immediate for me in that my muscle and joint connective tissue (fibro) no longer ached. My fatigue entirely disappeared, my brain fog lifted. It all happened so immediately, like within the first week. I also started losing weight immediately (I was definitely overweight).

This is such a smart and knowledgeable group of people. This group is such a valuable resource.

TaraTall wrote: »

As suggested, how did you start your LC diet? What IS your LC diet?

Did you jump in with two feet for a keto plan?
Did you gradually cut down?

Any Pro tips or warnings?

I am celiac so a lot of the 'bread' cravings are non existent but there's the fruit I'm going to miss and the odd potato based thing (hashbrowns, potatoes, etc).
And on that note of fruit, I have lemon slices in my water usually. Would that affect the carb count or only if I was eating the meat of the fruit?

Thanks gang.

I started with the old Atkins diet at induction level (20 net carbs a day).

My diet now is to shoot for 10% carbs a day which translates to around 40g carbs a day for me. I usually hit it between 7-12%. I don't stress about it too much. I know what I can and can't eat, and my menu stays the same. I use Pinterest not only to plan quarterly menus but to shop from. Can't say enough about it. If you are on there find me, I'm JessTRoberts and I'd love to follow your board. I'm a huge foodie and always looking for new ideas (like the egg roll in a bowl some one here yesterday told me about).

Yes, I jumped in all the way. I wanted to get into ketosis. I use ketostix daily and they seem to work great for me tho I know results will vary.

Pro tips or warnings. Um, well off the cuff I'd say stay away from sweet food and retrain your taste buds. I don't do Atkins bars and shakes. I shop the grocery perimeter and I drink water and coffee almost exclusively. For me, sweet (even LC) treats create cravings. I also eat three meals a day so I'm never "starving". Took me a while to notice that about myself, but I do better in the evenings if I eat breakfast. I also hate eggs but they are cheap, so I get it over with first thing. Almost every day I have an egg with cheese melted on it for bfast. I do put sweetener in my coffe but I'm drastically down from my eight packs of sugar/3 packs of sweetener. I also now like dark chocolate. It's all about retraining what I think of as sweet, and it took time. Lots of time. That's the warning. I'm still addicted to sugar free Popsicles tho. But...it's a process.

For tips, I'd say use Pinterest, plan your meals, don't buy unhealthy processed food and you can't eat it, get a support system, insist on those around you either supporting you or staying quiet (I tell them they can lecture me after they watch "Fathead", usually works), focus on nourishing your body, cook a lot when you feel like it so you have lots of healthy leftovers in the fridge, and when you mess up, think if it like a marathon and not a sprint. Get up, dust off, and continue on.

For example, these are my macros, goals and what I hit, yesterday.