1 Month Progress Picture on Keto (LCHF)

gigiangelique wrote: »

SO.....my journey begins again, this time I am jumping on the keto train. how many cards should you allow yourself ? I only eat two-three pieces of fruit in the morning in conjunction with my protein shake . the rest of the day veggies and lean protein. Id like to lose 10-25 pounds and gain muscle .

Firstly congratulations on taking the first step to losing weight again! I am very happy to see you are trying keto this time around! When you start Keto you will need to reduce your carb intake to 50grams or less of NET carbs per day. You can calculate your net carbs by logging the foods you eat and subtracting the grams of fibre out of the total carbs. (Example: 1 oz of asparagus has 1.1 grams of carbs and 0.6 g of fibre. Net carbs= 1.1-0.6=0.5g net carbs) Try to aim for 50grams of net carbs per day, for some this is reduced enough for them to enter ketosis, for others they need to restrict down to 25g. I myself, went straight to 25g and entered ketosis the following day. It may take up to 1 week of eating 25grams net carbs before your body enters ketosis depending on how much time it takes for your body to deplete the glycogen stores in the liver. I highly suggest you input your data in this calculator http://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/ to determine your macro goals.

The first thing you should do is go to a nearby pharmacy and get ketostix (about 10$ for 50 or 100 strips). These are urine test strips that react to acetone present in your urine. The only way you will ever have acetone in your urine is by being in ketosis (from the production of ketones) so if you pee on a ketostix one morning and you see a pink or purple color you know your in ketosis.

Once you are in ketosis, you may feel dizzy, tired, sick for a few days. This is commonly called as the "keto flu" and you should immediately increase your salt intake, stay hydrated and increase your fat intake slightly. Your symptoms will subside within a day or two and you will start feeling the great benefits of the keto diet. The first thing I noticed was that I did not get the "afternoon energy crash" that my co-workers get. I felt energized throughout my day and did not need a coffee to keep me going during the afternoon. You will also feel full much longer, sleep better and have more energy. Chances are you won't even think about food until you realize it's time for your next meal.

If you are really interested in the numbers, you could even get yourself a blood meter that also measures ketone levels and test your blood levels for ketones. This will give you the most accurate reading and will truly help you explain and see what your body is doing.

I strongly suggest you visit theses websites: http://www.ruled.me/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/ for recipes, tips and advice from fellow members. Also you can download an app called yummly, which is a search engine type app for recipes all over the internet. You can customize your search results by diet, allergies etc. You can find any recipe you're eating now in a low carb format. I can promise you that.

When I first started, I was only cooking lean meats with vegetables and was not getting in enough fats and it got pretty repetitive and boring. When I found ruled.me I found all these amazing recipes to try and saw that Low carb is not just eating meat with a side of veggies every night. In my first week I was eating too much protein and got kicked out of ketosis because of all the excess protein I was eating but quickly recovered when I lowered my protein and increased my fat by choosing good quality fattier meats as opposed to lean meats. (Example: medium ground beef instead of extra lean). I also focused my fat intake on good fats from olive oil, avocados and coconut oil. I now make desserts, casseroles, chili and pizza all while staying in ketosis.

Word of advice: Starting keto was very hard for me because I had been conditioned all my life that in order to lose weight I had to eat low-fat everything. Changing this mentality was the hardest part of this diet for me. Eating fat was scary and intimidating and I was terrified that I was only going to make myself look 1000 times worse. Everything I was eating prior to keto, every item I would buy while grocery shopping, it was all LOADED with carbs. I could not believe how much stuff I had to get rid of or give away when I made my fridge keto friendly. So please, READ labels, pay attention to hidden carbs, and clean out your fridge before you even start. You would be surprised at how many foods you normally eat that you think have no carbs but actually have tons of carbs in them. My go to is: if it has over 10 grams total carbs in one portion I either toss it or don't eat it.

Starting keto can be terrifying and can make you second guess whether this is gonna make you even fatter but honestly once you get through the idea that what you've been told your whole life isn't the only RIGHT way to lose weight, you will soon re-build your relationship with food, eat less processed foods, more whole foods that are truly nutritious and good for your body. Moreso your body will thank you for giving it the nutrients it needs to function efficiently and you will quickly see results.

I hope this information helps you in starting your keto diet and I wish you the best of luck with your journey!