Keto experts needed!! -Qs

spvlat · January 2018

hi! I've been trying the keto diet for a few days now and I have a few questions: 1) Does it still count as keto if I eat less than 30g of net carbs per day? 2) What if I eat less than 30g of net per day but my overall carb percentage is over 10% ? (it's usually about 10-15%) 3) and lastly do I have to restrict my calories while on keto to lose weight? (I've been eating close to my "maintance weight" so far). I'd be really helpful to get some answers. Thanks and good luck to all!!

ChelseaAnnEssert · January 2018

I feel like you should eat less than maintenance calories to lose weight. I just program it into MFP. It tells me how many calories I can have to lose two pounds per week.

TheopolisAmbroiseIII · January 2018

Ditch thinking about your macros in terms of percents. Eat less than 25-30g of carbs per day. Eat at least, or more, protein somewhere around 0.75g/lb bodyweight (+/-, depending on activity level, etc). Eat the rest of your calorie allotment in fat, up to where you don't feel like you're starving.

MFP, unless you pay for premium, only lets you use percents in goals, but keep reworking the goals to keep your macros in those numerical ranges.

As for "counting" as keto.. keto is a binary condition. Either your body is in Ketosis or it isn't. People who say things like "partially keto" mean the same thing as "a little bit pregnant". It's nonsensical. Your body is in ketosis when you routinely have too few carbs in your diet to maintain your body's energy requirements, and your body has to switch to fat burning for energy. For some, this can be done only at 25g of carbs or less daily. For some, like some mythical creature who runs a marathon daily, they could eat a lot more carbs and still be in ketosis.

ericflatekval · January 2018

Hi

Now, at the risk that replying to this makes me an 'expert', here goes:
1) It counts as keto if you keep your body in ketosis. DO NOT necessarily get hung up on a grams/day number, staying in ketosis is different from person to person (I can stay in ketosis eating up to 50-60 grams of carbs in a day). MEASURE your ketone bodies over a period of time (every day or two for 2-3 weeks, ketostix are cheap) while being consistent with your macros. Get to know your body and experiment with how your body reacts to A) the amount of carbs you eat and

what kind. Sure, count your net carbs at first and keep them below 30g, but do this only to help you set a baseline for yourself.
2) If your carb percentage is at 10%, is this when you are at =<30g of carbs in a day? This means your fat and protein AMOUNTS are pretty low. I am sure you have learned the point of keto eating is to reach ketosis --> to burn fat as energy rather than glucose. Getting enough fat in your day is super important while in ketosis so you have the energy your body needs (though it will get a significant amount from your body's fat stores). Keep your carbs net no more than 30g perhaps, but increase your fat and protein to be at 65%/30% respectively, or lower your carb intake if you are not going to increase fats/protein.
3) If your goal is to lose weight (stay tuned, I have a comment on this below) they YES, you need to be in a caloric deficit... now, the interesting point you will find is that your caloric deficit can be less while in ketosis because as your body is fat-adapted you will burn ingested fast AND fat stores ALL the time vs glucose based diet where you really only burn ingested energies.

NOW

IMPORTANT POINT

STOP THINKING ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT!!!!

HUH????

Here is what I implore anyone on a ketogenic diet... this has worked wonders for me and a number of people who have been eating keto -->
GET AN ACCURATE MEASURE OF YOUR BODY FAT PERCENTAGE, AND HAVE A GOAL TO REACH A CERTAIN BODY FAT PERCENTAGE, NOT OVERALL WEIGHT. Why? Because body composition is a far more healthy goal. If you are male, 6 feet tall, are 200lbs, and are 12% body fat, you are lean, strong and in good shape! Conversely, a male could be 6 feet tall, 210lbs and 20% body fat... that is only 10lbs, or a small fraction of body weight percentage, BUT VASTLY DIFFERENT in health.

If you have a high body fat % you will inevitably lose weight while you are moving towards a healthy body fat goal %. The fact is, stop looking at a scale for weight, look to be lean and healthy and you will thank me for this!!!!

AnvilHead · January 2018

spvlat wrote: »

hi! I've been trying the keto diet for a few days now and I have a few questions: 1) Does it still count as keto if I eat less than 30g of net carbs per day? 2) What if I eat less than 30g of net per day but my overall carb percentage is over 10% ? (it's usually about 10-15%) 3) and lastly do I have to restrict my calories while on keto to lose weight? (I've been eating close to my "maintance weight" so far). I'd be really helpful to get some answers. Thanks and good luck to all!!

Yes, you have to restrict your calories to lose weight on keto, just as you do on any other diet/macro split. There's nothing magical about keto which defies the laws of energy balance, and calories are what drive weight gain/loss - not carbs.

liciav23 · January 2018

Keto friends: can I get an add?! Need keto Accountability with those who get it!

nvmomketo · January 2018

As stated earlier, upper carb limits for ketosis can vary. Some who have IR and are inactive may need to stay under 20-30 g of carbs (net or total) whereas very active, healthy people who time carbs around exercise can eat well over 100g ( I have seen over 200g for endurance athletes). Most people do fine under 50 g. That is often about 10%.

You do need to restrict calories to lose weight. Some keto'ers naturally eat less when ketogenic so they don't have to count calories in order to eat at a deficit. If they are losing weight, they are eating at a deficit though.

Good luck!

Selendraco · January 2018

Does anyone have any good sites to help with meal planning?

I would also like an add for keto help.
I am the worst with meal planning as I semi know what I can/should eat. but its the planning part that messes me up.
Today is my first day of "real" keto. In December, I've been ramping my way up, by lowering stuff so I don't get overwhelmed and self sabotage myself.

So all of December was minimizing sugar, re-quitting soft drinks, minimizing carbs, buying ingredients (ghee,coconut oil), and things that will help.

So now that I've officially started I don't even know where to begin even when I have all the resources, I need guidance.

(What I really need is Mutombo slapping things out of my hand, "No, No, No. Not Today" but I'll settle for guidance.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO6n-aT3Fhg

spvlat · January 2018

Thanks for all of your replies. I'm new to keto and reading all these diferrent articles about it confused me a bit but you guys were very insightful. The thing is it's hard for me to tell if my body's in ketosis since it's difficult to get a hold of a ketostix where I live but I've definitely eaten less than 30grams of net carbs in the past 8 days. I'm 5'6, 135 lbs and I have a 27,5% body fat percentage(woman).I was thinking of dropping about 8 lbs with keto and maybe slowly transist into eating low-carb. I think now I'm going to focus more on lowering my body fat% rather than the scale. I don't see myself doing keto in the long run maybe low-carb but keto's been very hard so far.

nvmomketo · January 2018

spvlat wrote: »

Thanks for all of your replies. I'm new to keto and reading all these diferrent articles about it confused me a bit but you guys were very insightful. The thing is it's hard for me to tell if my body's in ketosis since it's difficult to get a hold of a ketostix where I live but I've definitely eaten less than 30grams of net carbs in the past 8 days. I'm 5'6, 135 lbs and I have a 27,5% body fat percentage(woman).I was thinking of dropping about 8 lbs with keto and maybe slowly transist into eating low-carb. I think now I'm going to focus more on lowering my body fat% rather than the scale. I don't see myself doing keto in the long run maybe low-carb but keto's been very hard so far.

At those carb levels you can be certain that you are in ketosis unless you have insulin resistance. And if you do not have a medical need for ketosis, don't worry about slipping in and out of ketosis if low carb feels good for you. There is no black and white with ketosis. If you are under 50g of carbs then you are probably in ketosis all of the time. At 100g you would probably be in ketosis some of the time. It is not a huge difference for healthy people.

Best wishes.

spvlat · January 2018

nvmomketo wrote: »

At those carb levels you can be certain that you are in ketosis unless you have insulin resistance. And if you do not have a medical need for ketosis, don't worry about slipping in and out of ketosis if low carb feels good for you. There is no black and white with ketosis. If you are under 50g of carbs then you are probably in ketosis all of the time. At 100g you would probably be in ketosis some of the time. It is not a huge difference for healthy people.

Best wishes.

Wow! That's a relief! Keto is hard enough and the struggle of counting every food to the last gram as well as worrying if it kicked me out of keto is exhausting. Your comment made my day

xapeacefulwayx · January 2018

Looking for more keto buddies and would love to friend up with people who are sharing their food journals so I can get food ideas.

Agree with those saying keto is an all or nothing diet. You can't do this diet halfway and that's what makes it so hard to stick to. I have IR/PCOS so low/moderate carb is the best diet for me.

I am planning to do keto for 1 to 2 months and then slowly transition to a moderate carb diet that still excludes refined sugar and flour.

ericflatekval · January 2018

spvlat wrote: »

Thanks for all of your replies. I'm new to keto and reading all these diferrent articles about it confused me a bit but you guys were very insightful. The thing is it's hard for me to tell if my body's in ketosis since it's difficult to get a hold of a ketostix where I live but I've definitely eaten less than 30grams of net carbs in the past 8 days. I'm 5'6, 135 lbs and I have a 27,5% body fat percentage(woman).I was thinking of dropping about 8 lbs with keto and maybe slowly transist into eating low-carb. I think now I'm going to focus more on lowering my body fat% rather than the scale. I don't see myself doing keto in the long run maybe low-carb but keto's been very hard so far.

I’ll echo what’s shared above, also definitely understand that being too granular on your carb numbers etc can be challenging if this is not something you enjoy/find tedious/stressful.

My personal advice I’d repeat, keep your fats up if you intend to stay in ketosis or even pretty low carb. This is your energy source and is tremendously good for appetite satisfaction, cognitive function, and other benefits. It can be challenging to find a variety of healthy fat sources, but do some googling and you’ll find lots of ideas.

Good luck on wherever you land, and keep up the diligence of learning and curiosity!

FIT_Goat · January 2018

xapeacefulwayx wrote: »

Looking for more keto buddies and would love to friend up with people who are sharing their food journals so I can get food ideas.

Agree with those saying keto is an all or nothing diet. You can't do this diet halfway and that's what makes it so hard to stick to. I have IR/PCOS so low/moderate carb is the best diet for me.

I am planning to do keto for 1 to 2 months and then slowly transition to a moderate carb diet that still excludes refined sugar and flour.

Just noticed you aren't already a member of the low carb groups.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

And keto specific:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1143-keto

Come join those groups and ask for friends. A lot of us don't get out of our bubble (as there is plenty of discussion there) and might not see that you're looking for friends. You will find tons of supportive people there who will be your friend and share diaries and meal ideas.

spvlat · January 2018

Does anyone also know if there's a limit to how much lettuce you can have while on keto? Butterhead lettuce has 2grams of carbs per cup according to MFP and it says all of it is fiber. So I can have as much as I want? or not?

ladyhusker39 · January 2018

liciav23 wrote: »

Keto friends: can I get an add?! Need keto Accountability with those who get it!

You'd get many more responses if you either search for keto groups/discussions on here or at the very least start your own thread instead of hijacking this one. You'll find tons of keto friends around here.

Keto experts needed!! -Qs

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