Hi! It can be overwhelming if you allow it to be! I stick to the basics! My calories are a little higher than yours, but my macros are the same. I do exercise but I don't log that. Please feel free to look at my food log if it will help you. Just know that if you are coming in from eating a lot of carbs 25g is going to be really hard to not go above! I struggle with it and I only eat veggies, no fruit! (Note that if you're looking at my log, I am a little above today because I lifted heavy this morning and don't want to crash). Just make sure you take the advice of others if you do get the Keto flu (sea salt, magnesium etc) and don't give up just because if it! It WILL get better! I have used MFP on and off for years, but this is my first time using it for Keto and really monitoring my macros. It's so helpful! I pre-plan my day so I never have to think about what to eat (and it alleviates all food related stress!) I've tried just about every diet out there and by far Ketogenic is the best! I feel amazing, and have no cravings at all...AND I'm losing weight

Thanks for this info, it's so helpful! May I add you?

@tamsketo123 I just accepted you! And MyssThang, YES! Feel free to add me! Please know I am in no way an expert, but I have read up a lot about Keto. I suggest you all do the same, you just need to find a way to make it work for you. We all like different foods so my food log may not appeal to you, but it might be helpful for you to look at other Keto-er's food logs so you get an idea of what we are doing. Please feel free message me anytime if you need help! Good luck!!!

I would like to suggest you consider checking macros on another calculator. Your protein seems very low to me.
I started keto eating low protein and fully regret having learned it that way.
Please read the book The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living. Please don’t follow medically therapeutic keto macros for a weight loss goal. There are consequences to that.
I’d switch your fat and protein grams but you’d be better served by recalculating using this

https://ketogains.com/ketogains-calculator/

Shron123 wrote: »

Started August. When I started and even now I focus on IF (2 meals per day in 8 hr window), fat n protein at both meals, carbs only at 2nd meal. Keeps it easy for me plus helps me stay w 25g or less carbs per day. I also track my calories as I stall if I eat too much. After 35 lb loss had to lower my calories a bit to keep losing. Also I also have to measure everything religiously as still tend to estimate larger portions. If I do this I loose weight.

AWESOME! This is EXACTLY how i do it. except i am super Low carbing Under 10, 5 is the goal with an occasional 20 Not eating for 16 hours EVERY day I feel has been the Key, Even with strenuous hikes not eating until noon has been great Most of My carbs come from 3 ounces Red wine which i even measure with a shot glass, you MUST MUST measure and weigh to Really nail it imo.

@kpk54 Very well said, and so true IMO

I have been doing keto for 2 plus weeks and am “in ketosis” but I am not losing weight yet. Any thoughts or tips? I work towards a 5% - 20% - 75% and do my best to fall within this (within reason). I’d like to lose 20lbs and am currently 150. There’s a lot of matierla our there. Would love people’s intel/help to make it happen.

@kcross121 @randizeehandelaar1

Please make sure you don't double up on your deficit! Only reduce calories or create a deficit by adding in exercise. Doing both is too hard on the system and will actually PREVENT healthy weight loss...

I'm new, too... today is my first official day. Yesterday I'll call a warm up because I was still too high on my carbs. I should have gotten the power bowl I ordered without rice but I didn't even realize it came with rice until it was too late. Definitely a little bit of a learning curve on this one.

I lost 58lbs March 2016 - October 2016 then kept it off until May 2017 by cutting out processed foods and going low carb but I started letting a daily soda go, then a daily snack of cheese-its until I was just full blown eating whatever I wanted to eat and I put back on 20lbs since May 2017. So, I'm going Keto this time around with intermittent fasting to kick start then just doing Keto from here on out.

If you want an accountability partner as we start this off let me know!

I've been doing a lot of research on this before I made this decision. Some of my favorite resources have been Pinterest (I'll link my Keto board for you) and KetoConnect.Net. They have a fantastic YouTube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/c/ketoconnect
https://www.pinterest.com/sararaehughes/keto-diet-ketogenic-recipes/

kpk54 wrote: »

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

@kcross121 @randizeehandelaar1

Please make sure you don't double up on your deficit! Only reduce calories or create a deficit by adding in exercise. Doing both is too hard on the system and will actually PREVENT healthy weight loss...

I have a "problem" with it every time you type it. Only reduce calories OR create a deficit by adding in exercise? So a moderate deficit combined with moderate exercise to create the total desired deficit is not healthy?

It worked for me throughout weight loss and has worked for a few years for maintenance. I have no reason to suspect I'm not healthy. Please clarify the "only" and the "or" and why doing a bit of both creates unhealthy-ism.

@kpk54 - thank you for pointing out that the wording here didn't make sense... We all know that sometimes there is context in our head that we forget to put in words to others...

To COMBINE for a total desired deficit... That is the context here that I neglected... I don't know how to word this, but I think you've done well... Don't create your entire deficit TWICE... Any combination of your total deficit from diet and exercise together or individually - but don't inadvertently double the deficit by creating an entire deficit from diet, and then the entire deficit again in exercise calories without eating any back...


Here is the type of thing I mean to avoid:

I have seen people set weight loss calories at losing 2 pounds per week (which equates to 1,000 calories under maintenance numbers), then workout for over 1,000 calories a day and not eat back ANY exercise calories, as a dramatic example. While I know not all calorie calculations are correct and some are not even remotely correct, this would be doubling their calories removed from the diet, essentially equaling zero net calories daily, (therefore not healthy) and then wondering why they are tired, stalling on weight loss, losing muscle, etc.

That is a more extreme example, but I've seen folks eating 1200-1400 calories a day (at a deficit for weight loss here), and then adding 700 or more calories of exercise regularly... Sometimes, this appears to calculate out to a positive calorie intake of 500-700 calories...(again, not healthy long term)... While that may work short term, I don't know of anyone who could eat that little and stay healthy for weeks/months at a time...

Now, if you're eating 1,500 calories, and getting 300-500 calories of exercise/activity daily, that's fairly reasonable. I would expect that you might have higher calorie days sprinkled throughout...and also because you'll be burning excess body fat as the difference in calories, particularly on the muscle sparing type diet that is a ketogenic diet. This is probably along the lines of what you did to successfully lose your weight...and maintain that loss over time.
This I see as healthy, as long as you're not eating at a net of less than 1,000 calories daily (ADJUST FOR HEIGHT/WEIGHT/AGE) with no calorie cycling, IF, higher days, etc.

As long as your total combined deficit doesn't take you below a reasonable daily calorie intake (and that number will be quite different for each person), that makes sense...



TL:DR - don't aim for losing 2 pounds a week, then drop your calories by 1,000 calories AND also exercise for 1,000 calories a day without eating back any exercise calories. That would be a total deficit of 2,000 calories a day, not 1,000 calories a day as intended, and that would be unhealthy...whereas a total combined deficit between exercise and calorie restriction in any given day of 1,000 calories is a healthy deficit, as long as one watches for health indicators (fatigue, muscle loss, getting sick often, etc.)


Please let me know if this makes more sense as to what I was trying to convey...and I'd love for us to come up with a standard statement that we can share with others... Maybe we can create a reference post that has the basic recommendations... I know that everyone's keto is different in some ways...but perhaps a list of things to consider - and a list of accidents to avoid?

kcross121 wrote: »

@KnitOrMiss Thank you! I really don't want to give up my exercising, but how the heck do you get more calories while trying to stay in your macros??? I have my fat almost to max and that would be the only place I feel like I could add calories... Any suggestions? I really appreciate your input!

@kcross121 - The best place to add calories is always protein. ESPECIALLY when working out.

Carbs are a hard limit.

Protein is a minimum goal range.

Fats are ONLY to satiety...


The only one of those that's flexible is protein. Makes it easier to figure out where to stick the calories... Lean meats (turkey, chicken breast, tuna, etc.) are easy ways to get more protein with little to no carbs.


But remember, if you're truly not hungry, don't eat. If you are hungry, don't force yourself to skip a meal... As your true hunger signals return, listen to them. Calorie deficits should be looked at on a 7-10 day average. The body NATURALLY has higher and lower hunger days. No two days are ever identical.

One day will have more or less sleep.
Another will have more or less stress.
Yet another will have more or less activity.
Even still another may have sickness or healing, etc.

All of these things (and many, many more) affect how many calories you need. Forcing yourself to eat less when you really need it is not good. Neither is eating when you're not hungry.

On keto you'll have days, and sometimes weeks, where your body gets really efficient at burning your body fat for energy, and while it is using those calories to fuel your body, you may have reduced hunger. That is one of the nicest benefits of the ketogenic diet for some of us!

So just keep on trying different things until something works, then when it stops working, shake it up again, etc.

@KnitOrMiss Thank you! That does make sense! I will give it a try this week as well as @kpk54 suggestion of entering my exercise minutes! Thank you both for taking your time to help guide me! By the way my reason for saying I did not want to give up exercise, is that some extreme Ketoers fast for days and can't exercise for conservation of energy....I'm not willing to go that route. That's all I meant