Easing myself in to it, having a hard time with protein
amdev23_23
Posts: 68 Member
So I would eventually like to go full Keto, but have eaten so many carbs in the past, I decided to ease myself in to it. I’m currently trying to eat about 12% carbs (which comes out to 44g). I’ve had a hard time staying at/under 44g and I’m not eating any obvious carbs such as sugar, bread, pasta, etc. On top of that, I’m having a really hard time hitting my protein goals; I’m going OVER by 25-30+ grams a day. So what are your suggestions? Any ideas on high fat, low protein, low carb foods? I’m all about adding fat on to things with butters and oils—but was looking for snack and food ideas. Thank you all!
1
Replies
-
I'm wondering where the carbs are coming from that your getting. Remember to calculate net carbs (carbs-fibre). Rule of thumb for acceptable vegetables is anything that grows above ground tends to be okay where as root veggie will typically have more carbs. Also, if some of your carbs are coming from dairy, like cream you may want to look at lower carb alternatives. For example switching from cream to almond milk. I've noticed soft cheeses like cream cheese will have carbs but harder cheeses like cheddar will be much lower or 0 as per nutritional label. Keep an eye on what your eating and the carbs in them to find the culprit.
Regarding protein, I've heard two things. 1) Too much protein has potential to kick you out of ketosis & 2) it's ok to go over your protein max. So it's hard for me to give an answer on that. However, I would suggest double checking to make sure your macros are accurate (https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com) and if you are still goin over protein consistently you may want to increase fat intake to help keep you full. Ill usually have half an avocado/guacamole or some cheese.
Hope this helps.2 -
I wouldn't worry about being a bit over on carbs or protein either one as long as you're satiated, nor craving, hovering around your deficit calories and not eating keto for medical/therapeutic reasons.
No need to make it too hard and quit. When I ate MTKD I ate cream cheese and mascarpone cheese because both have low carbs AND low protein which is the protocol I was following (not for weight since I've been at maintenance for 4 years).2 -
I'd suggest getting a few important tools into the kitchen. Start with a quality food scale. It's easy to under estimate projections on protein/carb foods without one but you could also be over estimating. Buy a spiral machine - they are awesome. You can create some really low carb noodles from a zucchini etc. One of my staples is a chicken-zucchini pasta. 4 oz of diced chicken. 1 zucchini. 1 tbs of butter, 1 tbs of Philadelphia cream cheese, 1 tbs of whole whipping cream, 1 oz of shredded sharp cheddar, hot sauce and various seasoning. Cook a few minutes. 7 net carbs, 70g fat, 42g protein. For more filler you can throw in 3 cauliflower pieces into the pasta and only increase the net carbs for the meal to 10g.
A day for me goes like this to give some ideas:
Breakfast: 4 eggs and a hass avocado + cold brew coffee with whole whipping cream
Lunch: Broccoli rice bag (3g of net carbs) with 4oz of chicken and various fats to make it taste good.
Dinner: The recipe above.
Snack: Flax seed crackers (7 carbs - 6 fiber for 1 net carb per serving!) with a pepper jack cheese type dip.
My average day comes out to: 2,300 calories / 25 net carbs / 177g fat / 143g of protein which hits within 5 points of all of my macros. My crossfit coach loves this type of diet but pushes hard that protein must be increased on days with heavy lifting for the muscles.
If 44 net carbs (after fiber) is your total it will be hard to be in Keto unless you are an aggressive exerciser. I've only been at it for a short time and average around 25 net carbs a day. Fat burn really kicked in around 2 weeks in for me.0 -
I'm another who would not sweat a few extra carbs as long as you have no need of very low carbs or high ketones.
Fruit and starchy root vegetables have the most carbs beyond grains. Carrots potatoes, turnips, etc. legumes (beans) are fairly higher in carbs too. i would limit those if you want to lower carbs more.
I wouldn't worry about high protein either. If anything, I would just rest your macros to have more protein and less fat. There are very few times when more protein is a bad thing. Even well over 100g will probably only help you preserve lean tissue while losing weight.1 -
I’m not eating any obvious carbs like fruit. I do eat quite a bit of cheese, I love cheese and the fact that I could eat it on Keto turned me on to it. I do have a food scale and weigh everything. I would like to eventually get in to full ketosis, so I’d love to be able to cut down carbs, but it’s a serious struggle.
I’m going to make sure my diary is open. If anyone wants to take a look at the past 4 days (That’s how many days I’ve been trying really hard to stick to my carb/macro goals) and give me some advice, I’d greatly appreciate it!0 -
Thank you all for your feedback thus far. It is helpful to see what others eat, because like I said, it’s been a struggle.0
-
I'm wondering where the carbs are coming from that your getting. Remember to calculate net carbs (carbs-fibre). Rule of thumb for acceptable vegetables is anything that grows above ground tends to be okay where as root veggie will typically have more carbs. Also, if some of your carbs are coming from dairy, like cream you may want to look at lower carb alternatives. For example switching from cream to almond milk. I've noticed soft cheeses like cream cheese will have carbs but harder cheeses like cheddar will be much lower or 0 as per nutritional label. Keep an eye on what your eating and the carbs in them to find the culprit.
Regarding protein, I've heard two things. 1) Too much protein has potential to kick you out of ketosis & 2) it's ok to go over your protein max. So it's hard for me to give an answer on that. However, I would suggest double checking to make sure your macros are accurate (https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com) and if you are still goin over protein consistently you may want to increase fat intake to help keep you full. Ill usually have half an avocado/guacamole or some cheese.
Hope this helps.
This calculator actually calculated my protein a little bit higher than I had previously had, so that makes me feel better about going over on protein.
Now to just figure out how to get to 25g carb a day 🙄.0 -
Can you share an example of your average day of food? While some cheeses have some carbs it shouldn't be enough to send carbs too high although it can be a sneaky protein item. Also, just to be sure: Are you looking at MFP carb totals or are you doing your own math to get to net carbs? I have my MFP settings adjusted to show on my screen the following: Total carbs - fiber - sugar - fat - protein. I can then quickly look at my totals at the bottom of the screen to subtract fiber from total carbs to get my net total throughout the day. Look at your sugar line: everyone is different but it should be very very low on Keto. Attached is my sample from yesterday.
1 -
Your diary looks fine to me.
Your calories are usually between 1600 and 1800 which is reasonable, especially for early on. That's a fairly good deficit. I imagine you'll lose 1-3 lbs a week on that.
Your carbs are usually close to 35g. That's fine for keto. Depending on your needs and goals, you could alter that if you wish.
Your protein is well over 100g. That's quite good and may help with lean tissue preservation. Perhaps just set your protein goal for around 110-140g? (TBH, I TRY to get my protein as high as yours but I often don't do it - I'm envious.
)
And fat is the rest. You aren't forcing high fat levels which is a common error with some starting out.0 -
@qweck3 - @amdev23_23 opened her diary, so I copied yesterday's meals for her (below). Fiber isn't one of the columns, so carbs are not net amounts.
0 -
I didn’t realize at first that MFP does total carbs, I’m actually a little lower on carbs than I thought I was. @qweck3 how do I add fiber in to my diary view like yours so I can easily see it/subtract it.
Thank you everyone for your responses. I’m feeling like I’m a little more on track than I thought I was when I posted this.0 -
@amdev23_23 Go to My Home --> Settings --> Diary Settings. Set to Carb / Fiber/ Sugar(or sodium) / Fat / Protein. Those are the main Keto ones to look at.
Overall, your carbs are really low and on track for Keto. I have to imagine that once you subtract fiber to get to net carbs you will be around 18-20. Just give yourself time with those numbers and you will get there. It takes a good two-three weeks for the body to begin the shift to fueling through fat although there will be some early changes.
Tweak as you go with the protein/fat intake especially if you do heavy workouts/lifting and so forth.
Thanks for pasting the log in Paula.
2 -
The higher protein is a good thing.1
-
amdev23_23 wrote: »So I would eventually like to go full Keto, but have eaten so many carbs in the past, I decided to ease myself in to it. I’m currently trying to eat about 12% carbs (which comes out to 44g). I’ve had a hard time staying at/under 44g and I’m not eating any obvious carbs such as sugar, bread, pasta, etc. On top of that, I’m having a really hard time hitting my protein goals; I’m going OVER by 25-30+ grams a day. So what are your suggestions? Any ideas on high fat, low protein, low carb foods? I’m all about adding fat on to things with butters and oils—but was looking for snack and food ideas. Thank you all!
Keep your protein sources fatty.... so I don't eat a lot of chicken or turkey because it's so high in protein and low in fats.0
This discussion has been closed.