KETO HELP

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lahrysa
lahrysa Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
After a week of research I’ve decided to try the keto diet for 21 days. I know what you can and can’t eat on it, but I can’t seem to find the answer on how to track what you’re eating! Macros are still so confusing to me. Someone please help so I don’t end up giving up on this too because it’s “hard” or “too confusing”. I want to meal prep Tuesday for the week but don’t know how much of each thing I should be eating. Any help- advice or links to articles with the answers would be helpful! Thanks in advance

Replies

  • lahrysa
    lahrysa Posts: 10 Member
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    zeejane03 wrote: »
    What are you hoping to accomplish in 21 days? What happens on day 22?

    You're going to lose a lot of water weight initially by going low carb-this will come back on though when you stop doing low carb, meaning the scale is going to be all over the place and it's going to be a pretty intense mind game.

    Op, what are your goals? Are you trying to lose weight, maintain, working towards a specific fitness goal etc?

    My goal is weight loss overall, but the reason for the 21 days isn’t to lose weight necessarily. It’s more of a trial run to see how I feel eating that kind of diet. To see if I can make that diet work with my lifestyle and the 21 exact days is because it’s a manageable time frame for me to be able to promise myself I’ll do it even if on day 22 I decide it’s not a diet that works for me and I try something else
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    I could be misreading (it is early) but I think OP is literally wondering how much of each food item to put into her meal prep containers.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Oh! She needs to calculate how much of her daily calories she wants to prep for lunch. She'll need a budget for her calories for each of her meals, as well as a reasonable prediction of the exercise she'll log.

    What I find is that a 1-cup sized container with keto high fat stuff in it is enough for a meal.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,900 Member
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    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Home > Goals > Daily Nutrition Goals > Edit

    Move your Carbs to 5%, move the remainder to Fat. Leave the Protein at the default value.

    21 days is enough time to experience all the hassles of water loss, electrolyte imbalance, gastric adjustment, with barely any time to experience the better sleep and clearer thinking. Give it several months before you pass a judgement on it.

    @lahrysa - the above is indeed what you do with your macros on MFP for keto.

    However, many people come to MFP and pick a weekly weight loss that is lower than it should be. How tall are you, how old are you, and how much weight do you need to lose before you reach your final goal weight?
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited February 2019
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    The instructions linked above should work, but you can alter your macros a bit if you wish.

    Most ketoers eat under 20-50 g of carbs a day. Those who are inactive and have some insulin resistance tend to use the lower end. Healthier active people often use near 50g. That can be 5-10% for most. There are 4 calories in a gram of carbs so 25 g is 100 calories.

    Protein should be moderate, often around 0.8 x your leaner weight in pounds. Protein helps preserve muscle loss, mainly early on , and will be needed for any muscle gains. The minimum for women is around 50g but over 70-100g is better depending on activity. There are 4 calories in a gram of protein so 100g is 400 calories. Protein is often 20-35% while losing, but may be lower during maintenance. For example, 400 calories of protein (100g) might be 33% of a 1200 calorie diet, but it is only 20% of a 2000 calorie maintenance diet.

    Fat fills in the rest with 9 calories per gram if fat. Percentages are often 50-75%, with some going higher or lower.

    Dont forget to increase your sodium intake. Most need at least 3000-5000mg of sodium a day. 1 tsp salt= 2300 mg sodium.

    Good luck!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,900 Member
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    @nvmomketo maybe you can help her with the "what do I meal prep" part of her question as well?
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I never did anything special for meal prep because I am cooking for others too. I just skip the carby starchy food.

    We had pizza last night, and mine was a fathead pizza (crust made from cheese,eggs,coconut flour and eggs) but some people just microwave some shredded cheese on parchment, add tomato sauce and toppings, more cheese, and then warm more.

    The night before was Turkey and brussel sprouts with bacon; the rest of my family had potato, gravy and stuffing.

    Before that was tacos. I skip the shell and side of rice and just put my meat, cheese, sour cream and whatever else in a bowl.

    When I make noodles and meat sauce, i just eat the sauce or put it over spaghetti squash.

    A basic dinner of meat and a veggie us super common though. Just skip the starchy side dish.:)

    Lunch is often leftovers, but a bowl of nuts, a salad, meat and cheese, veggies and dip, and tuna salad without the bread are all easy.

    Breakfast can be bacon and eggs. I usually just have coffee with cream and a bit of protein powder.

    Keep it simple. Eat the foods you like. And give it time. It may take a couple of months to get used to eating differently.
    Good luck
  • lahrysa
    lahrysa Posts: 10 Member
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    nvmomketo wrote: »
    I never did anything special for meal prep because I am cooking for others too. I just skip the carby starchy food.

    We had pizza last night, and mine was a fathead pizza (crust made from cheese,eggs,coconut flour and eggs) but some people just microwave some shredded cheese on parchment, add tomato sauce and toppings, more cheese, and then warm more.

    The night before was Turkey and brussel sprouts with bacon; the rest of my family had potato, gravy and stuffing.

    Before that was tacos. I skip the shell and side of rice and just put my meat, cheese, sour cream and whatever else in a bowl.

    When I make noodles and meat sauce, i just eat the sauce or put it over spaghetti squash.

    A basic dinner of meat and a veggie us super common though. Just skip the starchy side dish.:)

    Lunch is often leftovers, but a bowl of nuts, a salad, meat and cheese, veggies and dip, and tuna salad without the bread are all easy.

    Breakfast can be bacon and eggs. I usually just have coffee with cream and a bit of protein powder.

    Keep it simple. Eat the foods you like. And give it time. It may take a couple of months to get used to eating differently.
    Good luck

    Very helpful! Thank you !!!!
  • amdev23_23
    amdev23_23 Posts: 68 Member
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    I agree with keeping it simple. Protein and non-starchy veggies. When I first started I skipped all the Keto substitutes and such and just ate meat and veggies and it made things simple. As I continued on, I did start making recipes and substituting things and such to satisfy cravings.

    I’d say my most important tip that I feel like a lot of people new to Keto feel... Don’t be afraid of carbs, eat carbs, just smart ones. Yes, broccoli has carbs, but the benefits of eating broccoli will far outweigh any perceived harm carbs can have. I feel like I see a lot of peiple (especially on Facebook groups) eating pork rinds and bacon “but barely any carbs!”... Wondering why they aren’t losing weight. Non-starchy Vegetable carbs are great and vegetables are packed with micronutrients. Eat em 😁
  • rhondasvb
    rhondasvb Posts: 3 Member
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    Dietdoctor.com is a great resource for Keto. There is even 2 weeks of meal ideas for you (grocery list, etc) to get you started. And tons more information if you if you want more.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
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    Eat mostly meat, eggs, cheese, low carb dairy (cheese, cream, butter... NOT milk), low carb vegetables (lettuce, spinach, broccoli, green beans, peppers, cabbage), and nuts. Be careful with some nuts, and especially nut-like legumes (peanuts), though, as they can add up to a lot of carbs quickly.

    Avoid grains/breads, pasta, starchy vegetables, fruits, sweets (ice cream, cookies, etc.).

    Some ideas are a salad with chicken breast (no croutons, be careful which dressing you use). Breakfast can be sausage, bacon, eggs. Steak or a bun-less cheeseburger for lunch/dinner. If you are eating on the go at restaurants, Subway has salads and burger places can give you a burger without the bun if requested.
  • mysteps2beauty
    mysteps2beauty Posts: 494 Member
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    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Home > Goals > Daily Nutrition Goals > Edit

    Move your Carbs to 5%, move the remainder to Fat. Leave the Protein at the default value.

    21 days is enough time to experience all the hassles of water loss, electrolyte imbalance, gastric adjustment, with barely any time to experience the better sleep and clearer thinking. Give it several months before you pass a judgement on it.

    How can I change units on MFP?

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