Working my way into Keto

[Letemgrowitllshow]

After reading up and doing some research, I'm going to start the keto lifestyle April 29th.

Little bit of background on me. Im 24 years old. 6'1" 215lbs. My goal weight wise is to get to 180lbs by archery opener. Reading about how keto helps with a number of other things, such as inflammation and mental clarity, it just makes sense for me to start a keto lifestyle.

I am diagnosed with nothing, but like just about every other American, I love my junk food (especially after the 1 1/2 year old goes to bed). There are times when I know I shouldn't eat, or when I should quit eating, but its to easy to keep stuffing my face so I say," what the heck" and finish the box of cheez its.

I am the type of guy that likes routine. I can eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is where I struggle. My wife isn't going to be on the keto lifestyle, so dinner may be a challenge. Ive been looking up easy meals to make and things that I could potentially freeze for when I dont feel like making a meal, but the options just don't seem to be very plentiful for a budget continuous fella like myself.

If you haven't given up on reading this long post, and have any experience that I could learn from, it would be greatly appreciated by myself, and I am sure there are others that could benefit as well!

 

[Wolverinebuckman]

It's a good diet, when you find the foods that you like it's easy to stick with them. You'll probably lose that little bit of weight in no time. I would personally recommend watching some of Doctor Eric Berg videos on YouTube , lots of good information.

 

[Letemgrowitllshow]

It's a good diet, when you find the foods that you like it's easy to stick with them. You'll probably lose that little bit of weight in no time. I would personally recommend watching some of Doctor Eric Berg videos on YouTube , lots of good information.

I tried watching that fella once before. May have to give him a re-visit now that I understand it more

 

[Jimmyfunk60]

First off it’s a great diet but very over wheeling at first lol. Start off simple and easy with one or two meals for lunch and dinner. I started off on keto January 1st at 305 pounds with the goal to get to my high school weight of 235 by bow season... ex high school and college lineman so I’ve always been a big guy. Anyway as of today I weigh 261 pounds.. I’m 31 and just went for my first check up ever and all my blood work came back good.. the best thing u can do is get a keto app to help u track your foods. The biggest thing is you can not cheat in the beginning. By cutting out carbs and sugar u will notice huge difference.. intermittent fasting helps also 16 hours fasting 8 hour window when u can eat.. I normally eat breakfast lunch and a small snack when I get home then fast till the next days breakfast.. a normal meal for me will be 3 eggs 5 strips of bacon and a piece of cheese lunch will be a salad and a meat snack will be some Cottage cheese and some nuts. Our kids and my wife kinda do keto with me as when we have meals together it usually consist of microwave vegetable steamer pack from Aldis and whatever meat I grill. Since starting the diet we now eat fish a couple times a week. I’m eating 70% fats 25% ish protein 5% carbs. I try to stay under 25 grams of carbs a day. The first month month and a half I lost a bunch of weight quickly now I’m loosing a steady healthy weight of 1-2 pounds a week. Once u get on it for a couple weeks your cravings will stop and u won’t be as hungry.. just make sure u drink lots of water, I will indulge in a diet pop every now and then.. I work in a plant processing natural gas and it was pretty awesome to have to ask the safety guy to replenish my clothing PPE account because none of my work clothes fit.. if you have any questions shoot me a pm... I’m by no means an expert but I may be able to help u out. this is the best weight loss diet I have ever been on.. I should also mention I have not been working out other than chasing my two year old around or normal work around the house.


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[sdonx]

Last year I went from 275 In July down to 225 in October. My lowest has been 216, it works. My last blood work came back great no more Yellow blocks for out of range. My family is not keto. What I did is have my own food to supplement dinner when my wife didnt have enough fat for me. Eggs, bacon, butter, mayo and this one is the best. I had my butcher mix a special batch of venison burger that was 50% fat. My wife soon caught on and started cooking me fattier meals. When i cook im a bear in the kitchen, she wanted me outa there. I like Berg but now I tend to watch Thomas Delauer more often. Once your in Keto fasting is the way to go also. I started doing 24hr fast 3-4 times a week. With the other days i still dont eat solid foods but only do bullet proof coffees. In 2019 i started extended fasting once a month. My target is 5 days...ive only done 3 so far. Using a food tracking app at the beginning is a must i used myfitnesspal. Pm me if u need help or a pep talk.


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[Murph4028]

Everyone is different but here's my experience:

Pros:
Easy to do
Apps to help track net carbs
Feel a lot younger
Require a lot less sleep
ALOT more energy during the day
Noticeably better mood

Cons:
Can be inconvenient if you don't pack food or plan ahead
Can lose too much weight really fast
Depending on your goals it could be unsustainable long term due to muscle/weight loss

I have never been overweight in my life. I started keto to explore the energy and mental clarity benefits that people at work raved about. I started keto at 5'11/218 lbs athletic build at about 13 percent body fat. After 30 days of strict keto I was at 198lbs noticeably leaner but didn't appear to lose much muscle mass. Just looked a lot better and felt amazing. After 60 days I was down to 188lbs with noticeable muscle and strength loss. Keep in mind this is with running 3-4 times a week covering between 10-20 miles total and weight training monday-friday. So someone who is more sedentary probably wouldn't see losses like that. So what I do now is cycle keto. I like the way I feel on it too much to ditch it all together. So now I go in keto for a month and carb cycle for two weeks. Sounds complicated but that just means I eat whatever I want for two weeks. Seems to work pretty good for me that way I can still build and maintain muscle and stay lean. There are a lot of keto skeptics out there most of whom haven't tried it but to each his own. Works for me.

 

[Murph4028]

By the way, keto is easy as far as what to eat because you won't be very hungry at all after a few days. I find myself reminding myself to eat when in ketosis. I generally just stick to the same foods. It's amazing what getting away from sugar does for you.

 

[Freepistol]

Everyone is different but here's my experience:

Pros:
Easy to do
Apps to help track net carbs
Feel a lot younger
Require a lot less sleep
ALOT more energy during the day
Noticeably better mood

Cons:
Can be inconvenient if you don't pack food or plan ahead
Can lose too much weight really fast
Depending on your goals it could be unsustainable long term due to muscle/weight loss

I have never been overweight in my life. I started keto to explore the energy and mental clarity benefits that people at work raved about. I started keto at 5'11/218 lbs athletic build at about 13 percent body fat. After 30 days of strict keto I was at 198lbs noticeably leaner but didn't appear to lose much muscle mass. Just looked a lot better and felt amazing. After 60 days I was down to 188lbs with noticeable muscle and strength loss. Keep in mind this is with running 3-4 times a week covering between 10-20 miles total and weight training monday-friday. So someone who is more sedentary probably wouldn't see losses like that. So what I do now is cycle keto. I like the way I feel on it too much to ditch it all together. So now I go in keto for a month and carb cycle for two weeks. Sounds complicated but that just means I eat whatever I want for two weeks. Seems to work pretty good for me that way I can still build and maintain muscle and stay lean. There are a lot of keto skeptics out there most of whom haven't tried it but to each his own. Works for me.

I didn’t know losing muscle mass or strength would be a problem since you’re eating so much protein.

 

[sdonx]

I didn’t know losing muscle mass or strength would be a problem since you’re eating so much protein.

I didn’t know losing muscle mass or strength would be a problem since you’re eating so much protein.

Your actually not eating a lot of protein, that's Atkins. On keto your ratio's are 70% fats 25% protein 5% carbs

 

[Murph4028]

I didn’t know losing muscle mass or strength would be a problem since you’re eating so much protein.

I actually eat a lot more protein than they say you should. That's probably why I can last over a month before I see any changes to raw muscle. But without carbs it's very hard to pack on new muscle. That's the obstacle of keto. But that's where cycling comes in. Think of it as a simple bulk/cut cycle I guess.

 

[Murph4028]

I should also say that the ability of how easy it is to reach ketosis also depends on the individual as well. I reach ketosis probably twice as fast as my wife because I have been (unintentionally) in ketosis many times in the past while doing training in the field, army schools, etc where eating wasn't an option for extended periods of time. The more times you put yourself into ketosis the easier it becomes for your body to reach it. I have literally woke up, went to the gym and ran a few miles and worked out, skipped breakfast and lunch and was in ketosis by dinner time. You get a feel for it and figure out how to get your body there after a while. I don't even test for ketones anymore because I just know. I feel completely different.

 

[Letemgrowitllshow]

I see a lot of guys using percentages to describe their macro intake. What do the percentages add up to?

 

[Freepistol]

That’s the part I failed. I’d eat carbs and then have to eat more fat to keep the percentages. I ate too many calories. I’m going to do it again next month with better planning.

 

[fbwguy]

I see a lot of guys using percentages to describe their macro intake. What do the percentages add up to?

The percentage is based off calories. For instance if you intake 1000 calories a day, then 700 should be from fat, 250 from protein and 50 from carbs. For myself I always kept the carbs lower than that because of insulin resistance. That is why a good APP is handy to help you accurately track your daily intake and macros

 

[EricS]

I’ve been doing Keto for six weeks. I’m down 28lbs. I’ve had some highs and lows with it. Trying to cut down to about 2lbs per week of weight loss from here on out. I have lost too much too fast before. Once in ketosis 24 hr fasts are easy. When you eat a medium rare smoked pork chop at the end of a fast because you assume it was fully cooked it doesn’t end well. Monday will be two weeks since I did that and I’m just now getting my energy back up. So if you do the 24hr fasting try not to poison yourself when you start eating again.

 

[Letemgrowitllshow]

How many calories and meals a day did you guys start out with? Im thinking 3 meals a day and 2000 calories for the first 2 weeks, then start to work in intermittent fasting.

 

[Murph4028]

How many calories and meals a day did you guys start out with? Im thinking 3 meals a day and 2000 calories for the first 2 weeks, then start to work in intermittent fasting.

I'm my experience it was easiest to keep it as simple as possible. Don't get caught up in all the percentages and confusing stuff. All you gotta do is find out how many net carbs you need to limit yourself to per day and that alone will put you into ketosis and pretty much keep you there. For instance, I use the app called carb manager. You enter in your goals such as gain weight, lose weight, or maintain. Then you enter your age, weight, etc and it will tell you what you need to stay under and you can enter in what you eat and it tracks it for you. It's pretty easy. I am allowed like 34 net carbs per day if I remember right. So as long as I don't exceed much more than that I stay in steady ketosis. As far as the fats and protein goes you'll get the hang of what you can and can't eat after a few weeks and won't really need the app anymore. It's just a good starter tool. People make keto seem really complex but it's pretty simple really. Just don't exceed your net carb limit and avoid sugar at all costs and you are good to go. If you are active seek out more protein but definately don't skip the fats. That is your new energy source and you will know when you haven't eaten enough. You will feel sluggish. Don't get caught up in the fancy recipes or percentages or anything. Just get that carb number and stay below it. When I'm doing keto I eat pretty basic. I just don't have the cravings for carbs if I am not eating carbs on a regular basis. And know there is no magical carb number meaning if your limit is 35 per day and you accidentally eat 50 that doesn't mean you'll necessarily be kicked out of ketosis. Depends on the person. And the longer your in ketosis the more resistant your body comes to carbs and will want to stay in that state. So if your in ketosis for say like 4 months, you are probably fat adapted at that point and could probably eat pizza and maybe not be kicked out.

 

[Murph4028]

How many calories and meals a day did you guys start out with? Im thinking 3 meals a day and 2000 calories for the first 2 weeks, then start to work in intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is a great tool to get into ketosis fast especially when coupled with exercise. If weight loss is your goal I would incorporate intermittent fasting after being in ketosis for a few weeks because at that point you'll be used to not eating all day like most of us do when not dieting. That'll make the intermittent fasting easier on your mind and will be really effective when your already burning fat around the clock

 

[bigjoe]

After reading up and doing some research, I'm going to start the keto lifestyle April 29th.

Little bit of background on me. Im 24 years old. 6'1" 215lbs. My goal weight wise is to get to 180lbs by archery opener. Reading about how keto helps with a number of other things, such as inflammation and mental clarity, it just makes sense for me to start a keto lifestyle.

!

I would love to be 215 again. I haven’t seen that weight since I was boxing and the Marines. Good luck it works. I have knocked of 30 lbs since January 1st. I cheated the other day and had a piece of Birthday Cake. So I went through the keto flu again. Lol

 

[fbwguy]

How many calories and meals a day did you guys start out with? Im thinking 3 meals a day and 2000 calories for the first 2 weeks, then start to work in intermittent fasting.

I used the Simple Stupid Keto app. It took my starting weight, height and age and my goal and estimated my daily caloric intake. At 50 years old and 5’10, I was at 227 lbs. I set it up for about 1800 calories a day. I’ve never been a breakfast guy so it was easy for my to do intermittent fasting. I wouldn’t have anything to eat after 8 pm and would have lunch about 11:30 or 12. What I found by using the app was when in Ketosis I was really only eating about 1400 calories a day and feeling content. Just remember that low carb eating requires higher amounts of water to stay hydrated. And the more water you drink the more electrolytes you lose. I use Hylite drops in my water to ensure I keep myself balanced. My wife and I also found a product call Everly. It’s a powder with no sugar that flavors the water and is Keto Friendly. My wife and I are getting close to 1 year Keto lifestyle and we have a combined loss of 148 lbs. The greatest thing about Keto is that if done correctly it is not boring or restricted to make you miserable and that makes it sustainable. She just ordered 2 more Keto cookbooks and that is exciting. With 5 big cookbooks we should never get in a rut.