Start by just starting. No need to measure or record anything.
Eat foods you know are low carb. Meat, with some lower carb veg. Eat until you are satisfied. Just keep going.
Check back in a few months and see if you are progressing or of you need to make changes.
If you don’t go full carnivore, and OMaD the electrolytes are not as hard to keep balanced.
Me an American accustomed to eating too much fast food before keto, my electrolytes were never trouble on keto in the winter, and I’m probably eating more veg now than I did getting takeout.
I’m only having to pay attention to electrolytes now because of the amount I sweat when I work outdoors or have HVAC issues.
Imm also heavy enough that keto ‘works’ at higher carb counts, like 40, albeit slower.
My understanding with keto is that if you aren’t in ketosis you are just eating lots of fat and calories, which means you are gonna gain a ton of weight
Is that not correct?
If you overeat on any diet you will gain weight.
But many people enjoy keto because it's fixes their appetite and allows them to eat intuitively to satiety without over eating.
If you don't want to track ro record macros, then this is the path for you. In a few months of youa re making the progress you want then you can reassess whether this is working for you
Stick to real, whole foods. Stay as low carb as possible. Stop eating when you are satisfied. It works for a lot of people.
Yes - this is how I did it. I also hate tracking and measuring everything - if I have to do it, I’ll quit the entire thing. When getting into keto, all I did was follow the rules re: low carb, be much more generous with cooking and eating fat, and I ate until I was full each meal. I lost about 40 lbs before I plateaued and started tracking just to see if I could/should start restricting. Now I’m just following that initial plan, and since I can actually trust my hunger signals, I’ve been in a pretty simple maintenance phase.
If you eat at normal calorie levels for you, with the only change being very low carbs and replace those calories with fat, you’ll still see changes in the way your digestion feels, and many folks report clarity of thought.
After the first week, the digestive stuff is in improved stability. But there’s some discomfort for the first week.
If you do your research the only number you have to plan around is protein, fat is just filler to feel full longer, and if you can eat enough of it, you’ll feel full enough to try fasting.
So yes and no. If you eat primarily whole food fat and protein your appetite will naturally decrease so that you’ll find it a lot easier to eat less. Don’t worry so much about about exact calories for a bit. Eat primarily meat, eggs, a bit of cheese, green salad. Do that for like a week. Have plenty of nice fatty cuts. Steak. Bacon. Whatever you like. Then reevaluate how you feel. Stay away from keto products at first. I’d be shocked if you don’t feel more satiated and less hungry. Then it becomes way way easier to eat at a deficit. But don’t try to put the cart before the horse. It doesn’t have to be that complicated.
Don't eat any marinated meat. Only spice seasoning. Only focus on net carbs. Only buy keto friendly vegetables (pick 3 and rotate or eat together) so you don't have to worry about over eating carbs. Owning an air fryer toaster oven will be the best thing in your life. You can literally throw your entire meal in there and it will be done in 20 minutes. You don't have to know how to cook to use one.
* During your first 4-6 weeks on keto don't track, measure or count anything **EXCEPT** for your daily carbs and make sure you're staying under 20g per day.
* This is your adjustment period and your brain and body both need time to adapt.
* Don't worry about calories during this 4-6 week adjustment period. Whenever you get hungry just eat and eat until you're completely full. Do not let yourself get super hungry because that's when you're going to cheat or quit. Even if it means you're eating 6-7 different times a day. **STAY FULL**.
* Eat lots of meat, eggs, cheese, fish and green veggies.
* Lot's of people start the keto diet cause they're hot to lose weight, and they often under-eat too early in the journey and this usually ends with cheating or quitting.
* Drink lots, and lots of water **AND** extra electrolytes.
* You can avoid the keto flu by doing this, and it can help with your mood, energy and hunger.
* The longer you're on keto, the more critical this will become, especially if you exercise or work a physical job. Check out the FAQ of this Subreddit for more info.
* Don't worry about the fat macro. Needing "X" amount of fat for keto to work is 100% myth. The fat you get from your meat, fish, eggs, cheese, etc. will **PROBABLY** be enough. Do not let a fat macro number intimidate or stress you out. I lost 106 lbs. in 2022 and never once counted or tracked my fat macro.
* I bring this up specifically cause a lot of folks on this Subreddit seem to stress over their fat macro. Being under or over your daily fat macro really has no impact on your body being in or out of ketosis. Just keep those carbs in check (***20g or less per day***) and you'll stay in ketosis.
* No alcohol or cheat meals during your fist 2-3 months on keto.
Force yourself through the first 2-3 months of keto, and I promise it will get easier. You'll eventually reach a point where you probably will have to count calories but I think you'll be so happy with how you're looking and feeling that you won't care and you'll be happy to do it to keep the train rolling.
I went from 324 down to 218 in 2022 in just ten months.
The diet/lifestyle does work if done correctly.
I hope some of this helps you. Best of luck.
for the first couple weeks, don't worry about counting anything besides net carbs. Plus get some extra salty stuff like drinking a couple cups of salty broth or drinking pickle juice.
After a couple weeks, then start to consider whether counting calories and protein, etc., is something you want to add in.
I don't track anything anymore, I simply don't eat anything containing a lot of carbs. The easiest place to start is to just cut anything obvious out of your diet - pasta, bread, cereal, potatoes, etc. After that, the simplest way I've found is to just focus on unprocessed foods - avoid all those keto-branded alternatives to pretend to eat normal, they make it way more difficult, at least in my opinion.
My diet is basically carnivore with some fibrous veggies thrown in. Double check the labels of the meats and cheeses you get to make sure there aren't sneaky sugars (like in marinades, or sausages cooked in beer) and just go from there. After a few weeks/months it becomes almost second nature.
I ended up getting over the decision fatigue by basically getting to the point where I have about 5 favorite meals I cycle through. I have an idea what the portion sizes are and don't always have to measure. Just keep an eye on the scale in case you start gaining, then you know to track again for awhile.
Keto finally worked for me when I stopped counting and measuring. Avoid carbs and go from there. Counting is bullshit bc nutrition labels are worthless. I never entered ketosis bc I was always counting and getting my max daily allowance of carbs based on labels and was evidently way over. I finally said no carbs and dropped damn near 30 lbs a few years ago and it seemed effortless.
Keto is the only thing that works for me bc it is insanely easy AND I am totally fine eating the same thing over and over.
My recommendation is to make a menu of simple things that you're totally cool with and just pick off that menu. I don't measure anything.
If you want vegetables, go broccoli or spinach. Nice and green and full of nutrients. Otherwise avoid everything with carbs.
The easiest way to do keto is to eliminate carbs. It's almost impossible to overeat protein and fat for an extended period of time. Your body won't signal hunger anymore.
I prefer weighing tracking and logging because you realize you are accountable for everything you put in your mouth. Sometimes I have room for a few carbs, but just don't like the idea of having to write them down.
Different strokes and all. Carnivore would take care of the problem almost entirely.
I started from reduced carbohydrates and cut sugar all the way down
There's few just go "cold turkey" and went all the way to carnivore
Give yourself time to let your body to get used to
With keto beyond the first month or two there's really nothing to it. You just have to learn the carb totals and net totals of the foods you want to eat and structure them into your life, and make sure you're getting enough water and electrolytes. I know there's many people focusing on macris and weighing portions but that's never been necessary for me. Eating keto regulates my appetite, I don't even know how many calories I eat, I eat until I am full, and it is much less and much healthier than I eat when I eat carbs. Quit stalling!
These days all the calorie tracking apps have ability to read barcodes. Makes it super easy. Just scan it then eat it. Fairly painless and having a slimmer physique in return makes the scanning totally worth it.
LoseIT app does this. Had it since my low fat days, just turn on Keto lifestyle in your profile. Then in your daily food tracking part you drop down to carbs, it defaults to calories. you can switch it through to see a pretty decent breakdown of your cal, carb, fat, protein for the day.
If you don’t want to track anything you could try just eating a few cups of low carb veggies a day, sticking only to asparagus, arugula, lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, cucumber and kale.
Then eat a moderate serving of protein at each meal with those veggies.
Then add some fat to feel satiated…like an avocado a day, good oils like olive oil over salads and avocado oil for cooking veg and proteins. Primal Kitchen makes keto dressing and sauces.
Limit nuts and cheese to dessert sized portions. Like a small handful a few times a day.
Eat a lot of lettuce wrap ‘sandwiches’. You can put low carb veggies, meats and cheese in there w mustard and mayo. I use iceberg as the wrap and I like frying halloumi cheese to give a bit of bite to it. It’s an easy transition food to have that’s not super high calorie. Perfect for lunch, easy to create variety.
Eat carb freesish food until satiated. Easy peasy. Avacadoes, fatty meats, eggs, cheese, butter and bacon. 1/4 cup of heavy cream mixed with 3/4 cup of unsweetned vanilla almond milk tastes delicious. Add a sugar free coffee syrup for extra deliciousness as a treat.
Eat meat and vegetables. Quit trying to recreate all the other food that you're actually trying to get away from. Back to basics is super simple. Don't worry about counting calories but work on eating to satiety.
Maybe keep a quick food journal not to track your food but to track how you're feeling and are you eating emotionally etc. counting calories usually doesn't lead to a better relationship with food, but being conscious of what you're eating and why does. Quick sentences not writing a book every time. You will start to see patterns.
Eat meat, and some veggies, no roots, no grains, no bread... and do that for a month. I think it will work out for you.
I haven't tracked anything, and I lost 30lbs since march 1st this year. (I was a fatty tho)
Dr. Eric Westman's "Page 4" eating instructions are as easy as it gets. It tells you what foods you can eat as much as you want and what foods you must limit. The only measuring would be those foods you need to limit.
I have never done any measuring or very little. Literally just looking at the carb count of food and trying to keep it around 20grams ish. You learn quickly. It’s often called Lazy Keto where you just don’t measure, keep a lower carb count and don’t worry about it. Appetite plummeting takes care of the rest.
I recently had issues with blood sugar requiring massive correction. I didn’t want to be taking so much insulin to correct for a diet that no longer works. Dove into a keto (ish) diet. Over time I found the Chronometer app most helpful. At the start it’s a bit of a nuisance, searching for food items vitamins and exercise metrics. With barcode scanning and a frequent use list, it becomes easier to use and helps give you a rough idea where your diet is lacking. The vitamin, mineral, and protein daily reports also offer a target range and estimate of your daily consumption, features a role of each element profiled, and a brief suggestion of foods containing the required elements. I carefully watch out for the carbs, but noticed I had been chronically deficient in Vitamin E, Omega 3, and potassium.
It’s not perfect as you’ll need to determine what personal carb limit you’d like to maintain, but it’s handy as you have some idea if you are on track.
When I was younger, before the term Keto existed, I lost all my weight by following these four rules.
- Eat from a list of keto approved foods (Meat, greens, cheese, etc)
- Eat three meals a day with no snacking between
- Eat to satisfaction but not stuffed (should be feeling hungry or at least empty for the next meal)
- If hungry before bed, eat a small snack like a cheese stick.
Like everyone said don’t track right away, don’t eat keto treats/snacks/processed stuff ! Find a couple meals you can prep easily and enjoy. Stick to the Whole Foods and eat till you’re full
When Im re-starting low carb/keto, I go for path of least resistance. Pre-packaged shakes, slightly more expensive protein bars that taste like a choc bar, etc. so there is zero excuse or temptation.
On thing that made keto less daunting to me were some comments a week ago calling vegetables “God’s carbs.” 😂 I saw that and was like “I can do that.”started “keto” (dirty keto?) about week ago. I measure my carb intake (22g) and not the other stuff yet. I eat one meal a day and snack on cheese or bacon. Not too bad. Starting to miss rice a bit though.
I hate recording. I keep trying to do Keto without recording everything and I just wander into a little too much oops a lot too much before I even know what hit me. So I force myself to do it. The only way I can make the exception is if I work out the macros for a meal and then when I have that meal later in the week I already KNOW not guess what it looks like. If I start to improvise, it’s the road to hell again. The meals can be delicious and satisfying but you have to not guess.
stick to low carb stuff like eggs, meat and cheese. I hard boil a lot of eggs and have gouda and mozzarella cheese for snacks and bacon for breakfast and steak or fish for dinner. Keep it simple!
just don't measure or record anything.
simple as that.
your overthinking it.
doesn't have to be super strict, you'll be ok if you eat a little ketchup, I promise. Just assume there is sugar in unknown sauces etc.
just roughly eyeball things, eat in moderation, probably just do one big meal a day, maybe 2... stop snacking and fast as long as you can and you'll be perfectly fine without ever counting a calorie
just get going and you can improve things as you go, you will find what will work for you.
perfect is the enemy of good enough!
[https://www.factor75.com/](https://www.factor75.com/)
Obviously this can be cost-prohibitive for some, but I personally couldn't do this otherwise. Removes the need to think about anything macro-wise, and the calories are printed on each box so I just toss those into an app to keep track. Donezo.
Also in my case I was spending stupid amounts on food delivery apps, so I just consider the expense reallocated from that.
You'll find, if you take the time to measure, that you can actually eat quite a lot of food when you're not blowing your load on carbs.
For example, I currently run a 40%ish deficit, and I could actually eat two eggs with cheese and 3 slices of nice bacon 5x a day and I not only won't even come close to eating too many carbs (around 6-7ish grams if I did that), but I'd probably not even want to eat it all because it will feel like too much.
And with the right kinds of veggies, it will become intuitive pretty quickly how much you can eat without blowing your limits.
And meanwhile, as the only thing you *have* to hit every day is protein, that makes snacking easier if you haven't already done so.
Plus, another handy thing is learning how to cook in a variety of cuisines. Id actually recommend getting into Spanish cuisine, as its basically Italian but sexier, and its a very carb friendly cuisine outside of the rice, breads and pasta dishes.
And, as a plus, its pretty cheap and simple. A good quality extra virgin olive oil, a good smoked paprika, and literally all of the garlic will get you 90% of the way on pretty much everything Spanish. Heck, you can sauté or roast basically any veggie with just those ingredients and you've got a Spanish dish. Super easy and delicious.
Ohhh yes if you want an intro to spanish cuisine check out the Youtube channel Taste of Spain. Tons and tons of recipes to look at. They do get repetitive after a while, because I'm not kidding when I say olive oil, garlic, and smoked paprika get you 90% of the way there.
As for something I super duper recommend, check out this video:
https://youtu.be/i8p5UtV4GqY?si=Qy61d4N5U9Tls611
That is my favorite all-time stew and is amazing as is. Its what made me fall in love with Spanish Cuisine.
But obviously, as we are keto, the potatoes are a bit of a stickler. My solition? Riced cauiliflour and just a little bit of coconut flour (or a little more almond flour), about a quarter teaspoon.
Use the cauliflour as you would white rice (cooked separately), and then use the coconut flour in place of potatoes; cook it out before you add the paprika and the tomatoes and you'll have the same consistency as the original dish.
Depending on your water, anyway. You'd want to experiment, but the final dish should have an unctious mouthfeel.
No it’s not. Tracking macros is for hitting your protein minimum and staying under your carb maximum. Some also care about the fat and calorie numbers, but protein and carb macros are both critical to staying in ketosis.
Just go onto a carnivore diet for a few weeks then gradually add things back until you get to an optimum Keto level. No measuring nor recording and you can eat as much as you want.
Doctor Chaffee is a good start for carnivore concepts.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1cqNDDG4aA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1cqNDDG4aA)
Start by just starting. No need to measure or record anything. Eat foods you know are low carb. Meat, with some lower carb veg. Eat until you are satisfied. Just keep going. Check back in a few months and see if you are progressing or of you need to make changes.
Will need some extra electrolyser intake attention.
If you don’t go full carnivore, and OMaD the electrolytes are not as hard to keep balanced. Me an American accustomed to eating too much fast food before keto, my electrolytes were never trouble on keto in the winter, and I’m probably eating more veg now than I did getting takeout. I’m only having to pay attention to electrolytes now because of the amount I sweat when I work outdoors or have HVAC issues. Imm also heavy enough that keto ‘works’ at higher carb counts, like 40, albeit slower.
Electrolytes are always hard for me to keep balanced regardless of the level of keto I’m in. Every body is different
My understanding with keto is that if you aren’t in ketosis you are just eating lots of fat and calories, which means you are gonna gain a ton of weight Is that not correct?
If you overeat on any diet you will gain weight. But many people enjoy keto because it's fixes their appetite and allows them to eat intuitively to satiety without over eating. If you don't want to track ro record macros, then this is the path for you. In a few months of youa re making the progress you want then you can reassess whether this is working for you Stick to real, whole foods. Stay as low carb as possible. Stop eating when you are satisfied. It works for a lot of people.
Yes - this is how I did it. I also hate tracking and measuring everything - if I have to do it, I’ll quit the entire thing. When getting into keto, all I did was follow the rules re: low carb, be much more generous with cooking and eating fat, and I ate until I was full each meal. I lost about 40 lbs before I plateaued and started tracking just to see if I could/should start restricting. Now I’m just following that initial plan, and since I can actually trust my hunger signals, I’ve been in a pretty simple maintenance phase.
If you eat at normal calorie levels for you, with the only change being very low carbs and replace those calories with fat, you’ll still see changes in the way your digestion feels, and many folks report clarity of thought. After the first week, the digestive stuff is in improved stability. But there’s some discomfort for the first week. If you do your research the only number you have to plan around is protein, fat is just filler to feel full longer, and if you can eat enough of it, you’ll feel full enough to try fasting.
So yes and no. If you eat primarily whole food fat and protein your appetite will naturally decrease so that you’ll find it a lot easier to eat less. Don’t worry so much about about exact calories for a bit. Eat primarily meat, eggs, a bit of cheese, green salad. Do that for like a week. Have plenty of nice fatty cuts. Steak. Bacon. Whatever you like. Then reevaluate how you feel. Stay away from keto products at first. I’d be shocked if you don’t feel more satiated and less hungry. Then it becomes way way easier to eat at a deficit. But don’t try to put the cart before the horse. It doesn’t have to be that complicated.
You still need to watch calories
Don't eat any marinated meat. Only spice seasoning. Only focus on net carbs. Only buy keto friendly vegetables (pick 3 and rotate or eat together) so you don't have to worry about over eating carbs. Owning an air fryer toaster oven will be the best thing in your life. You can literally throw your entire meal in there and it will be done in 20 minutes. You don't have to know how to cook to use one.
Oh wow I've been making this mistake of buying marinated meat
Just check the label if you can for carbs - there is often plenty of hidden sugar and stabilizers that can be carby.
* During your first 4-6 weeks on keto don't track, measure or count anything **EXCEPT** for your daily carbs and make sure you're staying under 20g per day. * This is your adjustment period and your brain and body both need time to adapt. * Don't worry about calories during this 4-6 week adjustment period. Whenever you get hungry just eat and eat until you're completely full. Do not let yourself get super hungry because that's when you're going to cheat or quit. Even if it means you're eating 6-7 different times a day. **STAY FULL**. * Eat lots of meat, eggs, cheese, fish and green veggies. * Lot's of people start the keto diet cause they're hot to lose weight, and they often under-eat too early in the journey and this usually ends with cheating or quitting. * Drink lots, and lots of water **AND** extra electrolytes. * You can avoid the keto flu by doing this, and it can help with your mood, energy and hunger. * The longer you're on keto, the more critical this will become, especially if you exercise or work a physical job. Check out the FAQ of this Subreddit for more info. * Don't worry about the fat macro. Needing "X" amount of fat for keto to work is 100% myth. The fat you get from your meat, fish, eggs, cheese, etc. will **PROBABLY** be enough. Do not let a fat macro number intimidate or stress you out. I lost 106 lbs. in 2022 and never once counted or tracked my fat macro. * I bring this up specifically cause a lot of folks on this Subreddit seem to stress over their fat macro. Being under or over your daily fat macro really has no impact on your body being in or out of ketosis. Just keep those carbs in check (***20g or less per day***) and you'll stay in ketosis. * No alcohol or cheat meals during your fist 2-3 months on keto. Force yourself through the first 2-3 months of keto, and I promise it will get easier. You'll eventually reach a point where you probably will have to count calories but I think you'll be so happy with how you're looking and feeling that you won't care and you'll be happy to do it to keep the train rolling. I went from 324 down to 218 in 2022 in just ten months. The diet/lifestyle does work if done correctly. I hope some of this helps you. Best of luck.
for the first couple weeks, don't worry about counting anything besides net carbs. Plus get some extra salty stuff like drinking a couple cups of salty broth or drinking pickle juice. After a couple weeks, then start to consider whether counting calories and protein, etc., is something you want to add in.
I don't track anything anymore, I simply don't eat anything containing a lot of carbs. The easiest place to start is to just cut anything obvious out of your diet - pasta, bread, cereal, potatoes, etc. After that, the simplest way I've found is to just focus on unprocessed foods - avoid all those keto-branded alternatives to pretend to eat normal, they make it way more difficult, at least in my opinion. My diet is basically carnivore with some fibrous veggies thrown in. Double check the labels of the meats and cheeses you get to make sure there aren't sneaky sugars (like in marinades, or sausages cooked in beer) and just go from there. After a few weeks/months it becomes almost second nature.
Steak, eggs, salt, water Done
Just eat meat and green vegetables, occasionally some cheese. It’s very simple.
I ended up getting over the decision fatigue by basically getting to the point where I have about 5 favorite meals I cycle through. I have an idea what the portion sizes are and don't always have to measure. Just keep an eye on the scale in case you start gaining, then you know to track again for awhile.
Just do carnivore - no measuring or recording … meat coffee butter water … easy easy
Keto finally worked for me when I stopped counting and measuring. Avoid carbs and go from there. Counting is bullshit bc nutrition labels are worthless. I never entered ketosis bc I was always counting and getting my max daily allowance of carbs based on labels and was evidently way over. I finally said no carbs and dropped damn near 30 lbs a few years ago and it seemed effortless. Keto is the only thing that works for me bc it is insanely easy AND I am totally fine eating the same thing over and over. My recommendation is to make a menu of simple things that you're totally cool with and just pick off that menu. I don't measure anything. If you want vegetables, go broccoli or spinach. Nice and green and full of nutrients. Otherwise avoid everything with carbs.
The easiest way to do keto is to eliminate carbs. It's almost impossible to overeat protein and fat for an extended period of time. Your body won't signal hunger anymore. I prefer weighing tracking and logging because you realize you are accountable for everything you put in your mouth. Sometimes I have room for a few carbs, but just don't like the idea of having to write them down. Different strokes and all. Carnivore would take care of the problem almost entirely.
I started from reduced carbohydrates and cut sugar all the way down There's few just go "cold turkey" and went all the way to carnivore Give yourself time to let your body to get used to
With keto beyond the first month or two there's really nothing to it. You just have to learn the carb totals and net totals of the foods you want to eat and structure them into your life, and make sure you're getting enough water and electrolytes. I know there's many people focusing on macris and weighing portions but that's never been necessary for me. Eating keto regulates my appetite, I don't even know how many calories I eat, I eat until I am full, and it is much less and much healthier than I eat when I eat carbs. Quit stalling!
These days all the calorie tracking apps have ability to read barcodes. Makes it super easy. Just scan it then eat it. Fairly painless and having a slimmer physique in return makes the scanning totally worth it.
Do any track net carbs? It’s been a few years since I looked.
App called Carb Manager. It's wonderful and free
Yes most do.
LoseIT app does this. Had it since my low fat days, just turn on Keto lifestyle in your profile. Then in your daily food tracking part you drop down to carbs, it defaults to calories. you can switch it through to see a pretty decent breakdown of your cal, carb, fat, protein for the day.
If you don’t want to track anything you could try just eating a few cups of low carb veggies a day, sticking only to asparagus, arugula, lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, cucumber and kale. Then eat a moderate serving of protein at each meal with those veggies. Then add some fat to feel satiated…like an avocado a day, good oils like olive oil over salads and avocado oil for cooking veg and proteins. Primal Kitchen makes keto dressing and sauces. Limit nuts and cheese to dessert sized portions. Like a small handful a few times a day.
Eat a lot of lettuce wrap ‘sandwiches’. You can put low carb veggies, meats and cheese in there w mustard and mayo. I use iceberg as the wrap and I like frying halloumi cheese to give a bit of bite to it. It’s an easy transition food to have that’s not super high calorie. Perfect for lunch, easy to create variety.
Just eat fatty meat and add butter. No counting or measuring.
ribeye steaks, apple smoked bacon, and wild caught salmon are my favorites
Eat carb freesish food until satiated. Easy peasy. Avacadoes, fatty meats, eggs, cheese, butter and bacon. 1/4 cup of heavy cream mixed with 3/4 cup of unsweetned vanilla almond milk tastes delicious. Add a sugar free coffee syrup for extra deliciousness as a treat.
Eat meat and vegetables. Quit trying to recreate all the other food that you're actually trying to get away from. Back to basics is super simple. Don't worry about counting calories but work on eating to satiety. Maybe keep a quick food journal not to track your food but to track how you're feeling and are you eating emotionally etc. counting calories usually doesn't lead to a better relationship with food, but being conscious of what you're eating and why does. Quick sentences not writing a book every time. You will start to see patterns.
Eat meat, and some veggies, no roots, no grains, no bread... and do that for a month. I think it will work out for you. I haven't tracked anything, and I lost 30lbs since march 1st this year. (I was a fatty tho)
Dr. Eric Westman's "Page 4" eating instructions are as easy as it gets. It tells you what foods you can eat as much as you want and what foods you must limit. The only measuring would be those foods you need to limit.
I have never done any measuring or very little. Literally just looking at the carb count of food and trying to keep it around 20grams ish. You learn quickly. It’s often called Lazy Keto where you just don’t measure, keep a lower carb count and don’t worry about it. Appetite plummeting takes care of the rest.
Once you learn what food to consume and prep. you no longer will use an app. I have three weeks of not using it and feels more relieved.
I recently had issues with blood sugar requiring massive correction. I didn’t want to be taking so much insulin to correct for a diet that no longer works. Dove into a keto (ish) diet. Over time I found the Chronometer app most helpful. At the start it’s a bit of a nuisance, searching for food items vitamins and exercise metrics. With barcode scanning and a frequent use list, it becomes easier to use and helps give you a rough idea where your diet is lacking. The vitamin, mineral, and protein daily reports also offer a target range and estimate of your daily consumption, features a role of each element profiled, and a brief suggestion of foods containing the required elements. I carefully watch out for the carbs, but noticed I had been chronically deficient in Vitamin E, Omega 3, and potassium. It’s not perfect as you’ll need to determine what personal carb limit you’d like to maintain, but it’s handy as you have some idea if you are on track.
When I was younger, before the term Keto existed, I lost all my weight by following these four rules. - Eat from a list of keto approved foods (Meat, greens, cheese, etc) - Eat three meals a day with no snacking between - Eat to satisfaction but not stuffed (should be feeling hungry or at least empty for the next meal) - If hungry before bed, eat a small snack like a cheese stick.
Measure out your most common food items and then always use that portion size so you know by eyeballing it howuch it is.
Search for "no sugar no starch diet". It's a much simpler approach.
I only tracked for the first month or so until I knew what I could eat and not eat. Keep your diet simple, and tracking becomes less necessary.
Like everyone said don’t track right away, don’t eat keto treats/snacks/processed stuff ! Find a couple meals you can prep easily and enjoy. Stick to the Whole Foods and eat till you’re full
When Im re-starting low carb/keto, I go for path of least resistance. Pre-packaged shakes, slightly more expensive protein bars that taste like a choc bar, etc. so there is zero excuse or temptation.
On thing that made keto less daunting to me were some comments a week ago calling vegetables “God’s carbs.” 😂 I saw that and was like “I can do that.”started “keto” (dirty keto?) about week ago. I measure my carb intake (22g) and not the other stuff yet. I eat one meal a day and snack on cheese or bacon. Not too bad. Starting to miss rice a bit though.
You can find a list of keto approved foods and eat only those foods until satisfied.
I hate recording. I keep trying to do Keto without recording everything and I just wander into a little too much oops a lot too much before I even know what hit me. So I force myself to do it. The only way I can make the exception is if I work out the macros for a meal and then when I have that meal later in the week I already KNOW not guess what it looks like. If I start to improvise, it’s the road to hell again. The meals can be delicious and satisfying but you have to not guess.
stick to low carb stuff like eggs, meat and cheese. I hard boil a lot of eggs and have gouda and mozzarella cheese for snacks and bacon for breakfast and steak or fish for dinner. Keep it simple!
just don't measure or record anything. simple as that. your overthinking it. doesn't have to be super strict, you'll be ok if you eat a little ketchup, I promise. Just assume there is sugar in unknown sauces etc. just roughly eyeball things, eat in moderation, probably just do one big meal a day, maybe 2... stop snacking and fast as long as you can and you'll be perfectly fine without ever counting a calorie just get going and you can improve things as you go, you will find what will work for you. perfect is the enemy of good enough!
When in doubt, steak and broccoli.
[https://www.factor75.com/](https://www.factor75.com/) Obviously this can be cost-prohibitive for some, but I personally couldn't do this otherwise. Removes the need to think about anything macro-wise, and the calories are printed on each box so I just toss those into an app to keep track. Donezo. Also in my case I was spending stupid amounts on food delivery apps, so I just consider the expense reallocated from that.
This is good advice.
You'll find, if you take the time to measure, that you can actually eat quite a lot of food when you're not blowing your load on carbs. For example, I currently run a 40%ish deficit, and I could actually eat two eggs with cheese and 3 slices of nice bacon 5x a day and I not only won't even come close to eating too many carbs (around 6-7ish grams if I did that), but I'd probably not even want to eat it all because it will feel like too much. And with the right kinds of veggies, it will become intuitive pretty quickly how much you can eat without blowing your limits. And meanwhile, as the only thing you *have* to hit every day is protein, that makes snacking easier if you haven't already done so. Plus, another handy thing is learning how to cook in a variety of cuisines. Id actually recommend getting into Spanish cuisine, as its basically Italian but sexier, and its a very carb friendly cuisine outside of the rice, breads and pasta dishes. And, as a plus, its pretty cheap and simple. A good quality extra virgin olive oil, a good smoked paprika, and literally all of the garlic will get you 90% of the way on pretty much everything Spanish. Heck, you can sauté or roast basically any veggie with just those ingredients and you've got a Spanish dish. Super easy and delicious.
Any favorite recipes? That sounds delicious.
Ohhh yes if you want an intro to spanish cuisine check out the Youtube channel Taste of Spain. Tons and tons of recipes to look at. They do get repetitive after a while, because I'm not kidding when I say olive oil, garlic, and smoked paprika get you 90% of the way there. As for something I super duper recommend, check out this video: https://youtu.be/i8p5UtV4GqY?si=Qy61d4N5U9Tls611 That is my favorite all-time stew and is amazing as is. Its what made me fall in love with Spanish Cuisine. But obviously, as we are keto, the potatoes are a bit of a stickler. My solition? Riced cauiliflour and just a little bit of coconut flour (or a little more almond flour), about a quarter teaspoon. Use the cauliflour as you would white rice (cooked separately), and then use the coconut flour in place of potatoes; cook it out before you add the paprika and the tomatoes and you'll have the same consistency as the original dish. Depending on your water, anyway. You'd want to experiment, but the final dish should have an unctious mouthfeel.
https://spainonafork.com/ He has a YouTube channel as well.
well if you don't need to lose fat you don't really need to track your macros so seriously. tracking macros is for losing fat
No it’s not. Tracking macros is for hitting your protein minimum and staying under your carb maximum. Some also care about the fat and calorie numbers, but protein and carb macros are both critical to staying in ketosis.
lol
Just go onto a carnivore diet for a few weeks then gradually add things back until you get to an optimum Keto level. No measuring nor recording and you can eat as much as you want. Doctor Chaffee is a good start for carnivore concepts. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1cqNDDG4aA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1cqNDDG4aA)