Category: Keto For Beginners

The most common question I’m getting right now is how did I get started. Where did I learn what to do/not do? I’m a diligent researcher by nature because I like to stay informed to be able to make my own decisions. I don’t typically just take someone else’s word for it without doing my research. So I strongly urge you to do your research as well and learn this properly. It’s easy to wreck a whole week of hard work with one accidental bad food choice. To be considered fat adapted or keto is to have carbohydrates below 20 net carbs. That’s pretty low so make sure you know what you’re doing so you don’t throw yourself out of ketosis. It can take up to a week to get back into ketosis (fat adapted).

Here’s my favorite resources for getting started:

• Read the book Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung.
• Check out this website: www.dietdoctor.com
• Follow a couple blogs that have recipes and guidance such as
  • http://www.ketoconnent.net
  • https://www.heyketomama.com/
  • https://www.ruled.me/

My best advice is to go through your refrigerator and pantry. Remove ALL OF THE TEMPTATION. REMOVE ALLLLLL OF IT!! Get rid of all the sauces, cookies, pastas, rice, breads, sweets, processed foods, etc. Once you are dropping weight you will not want these awful things anyways. Plus, out of sight out of mind! Fill your fridge and pantry with keto foods so you have them available when you need it. Replace your sugar with a keto approved sweetener such as Swerve and replace your table salt with pink Himalayan Sea Salt. Additionally, remove or unfollow all the social media sites that have tempting foods.

Take “before” and “progress” pictures! Yes, do this for yourself. Don’t worry… these photos can only be for your eyes. It’s not like you have to share them with anyone! When you are losing weight or reach your goal weight you will regret not taking before pictures to compare with. Or when you are having a weight loss stall or lacking focus you can use these photos as motivation. Trust me. Take these pics!

Be Prepared! Nothing can ruin a diet faster than poor planning. Make sure you sit down at least once a week and make a menu. I like to make it as easy as possible to set myself up for success during my busy week. If you have food on hand to cook you will be less likely to eat out at a restaurant. Also, make double batches so you can easily re-heat dinner for the next day when you know you may be extra busy. I know a lot of folks have great success meal prepping for the entire week. You can even measure out your macros this way to save time.

Another HUGE thing to point out is to be committed. Research keto and see if you are going to fully commit to this. This is a lifestyle. This is not a fad. If you are going to use keto to drop some weight and think you can go back to eating your old habits is going get the pounds back fast. You can either use glucose for fuel or you use ketones for fuel. You cannot mix the two!

I highly suggest a couple tools to get started as well. Here is a list of the tools I use.

• The tool I use most is my digital kitchen scale. You should be weighing anything you put in your mouth and logging it into a food diary.
• You can figure out your macros using an app called myfitnesspal. This shows you your macros so you know how much food you should be eating for a steady weight loss based on your current weight. Learning which foods can wreck your macros is huge! For example, it’s easy to blow calories snacking on nuts because an ounce contains a ton of fat. It’s easy to eat too many so make sure you weigh them and eat the serving size!
• A bathroom scale is also something you should invest in but don’t worry… you don’t need it. I only weigh myself once a week. I found when I weighted myself daily I was obsessing over it. Now, weekly weigh-ins are enough and it’s nice to see a big drop!
• Get a soft tape measure and measure your body. Write it all down so you can reference it at a later date, or when you hit a weight loss stall. Sometimes the scale doesn’t move but you’re still shrinking!

I have been asked several times lately what I’m eating, how much, and how often. I thought I’d put together a post for the way I am eating right now while I’m in what I call “weight loss” mode. See, I have a total of 150 lbs to lose so I am hard core into this weight loss mode. I’m not eating to enjoy food right now. However, the foods I’m eating taste wonderful and satisfying. I’m eating food to sustain life and reach my goals. I find it easiest to use the same foods each week when I meal plan because it saves me money on my grocery budget, these foods keep me losing weight, and it’s easy to stay on track. I’ve spent the past 14 years overindulging so I don’t need to have the extras or treats. I got an extra 150 lbs on my butt from that! Lesson learned, time to get serious and I can spend the next year saving my body from my old ways. My body deserves real food and love.

With that being said, when I get closer to my goal weight I will add back in foods that add a little variety to my diet, but I will add them back in with moderation. That’s the difference! I will incorporate intermittent fasting (IF) when I overindulge and to help maintain my goal weight.

Here is my schedule: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I fast 23:1 or in other words, just eat dinner those days. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday I fast 16:8 or in other words eat during the hours of 12pm to 8pm only. You can change the hours of the 16:8 to earlier or even later..but the main concept is to only eat during that 8 hour window.

Here is the sample menu ideas I have:

• Burgers (turkey, chicken or beef) with a side cruciferous vegetable* that has been roasted or sauted in Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, or butter
• Grilled steak or chicken with a side cruciferous vegetable* that has been roasted or sauted in Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, or butter
• Salads with grilled chicken, bacon, burger or egg with ranch dressing
• Fathead Pizza with cheese & pepperoni
  Lasagna made with zucchini and my homemade meat sauce
• Fajitas with riced cauliflower
• Steak and Cheese inside green peppers instead of bread
• Sauted veggies like peppers, onions, broccoli, asparagus with chicken over riced cauliflower
  Butter Chicken over riced cauliflower
• Steak or Chicken with veggie kabobs over riced cauliflower
• Keto broccoli cheddar soup
• Eggs a million ways: fried, scrambled, hard boiled, omelet with cheese and salsa, omelet with cheese and bacon, baked in the oven in a ham shell, etc
• On the days I fast 16:8 I will basically have my former breakfast for lunch. I’ll have eggs and bacon for lunch and one of the items above for dinners.
• WATCH YOUR CHEESE INTAKE! Too much cheese will slow weight loss. Too much cheese turns into sugar too! I eat cheese, but eat it in moderation.
• *cruciferous vegetables include: kale, leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.
• I fry, saute or roast my veggies and meats with grass fed butter or organic olive oil/avocado oil.

I am a huge supporter of only purchasing meat and dairy that are grass fed and free range. It’s so important to invest in high quality meats and cheese because our food is actually more nutritious coming from animals that eat their natural food sources. Cows and chickens do not eat grains. Cows EAT GRASS and chickens EAT BUGS.

I have tried to lose weight 100 times before. Guess what? I’m still obese. It never worked no matter how hard I tried. I had every excuse in the book but ultimately it was simple to figure out why I kept failing. All my previous attempts weren’t set up to be a lifestyle change and after I had lost the weight I reverted to my old ways. It was a viscous cycle; lose 30lbs, gain 30lbs back. Even being diagnosed with a genetic heart defect wasn’t enough for me to change my life. My doctor told me lose the weight or look into bariatric surgery. It made my heart issue 10x worse carrying around an extra 150lbs and if I didn’t take it seriously I was in for serious problems.

Bariatric surgery was not an option for me. I needed to fix myself with something that I could stick to, or in other words, make a lifestyle change. I needed to save myself from my unhealthy ways. Around the same time I was diagnosed with my heart defect, my father’s heart doctor recommended the Ketogenic diet combined with intermittent fasting.

After hearing my dad’s heart doctor recommend the Keto diet and having the same heart defect as my father, I figured what the hell…why not try it? What did I have to lose? I tried everything else except weightloss surgery. Might as well give it a try! It was my last hope!

One of the questions that people ask me all the time is what is Keto and how is it different from Low Carb or Atkins? The main difference is a low carb diet does not restrict carbohydrates. Low carb could be considered less than 150 net carbs and still be “low carb”. With Keto, there is a restriction on the amount of carbs and you must stay below 20 net carbohydrates. The main goal is to hack your body into a fat burning machine by getting into ketosis. Ketosis is a normal metabolic process. When the body does not have enough glucose for energy, it burns stored fats instead; this results in a build-up of acids called ketones within the body. The aim of the diet is to try and burn unwanted fat by forcing the body to rely on fat for energy, rather than carbohydrates.

When I first started Keto I went by the guidelines of 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbohydrates (that you get from veggies). Basically, take your caloric intake for the day and divide your calories using those percentages. I used an app called myfitnesspal to make it easy to generate those totals.

What foods can you eat in a Keto lifestyle?

• Healthy fats, green cruciferous veggies, and protein. Some examples of healthy fats would be eggs from chickens that free range, organic olive oil, avocados, grass fed butter, organic/grass fed dairy, and nuts. Other fats to use in moderation like mayos (not from canola oil) and bacon that is uncured.
• Green cruciferous veggies are a great way to get vital nutrients for your daily needs. Great examples would be kale, broccoli, asparagus, lettuce, leafy greens, cabbage, etc. I also add in occasional green peppers, cauliflower, tomatoes and  zucchini.

How to get the best results on Keto:

• It’s important to watch your protein consumption on Keto. Keto is not a high protein diet. Too much protein can turn into sugar. I enjoy grass fed meats and cheeses. I am not a fan of seafood but if you love seafood you can have that too.
• Watch your dairy intake. Just like consuming too much protein…too much dairy will also turn into sugar. I like cheeses that are higher in fats and lower in carbohydrates such as brie, Parmesan, provolone, feta, etc. I also enjoy in moderation heavy whipping cream and mozzarella cheese. Make sure your dairy is organic and from cows that are grass fed!

So why Keto?

It’s easy! I am not hungry when I’m eating this way because fats keep me feeling fuller, longer. Who doesn’t want to eat butter, bacon, and cheeses? I don’t count calories now that I know what to eat. I eat real food and the weight has melted off!