Getting Started with Keto

Everyone starts a new journey differently.  For me, I dive right in.  I don't think about it.  I decide and do it.  When I found the website diet doctor.  I signed up for the free trial, got the shopping list, looked at the menus and went to the grocery store. 

One big shocker for me was the shopping list.  ZERO fruit!  What??? For years and years we've been told to get 2 servings of fruit a day.  I love fruit!  How am I going to function without fruit?  No more grapes, cherries, melons, apples, BANANAS...

I bought everything on that shopping list to make Week #1 Keto menu plan.  That's exactly what I did.  If it said eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, I did it.  I made the recipes, even if I wasn't sure I would like them, but guess what.  Every single one was pretty damn tasty.

Maybe I had mentally decided they were tasty.  I don't know.  I do know that my family thought I was nuts, they weren't going to eat what I was eating, so I would cook two separate meals, but I didn't care.  I had made a decision to be successful. 

I'm not going to lie.  The first week was hell.  I went through sugar withdrawls, I had headaches, I felt a little queasy.  The remedy...beef bouillon.  Thank God, I bought everything on that shopping list.  One cup of hot bouillon takes the symptoms of Keto Flu away in minutes.  You're probably wondering what keto flu is.  It's basically detox, withdrawl, your body fighting for sugar or carbs, electrolyte imbalance.  Drinking the beef bouillon restores some much needed sodium.

Getting Started...

Step 1:  Decide this is what you want to do.  I mean REALLY decide.  This isn't a fad diet that you do a few days and then pig out on burgers and fries because your friends are going to that new burger joint and you want to be social.  This is an all in deal at least for the first few months. 

Step 2:  If you have zero will power, clean out the pantry and cupboards.  Get rid of your trigger foods and while you're at it, dump the white/wheat flour, sugars, breads, potatoes. 
Unfortunately, I couldn't do all the dumping of said white carbs because my picky family wouldn't join me.   Luckily, I have great will power as long as I don't take that first bite. 

Step 3:  Wrap this around your head.  It is the complete opposite of what we've learned since grade school.  Don't worry about calories.  That's correct, but that doesn't mean you can just eat and eat and eat all day long.  Fat won't make you fat.  You will be eating 75% of your daily nutrients in fat.
Moderate protein.  You don't have to eat tons of protein to build muscle.  In fact, too much protein turns to glucose and you will be working against yourself.  20% of your daily nutrients will be protein.  So that just leaves carbs.  5% carbs.  This will work out to about 20 net carbs per day.
Remember that food pyramid in school?  The bottom row was 5-7 grains per day.  I say Hogwash!  You don't need them!  Why do you think the big thing right now is grain free pet foods?  They make our pets sick, fat and cause allergies.  We will do anything for our pets, but not for ourselves.

Step 4:  Find a good keto app or carb counter.  I was comfortable with myfitnesspal.  Even though it actually focuses on calories.  I was able to set my goal macros (percentages, 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carbs) It lets me enter recipes, I can find almost any food item or ingredient in the lists.  But, you find or use what's comfortable for you.  This is your journey and you need to feel good about it.

Step 5:  There are tons of websites that have keto recipes, rules, etc.  You can go as strict (Keto Nazi) whole foods, no sweeteners or sugar alcohols, no modifying old comfort food recipes to a keto version or as lax as you like (Lazy Keto) eat whatever you want as long as you stay under 20 net carbs.  I'm somewhere in between the two.  I avoid processed food (except pork rinds and sometimes Velveeta cheese) I prefer fresh produce but will chose frozen on occasion (riced cauliflower), if I'm wanting something sweet, I'm the queen of manipulating recipes like chocolate chip cookies, pound cake, etc...I'm still working on a sandwich bread recipe that I love.  It hasn't happened yet.

Step 6:  Make this as easy as possible the first couple of weeks.  Sometimes repetitiveness is the best thing.  Don't go gung-ho on recipes that have tons of ingredients or sweet desserts.  WHY??? The first couple of weeks, you are eliminating glucose in your system.  After a couple of weeks you won't really even care about sweets.  Sugar alcohols and sugar substitutes can trigger a sweet tooth craving.  The first 2 weeks try your hardest to eliminate sweets of any kind.  Drink the beef bouillon!  I'm serious.   Plan your meals.  You may want to eat 2 eggs and 3-4 strips of bacon every morning.  Lunch might be a salad with grilled chicken, avocado and ranch dressing.  Dinner could be hamburger patties and green beans.  Once you figure out what you want, you need to make sure that your macros (percentages) work. 

Step 7:  Good fats: olive oil, avocado, butter, coconut oil, avocado oil, heavy whipping cream, and BACON.  Add fats while you're cooking.  Add heavy cream to the scrambled eggs, add cheese and mayo to that hamburger patty and wrap it up in lettuce. 

Step 8:  Go shopping.  The best way to make sure you are buying foods with low carbs is to stay on the outside perimeter of the grocery store. 

What not to buy - root veggies (lots of carbs/natural sugars), fruit (you will be able to eat berries again someday but not right now), milk (tons of sugar), substitute heavy cream or unsweetened almond milk but check the labels, margarine, (it's not real, it's plastic butter) buy real butter, I always buy salted AND unsalted.

Essential items - green veggies, lots of zucchini, avocado, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, hamburger, chicken, steaks, pork, bacon, sausage, cheeses, heavy cream, cream cheese, pork rinds (I use pork rinds instead of breadcrumbs)  butter, coconut oil, almond flour, coconut flour, spices, pink salt, beef bouillon cubes.  Some of these items are pricey, but will last a long time, like the almond and coconut flour.  Also, you don't have to buy everything on the first shopping trip unless you just want to get them. 

Step 9:  START eating the Keto way!



Some of the questions or concerns I get regarding this way of eating:

Isn't eating so much fat bad for your arteries?  The answer is NO.  If you eat the good fats it's actually good for your arteries and will help lower your cholesterol, blood pressure and even blood sugar.

I've heard Ketosis is very dangerous and you can even die from it!  No, you're thinking Ketoacidosis which is very dangerous but a totally different thing.

What is Ketosis?  Short answer, your body burns fat as fuel instead of glucose which creates ketones which are eliminated through urine.

How do I know if I'm in Ketosis stage?  Well, you can buy Ketone strips from the pharmacy and pee on them.  Some people say it's unreliable over time.  But when you are just starting out it's nice to have some type of measurement to know if you're on the right track.  After time, your body will become fat adapted and as long as you don't eat a lot of carbs you will continue to burn fat as fuel.

Why am I so constipated?  Because you're eating differently and your body is confused and trying to figure this new system out.  Make sure you are drinking plenty of water.  Try adding a bullet proof coffee in the morning.  That always gets things moving for me. lol  Make sure you're eating enough good fats.  If you need to add fiber, add something like ground psyllium husk powder.  Try a gentle laxative.  Once your body gets used to this way of eating, everything will get better.  Your body will become normal like it was supposed to be in the first place.

I hear people talking about Bulletproof Coffee...What is it?  This should actually be a recipe post, but since you've asked...

Bulletproof Coffee
Ingredients:  8-12 oz hot strong coffee, 1 Tbsp real butter (some people will tell you grass fed butter, use what you want), 1 Tbsp coconut oil.

You have read the ingredients and you're thinking "GROSS, butter and oil in coffee!"  I know I thought the same exact thing.  The first time I tried it, I didn't read the directions and it was like an oil slick.  I couldn't drink it.  Then I went back and read the directions.

Directions:
Put everything in a blender, nutribullet, whatever you have to blend it.  Blend it until it is creamy and frothy like a latte.  Drink it and enjoy.  This will actually be my breakfast most days.  It keeps me full and satisfied until lunchtime or later.

Options:  add a little heavy cream, flavored extracts (I like caramel or peppermint) stevia to sweeten.

Try it :)

Can I use Sweet N Low or Splenda?  You can use whatever you like and tastes good to you.  Personally, chemically processed sugar substitutes just made me fatter.  I prefer organic stevia. 

What is Keto Breath and will I get it?    A low carb diet produces ketones and sometimes these ketones are released through breath, pores, sweat as well as urine.  Not everyone has a problem with keto breath.  In the beginning my husband told me that my breath smelled like chemicals.  Once he thought it smelled like brake cleaner, another time he decided it was acetone (nail polish remover).  I've been eating this way for 9 months and he hasn't mentioned it in the last 5 months or so.  Either I don't have keto breath anymore or he got used to it. lol

Do I have to exercise?  No, you don't have to join a gym and work out hours a day.  But a little movement is good for everyone.  Take a walk, if your body hurts to bad to walk, sit in a chair and move your arms and legs up and down.  But no, you don't have to do lots of cardio and weight lifting to be successful.  The most exercise I do is walking.  I have people telling me I need to join the gym, but I know in my heart, I will be paying for a membership that I won't use.  Been there done that!  I'll stick to my walking in the neighborhood.

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