Well, I’m so glad you asked. First off, I’m not a doctor, nutritionist, or medical expert. I’m simply sharing what works for my family. Talk to your doctor about your your specific health concerns. Researching, teaching, and helping are my passions so I am simply trying to break it down to help someone out there! 🙂
I do want to say upfront that I did not buy anything to do a keto diet. No pills, products, meal plans, anything. Keto is FREE and based on whole foods. I am passionate about always being a free resource for y’all. Our food expenses have actually DECREASED since starting keto and I’ll teach ya how!
Keep it simple, and take a deep breath!
So, what is it?! There is a whole lot of science going on in that body of yours but…
- Basically when you eat “keto” you are switching up how your body is fueled and how it “runs”.
- In a typical SAD (Standard American Diet) we eat a lot of carbs. So they become the main source of energy for your body.
- By limiting your carbs, your body switches into fat burning mode and produces ketones . Your body runs off the fat you consume and the fat on your body (hello weight loss)!
- There are lots of different ways to keto, but I am going to share what I did and what helped me lose 90 pounds in 9 months (and feel satisfied the whole time).
So, what can I eat?
Often times I describe keto to my friends and family as: “I eat whole foods like meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts/seeds, lots of vegetables, berries, and just limit my consumption of things like sugar, potatoes, bread, pasta (and some other things).”
When you think of it that way it doesn’t seem so “different”. (But don’t you worry, I’m about to give ya all the quick and easy replacements for those often family favorites).
Please, please, please don’t over complicate it! Perfection is the enemy of good.
That’s it! I promise it can be that easy! Lots of people find success with tracking their food (calories still count on keto-I use myfitnesspal) and figuring out recommended macronutrients. Lots of free resources for that as well:
For most meals I pick:
- a protein (beef, pork, poultry, fish/seafood, eggs)
- a low carb veggie
- and then cook them in some healthy fat.
The following are links to the are the FREE macro nutrient calculators that I used to help me figure out my calories and amount of protein, and fat that I should be eating. It varies so much depending on your gender/height/weight/age/activity level, etc! In order to keep from stalling, I re-calculated my macros after every 5 pounds lost.
Click here for the Ruled.me keto calculator
Click here for Maria Emmerich’s keto calculator
Ok, I got you with protein and a veggies, but I’m not sure about all this “fat” stuff…
Don’t be afraid of fat. There are so many misconceptions around fat in our society. I’ve been trying to eat low fat and diet for the last decade and I’ve just ended up overweight, hungry and frustrated. I finally thought, there has to be another way.
Do you know that an egg is 65% fat and 35% protein? And cheddar cheese is 74% fat and 26% protein.
It is possible to eat a high-fat and low-carb diet by just choosing to consume the right foods.
For example, most mornings during my weight loss period I ate the following: 2 eggs, a few pieces of bacon, and cooked the eggs in butter.
Sounds delicious (and easy) right? Well that meal is about 70% fat, 30% protein (there are carbs in eggs/bacon but they are very minimal).
So for me, I hit my “fat macros” by just cooking in butter, coconut oil, bacon grease and choosing fattier pieces of meat like chicken thighs.
Check back next Sunday where I will be uploading another post (and free printable) in my How to Start Keto series!
Are there any printables/posts that I can create to help you on your keto/low carb journey? Let me know!
