Comments on How To Start A Low Carb Diet (Guide For Beginners)
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So basically...if I made zoodle spaghetti(example) do I have to account for everything included in the dish? Such as tomato paste, sauce, veggies, etc. When you make a dish you count each ingredient intake?
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That's correct, Meme. A food tracking app can be useful for looking up items and adding their nutritional makeup. I recommend doing this at least in the beginning, when you're still learning and figuring out which foods are low vs high carb.
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I have been on way less than 20g net carbs for 11 days and I am not seeing any results. I purchased test strips and nothing.
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11 days is not long enough for your body to adapt to ketosis and burning fat. If your test strips are giving negative results, I would revisit the foods you're eating and how you're tracking your foods. Another thing is to look at other metrics like daily calorie and protein totals, making sure you're not too high on either of them. Use this calculator to get an idea of what you should aim for: https://calculo.io/keto-calculator
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I understand it causes the liver to digest fats: what is the potential of overworking/causing damage?
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My liver enzymes are highly elevated at this time, especially when suffering from the Keto Flu.....wondering myself about the long-term effects.
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I know it's been a while since you all posted, but I just found this site and thought I'd provide some of my understanding. Please check with your Doctor about what I'm saying.
What actually happens is as epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (brain component) get high (usually during exercise or stress, your liver begins to convert triglycerides into ketones. Your body can either use the ketones or not. If you drink enough fluids, you can actually flush some of them out...literally flushing your fat away.
As for your liver, it cannot use ketones as an energy source, so it and the kidneys perform gluconeogenesis (converts either amino acids (small proteins) or fats) to glucose. Your body only makes enough for what you need. Ingesting too much protein will not make you fat...but keep to the fat-levels suggested (75%) or so.
If you get enough electrolytes (magnesium, potassium, sodium, etc), then your liver shouldn't have a problem during the transition. But if you're concerned see your doctor and have some or all of the liver-function tests done. Your doctor can also order a blood test to insure your kidneys are doing well too. After being on this diet for a while, my kidney function improved.
I hope this helps.
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Could U please tell me how to follow keto diet if you are a vegeterian? It seems complicated! Thank U!
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Doing keto as a vegetarian is definitely doable, just a bit harder since you have fewer choices in terms of things you can eat. If you read through this guide, it'll teach you how to calculate net carbs to figure out which foods you can consume.
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Can I drink alcohol?
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Yes. Just like any other food or drink, you need to look up its nutrition and look at its macro-nutrient breakdown -- especially net carbs. Depending on your daily macro goals, you can decide what serving size of alcohol is doable while still meeting your requirements.
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Bourbon "neat" has NO carbs. Calories yes, but NO carbs.
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I have been on Keto for about 45 days now. Down about 17 pounds. Now looking for meal options at home and to take to work. My issue is that I dont seem to be losing anything the past few weeks. I'm trying to lose another 97 pounds
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Jim, are you tracking your macros? Specifically, I'm thinking about the percentage of your calories that are coming from fat. Personally, I aim for at least 75% of calories from fat, less than 20 g net carbs per day, and the remainder is protein. If you aren't tracking, it could be worthwhile to log your food for a week to see if you're getting enough dietary fat.
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I don't feel I wanna go full keto, but I have significantly lowered my carb intake to less than 100g a days, lower than 50g when I can. Still, I am stuck in the old mentality where I feel bad for eating a lot of fat. Any advice on how to know I'm doing it right (low-carb diet).
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It can take some time to move away from that mentality. For me, it helped to read the science behind it as well as when I started reaping the benefits and feeling better physically. To figure out what to do, it really depends on your goals. Are you trying to lose weight? Are you diabetic? Or are you just wanting to eat lower carb in general? If you're not seeing the results that you want, it can be worthwhile to explore different eating plans. For example, trying different fat ratios (on a keto diet, you generally aim for at least 75% of calories from fat). The best way to know what's working is to track your foods every day, ideally including net carbs, calories, fat, and protein.
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Hello, first of all thank you for the wonderful website here. It's totally helping me out on my new journey. So I've been on this keto lifestyle for 20 days now. I lost 6 lbs the first week and I'm afraid I plateaued haven't seen any change and honest afraid to get on the scale again. Mostly because I don't want to get discouraged. I weigh 167 and losing 6 lbs made me happy but I'm on this for the long haul. I've set my mind to it and I'm not stopping until I see 130. I normally eat 2 meals a day 11- 7 but love my cup of coffee in the morning. ( it's just one with half and half at 2 net carbs. ) My meals are normally eggs with veggies and cheese and the meat of fish with veggies and salad for dinner. ( of course done the right way sometimes cooked in cream or with avocado on the side.) flavorful no complaints. I also just discovered the almond flour brownies and cookies normally at 2 or 3 net carbs. I don't overdo it but feel like I might be doing something wrong because they're good!!! Should I? Do you eat almond flour treats?
Any other tips???
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If you haven't been seeing results recently, or feel like you've plateaued, then it's time to dig deeper by looking at the numbers. If you haven't been strictly logging ALL foods and tracking daily macros, it's time to start now.
This article talks about how to track and log your foods -- please take a look at that and let me know if you have questions. Specifically, I would examine 2 numbers: (1) daily net carbs, (2) the percentage of your calories coming from fat. Is your daily net carbs over 20g? Are your calories from fat at least 75%?
Once you know those numbers, then you can make changes in your regular foods to improve your ketosis.
And there's nothing wrong with almond flour treats. You just need to plan them into your day, by seeing if they fit your macros (e.g., low net carbs, high fat percentage).
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I love your site. It is so helpful. Do I need to buy sugar free bacon and mayo if I go on the keto diet? It was my understanding that you need to be free of sugar other than the proper sugar substitutes. If you take a break from diet and have a glass of wine...how long does it take for the body to get back to the ketogenic level to start losing weight?
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When you're at the grocery store, it's generally a good idea to check the ingredients label of each product before you buy it. If sugar is listed, try to find a version without sugar. It's possible to find many sugar-free condiments and basic ingredients in major U.S. grocery stores nowadays. Even better is checking the nutrition label and calculating net carbs. Mayo and bacon should have zero listed on the label. If you don't know how to calculate net carbs or how much you can consume per day, please read the current page if you haven't already, since it goes over these topics.
If you take a break from the diet, there are a lot of factors at play. The time it takes for the body to get back into ketosis is going to be different for each person, how long you've been doing keto, how long of a break you took, the macro breakdown of what you ate, plus many other factors. Speaking for myself only, a glass of wine is doable because 1 cup of wine may only have 7 grams of net carbs. Keto is less about restricting certain foods, and more about restricting net carbs and increasing your caloric consumption from fat. I recommend tracking your foods (see section called "How do I log and track what I’m eating?" in this current page) to get an idea of how many net carbs you're consuming per day.
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