So you’ve heard about the Keto diet, but you’re afraid to get started. I mean, eat fat to lose weight? How is this even possible? What if you end up gaining more weight? Doesn’t this go against everything you ever learned from, let’s say, the American Heart Association, for instance? Believe me, I had the exact same freak out. All I kept thinking was, “I am 250 lbs. I can’t afford to gain any more weight“. However, at the same time, I was 250 lbs. I couldn’t afford to NOT do whatever I could to try and change that. Right? Continue reading to learn more about how to start the Keto diet.
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So as I was saying, at my highest weight, I was 250 lbs. My body hurt, I was always out of breath, I had no energy, etc. I could literally go on and on about how bad things were when I was that heavy. Besides the physical side of things, my health wasn’t all that great either. With a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis, high cholesterol, and a strong family history of high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes, I definitely had one foot in the grave. My doctor had my on diabetes medication and cholesterol medication…both of which had horrible side effects that I was tired of dealing with.
After researching and researching more and more about how to start the keto diet, I decided that I had nothing to lose. Sure I could end up gaining more weight and failing miserably at the diet, but at that point, I was already 250 lbs, what was a few more pounds? If the diet actually worked for me, the results could end up being life changing. And life changing they were! Here is a picture of me at my absolute highest weight with a picture of me yesterday.
If you don’t know what the Keto diet is, it is a diet that focuses on a high fat intake, moderate protein and very low carbs (around 20 total carbs a day). Basically, it very simple terms, your body will start using the fat you are consuming, as well as your stored body fat, as it’s new energy source instead of carbs.
How to Start the Keto Diet
Once I decided to make the jump to do the Keto diet, I knew I had to be all in. I couldn’t go halfway. In knowing that, the first three things I did were:
- Wrote down my measurements and starting weight
- Figured out my Macros using this Keto calculator
- Purchased the premium membership for My Fitness Pal
The first two items are paramount. You have to do these things to succeed with the Keto diet. A premium membership for My Fitness Pal is not required, but because I was “all in” I wanted to make sure my macro percentages were exact. With the free version of My Fitness Pal, you have to round your numbers. I wasn’t OK with that. You may be and that’s OK!
Pro Tip…Pick up this bullet journal and pens to create your Keto Diet Bullet Journal. You can design it how you would like, but what a great place to track your success, write out your goals, etc?!?
Leuchtturm1917 Medium Size Hardcover A5 Notebook – Dotted Pages – Berry
Huhuhero Fineliner Color Pen Set, 0.38 mm Fine Line Drawing Pen, Porous Fine Point Markers Perfect for Coloring Book and Bullet Journal Art Projects, Pack of 10
What Do You Do Now?
If there was just one thing I could tell you is most important when you start the Keto diet, it would be to plan, plan, plan. You don’t want to eat and track all day long without planning. If you don’t plan, then you will get to dinner and be out of protein and have WAY too much fat left to eat and you’ll end up eating a stick of butter for dinner. So I eat breakfast and while I am entering my breakfast for the day, I immediately figure out what I am going to eat for dinner, enter than and whatever I have left I divide between lunch and snacks. If I know I am going to a particular restaurant for dinner, I always plan out what I want for dinner and work backwards. Besides being strict and consistent, planning has been my biggest success with this diet.
OK I have My Fitness Pal and My Macros, Now What?
Be sure to scroll through my Keto diet resources. I have a lot of delicious recipes for you to try. Especially recipes specific to summer! A few, must have items that I think you should consider picking up from Amazon are:
The Wicked Good Ketogenic Diet Cookbook: Easy, Whole Food Keto Recipes for Any BudgetBacon & Butter: The Ultimate Ketogenic Diet CookbookSweet and Savory Fat Bombs: 100 Delicious Treats for Fat Fasts, Ketogenic, Paleo, and Low-Carb Diets
My favorite, of the three above, is the Sweet & Savory Fat Bombs cookbook. In the very beginning, I really struggled with getting enough fat in. I don’t know if it was more of a mental thing or what, but you won’t lose weight if you aren’t consuming enough fat. This cookbook has a lot of delicious ways to get your fat in! Two fat bomb recipes I really like are:
Things to Remember When You Start the Keto Diet
When you first start the Keto diet, you will need to remember a few things. First, once you deplete your carb stores and begin to switch over to using ketones to fuel your body, you may experience the “Keto Flu”. This is normal. Just power through out. Trust me. It will get better after a few days. Second, in the beginning, as your body is adjusting to its new fuel source, you will experience insane hunger. Power through. If you must go over your calories and whatnot in My Fitness Pal, do it…but make sure your macro percentages always stay where they need to be. That is the important part. Finally, stay hydrated. It’s important to be hydrated all the time, but even more so with the Keto diet. In order to prevent your body from retaining water, you need to drink more water. Sounds crazy, but just trust me. Also be sure to take a look at what supplements you are taking. I personally needed to cut out my multi-vitamin, but add in a magnesium vitamin. Discuss with your doctor exactly what vitamins you need.
Right now, I am currently down about 83 lbs. My husband, who started the Keto diet with me, is down 125 lbs! We no longer look at this as a diet, but more as our new lifestyle. I ate a little sugar and some potato chips the other weekend and I ended of knocking myself out of ketosis and had the lovely experience of the Keto flu all over again this week. So…for me…sugar and potato chips are not worth it to me!
I keep hearing about the Keto diet but didn’t really know anything about it. What a dramatic transformation! You sound like you are doing so well, wonderful that you have put such effort into improving your health.
Thanks!! I feel amazing!
This is something new to me so I actually learned something. Just might be what I need to loose a few pounds.
I have not tried the keto diet, but I have friends who have. I am more of a balanced diet “everything in moderation” type of gal.
I wish that worked for me…unfortunately, very low carbs is the only thing that has ever worked!
I love that you shared this. My oldest and only daughter is struggling with nearing levels of having diabetes, the kind that is gene driven as it is heavy on her father’s side. It’s sad, scary and we are so clueless what to do. It has been mentioned to try this keto diet as it encourages your body to work as it should. I am glad to read some tips on how to get started and going to share with my daughter, who is a teenager doing her own research on this topic as we discuss how the family can get started.
If you ever have questions, just email me!!
I have never heard of this diet. I am definitely going to have to dig into it because I would like to lose a little bit more weight. I’m exercising but losing weight seems to be hard for me to do.
I knew I had gained some weight. My niece got married last month, and I went to the wedding and saw myself in a couple of pictures. OMG! I looked like a beached whale! My daughter had told me that she and her husband were on this diet and explained it a bit to me. I looked around a bit on the internet, but couldn’t find a whole lot of answers to my questions, so again I asked my daughter about it. She said that basically all a person does is eat meat and fats, and stays away from carbs and sugars. So she and I went to the grocery store and I bought a few things she said I could have and that is how I was introduced to the Keto diet. Since then, I have a bit more info. I did get the Keto flu, which was not fun. I also have some medical problems what I have to discuss with my doctor about, but I am now not addicted to sugar anymore, and I no longer feel bloated any longer. LOVE that! I, unfortunately, cannot eat a lot of the green leafy vegetables, not because I don’t like them, but because I am on Warfarin, and will be for the rest of my life, as I had two heart valve replacements in 2012. (I did not have a heart attack, I had rheumatic fever as a child, which weakened my valves.) So I am unsure where to go on that part of the diet. Any suggestions from anyone would be wonderful! Thank you so much!
I don’t know much about Warfarin so I can’t help you there, but I can tell you the veggies that I do eat, if I’m not having salad. I like steamed veggies like broccoli and cauliflower. I also like to use my air fryer to make air fried radishes. So delicious! I basically will eat any steamed veggie that isn’t a starchy vegetable.