Content Gatherer: **Happy New Year! Welcome to XXKeto! Please read before posting**

Welcome to XXKeto! This post is designed to help you get started.

What is the ketogenic diet? The ketogenic diet is a very low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet that results in a metabolic state of nutritional ketosis. Ketosis is a state in which the brain primarily uses ketone bodies and other tissues primarily use fat.

How do I start a ketogenic diet? It’s very simple. You enter nutritional ketosis within 24 hours when you limit net carb intake to 20 grams. The other components of a well-formulated ketogenic diet include adequate protein intake to maintain lean mass and adequate fat for energy and nutrients. To set up your ketogenic diet macros, there is a very useful keto calculator.

Macros refers to macronutrients which are sources of calories and include fat (9 calories/gram), carbohydrate (4 calories/gram), protein (4 calories/gram), and alcohol (7 calories/gram).

The best approach to set up the keto calculator for most is as follows -

1) Set activity level to sedentary

2) Set carbohydrate intake to 20 net grams. What is net grams? Net grams refers to digestible carbohydrate, starch and sugars. The non-digestible carbs include fiber and some sugar alcohols. The calculation for net grams varies by region. If you live in the US and Canada, you need to calculate net grams. To do so, you subtract fiber from total carbs. If the product has sugar alcohols, you subtract both fiber and sugar alcohols from total carbs. (this only applies for certain sugar alcohols - e.g. xylitol, erythritol; it does not apply for maltitol). If you live outside the US and Canada then the carbs listed on the product *are net carbs and you do not need to subtract

3) Set protein to 0.8 grams per lb lean mass (the keto calculator will estimate your body fat percentage based on your height and weight, input this number and 0.8 grams per lb lean mass is the middle of the range of protein intake)

4) Set fat based on your goal - deficit, maintenance or surplus, consider this the lever that determines your calorie intake. If your goal is maintenance, you will set 0%. If your goal is weight loss, you will set a deficit (What is a deficit? A deficit refers to the calories below TDEE (total daily energy expenditure - the amount of energy required to maintain your current weight at your current activity level) that you will eat to lose weight). For most it is best to start with no higher than 30% deficit. If your goal is weight gain, you will set a surplus as determined by your goals.

The above is the best way to set macros, set them as “net grams.” You will often see reference to ketogenic “ratios/percentages” but this is not an ideal way to set your macros. The general approach is limit carbs, meet your protein goal, and eat fat to fill the rest.

There are several useful apps to help manage your macros - MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, LoseIt, and MyDailyPlate.

What do I eat?

Meat, seafood, low carb vegetables, butter, oils, eggs, coconut, cheese, cream, nuts, avocado

Here’s a useful getting started grocery list (items in bold are popular choices for a first shopping trip):

Eggs
Avocados
Heavy cream, half and half, almond milk, coconut milk, sour cream, yogurt
Coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, butter, ghee, duck fat, tallow, schmaltz, bacon grease
Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes, green beans, kale, spinach, swiss chard, eggplant, lettuce, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, cabbage, bok choy, spaghetti squash, fennel , brussels sprouts, collard greens
Various hard and soft cheeses, cream cheese
Nuts and nut butter
Various salami and deli meat
Meat: chicken breast, chicken thigh, whole chicken, pork shoulder, pork loin, pork belly, bacon, goat, lamb, steak (sirloin, ribeye, flank, hanger, flat iron, chuck), ground beef
Fish: shrimp, crab, salmon, tuna, sardines, swordfish, mackerel, mahi mahi, cod, canned fish
Bouillon cubes or bones for homemade stock

There are many useful blogs which serve as great resources for keto meal ideas - search /r/keto and /r/ketorecipes, Pinterest, Instagram, I Breathe I’m Hungry, Ruled, Caveman Keto, KetoConnect, All Day I Dream About Food.

Don’t forget all of the other blogs, cookbooks and recipe ideas out there. It’s helpful to not think you need to recreate the wheel to eat keto. Keep it simple, try not to think of keto as completely uniquely special. Yes, an entire macro group is limited but you can cook similar meals to which you’re used to eating and just exclude the carbs. So, you don’t have to limit yourself to keto-specific recipes, but adapt other recipes as needed. Some simple ideas:

lettuce wrapped burgers, deli meat and cheese wraps, scrambled eggs, omelet, quiche, frittata, stir fry with cauliflower rice, salsa chicken with cauliflower rice, taco salad, fajita lettuce wraps, roasted chicken with asparagus, salmon with spinach and Hollandaise sauce, zucchini noodles with ground beef and marinara sauce, steak and mashed cauliflower, casseroles (Cavemanketo.com), mashed avocado and tuna, green salad with steak or chicken and dressing, pulled pork, braised chicken thighs, soups, stews, chili, pot roast, chicken cordon bleu, pizza chicken with pepperoni and sausage, sausage and peppers, cabbage and sausage, parmesan crusted chicken and broccoli, stuffed pork tenderloin, stuffed mushrooms or peppers, baked cod with tomatoes and feta, collard greens with smoked turkey or ham

Snacks - most snack less on keto because of increased satiety and decreased hunger but some common snacks include - boiled eggs, nuts, jerky, cheese, avocado, pork rinds, veggies and dip, sliced deli meat, cured meats (e.g. salami, pepperoni), canned fish

How do I know if I’m in ketosis?

If you limit carb intake to 20 net grams for longer than 24 hours you are in ketosis. Not everyone experiences signs of ketosis and they can come and go. Some common signs of ketosis include increased/decreased hunger (both are common - some experience an initial increase in appetite as the body learns to use a new fuel source, others experience an initial significant decrease in appetite), increased/decreased satiety, “keto breath” (a metallic taste and sweet-ish odor), keto flu (see below).

Other signs of ketosis that are often discussed occur with prolonged time in ketosis as your body becomes fat adapted and include - increased satiety, reduced hunger, improved concentration and focus, improved cardiovascular exercise performance, improved sleep, among many many many others as each person seems to have unique benefits from fat adaptation.

Ketostix - Ketostix are a product designed to detect diabetic ketoacidosis which is a life-threatening metabolic state that occurs in type 1 diabetics, end stage type 2 diabetics (equivalent to type 1 diabetics) and alcoholics. Unless you fall into any of the above categories, you cannot enter ketoacidosis as the body regulates ketone production while in nutritional ketosis. Thus, ketostix are not reliable to monitor nutritional ketosis and best not used. They cannot tell you if you are in or out of ketosis as there are false positives and negatives and they do not measure your “level” of ketosis as they measure concentration and are strongly influenced by urine concentration. If you are following your macros, you are in ketosis.

What is “keto flu?”

Keto flu is not the real flu, it’s not an infection but side effects that many not uncommonly experience when entering ketosis secondary to electrolyte imbalances. The signs of keto flu vary but commonly include headache, lightheadedness, palpitations, muscle cramps, and easy exhaustion. Because this is an electrolyte issue, the solution to keto flu is to maintain adequate hydration with water and electrolytes. The main electrolyte most affected is sodium, but potassium and magnesium are often also involved. There are many ways to get adequate electrolytes but common foods and supplements include:

Sodium (3 to 5 grams): broth (most store-bought meat or vegetable broths have 1 g of sodium and thus broth is a convenient sodium delivery vehicle), season food with salt when cooking, eat foods with sodium (e.g. cheese, pickles, olives, cured meats, sliced deli meats)

Potassium (1 gram in addition to potassium from food): mushrooms, spinach, avocado, fish, yogurt; lite salt or nu salt are salt substitutes with potassium which are sold in most grocery stores near the regular salt

Magnesium (300 mg): meat, nuts, cocoa; many find a chelated magnesium supplement to be helpful (e.g. magnesium glycinate tablets, Natural calm, Epsom salt baths, magnesium oil)

The listed amounts are just guidelines. Everyone is different and so it’s important to monitor your symptoms and adjust as needed to get what you need. In addition, it’s important to maintain adequate hydration by drinking plenty of water.

It’s been 3 days and the scale hasn’t changed, the reality of weight loss

When most enter nutritional ketosis, they experience an initial loss in water weight. This loss is very rapid and tapers off very quickly. From there, if you’re eating at a calorie deficit, fat loss begins at a much slower rate. Fat loss is not only slow but non-linear. Some weeks the scale will show no loss, other weeks your weight might go up, but if you’re in a deficit you are losing fat and just have to be patient to see the losses on the scale. It’s helpful to take measurements as well as pictures as you can see changes in inches and appearance even while the scale is stalled. Plateaus are normal! Expect them and don’t give them the power. Know that you’re committed to your plan and it’ll happen eventually.

Where’s my period? Why is my period early? Why am I having another period?

Not uncommonly, women experience menstrual cycle changes when starting a ketogenic diet. For most, the cycle regulates with time in ketosis. But, as always, if concerned or in doubt, please see your gynecologist.

Quick newbie advice -

Electrolytes, electrolyte, electrolytes, follow the guidelines in the FAQ!
Read the FAQ a few times
Learn what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you are going to do it. Identify your own personal obstacles and plan for them
Trust nothing, question everything; read labels, look up information online, ask questions at restaurants before you eat something look up the information online or read the label before you put food in your mouth
Follow the plan and let it work. Plateaus happen, accept it and KCKO (keep calm, keto on). Take measurements and pictures as the scale isn’t the only measure of progress
Get rid of any foods you will not be eating
Think about what you can eat and not what you can't eat - there's no need to feel limited on keto, yes an entire food group limited but you can eat as you otherwise would just exclude the carbs. Don't overcomplicate it - keto is nothing more than real food minus the carbs. There’s usually a keto-friendly choice if you choose to make it
Commit to the plan and focus on the non-scale victories and benefit as well
Plan ahead - plan your meals, snacks at home, at work, in the car
Avoid ketosis anxiety - if you overeat carbs or fall off the wagon, get right back up, learn from it and move on. You will be back in ketosis before you know you weren't. No need to stress about it, focus on how you feel.
It's not ratios, it's net grams