One of the hardest things about starting a Keto plan, is getting through the first week or so. Let’s face it, the more you learn about eating a ketogenic diet, the more you realize it’s basically unlearning how you have been told and taught to eat — for like your entire life.
When, I first started eating a low carb keto diet, I began to realize just how many carbs I had really been eating and didn’t even realize. It seemed like everything had carbs in it and it was a little a lot overwhelming at the start.
So, I put together a list of a few Keto Beginner Tips to help you get started! They are things that I did in the beginning (and still do) and they are things that can help you too!!!
#1 Be Prepared
Be over prepared. Let people call you crazy. It’s ok! – There is nothing worse than starting a new diet and feeling like you don’t know what to eat. You’re scared to eat something that will cause your blood sugar level to rise resulting in being thrown out of ketosis.
#2 Fat is what makes you full until the next meal.
Ever notice that after you eat a snack that is comprised of mostly carbs, that you are hungry again an hour later? That’s because carbs don’t make you full as long as FAT does.
Fat will keep you from being hungry so soon again. If you need to snack between meals, an avocado and water is a perfect snack.
#3 Keep Food Basic
You’ve got plenty of time to make all those fancy Pinterest keto recipes you’ve been Pinning. When you are first learning something new, it’s much easier to start basic and then work up to new and exciting dishes.
Sticking to the basics for Low Carb Keto eating will give you time to adjust and make it MUCH simpler to calculate your macros. You can learn how to calculate your macros in this post.
When you are planning your meals consider how easy the meal is to make. Keep it simple (unprocessed) and you will thank yourself. Here are some examples of how I put together meals when I meal plan.
- (Lunch/Dinner) Meat & Vegetable with butter
- (Breakfast) Eggs – Cheese – Meat (Scramble – Runny – Sandwich with 90 second bread)
- (Snack) Nuts (I get these cute Macadamia cans to take to work with me. You can always get a larger bag and then portion them too. Or refill these cute cans.)
#4 Water
Water is so important, especially when starting a Low Carb Keto diet. It will help flush all of those stored carbs out of your body. You will notice that you really start to crave water. This is because you become dehydrated when you stop eating carbs. Carbs are one of the macros that make you retain water. So, it is imperative that you replace some of the water. This will also help minimize those pesky cramps you may get in the beginning of keto too. Adding more salt can help prevent the cramps too. More on this in a later post.
If you absolutely can’t stand water and you can’t get over the taste of it, you can add this flavoring to your water. It is sweetened with Stevia and comes in quite a few delicious flavors. My kids love this too! WIN WIN! You will need to read the nutrition label because I’ve noticed that some flavors do contain a minimal amount of carbs.
#5 Coffee with HWC
If you can possibly drink coffee without sweetener in the beginning, I would recommend it. I did this and I feel like it help me get rid of the craving for sweet things quicker.
This was my biggest challenge since I love coffee!
HWC = Heavy Whipping Cream (Keto Lingo)
#6 Eat Out Minimally
You have no idea what is in food that you didn’t make. It’s that simple.
Don’t risk your hard work in shedding carbs, just to have someone else replace them. If you want to eat out or have to eat out, then choose foods that have minimal ingredients. I would definitely steer away from marinades if possible.
Bottom Line
- If you can’t have carbs the next best thing is to fill your menu with foods you love and probably haven’t eaten in a long time because they were ‘unhealthy’ *eyeroll* Enter —-> BACON! Steak! Hamburgers! Lasagna made with zucchini! Check it out! And here! (I’m a bit of a Lasagna lover – who knew you never needed the noodle for it to still be delicious?!)
- Craving sweet – Give yourself a salty treat instead. If you are eating simple non processed foods on keto, you can add that extra salt to your diet. This will help eliminate some of the muscle craps if you are experiencing them since starting keto.
- No artificial sweeteners EVER (Sugar alcohols and Stevia are not artificial sweeteners). I’m talking mostly about acesulfame and aspartame. Those seem to be the top 2 that people use and are not safe sugar substitutes.
You may also like Low Carb Keto Snacks
Take Away
- Don’t over think it. Read the nutrition labels and Keep It Simple
- Use total carbs for your macro totals in the beginning. Why? It’s simple!
- If energy is down, eat more fat.
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Question….with coffee and HWC, you said to try not to add sweeteners to the coffee if possible. Does this include HWC? I’m a huge coffee drinker. I normally use Sugar Free Hazelnut cold creamer or use HWC with SF Torani Hazelnut. Just a little confused. I don’t want my coffee habits to hurt me.
Thank you for your input that was very helpful. I’m trying to move these four pounds off of me and I was on a high protein diet I still struggling with those pounds on both of these diets so just looking for some help. I’ll try your Tips.