When I started eating a Ketogenic diet, my goal was to eat 20 grams or less of carbs daily, but it was not easy to learn macros. I used an app on my phone to log everything I ate to be able to tell if I was keeping my day balanced between the 3 macros. Fat/Protein/Carbs
The app I use is MyFitness Pal app, and one of the features in the free app is to set up goal percentages. So, I set up a 70/25/5 distribution. This means 75% fat / 25% protein / 5% carbs. Once I set this up, I could easily see how my macros were adding up throughout the day as I tracked the food I ate. This method was super easy for me to follow because I could see what I needed to eat more of – or what I needed to slow down on to meet my goals.
In the beginning I rarely met my macros daily because I had a hard time eating enough food with fat in it. After all, for years we have been programmed to not eat fat. So, it can be a little different in the beginning to eat enough AND feel ok about it. There were many nights I stood in the kitchen with #KetoHusband and we ate macadamia nuts and cheese to up our fat for the day. So, if you find yourself out of whack in the beginning – it’s ok! It happens! As you get used to eating this way, it gets easier… a lot easier.
If you prefer to keep a food diary on paper, this notebook is excellent. It’s spiral bound to lay open easily which I love! And you can make notes as to how you feel, what meals worked good for you, and other notes and changes you notice as your body begin to change. Keeping track on paper gives you a little more freedom to make notes and it’s easier to look back on.
Some days I actually planned out all my meals and put them in the app ahead of time so I literally didn’t even think about what I needed to eat… I just ate. In the beginning it’s much easier to be successful by keeping things simple. For beginner tips read my other post here. If you can keep your meals simple and get yourself set up on a rotation of meals, you will know ahead of time the macros for what you are eating, and you can pre-plan your entire day!
I never payed too much attention to calories, but once I got settled with the a Keto way of eating to my macros I realized that I was eating about 1200 calories a day (that’s what the app said). That seemed plenty, and some days I was eating was less. You have to find your sweet spot (no pun intended lol).
When I first set my goal of 20 grams daily for carbs I wondered how in the world 20 grams was going to last me the entire day?!
It’s way easier than I first thought – Don’t worry.
So, this is what I did ~ I mentally budgeted my macros per meal for the day.
With a daily goal of 20 grams or less of carbs, I assigned myself 2 meals consisting of 7 grams, and 1 meal consisting of 6 grams of carbs. (It wasn’t until later in the keto process that I started fasting)
For example: Breakfast (7 grams) – Lunch (7 grams) – Dinner (6 grams) = 20 grams daily
If you don’t eat all the carbs you have budgeted you can either use them in another meal, or for a snack… or you could just NOT eat them!
Fat and protein can be tracked the same way. Click my post here or at the bottom to find out how to determine how many grams of fat and protein to budget daily too!
In the beginning you may feel the desire to snack until you get fat adapted. In this case, you will want to budget some of your 20 grams of carbs for snacks. However, if you are starting Keto to lose weight I would suggest you avoid snacking. This will help you get fat adapted quicker which will lead to burning fat quicker too, which leads to losing weight.
Check out my Keto Beginner Tips post here.
Some people will feel good at 1200 calories and some people need more. Especially if you are exercising along with this way of eating.
You will be able to tell just how much you need to eat based on how your body feels (after you get rid of all the stored carbs). You have to give yourself time to adjust in order to really feel how you’re going to feel in ketosis. It’s amazing… it really is!
I would suggest giving yourself upwards of 2 weeks to adjust in order to really get to feel the effects of what ketosis is like. Some people will find their sweet spot sooner than others. But, when you find it… you will know it!!
Learn how to calculate your macros and print a 70/25/5 macro plan.
You may also be interesting in my post about Low Carb Keto Snacks
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