My wifey is diving into keto…I mean…like she said she was going to do it, and started the next day (yesterday) . She was inspired to explore extremely low-carb dieting after listening to interviews with Jordan Peterson and his daughter Mikhaila, and all the health improvements they exhibited. They don’t necessarily do keto, but after some initial research wifey decided keto is the way to go, or at least to get started.
She is a champ at googling things, and I think she understands most of the basics from her research. However, there is a ton of garbage on the internet. I know some of y’all are quite experienced with keto. Anyone have good links/sites/blogs/videos or even anecdotes/advice you can provide to help her out?
Yes! You’re in contest prep, so you understand this, but energy balance is still critical.
Can’t tell you how many people I know say they’re doing Keto and then use it as an excuse to jam ridiculously high amounts of fat in their diet, because “Hey, I’m doing Keto. I can’t get fat right?” Lol.
My brother’s wife did Keto too and couldn’t understand calories in versus calories out. She assumed she’d get skinny just by eating “healthy foods.”
Sorry for the rant - just make sure fat is high, protein is moderate and aim for a serving of green veggies with each meal (all while being caloricly balanced). I have to do Keto for the last month or so of my preps. I’m experienced with my body and Keto, so I can’t speak to others.
Keep an eye on cholesterol levels and make sure you are consuming enough greens, fiber and potassium, Try to get lots of healthy fats and avoid long chain saturated fats. The carbs you are allowed to consume need to be spent on healthy foods.
Do that and you avoid most of the health risk of keto.
Finally being in ketosis allows for a very easy transition into fasting which I highly think is work doing for a few(3-5) days.
Also my advice on transition into a fast applies to ketosis(lots of low level exercise during the first few days to burn up glycogen).
Wife says her keto is going great so far. Down on weight and measurements. She picked up some ketone strips, but she is having a heck of a time figuring out what a good number is to hit? She says she’s been around 3 and 8 mmol/L according to the strips. That sound about right? Not finding much useful references on the interwebs…
It doesn’t really matter, levels are going to vary, as long as you are in ketosis you’re fine.
Very bottom does have a chart if you really want an answer. Optimal Ketone Levels For A Ketogenic Diet
Long story short she is doing well and could likely even fit in more carbs if she wanted.
Hijacking the thread a bit: has the decreased protein intake messed with anyone’s strength/muscle building process?
I’d be going from ~180g/day to ~100g/day, which is at the low end of the recommended amount for athletes at my bodyweight (that’s right at 1g/kg for me)
Welp, wifey talked me into trying out keto. Looks like June 29 will be when I start. I’m going to order some of the Vaxxen Labs Keto-1 (non-caffeinated) to help get me going. I’m getting the decaf version because I’ll keep my caffeine intake in my coffee . https://blog.priceplow.com/keto-supplements/vaxxen-labs-keto-1
Also going to keep lifting, of course. But to start I’m going to stick with SKD to start, then try CKD if that isn’t working for me.
The “Keto Diet” is a bit different for everyone, because we all have slightly different carb sensitivities. Mine’s pretty high unfortunately, so I can’t carb well.
It’s nearly impossible for me to keto without being very strict on MyFitnessPal.
Get ready to eat more fats than you’d think is normal. Coconut oil and MCT help a ton. Avocados, macadamia nuts, and Brazil nuts are staples for me. Sardines beat tuna for me (unless you wanna add a TON of mayo / oil).
You seem to know your electrolytes. Monitor carefully. If your magnesium and fiber are off, good luck poopin. If your potassium is too low (very easy to do on keto) your performance will suffer immensely and you may cramp. I eat Lo Salt a lot.
For me, doing a 16/8 fast is also the best way to get deeper in. But you gotta EAT during that 8 hours. Every 2 hours helps.
Too much protein will knock you out, too little will shrink you. I find that my window is VERY tight for that unfortunately (hence needing MyFitnessPal).
Weigh yourself every morning. Once in ketosis, the standard idea of “calories” starts to fall apart. I need more “calories” in keto than I do in gluco. I can lose 10lbs in a week if I don’t pay attention and that’s not a good thing
Be prepared for some sluggish workouts for a bit. You’ll adapt. Just maintain.
Overall, I kinda hate the diet/foods themselves, but I love love love being in ketosis between 1.5-2.5mmol. The pros of mental clarity and no blood sugar rollercoaster far outweigh the cons of the annoying dietary restrictions.
She fell off the keto wagon when I went on my obligatory “eat all the things” binge after my bodybuilding competition. With all the restaurants and junk food I had planned, it would have been very awkward for her to stay on it, haha. So we are going to start together on the 29th (day after a huge dinner party).
Yeah, it will be interesting to see where my sensitivities fall.
Oh yeah…already do this. I had months of practice, haha!
I picked up some bulksupplements potassium citrate after a cramping issue mid last year. My wife started taking it, and it helped several of her problems attributed to low K. I have 3 folks who sit near me at work on keto; I told them about taking potassium, and every one of them told me they had huge improvements. I like to put 3 grams of that stuff into 2 liters of water; the taste really doesn’t bother me.
I also picked up some bulksupplements magnesium glycinate and capped it, yielding 113 mg elemental magnesium per cap. I’ll probably space taking that throughout the day instead of just at bed time.
Haha yeah, might look into this eventually. Baby steps !
I’m going to try out 1.2 - 1.3 g protein per lb of lean body mass to keep bulking. We’ll see if that will let me stay in ketosis.
LOL, definitely going to keep tracking weight!
Yeah, definitely my biggest concern when starting out, but I’m going to stick with SKD to start.
Yeah, I hear it’s a great feeling. Looking forward to it!
Using the ruled.me keto calculator, this is looking like what I’ll be starting with. My trainer is also going to be adjusting my numbers next week, and I’ll adjust the keto macros to align with with those.
I’m jealous. College student finances are keeping me on the “as cheap as possible” diet.
I respond very well to high fat diets (I feel much better, more sated, and I like what it does to my hormone levels) but I don’t think I’ve ever been in true ketosis.
You are much further along than I was when I was in college, lol! I never thought about macros and diet when in school. I didn’t start working out until a year after my undergrad…and didn’t start tracking macros/calories until June of last year (17 years after college), lol.
Keto can be done on a budget, but nothing is as cheap as them subsidized carbs in this country of course.
A trip to Walmart and you can get what I’d call “low quality keto” with a bunch of cheap eggs, sausage, bacon, sardines, cheese, ground beef, butter, cream, and if any sales on coconut oil.
Some decent YouTube videos of people doing their shopping
Oh it’s definitely DOABLE, the trick is making the cheap sources into things that aren’t just variations of omelets. Enjoying what I’m eating is a must for me, and I can get by on eggs and fatty meat and cheese for a few weeks, but if it’s gonna be sustainable, I’m gonna have to be able to have some variety.
Yep, this is where the nuts come in – but all the high-fat nuts, such as macadamia, Brazil nuts, and even pecans are quite pricey. Same goes for coconut based products like coconut milk (great for desserts) and coconut oil (a keto must)
. She was inspired to explore extremely low-carb dieting after listening to interviews with Jordan Peterson and his daughter Mikhaila, and all the health improvements they exhibited. They don’t necessarily do keto, but after some initial research wifey decided keto is the way to go, or at least to get started.
. My wife wants me to try keto with her this summer, which would involve much lower protein intake for myself.
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