How Do You Start Keto?

There are many ways to do keto. If you google Strict Keto, Lazy Keto, and Dirty Keto you will find a bunch of different ways to start. Each of them work. There is no right way to Keto - I personally wanted to start strict so I didn't give myself any gateways to fail.

I decided I needed to be held at a much higher accountability level to start. I needed strict keto. Strict keto is counting macros (calories, protein, carbs, fat grams) each day.

When I started I did the following:

1. Figured out my macros. The best website I have found to figure out macros has been: https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

I keep myself at 20g carbs

Even though I am trying to be more active, I put myself as Sedentary (I work a desk job)

And I let the formula tell me what I can eat for the day

Every 10 lbs of weight loss I re-do my macros to see if they have changed.

My current macros are:

Calories 1543

Carbs 20 g

Fat 111 g

Protein 116g

The main macro goal is to HIT protein, Stay at/under Carb, Stay under calorie - and do not worry about Fat. Fat just keeps me full!

2. I created a MyFitnessPal acccount to log my food intake. I upgraded to the premium account because it has the macro level. BUT there is a free app you can use called Carb Manager that will do everything MyFitnesspal Does. Get an app, and log your intake. You would be stunned at what is in the food we eat

3. I purged our house. Every starch gone. Every sugar gone. Every diet product gone - Splenda, Sucrulose, Aspartame - GONE! (next post I will get into the sweet stuff, what we can/cannot have). I purged. I gave myself zero excuses - and luckily I have a very supportive husband!

4. I went grocery shopping. I used a beginner keto grocery list and stuck to that.

5. I meal prepped on Sunday. I cooked my lunches for the week so I had no excuses when I went to work. I prepped some snacks to grab in case I needed it. Gave myself zero excuses to roam the kitchen or buy anything at work.

6. I bought a 32 oz water bottle for work and home. Mission critical to drink a lot of water!

7. I invested in a couple keto products to start - MCT oil for my coffee in the morning (we will get to that), SWERVE granulated, brown, and powdered sugar (On Amazon), a battery powered wisk for my coffee (On Amazon) - I will post links in another post of my mission critical keto stuff! You don't have to buy any of this - I just am a big cook/baker and wanted to experiment with keto pinterest recipes!

8. I bought vitamins. In Keto it is difficult to hit a potassium/magnesium level based on what you are eating. I didn't want leg cramps - and I couldn't exactly grab a banana! So I went to Wegmans and bought potassium, magnesium, biotin and a multivitamin.

9. Then I just started. Logged everything. Learned what was too many carbs, what was not enough protein or fat. I try to eat at a caloric deficit because that is really how the weight falls off.

In the first two weeks, just doing this, I lost 13 lbs. I was not fasting. I lost mostly water weight but it was the most fun two weeks ever. I ate three times a day with a snack in between. After the first two weeks I researched more - got involved more in the keto community (more to come..) and then decided to try fasting to really kick everything into overdrive.

But do you have to fast? No

Do you have to be this strict No

You do what works for you - but this is my journey and what has worked for me so far!