Kick start your new years resolution: How to start Keto, loose weight and live a healthier life
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Ready to change things up? Want to lose some weight in 2021? Maybe try to improve your sleep, energy levels and digestion? heard about Keto but not sure what it is?
You’ve come to the right place to learn everything there’s to know about succesfully transitioning to a Keto or Low Carb lifestyle!
We’ll break it down into:
Keto and Low Carb 101 - let’s take it slow and cover the basics!
The above doesn’t work? Jump start things with BFF Coaching!
This post stays high level to not overwhelm you but will include lots of links for you to go deeper as you wish.
Keto does not have to be hard! All you need is a bit of information to kick start this journey!
1. Keto and Low Carb 101 - Let's take it slow and cover the basics
What is the Keto Diet?
Keto comes from the word ‘Ketosis’ meaning your body is in a metabolic state where rather than carbohydrates or glucose it burns fat for fuel. That fuel that the liver produces consists of ‘Ketones’.
Huh? In simple terms: Rather than burning sugar to give you energy, you burn fat.
For a more in depth explanation check out the book “The Obesity Code” by Dr. Fung or the Website Diet Doctor.
What are the benefits of a Keto or Low Carb Diet?
The following benefits have been tied back to this way of eating:
Weight loss - especially in the first days of switching to a Keto diet you will loose a lot of water weight
Less hunger and cravings
Less swings in feeling low versus high energy.
More focus and better ability to concentrate
Improved sleep and shortened time to fall asleep
Regulated and stable digestion
Some of these can be augmented or achieved faster by also adding Intermittent Fasting. More on that below.
What should you eat on a Keto or Low Carb Diet?
First, if you want to go straight to Keto you’re committing to change the amount of carbohydrates your are eating to under 20-25 net grams per day. For Low Carb you’ll aim for 25-50 net grams per day.
As a reference, a regular burger bun has about 27gr of carbohydrates.
You’ll want to stick to foods that are very low in carbohydrates like meats, cheeses, vegetables that grow above ground and only berries (no other fruit, sorry!). Dairy is fine for most people and here you can dig into full fat greek yogurt, heavy cream, butter, sour cream - all full fat! No need for ‘light’ products on this diet. You want the fat!
More on the what to eat under 2.!
What should you stay away from?
Anything with a lot of carbs. Like regular bread, potatoes, pasta, anything with flour or starches, rice, fruits, sweets. Anything you know has regular sugar in it. Processed foods, vegetables that grow in the ground like carrots…
These are the cliffnotes! To learn more about the difference between Keto and Low Carb, the role Intermittent Fasting can play or eating OMAD - One Meal a Day as well as thoughts on supplements and how safe this diet is, please check out Keto Anywhere’s expanded Keto101. You’ll also find Youtube videos with ste by step help if you prefer watching over reading.
What is the difference between net and total carbs?
On Keto most people stay under 20-25g net carbs per day. That means that when you check a nutrition label you will do the following calculation:
Total Carbs - Fiber - Sugar Alcohols (if there are any) = Net carbs
As an example, an avocado will be high in Total Carbs but low in net carbs as it has a lot of fiber! It’s calculation is approximately:
11.6g (Total Carbs) - 9.1g (Fiber) = 2.5g net carbs
Why deduct the Fiber? Fiber does not impact your blood sugar levels and ‘passes through’. To learn more about the effect of ingredients on blood sugar levels, check out the Keto Ingredients post!
2. Plan for week 1 on Keto - What to buy, get rid off, cook and prep
Ok, looks like you’re ready to give this a go!
First: Pick a starting date!
Don’t beat around the bush. You can pick today, tomorrow or something that you want to remember a few years from now like January 1st or the first day you’re back from spending the holidays with family.
Second: Prep your Keto shopping list and Keto meal plan
You can either go out and buy low carb foods or if you’re more of a planner, map out your meals and build a shopping list around that.
Without planning, what you’ll want to do is keep meals simple. Your formula for success is:
Protein (Meat, Fish and/or Eggs) + Low Carb Vegetable (all that grow above ground) + Fat (Butter for cooking, cream for a sauce, cheese)
Here’s an example of a one week meal plan & shopping list - more details in the Keto On A Budget blog post I
Monday: Chicken breast in Brie-sauce with green beans
Tuesday: Stir fry with chicken thighs, broccoli, brussel sprouts - no noodles
Wednesday: Lettuce Bun Burger
Thursday: Left-overs or scrambled eggs with vegetables
Friday: Zoodles with Carbonara sauce
Saturday: Chicken Wings with Avocado or Guac’ and cucumber sticks
Sunday: Pork Chops breaded with Pork Rinds and Asparagus
Matching Shopping list with prices from a Chicagoland Aldi:
Meats:
Chicken Breast - $3.04
Boneless Chicken Thighs - $3.41
Burger patties - $4.99
Bacon - $3.99
Chicken Wings - $7.42
Pork Chops - $6.96
Dairy:
Brie-cheese - $3.49
Eggs - $1.49
Cheese (for the burger) - $1.99
Cream (for the carbonara & brie sauce) - $2.09
Butter (for cooking) - $2.99
Vegetables:
Green Beans - $2.49
Broccoli - $2.13
Brussel Sprouts - $3.99
Lettuce - $1.39
Zucchini - $2.43
3 Avocados - $0.89*3 = $2.67
Cucumber - $ 1.99
Asparagus - $ 2.89
Misc
Pork Rinds - $2.89
Total: $64.73 + tax
Not counting the ‘left-over's’ meal, this breaks down to about $11 / meal feeding easily 2-3 adults.
Notice anything? All the meals are made up of unprocessed foods (except for the pork rinds)! Unprocessed foods tend to be more affordable and lower in carbs - win win!
3. Keto on a Budget - is that possible?
YES! As you might have seen above, the meal plan adds up to $65ish for 2-3 eaters. Now you might think: Hey, but I eat more than a meal a day. That’s fair. You can add staple meals using the formula above of Protein + Vegetable + Fat. Chicken breast with a salad. Steak with Asparagus etc. That might double it do 130 for 2-3 people which is still pretty fair.
Generally the most afforable stores to shop at are Aldi, Costco, Walmart and regional mass retailers like Meijers. To see what specific Keto friendly products you can buy there, click their link!
Buying unprocessed food will always be the cheapest option.
When looking into substitute products though - which tend to be pricier - online wins the price race.
Keto Anywhere has colleacted over 30 discount codes for you to save between 10-50% off Keto labeled products!
4. Where to shop for Keto friendly products?
Great question! Generally you can find low carb products anywhere nowadays BUT stores are big, variety of products extensive and it can get tiring to go ‘on the hunt’!
Keto Anywhere worked on a series of Blog posts earlier this year to take that burden off of you and help you create your shopping lists before going to the stores. This is for US based folks - sorry!
Check out the following links for Keto friendly Shopping guides for:
Besides that there’s of course also the Online world. Amazon is amazing as a one click shop. For Keto Anywhere I’ve pulled together hundred’s of Keto friendly products available on Amazon for you to browse, be inspired by and shop
5. How to stay Keto when traveling and eating out
That’s Keto Anywhere speciality and one of the main reasons Keto Anywhere was created: To help us all stay on track when eating out, doing take out, being on the go and traveling!
Eating out first!
Check out the map with almost 1000 recommended Keto friendly restaurants, bakeries and shops
Yes, a world map with pins where you can enter where you live or where you’re headed and see what places others would recommend going to AND what they ordered or tried there. It’s amazing!
Chains are not included on the map though - for the most part but you’re in luck because Keto Anywhere also pulled together…
Guides on how to eat Keto at Fast Food places
From McDonalds to Pizza Hut and KFC. And not just salads, no. Breakfast, burgers and lesser known items that you might not have on your radar yet!
As for traveling, snacks can be BIG life savers. Especially when hopping on longer flights. The amount of Keto friendly or Keto labeled snacks have EXPLODED in the past year though which makes it SO confusing to find the one right for you.
Keto Anywhere has started comparing products for you. From net carbs to cleanliness of ingredients, price, texture and more.
Keto friendly product comparisons
With these guides you should be all set to succesfully stay Keto on the go!
More guides to follow in 2021.
6. Make sure to track your successes
Bear with me! As you start any dietary change please please do not ‘just’ step on the scale. I learned this the hard way and wish I would have been told the following as I started eating Keto and Low Carb almost 4 years ago:
Take pictures of yourself pre Keto and Low Carb
I know. One of the reasons you’re starting this might be that you’re unhappy with your apprearance so why would you take pictures. Trust me…in a few months you will be SO happy to have them
Get into your underwear or a typical outfit like your favorite jeans and top and take front facing as well as side pictures as well as selfies
As you loose weight you will most likely not notice change unless you have pictures like these. Our mind plays tricks on us during transformations
BONUS: Take measurements!
No need to get fancy here. Grab string. Tie it around your midsection. Cut the length it takes to go around. Repeat with Upper arms. Thighs. Butt. Take some tape and mark the various strings
Once a month, get the strings out and compare and if you like, mark the new point where it meets
This is especially great to do if you hit a weightloss stall as you might still see progress with the string!
Get a SmartScale to track weightloss as well as fat and muscle-mass changes
First, these scales are NOT expensive. Renpho smart scales start around $20, sync to your phone and gove you measurements from bone density to water and muscle mass. You can get an extra 10% off on the Renpho page with code KETOANYWHERE.
A regular scale will do too of course.
Try to not weigh yourself more than once a week. Weight fluctuates for various reasons and daily checks might frustrate more than they serve.
Proof that you’re in Ketosis with Keto-Mojo
If you are someone who works well with numbers and measurements then I would highly recommend getting a Ketone measuring device early on.
Keto-Mojo is my preferred one and the Starter Kits cost as low as $45 and you can get an extra 15% off with code Keto Anywhere.
Included in that are the measuring device. Ketone and Glucose test strips. The device to prick your finger with lancets. The results sync to your phone where you can see on the app whether you’re in Ketosis and get tips on how to improve things if needed.
7. Find (virtual) friends to start or do Keto with
Accountability and social support can play such a huge part in making your journey a successful one.
There are thousands of people out there who have either worked through your questions already and can help with answers or who are about to embark on this too who would love someone to touch base with.
Keto Anywhere is happy to help everyone meet and support each other.
Check out and follow Keto Anywhere on Instagram! Join the Facebook Group. Check out Keto Anywhere on TikTok and YouTube,
Not sure how to make (virtual) friends?
Message Keto Anywhere on any plattform and I’ll be happy to introduce you to people. Invite your to group chats and more. Trust me: Doing this with others is AMAZING and somehow people who do Keto and Low Carb are really awesome - if I may say so myself!
8. Is the above not helping? Jump start your journey with Keto BFF Coaching
I hope the above tips gave you lots of information and confidence in jump starting your Keto or Low Carb journey.
If you feel like reading these or watching the Keto Anywhere videos on TikTok and Youtube just doesn’t cut it, I’d be DELIGHTED to explore coaching with you.
I approach coaching in a very friendship - casual way. I don’t want this to make you nervous which is why I approach conversations like a Best Friend who is helping you figure things out and be successful with your goals. Your personal Keto cheerleader!
I wish you much success on your journey!
Keto On!
Céline
Founder of Keto Anywhere
Picture credits:
Title: Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
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