Are you thinking about doing keto or just getting started and finding it really overwhelming.

Well — here are some things to make it so much easier.

FIRST — GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY!!!    Don’t overcomplicate it.   Don’t overthink it.  Don’t assume you will just know.   You can’t make fancy keto recipes for every meal — you didn’t do that before starting keto, did you?   So give yourself a break.  A couple of eggs, a half an avocado, a few slices of bacon and a few strawberries – boom, breakfast done.   Does it have to be that, NO.  It can be whatever you want but if you are busy or have children or commute to work, don’t make it any harder than what you do right now.  I am not a supporter of eating on the way to work in the car.  First, it isn’t healthy to do that and second, you are a distracted driver.  But that said, if you have done that for 10 years, breaking the habit and starting keto at the same time is a bit much.   READ and research so that you will be prepared and plan some simple meals.

MOST OF ALL — DO NOT OVERDO IT.   Don’t decide that all of the sudden you are going to get up, work out, eat keto, still have a job and a family, work out again at night and somehow eat a lot less and get fit and skinny.   YOU WILL QUIT IN A MATTER OF DAYS.

If you are starting keto – GREAT !!  IT IS AWESOME   BUT JUST DO THAT.    Give it a few weeks and read and research and be involved in how to do keto.  So many people think that if they just don’t eat carbs.  But then they NEVER actually know how many carbs or calories they are eating.   Which is why tracking is one of the top tips so here are the TOP 5 TIPS.  You ready?

THE TOP 5 TIPS FOR SUCCESSFULLY STARTING KETO

1 — COUNT YOUR MACROS AND CALORIES — It is easy, you can use an App like Carb Manager or MyFitnessPal and it will do all the hard work for you.  You just enter your food.   For Keto, most people do well at around 20 net carbs a day.    You can play around with that number to see what works best for you.

2 —  BE A GOOD GROCERY SHOPPER!!   My son told me tonight that it is like Mother Hubbard’s cupboard in the house because I usually have a very well stocked fridge and cupboard.    I am going to Aldi tomorrow for a reload so not to worry but ideally on keto, you maintain a well stocked fridge so that you have choices.  There is nothing worse on keto than nothing to eat and having to try to think of what you can eat or trying some new recipe and you don’t have the stuff.   Having a well-stocked house makes getting started on keto much easier.  Keeping some keto friendly things (like almond flour, avocados, eggs, egg beaters, cauliflower rice, etc) can help to avoid having days where you are tired and worn out and just bail and then you have to restart and get back into ketosis.  Avoid it and be a good shopper and don’t let it get down to Mother Hubbard’s cupboard.

3 — FIND 3 EASY GO-TO MEALS.   Find one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner that are so easy they are stupid easy.  You can make them quickly with only a few things.  They don’t require a ton of chopping.  These are the meals you make on the days when you come home from work tired or when you got up late or when work is crazy.   Now an alternative to this is the prep your meals in advance but I personally am not a big fan of leftovers beyond the first day and to be perfectly honest, some foods can be dangerous as leftovers and the longer you leave them, the more dangerous they become.  When my aunt was going through cancer treatment, she told me all leftovers “taste like fridge” and to be honest, I don’t disagree so if you like to prep meals, do a couple of days and skip this step.  If you like fresh food like me, find a few easy go-to meals.   Here are mine:

• Breakfast — Bacon and Eggs or Bulletproof coffee.   I can fry or poach 2 eggs super fast and my bacon is precooked so it is a minute in the pan with the eggs or 15 seconds in the microwave.   If you need more fat or calories or this isn’t filling enough, add some avocado until you are.  This is an easy “ready in under 5 minutes” meal

• Lunch – Aidell’s Sausage, Half an Avocado.   I don’t usually eat a big lunch so for me, this is plenty.  If I am not near a stove, I have some keto cheese crackers, cheese and some form of meat.   I usually have this with olives and marinated artichoke hearts but you can have avocado too for sure as it is always a good time for avocado.

 

• Dinner – A nice steak or a great piece of salmon with a great salad.  Caesar salad or a “bacon and blue cheese” salad.  SOMETHING EASY.  So pick a salad you like but don’t make it too complicated.

4 — DO STRICT KETO – at least for a few weeks.   When I say strict keto, I mean the original meaning of keto.   Not the “anything goes, dirty keto” that a lot of people do.  There is nothing wrong with dirty keto for most people BUT strict keto allows your body to heal and if you have any allergies or issues you are trying to do keto to deal with, dirty keto most likely is not going to do it.   If you do not know what I mean by strict vs dirty, then you FOR SURE need to do strict keto for a few weeks because it will help you to learn all of the rules.  And if keto is for weight loss, it will get you kick started in the right direction.  If you want, you can always revert to dirty keto later or use it on days when you want a treat.  Some people will need to stay strict forever because they have allergies or other issues that come right back when they go dirty.   You won’t know if you have issues so make getting started on keto as simple as possible and go strict keto.   Be sure to check out our article all about strict keto if you need some guidance.

5 — CONSIDER ADDING ELECTROLYTES.  Some people will give you laundry lists of supplements and other things you need to do and for some people that will help BUT YOU ARE YOU.  So what you need to do is MONITOR HOW YOU FEEL.  It is common for people getting started on keto to need additional electrolytes when they first switch to keto.  And if you ate a lot of crap and didn’t eat whole foods, you may feel the keto flu even more than someone who had healthy habits.  As your body drops carbs, it will also drop a lot of water and sometimes more than it should.  This is what causes the keto flu and electrolyte imbalance.   That is the important word — BALANCE.   Electrolytes do not work in a bubble.  So when someone says you need to add sodium or you need to add magnesium – MAYBE.  BUT HOW WOULD THEY KNOW.    What you need to do is balance your electrolytes.   There are a couple of easy ways to do that.  One is with a comprehensive supplement that has all of the electrolytes.  For some people, Gatorade zero will work (it is not strict keto due to the sweetener).   For some, it will not have enough electrolytes.  Some people do well just eating food like avocados and nuts and pink salt.   But for many people especially in the beginning, you want something that works faster.   And for that you can try Ultima Electrolytes or Dr Berg.  They are both strict keto.   There are also some homemade concoctions online although I have never tried any of them.   BE SURE TO TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING KETO AND ALSO BEFORE ADDING ELECTROLYTES.  PEOPLE WITH MEDICAL CONDITIONS NEED TO SPEAK TO THEIR DOCTOR AS MEDICATION CAN BE AFFECTED.   This is NOT MEDICAL ADVICE, it is common sense so be sure to talk to your doctor.