Westbrooks Brewery Laguna IPA gets a vote from me. 1g carbs per 440g can. Tastes like a proper IPA.

It's the holidays, at my job I will be attending at a minimum 3 holiday meals on different days. They send around these little slips and we all vote on what to have.

There's never anything available that I'll actually be able to eat.

My diet, while not strictly keto, is at my doctor's recommendation. I've successfully eliminated any danger I faced due to rising blood sugar, and the jury is still out on carbs re-entering my diet in any significant capacity.

I am fully aware of how difficult it can be to prepare food without carbs. Especially to someone who's never done it.

At every opportunity I make it clear that I am perfectly happy, and I'm fact would prefer to simply feed myself. I get that they're trying to show appreciation, but I would appreciate knowing exactly what's in my food, rather than having to trust that everyone in the chain of people involved getting me a low carb meal knew exactly what that meant.

I like my meals, I like how healthy I have become. I honestly have never really enjoyed the food they get anyway. Just let me do my thing goddamnit

Sharing my go-to keto breakfast! What's yours?

• 500ml water with electrolytes, or sea salt and lemon.
• 2-6 boiled eggs. Oddly, they seem more filling than omelettes. I opt for organic or free-range.
• Fry 1-3 handfuls of spinach or other greens in butter. Spice it up with chili and pepper. Sometimes I toss in a some mushrooms, ham, sausage, etc.
• Back coffee with butter/coconut oil. Pro tip: blend it with grass-fed butter. But watch the quantity, many of the good effects of this breakfast can be undone if you go too far here on the fats.

This meal keeps me full and energized all day. No bloating or sluggishness.

I decided to get back on the keto diet, so for fun, I had the AI assistant Claude generate a keto meal plan for my family of 4 this week.

To start, I prompted Claude to imagine itself as a personal chef catering to the needs of a keto-following family of 4. I then asked it to inquire about our food preferences and suggest 15 keto-friendly meal ideas that would suit us.

From the initial list of 15, I picked out 12 lunches and dinners that sounded good. I asked Claude to write out full recipes for each one.

I also gave it my "breaded" fried chicken tenders recipe (calling it a recipe is a bit of an overstatement...) and asked it for a baked version. I'm interested how that one turns out.

Finally, I requested a shopping list to match the chosen recipes. This was the only part where I caught a major oversight - a couple recipes called for ground beef but the list only included 1 pound total, which wouldn't be enough for 4 people over more than one meal.

I'm not a great cook, but the meal ideas looked pretty good to me.

Next week, I may try the same experiment with ChatGPT and compare the results.

Here's what it came up with for a picky family of 4:

Meal Plan

Snacks

• Air Fryer Chicken Wings
• Air Fryer Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
• Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus
• Mixed Nuts
• Keto Charcuterie Board

Proteins:

• Air Fryer Chicken Wings - 32 wings
• Pork chops - 4 chops (for Grilled Pork Chops meal)
• Pork shoulder - 1 x 3-4 lb pork shoulder (for Pulled Pork meal)
• Pork tenderloin - 1 lb (for BBQ Pork Skewers)
• Bacon - 1 lb (for Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin)
• Bacon - 1 lb (for Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers)
• Baby back ribs - 2 racks (for Keto BBQ Ribs)
• Chicken filets - 4 chicken breasts or 8 smaller cutlets (for "Breaded" Chicken)
• Ground beef - 1 lb (for Bunless Burgers)
• Ground beef - 1 lb (for Keto Tacos)
• Ground beef - 1 lb (for Meatballs with Tomato Sauce)

Produce:

• Jalapeno peppers - 6 peppers (for Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers)
• Asparagus - 2 bunches (for Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus)
• Onion - 2 onions (for various recipes)
• Garlic - as needed
• Bell peppers - 4 large peppers (for Stuffed Peppers)
• Tomatoes - 4 large tomatoes (for various recipes)
• Butter lettuce - 1 head (for Bunless Burgers)
• Romaine lettuce - 1 head (for Pulled Pork Wraps)

Dairy:

• Cream cheese - 8 oz brick (for Jalapeno Poppers)
• Cheddar cheese - 1 lb (for various recipes)
• Eggs - 1 dozen (for various recipes)

Pantry:

• Olive oil - as needed
• Salt & pepper - as needed
• Taco seasoning - 1 packet (for Keto Tacos)
• Spices for dry rub - as needed (for various recipes)

Miscellaneous:

• Mixed nuts - 1 lb (for snack)
• Pork rinds - 2 bags (for "Breaded" Chicken)
• Coleslaw mix - 32 oz (for Pulled Pork Wraps)
• Low carb veggies - 1 lb broccoli, 1 lb cauliflower, 1 lb Brussels sprouts (for side dishes)
• Sugar-free bbq sauce - 1 bottle (for BBQ Ribs)
• Diced tomatoes - 14 oz can (for Stuffed Peppers)
• Tomato sauce - 24 oz (for Meatballs in Tomato Sauce)
• Avocados - 4 avocados (for Bunless Burgers)
• Salsa - 16 oz (for Keto Tacos)
• Guacamole - 16 oz (for Keto Tacos)
• Sour cream - 16 oz (for Keto Tacos and Stuffed Peppers)
• Misc Charcuterie Board Iteams (pick and choose a few)
  • Cured meats: salami, prosciutto, pepperoni, chorizo, etc.
  • Cheeses: cheddar, brie, gouda, blue cheese, etc. Cut into cubes or slices.
  • Nuts: macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds, walnuts, etc.
  • Seeds: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
  • Veggies: celery sticks, carrot sticks, radishes, cherry tomatoes
  • Fruit: blackberries, raspberries, strawberries (heavy cream, whipped with spleda drops and vanilla)
  • Other: pickles, cheese crisps

Snacks

• Air Fryer Chicken Wings:
  • Toss chicken wings with your favorite keto-friendly seasoning, such as garlic powder, paprika, and salt.
  • Air fry until they are crispy and cooked through.
  • Serve with a side of low-carb dipping sauce like ranch or blue cheese.
• Air Fryer Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers:
  • Cut jalapeño peppers in half, remove the seeds, and stuff them with cream cheese.
  • Wrap each stuffed pepper with a strip of bacon and air fry until the bacon is crispy and the peppers are tender.
• Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus: Wrap asparagus spears with bacon and bake them for a delicious and satisfying snack.
• Mixed Nuts: Create your own mix of keto-approved nuts like almonds, walnuts, and pecans for a quick and easy snack.
• Keto Charcuterie Board

Keto Meals:

Bunless Burgers

Ingredients:

• Ground beef or turkey
• Lettuce leaves (for wrapping)
• Cheese slices (such as cheddar or Swiss)
• Avocado slices
• Sugar-free ketchup

Instructions:

1. Shape ground beef or turkey into burger patties and season with salt and pepper.
2. Cook the burgers on a grill or stovetop until cooked to your desired level of doneness.
3. Optional: Melt cheese slices onto each burger patty during the last minute of cooking.
4. Wrap the burger patties in lettuce leaves instead of using buns.
5. Top with avocado slices and a drizzle of sugar-free ketchup.
6. Enjoy your bunless burgers packed with flavor!

Grilled Pork Chops with Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients:

• Pork chops
• Keto-friendly dry rub or marinade
• Low-carb vegetables (such as broccoli, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts)
• Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Season the pork chops with your favorite keto-friendly dry rub or marinade.
2. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat.
3. Place the pork chops on the grill and cook for about 4-5 minutes per side, or until cooked to your desired doneness.
4. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C).
5. Toss the low-carb vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper on a baking sheet.
6. Roast the vegetables in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until tender and slightly browned.
7. Serve the grilled pork chops alongside the roasted vegetables for a satisfying keto meal.

Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

• Pork shoulder
• Keto-approved BBQ sauce
• Lettuce leaves (for wrapping)
• Coleslaw

Instructions:

1. Season the pork shoulder with salt and pepper.
2. Place the pork shoulder in a slow cooker and pour over keto-approved BBQ sauce.
3. Cook on low heat for 8 hours or until the pork is tender and easily shreddable.
4. Shred the pork using two forks and mix it with any remaining BBQ sauce in the slow cooker.
5. Spoon the pulled pork onto lettuce leaves and top with coleslaw.
6. Roll up each lettuce wrap and enjoy these delicious pulled pork wraps.

BBQ Pork Skewers

Ingredients:

• Pork tenderloin
• Keto-friendly BBQ sauce
• Grill skewers
• Grilled vegetables or fresh salad (for serving)

Instructions:

1. Cut the pork tenderloin into chunks and place them in a bowl.
2. Pour keto-friendly BBQ sauce over the pork chunks and let them marinate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat.
4. Thread the marinated pork chunks onto grill skewers.
5. Grill the skewers for about 10-12 minutes, turning occasionally, or until fully cooked.
6. Serve the BBQ pork skewers with a side of grilled vegetables or a fresh salad for a tasty keto meal.

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

• Pork tenderloin
• Bacon slices
• Salt and pepper
• Steamed or roasted low-carb vegetables (for serving)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Season the pork tenderloin with salt and pepper.
3. Wrap the pork tenderloin with bacon slices, slightly overlapping each slice.
4. Place the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper.
5. Roast in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy and the pork is cooked through.
6. Let it rest for a few minutes before slicing into thick medallions.
7. Serve with steamed or roasted low-carb vegetables for a satisfying keto meal.

Keto-friendly BBQ Ribs

Ingredients:

• Baby back ribs
• Keto-friendly dry rub
• Sugar-free BBQ sauce

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).
2. Season baby back ribs all over with a keto-friendly dry rub, making sure to coat them evenly.
3. Wrap the seasoned ribs tightly in foil and place them on a baking sheet.
4. Bake the ribs in the preheated oven for about 2.5-3 hours, or until they are tender.
5. Remove the foil and brush the ribs with sugar-free BBQ sauce.
6. Increase the oven temperature to 450°F (230°C) and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the sauce is sticky and caramelized.
7. Remove from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes before serving these delicious keto-friendly BBQ ribs.

**"Breaded" Chicken Filet using Pork Rinds as Panko

Ingredients:

• Chicken filet
• Pork rinds (crushed)
• Egg
• Salt and pepper
• Cooking oil (such as avocado oil)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. Season chicken filets with salt and pepper.
3. In a shallow bowl, beat an egg.
4. Crush pork rinds into small crumbs using a food processor or by placing them in a sealed plastic bag and crushing with a rolling pin.
5. Dip each chicken filet into the beaten egg, then coat it in crushed pork rinds, pressing gently to adhere.
6. Heat cooking oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat.
7. Place breaded chicken filets in the skillet and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
8. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through.
9. Serve these "breaded" chicken filets with your favorite keto side dish for a satisfying meal option.

Keto Tacos

Ingredients:

• Choice of meat (ground beef, chicken, or pork)
• Cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, or Monterey Jack)
• Low-carb taco shells or lettuce leaves
• Taco seasoning (optional)
• Toppings: salsa, guacamole, sour cream, chopped tomatoes, sliced jalapenos (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cook the choice of meat in a skillet over medium heat until browned and cooked through. If desired, season the meat with taco seasoning according to package instructions.
2. Warm up the low-carb taco shells according to package instructions or use lettuce leaves as a carb-free alternative.
3. Fill the taco shells or lettuce leaves with the cooked meat.
4. Top with cheese and any desired toppings such as salsa, guacamole, sour cream, chopped tomatoes, or sliced jalapenos.
5. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Meatballs with Low-carb Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• Ground meat (beef, chicken, or turkey)
• Low-carb store bought tomato sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the meatballs. Cook until browned on all sides and cooked through.
2. Pour low-carb tomato sauce over the cooked meatballs and simmer for a few minutes until heated through.

Shakshuka

Ingredients:

• Eggs
• Olive oil
• Onion, diced
• Garlic cloves, minced
• Red bell pepper, diced
• Canned diced tomatoes
• Tomato paste
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Keto-friendly bread (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add diced onion and minced garlic cloves. Cook until the onion is translucent.
2. Add diced red bell pepper to the skillet and cook until softened.
3. Stir in canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together.
4. Create wells in the sauce and crack eggs into each well.
5. Cover the skillet and cook until the eggs are done to your desired level of doneness.
6. Serve shakshuka on its own or with keto-friendly bread for dipping.

Bacon and Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

• 4 bell peppers, halved and seeds removed
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove from the pan and let it drain on a paper towel.
3. In the same skillet with the bacon fat, cook your ground beef, onion, and garlic until the beef is browned and the onions are translucent.
4. Stir in the diced tomatoes, cooked bacon, and half of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Spoon the mixture into the bell pepper halves and top with the remaining cheese.
6. Arrange the peppers in a baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the peppers are tender and the cheese is bubbly. Serve warm.

Moving Reddit's Keto in a Nutshell here, in case it disappears.

Keto in a Nutshell

What the Hell is a Ketogenic Diet?

"A hit-the-ground-running introduction to not being fat any more" ~ keto4life, 2016

Ketogenic Diets have grown in popularity and criticism over the last twenty or so years. Popular Ketogenic Diets include: South Beach Diet, Atkins Diet (induction phase only) and several natural diets all over the world used by various tribes and peoples.

1. What Does Keto Do to My Body?

Ketosis, to put it simply, is the state in which you burn fat for fuel. The human body isn’t stupid, it will burn what it has in most abundance that yields the most energy for its volume. Carbs (some) burn up quick but are packed with INTENSE fuel that yield large bursts of energy. Compare this to an energy drink that a lot of modern culture seems to adore. Fat and protein burn slowly and allow a steady stream of energy; your energy levels won’t soon crash because your body can’t get rid of it near as fast as carbohydrates.

Ketosis also helps regulate your blood without complications. Involving complex carbs into your diet causes your body to heighten your blood sugar and as a result produce insulin. This stuff is nasty in large amounts; consider it to be your blood’s very own personal, fat-kicking police force.

High blood sugar is interpreted as TOXIC by your body, so the insulin regulates your blood to cleanse it. Soon, though, your body starts struggling to keep up; when you take high amounts of carbs (sugar) and the insulin cant keep up....your body converts sugar to fat and insulin stores it in cells. Your body is capable of regulating your blood sugar on its own without help when you aren’t mainlining so much sucrose. Ketogenic diets avoid such problems!

“But what about heart disease and cholesterol? I DON’T WANNA DIE; BACON ISN’T WORTH IT!”

There is no evidence linking ANY bad cholesterol or heart disease with animal fat. Early human beings ate more than FIVE TIMES the modern recommended intake of animal fat and protein; do not worry about high ANYTHING while on Keto other than energy levels.

“But what about vitamins and minerals?!”

See section two, Keto isn’t going to leave you without essential nutrients unless you live off of bacon and eggs. If that interests you, check out /r/zerocarb

2. What Do I Eat and Why?

I’m a firm believer in having a varied, balanced diet. Keto offers plenty of options in this department. The fact is that you eat exactly what you want to. Some keto-ers do their entire meal plans with bacon and eggs with multi-vitamins. Some do all veggies, some fish and eggs with NO vitamins. I, personally, eat everything. Leafy greens, beef, pork, chicken, fish, and eggs are a part of my regular diet.

Yes, you can do keto as a vegetarian (/r/vegetarianketo) or even a vegan (/r/veganketo).

“So whats up with fat, protein and fiber and all that crap? What does it all mean?”

Fat is essentially satiety. Eating fat keeps you full and makes you not want to gorge on french fries and coke every two hours. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to eat 100000g of fat to stay in ketosis. Though it is GOOD for ketosis, it has nothing to do with how much fat you take in. Protein is muscle fuel, to put it simply. Maintaining protein levels keeps you burning fat and not muscle tissue.

While little evidence is present to suggest you NEED fiber in your diet, it can be used keep your bowels in check. PLUS, you naturally get fiber from leafy green veggies. Green veggies, while being delicious, are rich in vitamins A and K AND fiber. So why dislike fiber when it comes with all kinds of amazing beneficial nutrients. EMBRACE THE GREENS.

Carbs, carbs, carbs. As long as you’re generally under 20 grams of them per day, you’re fine. but try to get those carbs in vegetables or nuts (simple carbs!). Fiber is technically a carb, but we love it to death.

You often hear Ketoers mention the term net carbs. Net carbs are the amount of carbohydrates in a food minus the fiber, as you cannot digest fiber and it doesn’t cause an insulin response. Its important to note that fiber isn’t an undo button, though. You can’t eat a bowl of ice cream with green beans and subtract carbs from the ice cream. You subtract it from the carb count of the food that contains the fiber. In general, try to get all the colours in food you can. Doing so ensures that you’re getting a wide variety of nutrients and even minerals. (Mmm...liver).

2a What Do I Drink?

Coffee, diet sodas and tea are acceptable (sans sugar and milk), but........ DRINK WATER

“You better love water more than Michael Phelps himself if you plan to last longer than a fuckin’ week on Keto “ ~BCrosby, 2012

2b Are There Bad Foods out There?

Ketogenic diets aren’t just about eating butter and shedding fat. Its about improving overall health. While things like hot dogs and Velveeta (processed cheese) are TECHNICALLY ketogenic in that they don’t contain tons of carbs...they’re generally not the best in terms of WHAT is in them.

What’s in them you ask? Read the ingredients and see for yourself. If you cannot replicate an item in your kitchen... chances are you shouldn’t be eating the stuff anyway.

Take pride in your food and what you make. Buy a low carb cookbook or try new recipes from /r/ketorecipes.

Buy fresh, local ingredients.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF.

Adopting a positive lifestyle around a diet can circulate into other facets of your life, too. That being said, when faced with the choice of un-organically sourced pork and a cream cake, use your common sense and opt for the lesser of two evils. Don’t use a bad situation as an excuse for poor judgment.

3. Exercise - Where Do I Start?

This is perhaps the most controversial question in all of /r/keto for the community.

Exercise is great for your health, there is no question about it. Does exercise contribute largely to weight loss? Not really. The answer of if you should or should not lies within the question of what YOU want from a ketogenic diet. Do you want to shred tonnes of weight? Do you want to build way more muscle? Do you want to do both at the same time? Do you just want to tone muscle? All of these come into play when exercise becomes involved.

Someone like Gary Taubes will tell you that exercise isn’t for weight loss because it leads to overeating later and you often eat more than you burned with the rigorous exercise. For way out of shape people, this may be the way to go for MOST of the weight loss journey.

If you can exercise and not overeat, by all means continue. What exercise you take up is up to you. Do something you enjoy, simply put. Do you like running? Buy a pair of shoes and have at it. Cycling your thing? Bike to your hearts content! It’s all good for you but remember to never let exercise get in the way of your goal.

Take things in stages. Maybe you need to lose a hundred pounds or so before you start involving cardio or HIIT. This isn’t supposed to happen overnight. There is no right or wrong answer other than whats appropriate for you. Exercise is important for health but not a complete staple for weight loss.

4. How Long Should I Do Keto?

The short answer is for as long as possible. Some of us indulge more in carbs when we reach our target fitness but many of us never go back. After all, you don’t tell a druggie or an alcoholic to partake once in awhile for indulgence sake! This isn’t meant to be a temporary fix or an excuse to go back to binging on hundreds of grams of carbs.

“Its been a week. Why do I feel like crap?”

The first week or more is your body adjusting to the low-carb lifestyle. This includes feeling miserable with symptoms of influenza, colloquially known as the dreaded Keto-Flu. Your symptoms will eventually go away, don’t worry. In the long term it is very worth it and if you’re lucky you won’t get it at all!

Stay hydrated and drink salty broth if possible. Try not to over-exert yourself for the first week of the diet; wait to become more accustomed to using ketones as a primary fuel source before attempting too much exercise.

5. How Do I Know If I'm Stalling/Plateauing?!

Plateauing is when you stop losing weight entirely for 2 weeks or more. It happens to all of us and there are a few ways to push through it.

Firstly, fluctuation is natural when it comes to weight loss. Water is coming and going so fast in keto that you can never trust a scale to the exact decimal. The general rule is to weigh-in once every two weeks or so, and assess where you're at in terms of progress.

More importantly, put in the effort to log your food. Logging is a simple discipline that, too, can spread to other aspects of your life. While you don’t HAVE to count your calories, it makes understanding problems a hell of a lot easier.

There are a few ways to combat plateauing.

Some people do intermittent fasting (IF) as a means of breaking them. IF is when you break a 24 hour period into two sections. For example, a 20/4 IF schedule means that you fast for 20 hours (only drinking water) and then have 4 hours of calorie intake. You should do this anywhere from 3-7 days in order to break a plateau and some people even do it continuously. Water during a fasting state keeps your metabolism active and keeps you hydrated.

6. Booze: Whats It Do?

Alcohol is allowed on a low-carb diet but it certainly doesn’t come without a price. Booze DOES count toward the calorie count and often has carbs, so be careful! In the same way your body burns fat over muscle, it also breaks down alcohol before others, as its toxic and needs to be handled as a priority. This means while you’re drinking and alcohol is in your system...you are NOT burning fat. It is also worth mentioning that your alcoholic tolerance is LOWERED on while low-carbing. Space your drinks out more and be sure to avoid carby drinks like beer and sweet wines. Be safe and stay hydrated.

7. Tools of the Trade

• My Fitness Pal - A web based diary and also mobile app to log your food.
• Scales - Measure the weight of yourself AND of your food.
• Tape Measure - Its good to know the details of your weight rather than just blind numbers.
• The Internet - Seriously. There is all kinds of help and research out there; do NOT be afraid of it.

7a My Fitness Pal Tips

• MFP is even better with friends! Don’t be afraid to add fellow ketoers or family members, and join keto related groups!
• Set your goals. Go to Goals → Change Goals → Custom → Continue and add your Protein/Fat/Carb numbers as necessary. If you do not wish to pay for MFP Premium (and you absolutely don't need to at all), simply round your protein % up and fat down to fit.
• Settings → Diary Settings. Add Fiber to your tracking to watch your net carbs!

8. Glossary of Terms

• MFP - My Fitness Pal
• Frankenfood - Horrible, man made food you shouldn’t eat if possible. Like margarine and hot dogs.
• HIIT- High Intensity Interval Training
• IF - Intermittent Fasting
• LCHF - Low Carb, High Fat
• FF - Fat Fast
• CKD - Cyclic Ketogenic Diet
• TKD - Targeted Keto Diet
• KCKO - Keep Calm, Keto On
• WOE - Way of Eating
• SAD - Standard American Diet
• CICO - Calories In, Calories Out
• OMAD - One Meal A Day
• IIFYM - If It Fits Your Macros
• SV - Scale Victory
• NSV - Non-Scale Victory

Videos/Web Resources/Recommended Reading

9a Video

• Fat Head - A Documentary that debunks much of the conventional wisdom about health and examines the reality of Morgan Spurlock’s work Super Size Me
• Gary Taubes Lecture - Why We Get Fat and historical references to the truth
• Doctor's Discussion of Keto - Andreas Eenfeldt, M.D. discusses the parameters of Ketogenic Diets
• Sugar: The Bitter Truth - Robert H. Lustig, M.D. discusses the issues and dangers with sugar
• Robb Wolf on Paleo (link broken) - Robb Wolf answers community questions on the benefits of low-carb/paleo
• The Paleo Solution (link broken) - Robb Wolf discusses ancestral nutrition and “Western” diseases
• Your Leaky Gut and Grain - Loren Cordain discusses auto-immunity and Western diet
• How Bad Science and Big Business Created the Obesity Epidemic - David Diamond explains how industrial influences have shaped our diet and health care infrastructure
• King Corn - A documentary following the effects of the corn industry on rural America and her inhabitants
• Dr. Mary Vernon Lecture (link broken) - A video playlist of great information and resources.

9b Web Resources

• My Fitness Pal Script - Surye’s script that tracks net carbs along with macro-nutrients
• LCHF Outline - Eenfeldt’s personal website and the outline about LCHF
• Keto FAQ - Bodybuilding.com’s Megathread on the Keto Lifestyle
• ]AreYouReadyToReddit's 1-Week Meal Plan](https://lemmy.world/post/1512051) Updated to Lemmy link - A Guide to plan your meals up to a week in advance.
• Recipe Index - Bodybuilding’s Index of Low Carb Recipes
• Importance of Water - Why drink so much? Why is it hard to keep on Keto?
• Wolfram Alpha - Simple database to look at food and convert measurements.

9c Recommended Reading

• The New Atkins for a New You, by Westman, Phinney, Volek, ISBN 978-0091935573
• Wheat Belly, by William David, ISBN 978-1609611545
• Why We Get Fat, by Gary Taubes, ISBN 978-0307272706
• Good Calories, Bad Calories, by Gary Taubes, ISBN 978-1400033461
• The Paleo Diet, by Loren Cordain, ISBN 978-0470913024
• The Paleo Solution, by Robb Wolf, ISBN 978-0982565841
• The Primal Blueprint, by Mark Sisson, ISBN 978-0982207703
• The Ketogenic Diet, by Lyle McDonald, ISBN 978-0967145600

revision by tycowboy— 11 months ago

Moving this here from Reddit i case it disappears.

Meta: This page is intended to be a very brief checklist of sorts for starting Keto and makes the following assumptions:

That you are over the age of 18

That you are starting a ketogenic diet for weight loss

That you have discussed your diet changes with your doctor, particularly if you have a medical condition.

1. What is (and isn't) Keto?

Keto is: A high fat, adequate protein, very low carb diet. It can be used to lose, gain, or maintain weight.

Keto is not: A zero sugar diet, a "clean" diet, or a magical cure for all ailments.

2. How do I start?

Before starting Keto you should do the following five things:

Read over the FAQ. It has a lot of information that will help you out!

Calculate your macros using a macro calculator like the one linked on the sidebar. Using the expert settings enter your age, weight, height, and gender (your "stats"). Set your activity level to sedentary, your protein ratio to 0.8, and your net carbs to 20. The calculator will now show your macros - the amount of protein, carbs, and fat you should be eating per day. Even if you don't intend to track your food it's important to know your macros.

You may have seen other calculators or websites telling you to track your ratios or percentages. Those are only relevant for therapeutic Keto; the kind used to treat epilepsy. If you are doing keto for any other reason you should always measure in grams.

Grab a bottle of salt substitute from your local grocery store. Common brand names include Lite Salt (in the US and Australia) and Nu-Salt and Lo Salt (in the UK). This is the cheapest and most effective way to supplement your potassium intake which you'll want to do. More info on why and how can be found in the FAQ section called Adapting to a Low Carb Lifestyle.

Take before pictures and measurements. Even if you never share them with anyone, you'll be glad you did it.

Number five is optional but highly recommended: download a food tracking app or set up an account on a food tracking website. This will be the easiest way to know what you're eating and make sure that you are staying within your macros. A list of popular macro tracking apps can be found in the FAQ.

3. When do I start?

As soon as possible! You don't need any fancy supplements or meal plans or expensive ingredients or testing supplies- the easiest way to start Keto is to just eat what you normally do minus the carbs.

Get in the habit of checking nutritional information before you eat and remember that this is a learning experience. You won't be perfect at first and that's okay. If you do want a meal plan or ideas of what to eat check out the FAQ, Pinterest, and the subreddits r/ketorecipes and r/ketomealseatingnow.

4. Is that it?

Pretty much. Keep your net carbs under 20g, eat enough protein for your body to function, and get the rest of your calories from fat. If weight loss is your goal then fat should be seen as a threshold- you can eat any amount of dietary fat up to your fat macro. This is because you want at least some of your fat intake to come from, well, the fat that's on your body. Always aim to meet or exceed your protein macro and don’t worry about going over.

5. How much weight can I expect to lose?

Weight loss is slow and non-linear. You may lose a lot of water weight at first, you may not. Don’t compare your weight loss to others and remain focused on your goals beyond losing weight. Be patient and it will happen in time.

6. How do I stay motivated/committed? (credit and thanks to u/DClawdude!)

Ultimately you build discipline and commit, or you don't. Control and motivation are not about willpower really, they are about discipline and also goals. The scale itself is often not enough motivation, and motivation can only get you so far versus discipline.

Discipline is basically building good habits and sticking to them. You have to ask yourself what is more important to you: being less fat in a month or having a candy bar now? What is going to provide more long term satisfaction?

Frankly there is always an excuse to cheat. There is always an upcoming holiday or birthday or graduation or quincenara or bar mitzvah or other celebration or someone decided to just bring cookies to work or you go out to dinner and order a sandwich instead of something else. There is always an excuse, if you want it bad enough you will just not make excuses.

Which is not to say it isn't difficult, it IS to say that committing is what is necessary especially when you are in an environment where others eat other things.

A lot of people also say that thinking, "I no longer eat that" is a more helpful mindset versus "I can't have that."

If you cheat and fail, reflect critically on why it happened, don't go into a shame spiral - make a plan for the next time the situation comes up, because it will, and think about a better way to handle it.

You have to want it, nobody can want it for you. It’s your body in the end.

Committing to changes that improve your health can be hard. Being fat is also hard. Choose your hard.

revision by ketokate-o— 4 years ago

Moving it here in case it disappears.

Week One Keto Meal Plan

This page has been migrated to the /r/keto wiki from a document originally created by user /u/AreYouReadyToReddit in 2012

All this can be purchased at any local supermarket. The daily meals will be bacon and eggs, chicken with vegetables, and beef with vegetables.

General Disclaimer: I just started week five of keto. (21 lbs lost) I’m by no means the expert. However, I had a successful run so far, and enjoyed the process so much I’m doing it for the rest of my time in keto. I might just cook my meals a week in advance for the rest of my life. I tried to be as specific in this guide as possible, because I don’t know the readers experience with cooking.

Remember that Week One isn’t about variety. It isn’t about tripping through the meadows enjoying your newly found bacon-filled future. Week One is all about getting into Ketosis, surviving that keto flu, and creating an environment that will insure you don’t get tempted and cheat.

Shopping List

1. A dozen eggs.
2. A package of your favorite bacon.
3. A box of butter. (Real butter)
4. A 12 pack of boneless/skinless chicken thighs. (If you can somehow find boneless thighs that still have their skin, go ahead and use them)
5. 1 onion.
6. 1 bell pepper (Green, red, yellow, that’s your choice.)
7. Two bulbs of garlic. (Optional, but very heart healthy.)
8. A bottle of water.
9. A big bag of frozen vegetables, at least 12 cups worth. I buy Bird’s Eye Normandy blend: It’s a mixture of zucchini, summer squash, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. If you don’t like those veggies, just pick something else that’s keto friendly like Frozen Broccoli.)
10. Either a) a bag of pork rinds, b) a bag of almonds, c) a jar of almond butter (very expensive).
11. A container of beef. Bear with me on this one: You want to find some kind of beef that meets the following criteria: A) Is in your budget. B) You can imagine cutting/dividing into 6 equal portions. C) Has some fat. You can do this with simple tubes of ground beef if you want. Two 1 pound tubes mean’s roughly a 1/3 of a pound will be going to each portioned meal. I user carne picada. It’s a thinly sliced meat with some fat that is designed to be used in fajitas or burritos. I like the texture when it’s cooked, and if you shop when the food it marked down it always seems to be the cheapest.

Others

This isn't food, just stuff to help you portion it.

1. Brown lunch bags. You can get like 200 of these for a few dollars
2. Some cheap small sandwhich bags.
3. 12 ziplock "tupperware" containers. (The cheap kind that's okay to lose.)
4. A coffee thermos.
5. A lunch pail/bag.

The Cooking

(End Results is 18 meals, 6 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 6 dinners)

1. Put the 12 thighs in to the oven with all the cloves from a bulb of garlic. You should separate the cloves, but you don’t need to skin them. The heat from the oven will do that nicely, and you can peel them when you eat it. This will take about 2 hours to cook, depending on your oven, and if the chicken is frozen at all.
2. While the thighs are cooking, hard boil the eggs. Then set them aside to cool.
3. Take a skillet, put some butter on it, and then fry up the bacon. (Note: Some might argue that the butter isn’t needed. In my experience you can either grease up that pan somehow, or your first strips of bacon will come out burnt.) When the bacon is done, put it on some paper towels, and pad it dry a bit.
4. Dice up half the onion, save the other half for next week.
5. Cut up the pepper as well.
6. You might need to take the chicken out at this point. If it’s done, pull it out, and let it cool.
7. In the skillet (I like to use that bacon grease as a base but it isn’t needed) sauté the pepper and half onion, and another bulb’s worth of garlic cloves. (leave the skin on, just like before.)
8. Add the beef and brown it. The Portioning
9. Wash/rinse out the 12 Ziploc containers.
10. In 6 of them, put 2 chicken thighs each. Share the garlic between them, and evenly divide the fat juice.
11. In the other 6 evenly spoon out the beef/pepper/onion mix.
12. Take the veggie blend, evenly pour it across the 12 containers, right on top of the meat.
13. Put them all in your fridge. If you have minimal fridge space you could just put some in there, and then rest in your freezer. Just pull another out when you pull from the fridge.
14. Pull out six plastic bags and put 2 hard boiled eggs in each.
15. Evenly divide your remaining bacon (You totally snacked on some of it, don’t deny) by 6.
16. You can put this in the same bag as your eggs, or separate sandwich bags, it doesn’t matter.
17. Now brown bag it, and put it in your fridge.

Conclusion & Things

At this point you now have 6 day’s worth of meals in your fridge (6 containers of Thighs/Veggies, 6 containers Beef/Veggies, and 6 bags with 2 hardboiled eggs and bacon.)

This gives you 1 free day a week to cook whatever you want for each meal. (I find it best to do this on a day other than Sunday, because after all that above I’m pretty tired of cooking.)

The pork rinds/nuts/almond butter are there in case you find yourself having cravings. Between staying on top of your water intake and small snacks of these you shouldn’t be overly hungry. If you got hungry on Day One between breakfast and lunch, or lunch and supper while you’re still at work—then portion out some nuts (15 of them ) or some pork rinds to add to your brown bag.

We all should be aiming for at least 8 cups of water a day. I’ve found personally that a bottle of water helps me keep track of this. My bottle is 1 liter, formally housing “smart water”. So I know if I drink two of it, I’ve met my 8 cup mark. No more diet soda.

Make a thermos of coffee in the morning to take to work with you. It’ll help with any caffeine withdrawal headaches. Don’t make this coffee too strong. You’re making some diet changes, and coffee is a natural laxative. If you vacate your GI tract because of it’s going to offset your meals. Better 8 cups of medium to weak coffee in my thermos instead of 4 strong ones in my opinion.

Bonus: If you cleaned up your kitchen, and then take care of the dishes from the day’s cooking. That means you’ll have a clean kitchen aaaallll week except for the stack of Ziploc containers that will slowly accumulate.

Disclaimer: Some might not like that this meal plan has some onion and carrots—both of which have naturally occurring sugar in them. However, each of the beef meals has only a 6th of an onion, and the Normandy blend contains only small amount of carrots—you probably eat less than 1/3 of a carrot per meal. You can certainly not user either. On Week Four I’ve switched over to pure frozen brocoli, and I toss a ¼ cup of shredded cheddar cheese in each container with it. Cooks wonderfully with the chicken in the microwave.

Nutritional Breakdown

Thanks to /u/grayjedi for writing this section!

Assumptions made:

• You're using large eggs.
• You're cooking a 500g pack of bacon (like from Costco).
• No butter used (who uses butter to make bacon?)
• You're using 150g of medium ground beef (70% lean) per dinner.
• You're using large boneless skinless chicken thighs (~90g each).
• You're putting in one cup of the Kirkland Signature Normandy vegetables blend (also from Costco) per lunch/dinner.

Breakfast: 545 kcal, 2.5g carbohydrates, 0g fiber, 40g fat, 41g protein

Lunch: 360 kcal, 9.0g carbohydrates, 4.0g fiber, 11g fat, 53g protein

Dinner: 448 kcal, 9.4g carbohydrates, 4.2g fiber, 27g fat, 42g protein

For a daily total of: 1354 kcal, 12.2g net carbs, 78g fat, 136g protein

It's worth pointing out that you may want to consider taking a multi-vitamin with this meal plan. It is very low on Vitamins B1, D, E, and K. Calcium, Magnesium, Manganese, and Potassium are also very low, but we need to manage those as part of our electrolyte strategy anyways on keto.

The meal plan has a good amount of calories for a woman of average height and a healthy weight, but will likely be on the low side for taller women and most men.

The almond strategy mentioned on the wiki will help a little with increasing the calorie count. You may also want to consider adding these calorie boosting strategies:

• Cream in the coffee.
• Put a tablespoon of mayonnaise on the chicken while it's baking. Tasty and it will fit your macros!
• Top the vegetables with some cheese before reheating.
• Cook more beef. Who doesn't want more beef?

Hi there!

I just got on keto a few weeks ago(have also been doing intermittent fasting, which is a lot easier on Keto ).

I don't travel often for work, but we just got a new contract where we might have to travel every couple of months out of state. And I was wondering what's the best plan of attack to stay on Keto while traveling?

Since giving up sugar and carbs, it has obviously gotten a lot easier to go longer without eating. However, when traveling there is stress and fuzz of getting on a plane and so getting to a hotel, etc. and stress can make the brain go "go back to your crappy old eating habits and get crap out of the vending machine".

I guess this is a long way of asking; does anyone have any experience traveling while on Keto? Any pro tips/advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!