How to Start a Keto Diet

Let me start by saying, I know very minimal about this diet. Well, that’s not true. I researched this diet like CRAZY when my husband mentioned he wanted to do it. Honestly, I was trying to find reasons to NOT do it. Because, well, bread. Is. Life. But then after the first week when he went all in and lost 6 pounds and I lost none I figured I better get on board!

Another reason I looked into it a lot is I was told the side effects can initially be really intense because it changes your metabolism. With me having hypothyroidism I am always nervous about anything that can mess with my body in regards to metabolism and hormones.

With that being said, I can also say that I still don’t do a “Keto” diet for real. If you research the diet you will find that to reach Ketosis (when your body switches from burning carbs for energy to burning fat for energy) it is recommended to eat 20 g or less of carbs a day. I used a little calculator (like the one found here: https://www.perfectketo.com/keto-macro-calculator/) and since I wasn’t interested in losing a lot of weight it gave me 54 grams of carbs.

I feel like based on the fact that I still consume 50 carbs or more a day I did not get a lot of the side effects you will find if you research the topic. So on to my amateur suggestions if this diet sounds intriguing to you!

1. If you are a fake coffee drinker like me (lots of creamer and/or sugar) you will need to find an alternative. I struggled with this the first two weeks. A lot of people just switch to black coffee. I wasn’t able…actually I was just completely unwilling to drink black coffee. Sugar free creamer is an option but I found for the one tablespoon serving those 5g of sugar was not worth it. I utilize a homemade sweet and condensed milk and it is AMAZING. I use this recipe: https://mymontanakitchen.com/2016/10/06/3-ingredient-sweetened-condensed-milk-thm-s-low-carb-sugar-free/.

2. Meal prep. You just can’t make it without meal prep. There is little to zero items you can just grab off of a shelf in the store for a quick bite. I have tried. Many times. I end up with like a beef jerky stick. Gross. I really cut out snacking completely. I have learned many recipes using cauliflower and “fake” bread. I will say for all my friends living in the states, apparently y’all got a lot of stuff store bought that is keto friendly. Our choices here in Japan are very limited. There is rice and noodles (yummm ramen) everywhere!

3. Some items I would recommend buying for when you start looking into recipes:

Almond Flour, Coconut Flour, cream cheese, cauliflower, whipping cream, coconut oil, unsweetened coconut flakes, A LOT of eggs, cheese, and tons of meat!

At this point I have lost 8 pounds using this diet in 8 weeks. The first 6 pounds came off in the first 4 weeks, however. That was most likely the water weight that carbs keep in your body. The keto calculator I mentioned earlier gave me 107g protein, 116g fat, and 1670 calories a day. I am certain I don’t hit the fat and protein daily but I still have lost the weight!