What do you usually eat in a day? I'm interested in trying keto myself but have no idea where to start.
First of all, you can start before even starting! Do this by downloading an app like My Fitness Pal to track your current eating habits. By doing this you can become better aware of what foods you typically eat right now that are higher in carbs. This will help you ease into the ketogenic lifestyle by discovering foods that you can swap out rather than having to completely start from scratch.
For example, I was drinking a protein shake almost every day for breakfast. Some of the ingredients? Activia yogurt (for the probiotics), which has 17g of sugar in one serving. Vega One Protein, which had 6g net carbs per scoop. Blueberries, with 13g net carbs. Peanut butter, 10g net carbs. And likely more ingredients for at least 50g net carbs. For breakfast. To guarantee ketosis, you need to have at most 30g net carbs per day (the actual number will vary per person and could be higher, but 30g is a safe bet).
To fix this, I eliminated the yogurt and ordered probiotic supplements, found a low-carb protein powder (I didn’t need a vegan one anyway), switched to a smaller serving of a lower carb fruit (like raspberries), swapped peanut for almond butter, etc. So rather than designing a completely new diet, start with swaps.
But some sample meals that I’ve eaten lately (and lazy ones, at that):
Ground beef and eggs cooked in pure butter and topped with avocado, sour cream, and parmesan cheese
Smoked or cured salmon with ricotta cheese
Ricotta “noatmeal” (ricotta cheese, butter, cinnamon, Stevia microwaved and topped with flaxseed, walnuts, etc.)
Macadamia nuts (the BEST keto option, and delicious)
Avocado with Italian dressing
Hard-boiled eggs with mayo and spicy mustard
A great reference is Diet Doctor’s Easy Keto Plates. I have it printed out on my fridge for quick reference. Basically a gallery of things you can easily throw together to make a keto meal. But there’s so much out there that you will need to explore it to see what will work for you.
Some overall pointers for starting out, though:
Focus on the fat. It’s the point of the diet. 70-80% of your calories will need to be from fat.
Be careful with protein. Too high of protein will kick you out of ketosis.
Salt your food and drink bone broth to keep minerals up and prevent keto flu.
Drink a lot of water. Your body needs more water when in ketosis.
If your goal is to lose weight, don’t forget that you still need to be at a caloric deficit. Be careful you don’t go over calories.
I find videos very helpful for learning a lot and easily. So some great YouTube channels to learn from are (in no particular order):
