Yup. This is why I don’t my dropping out of Keto for a meal occasionally or even a weekend. Because even when I do I still am less hungry and kind of subconsciously aware of carb intake and will eat less than I used to before keto anyway. I think between 30-100 carbs per day is considered Atkins. And that is still about 25% of what I used to consider normal for carb intake.
Maaaaan, it’s a wonder I wasn’t already pre-diabetic.
I’m shooting for under 20g of net carbs for now, and I think mostly hitting that pretty good. I’ll be a little heavier on one meal (idk, keto pancakes with butter and pecans for like 10g) and then just be more hardcore for the other (salad with various veggies, some Green Goddess dressing and leftover chicken thighs, for example) and it works out great.
One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve progressed with ketosis is that I don’t snack like I did early on during the transition. I followed some advice to not worry about it – go ahead and keep with the no/low-carb diet but don’t watch what you eat during transition – and I put down rather a lot of like cheese sticks and mixed nuts. Now, I’m just not really moved to snack. If anything, I’ll grab a small bite to munch while I’m preparing a meal just because I’m getting impatient, heh.
Don’t forget that exercise adds to the amount of carbs you can intake. I don’t have a formula handy but I’m sure there are plenty out there. 20 grams of carbs seems pretty low though. I’m generally in 25-30 range when I’m going full keto.
Not for the first couple of weeks, referred to as induction by Atkins. I actually stayed in that range for years, though I’m a bit less restrictive now (I eat a ton of veggies now and less meat, but my straight up sugar intake is still quite limited).
Ah cool. Makes sense. Thanks for the info. And to be clear when I talk of taking cheat days it’s when you’re well into ketosis. Not at the beginning when you’re just getting used to it. Ymmv obviously.
We’re still working on the exercise part here at Casa del B ;)
More veggies and less meat is where I’m trying to get to. I’m doing okay – way, way better than my first two attempts at keto – but there’s still room to improve for sure.
On the carb count, I’m mostly paranoid about it because the keto magic around hunger has been the key for me so far, and if that regresses I fear for my ability to sustain. So Im just trying to stay well away from what seems to me a slippery slope.
And I think that’s important, honestly, to give yourself a treat now and again. It’s good to shake the system up a bit, and it’s also good for long term success as a lifestyle change to have that flexibility. My big splurge is pizza, which we have one or twice a month. It’s the only time I have anything bread adjacent (though I discovered some killer keto crackers recently). Even then, I eat half what I would have back in the day.
@inactive_user for years on low carb, I ate 10-16 ounces of meat at dinner. These days it’s 3-5 (with a big pile of veggies). The funniest part is how I sometimes look at that current amount on the plate and think it seems like too much.
Personally, I wouldn’t look at exercise as giving you a bigger carb budget, but that’s just me. And anything you can do, even just getting up and walking, will help when you have a lot to lose.
Costco in my area has been carrying these delightful keto crackers that are mostly like pumpkin seeds and almond flour, and they’re absolutely wonderful on a snack plate with some cheese and garlic+jalepeno stuffed olives!
Those are the ones…from Innofoods, yeah? They taste like wheat thins to me. Got my mom turned onto those as well.
Yeah! And this keto granola is saving my life when I need to feed my crunchy tooth (I don’t have all that much of a sweet tooth, but I need that crunch baby!)
Yup, I’ve had that (delicious) granola too, but I was snacking on it a bit more than I’d like.
You gotta be careful with those “keto” labeled snacks. Really take a close look at those carbs, most of them like to advertise “net carbs” which is a bullshit concept IMO.
Frankly trying to cheat the low carbs with “fake carbs” (meaning stuff like keto crackers or keto pancakes) didn’t work for me at all. Just made me want the real thing and/or over eat the fake stuff. The strategy that worked for me was just to embrace the suck and make your cheat meals count (min/max cheat calories for best bang for the calorie).
That being said, those coconut cluster things from Costco are amazeballs
Net carbs is not bullshit when you subtract fiber and the sugar alcohols from the carbs in the food. I’m not sure why you would think that’s not a accurate representation.
I have just tried that granola and it’s awesome. The cinnamon pecan flavor that is. As with all things I measure out a serving and eat that to avoid over indulging.
Also my wife is doing keto now and she bought some sort of cracker called Flackers from Whole Foods. They are pretty good. A baker at our local farmers market makes something similar and every other week or so I purchased a bag of her crackers and a little plastic jug of guacamole from a different vendor and have a little splurge. Not too often though!
Oh man I am absolutely going to make some guac happen. For whatever reason I haven’t even thought of what a great keto food that’ll be. I freaking love guac.
If you have leftover guac it’s great on fried eggs!
I don’t think it’s inaccurate I just think it’s can be abused my marketers too easily. It’s an additional factor to figure in when changing diet is already hard enough as it is.
This summarizes some of the issues with relying on net carbs - https://www.theketologist.com/keto-answers/should-i-count-total-carbs-or-net-carbs-on-keto
This article is kind of bullshit, though. It’s basically saying to beware some sugar alcohols because your body may still generate a blood sugar response. Which, yeah, we know that. Most good keto foods clearly label their sugar alcohol content.
But dietary fiber cannot be digested by the body and generates zero glycemic response. You can absolutely subtract dietary fiber from the total carbohydrates.
You can probably subtract the sugar alcohols, too. I’ve always ignored them and I’ve lost 65 lbs.
This seems to be a way better article about sugar alcohols:
I’m not much one for any of them anyway, so I’m not too fussed one way or the other.
Yeah I was just coming here to say dietary fiber does nothing to your blood so I don’t see how that could be something you need to watch out for. And sure sugar alcohols can cause a spike in blood sugar but as others have said I don’t eat too much of those.
What are you guys doing for electrolyte/cramp avoidance? I need to get back to keto for a bit and this is what always gets me.