Extract from the book 100 Best Keto Diet Tips
Getting the right amounts of carbs, fat and protein
1. Don’t guess carb counts, especially in the beginning
2. Don’t tally up carb counts in your head – use a food diary
3. Watch out for hidden carbs
4. Know your net carbs and be aware of regional labelling differences
5. Be sceptical about products labelled as low-carb, sugar-free or Keto
6. Calculate the Keto macronutrient balance that’s optimal for you
7. Make certain you are definitely getting enough fat
8. Don’t eat too much protein
9. Use a food tracking app optimised for low-carb diets
What is a Keto Diet?
A Keto Diet is a weight loss plan that helps you lose weight through ketosis.
Ketosis is a natural metabolic state of burning fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. Once in ketosis, your body starts using its own fat reserves for fuel.
You switch into ketosis by cutting out most carbohydrates from your diet. To get the energy you need, the diet replaces carbs with fat. So Keto Diet is high in fat, very low in carbs and moderate in protein.
Losing weight while in ketosis is easy – pounds just melt off. Your energy levels soar. Best of all, you don’t ever feel hungry because of all the rich, mouth-watering Keto food you get to eat.
But to stay in ketosis, you must follow the diet’s rules precisely, and all the time. There are no "cheat meals" on Keto, or "being good most of the time" workarounds.
This book gives you the best tips on how to switch into ketosis quickly and easily, and stay there until your new slimmer body emerges.
Is Keto Diet a recent invention?
Keto Diet has a very long track record. It was originally used to treat epilepsy and diabetes back in the 1920s. Gradually, its benefits for weight loss were noticed too.
In 1972, Dr Atkins devised his famous low-carb diet based on ketogenic principles. The first phase of Atkins (Atkins Induction) is almost identical to Keto.
In recent years, scientific research debunked many persistent myths about dietary fat. We now know that the likely cause of heart disease and obesity is overconsumption of carbs, not fat. Your body converts unused carbs into fat then stores it on your hips, tummy and so on.
Keto Diet is becoming very popular again, along with other low-carb diets and new food approaches such as Paleo.
Why is Keto Diet so effective?
Keto has several major benefits compared to low-fat or calorie-restriction diets.
- No hunger. Keto is high in fat, so most people find it very filling and satisfying. You lose weight without feeling hungry all the time!
- Faster weight loss. Recent studies show that low-carb diets are more effective at weight loss than low-fat diets.
- Good for your heart. Keto helps to increase the levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and improve the composition of LDL. It can reduce blood pressure. Overall, contrary to the ignorant myths spread by the media, Keto Diet is actually good for the health of your heart.
- Reducing visceral fat. Keto is effective at reducing unhealthy fat stored around the abdomen.
- Reducing insulin sensitivity. Keto improves insulin sensitivity, helping to prevent type 2 diabetes and reduce metabolic resistance (a hormonal imbalance that makes it difficult to lose weight).
How much weight can I lose on Keto Diet?
This is impossible to predict precisely. Each person will have a different weight loss rate, depending on their starting weight, fat percentage, age, gender, activity levels and genetics.
Generally, people who are moderately overweight (with a Body Mass Index of up to 30) can expect to lose between 1-3 pounds a week.
People who have more weight to lose (with a Body Mass Index of above 30) might enjoy a faster loss rate initially – up to 4-6 pounds a week. But this will slow down as they get closer to their target weight.
These figures are estimates only – your own weight loss rate may be either faster or slower.
What can I expect after starting Keto?
The stages listed below are common to all Keto dieters, but the duration of each period varies by individual. Numbers below are approximate.
Days 1-3
You have some carbohydrates stored in your body as glycogen. During the first days of your Keto Diet, your body uses up those stored carbohydrates. So you won’t feel any different to pre-Keto.
Days 3-7
Your glycogen stores run out. Your body demands more carbs for energy. But you have cut out most carbs from your diet, and replaced them with fat.
It usually takes several days for your body to adjust to this new regime. This is the hardest period of the Keto Diet.
You might get strong sugar cravings, tiredness and the infamous "Keto flu". There are ways to make this transition period easier, which are covered later in this book.
You will not notice any weight loss yet at this stage. Some people report a small weight gain – this is a short-term fluctuation, so don’t panic.
Days 7-14
Your body makes the switch to burning fat for energy, instead of carbs. You break into ketosis.
Keto flu symptoms disappear completely. Your energy levels soar. You don’t feel hungry at all. Overall, you feel amazing.
Best of all, you start losing weight – faster than ever before. Some of this initial weight loss will be "water weight". Carbs make your body retain water, and you lose some of those water stores when in ketosis. But you will be losing actual fat too.
Day 14 onwards
You settle down into your new diet. You are losing weight steadily, without feeling hungry.
Week 4-5
You are now fully Keto-adapted. Your body became used to burning fat efficiently. You are gliding towards your ideal body quickly and hassle-free.
How long does it take to get into ketosis?
Most people switch into ketosis within 3-7 days of starting Keto Diet. Sometimes it takes longer, up to 2 weeks. You can take steps to speed up ketosis, which are described later in this book.
What will I eat on Keto?
The list below is for general guidance only. You will need to count your carbs precisely, at least in the beginning of your diet. You will find tips on simple ways to do this later in the book.
Zero carb foods – eat as much as you like
- All meat: beef, lamb, pork, veal, venison, rabbit
- All poultry: chicken, duck, pheasant, turkey, quail, goose
- All fish: salmon, tuna, sole, trout, herring, sardines
- All fat: butter, olive oil, vegetable oils
Very low carb foods – eat plenty, but start counting the carbs
- Green leafy vegetables
- Salad vegetables
- Eggs
- Hard cheeses
- Nuts (except cashews and peanuts)
- Seafood and shellfish
- Offal meats (liver, kidneys)
- Cream and full-fat dairy
- Flaxseeds
- Olives
- Zero-calorie sugar substitutes and sugar-free diet drinks*
Low to moderate carb – eat occasionally, and watch the carb content closely
- Soft cheeses
- Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin)
- Low-starch root vegetables (celeriac, turnips, daikon)
- Fresh berries
- Low-sugar citrus fruit (lemons, limes, white grapefruit)
- Low-carb flours (almond flour, coconut flour)
- Sugar-free chocolate and cocoa powder
High carb foods – avoid completely
- Any food that contains sugar or grains (e.g. wheat, rye, oats, rice)
- Bread and crackers
- Pizza, pasta, pies, any other dough-based food
- Biscuits and cakes
- Breakfast cereals
- Chocolate and sweets
- Fizzy soda drinks (except diet versions)
- Fresh fruit, fruit juices, dried and tinned fruit
- Potatoes in all variations
- Bananas
* Artificial sweeteners and sugar-free products are technically low in carbs. However, they might have some negative effects, which are described in detail later in this book. Be cautious with this type of food – it is not as safe as natural low-carb foods.
How many carbs can I eat on Keto?
You will have to cut your carbs down dramatically. Most people limit their carbs to 20-30g a day to stay in ketosis. Keto Diet works best if you spend your carb allowance on the most nutritious, vitamins-rich foods, for example, green leafy vegetables and grass-fed red meat.
Will I get enough vitamins on Keto?
You will cut out some high-vitamin foods from your diet, mostly fruit and grains. But you can still get everything you need from low-carb foods.
Vegetables have roughly the same amounts of vitamins and minerals as fruit. Meat, fish, seeds and healthy fats are also high in vitamins and other essential nutrients.
If you worry about your vitamin intake, support your Keto diet with a high-quality specialist multivitamin. Nutritional supplements are covered in detail later in this book.
Is Keto hard?
Keto is not as hard as other types of diets. Not being hungry all the time makes a huge difference. You get to enjoy rich, satisfying Keto meals while losing weight.
But you have to follow Keto rules precisely. Unlike other diets, just one small transgression can kick you out of ketosis. Your weight loss then stops until you get back on track.
You have to learn all about carbs and get into the habit of checking and monitoring them continuously. This book shows you how to do this painlessly and efficiently.
Is Keto similar to other low-carb diets?
Keto Diet is a low-carb diet. But not all low-carb diets are ketogenic.
The only popular diet that’s very similar to Keto is Phase 1 of Atkins. Watch out for recipes and foods labelled as low-carb. They may be suitable for generic low-carb diets, but not go low enough for Keto.
Keto is not the same as Paleo or Caveman diets. Paleo focuses on eating natural foods, some of which are high in carbs.
Is there any reason not to do Keto?
Keto is a safe way to lose weight. It is suitable for all people who are generally healthy.
As is the case with any other diet plan, please first consult your doctor if:
- you have a medical condition or are under medical supervision for any reason
- you are on any prescription medications
- you are pregnant or breastfeeding
- your Body Mass Index is over 30
- you would like to lose over 30% of your current weight
- you are under 18 or over 65 years old
Getting the right amounts of carbs, fat and protein
1. Don’t guess carb counts, especially in the beginning
The key to your success on Keto is staying within your daily carb allowance (usually 20-30g a day). You must know exactly how many grams you eat with each meal.
If you keep going over your daily limit, the diet will not work, and you will not lose weight.
We humans are notoriously bad at guessing nutritional values of food. We always err on the wrong side.
According to research studies, dieters can underestimate their daily food consumption by up to 700 calories. It’s the same story with carbs. Your brain will trick you into eating more than you think.
So don’t rely on guesswork.
Check nutritional info on packaged products. Look up carb counts for whole foods. Weigh your food on the kitchen scales.
Careful counting of all carbs is crucial in the beginning of your diet. This may seem like a lot of work. But after several weeks, you will know the counts for all your favourite foods. Then you could relax your counting a bit – provided your diet is working.
If you run into any problems with your Keto Diet – like a weight loss plateau or extreme fatigue – always go back to checking your intake of carbs.
The vast majority of difficulties people have on Keto are caused by eating more carbs than they realise.
2. Don’t tally up carb counts in your head – use a food diary
Being diligent about looking up carb counts is important. But you also need to add them up correctly.
Don’t try to tally up the totals in your head, even if you are a genius at maths. It’s so easy to forget a snack here and a bite there. But it all adds up very quickly.
A food diary is simpler and much more reliable. Use a food tracking app, a web-based service, or just plain pen and paper. Track all your food. Check your intake of carbs, fat and protein throughout the day. So that you know how much you can still eat at any point.
Recording all your food helps with self-discipline. You will be less likely to cheat – your diary will hold you accountable!
Not recording your carb counts is another common cause of Keto problems. Without a food diary, you are very likely to end up eating more carbs than you think.
You could be stuck in Keto flu for weeks, wondering what on Earth is going on and why the diet isn’t working. Or you could be zigzagging in and out of ketosis, and not losing weight.
Once you settle into Keto weight loss, you can stop recording your food. But always come back to this step if you experience any problems.
3. Watch out for hidden carbs
Carbs are hiding everywhere! They are cunning and often show up where you least expect them.
Any processed or ready-made food
Almost all processed foods have added sugar or flour. This includes processed meat products like supermarket sausages and burgers. They are often stuffed with breadcrumbs and potato starch.
Example: Richmond Thick Pork Sausages – 8g net carbs per sausage – 16g per 100g (3.5oz)
Ready-made condiments and sauces
Sauces like ketchup, Caesar dressing or vinaigrette usually contain sugar. We often discount these as negligible, but they can be extremely high in carbs.
Example: Heinz tomato ketchup – 4g net carbs per 1 tbsp (17g / 0.6oz)
Meat marinades and rubs
Some meat and poultry come with a pre-made marinade, like BBQ sauce. You might think you are safe since you are just buying a chunk of meat. But it has been bathed in carbs!
Example: Tesco Spicy Beef Steaks – 9g net carbs per 100g (3.5oz)
High-carb nuts
Most nuts are low in carbs but there are several exceptions.
per 100g (3.5oz)
- chestnuts – 40g net carbs
- cashews – 26g net carbs
- pistachios – 18g net carbs
Shellfish
Fish, like most other animal proteins, is zero carb. Shellfish is not.
per 100g (3.5oz)
- Whelk (sea snail) – 16g net carbs
- Mussels – 4g net carbs
- Oysters – 3g net carbs
- Scallops – 3g net carbs
- Squid – 3g net carbs
Offal meats
Offal is extremely nutritious, but it does contain a few carbs. Watch out for meat pates too, as they are often made from liver.
per 100g (3.5oz)
- Liver – 4g net carbs
- Kidney – 1g net carbs
Anything labelled as "low-fat" or "fat-free"
Hopefully, you are not tempted by low-fat products. You are supposed to be eating lots of fat on Keto!
Another good reason to avoid these products is because they might contain more carbs than the same full-fat product.
per 100g (3.5oz)
Full-fat cream cheese – 4g net carbs
Low-fat cream cheese – 8g net carbs
Medicines
Some over-the-counter remedies are loaded with sugar. Cough syrups and sore throat lozenges are basically sweets with a little bit of active ingredient added.
Manufacturers don’t disclose sugar content of these remedies because legally they don’t have to. Estimates suggest it could be as high as 4-7g of sugar per serving.
Check product packaging for sugar and sugar-like ingredients such as sucrose, glucose or HFCS (see the full list of all sugar names later in this book).
4. Understand net carbs and be aware of regional labelling differences
Not all carbohydrates are created equal. Some of them – mostly fibre and sugar alcohols (polyols) – are not digestible.
When you eat these foods, you are technically consuming carbs. But your body doesn’t absorb them. There is no effect on your blood glucose or calorie intake.
For Keto Diet purposes, we only count the carbs that are digestible. They are referred to as net carbs.
How to calculate net carbs
Government regulations on food labelling are not the same in all countries. Carbohydrates and fibre are presented differently in the USA and the rest of the world.
In the USA, food packaging shows the total number of grams of carbohydrates for each food. Fibre count is shown separately.
So you calculate the number of net carbs as follows:
TOTAL CARBS – FIBRE = NET CARBS
Most authors of low-carb diet books and blogs are American. So even if you don’t live in the USA, you have almost certainly come across this formula.
But this carb calculation formula does NOT work in Europe, Australia and Oceania.
In those parts of the world, total carbohydrate numbers on packaging show digestible carbs only. The fibre count has already been excluded. If you use the American formula, you will subtract the fibre again and end up with a net carbs count that is lower than the real one.
If you are American, you might fall into the same trap if you use a recipe from a cookbook or a website in a different region.
Thanks to the internet, we share recipes and tips with each other across regional boundaries. And that’s great! Just remember to double-check net carbs when using online recipes, or cookbooks that are sold internationally.
Another common net carbs error is discounting all sugar alcohols (polyols). This issue is covered in detail later in the section on sweeteners.
5. Be sceptical about products labelled as low-carb, sugar-free or Keto
Many companies have jumped on the Keto bandwagon. Sweets, granola bars, cereals, bread, cakes and pasta are getting low-carb makeovers.
Sadly, not all of these products are as good as they claim. It’s wise to be sceptical and check the label information carefully.
Do your research online as well. Look for independent reviews and testimonials from other Keto dieters.
There are several well-known cases where a supposedly low-carb product ended up spiking a person’s blood sugar and pushed them out of ketosis.
For example, Julian Bakery low-carb bread turned out to be much higher in carbs than they claimed. The company has been reprimanded by the FDA and is now being sued by former customers.
6. Calculate Keto macronutrient balance that’s optimal for you
Keto Diet is high in fat, moderate in protein and very low in carbs. (These three main types of food are sometimes called "macronutrients", or simply "macros".)
Keto balance of macronutrients is as follows:
- Carbs: 5-7% of calories, which works out between 15-40g of net carbs a day
- Protein: 15-25% of calories
- Fat: 65-80% of calories
Keto is a finely-calibrated eating plan.
You have a better chance of success if you know precisely how much of each macronutrient you should aim for every day. This depends on your current body composition, your activity levels and your level of metabolic resistance.
For example, highly active people with big muscles can stay in ketosis on 40g of carbs a day. Those who are sedentary with high metabolic resistance should cut the carbs to the absolute minimum, and max out the fat.
Start by using a Keto macro calculator. Figure out your individual levels of fat, carbs and protein within the recommended Keto range. Then monitor them on a daily basis.
Keep checking and fine-tuning them until you find the balance that’s perfect for you.
7. Make sure you are definitely getting enough fat
Fat is the cornerstone of Keto Diet. You are replacing carbs with fat as your main source of energy. You must eat lots of it – much more than before.
Eating that much fat is actually not easy! Make a conscious effort to include lots of it with every meal.
We’ve all been conditioned for decades to avoid fat. Public opinion is changing, but old habits die hard. You must reverse this conditioning and embrace fat.
Your Keto meals will look completely different to standard carb-filled dishes. Portions will be smaller, but denser in nutrients and calories. High-fat food will satiate your hunger faster than a heap of carbs, and will keep you feeling full for longer.
Some ideas on how to eat more fat:
- Choose fatty cuts of meat like rib-eye steak, pork belly, lamb neck and streaky bacon
- Don’t remove skin from chicken or duck (it can be the tastiest part!)
- Eat fatty fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines
- Add butter and vegetable oils to everything
- Use high-fat dairy like mascarpone, creme fraiche and sour cream for dips, sauces and spreads
- Use full-fat cream (or even butter like the Tibetans) in your tea and coffee
- Snack on cheese, avocados, macadamia and brazil nuts
- Make your own high-fat sauces (e.g. Bearnaise) and condiments (e.g. mayonnaise)
- Make "fat bombs" for desserts and snacks
8. Don’t eat too much protein
Another common Keto Diet mistake is eating too much protein. Your body has a sneaky way of converting excess protein into carbs.
Some protein is essential, to ensure your muscles don’t waste away. But too much protein can stall your progress. Replace the carbs you are not eating with fat, not with protein.
If you do strength exercise and have a lot of muscles, go for around 20-30% of protein. Otherwise keep it between 10-20%.
The optimum amount depends on your current body composition, your activity levels and your objectives. Use a Keto macro calculator to determine the amount of protein that’s right for you.
9. Use a food tracking app optimised for low-carb diets
As you can see, getting just the right amounts of fat, protein and carbs is crucial. You need to pay close attention to your food, and ideally keep a food diary.
The easiest way to do all that is by using an app, or an online tool. Tracking apps come with a food database, so you don’t have to look up nutritional data separately.
Just add everything you eat to your app diary. It will calculate your carbs and other macros for you.
There are some excellent generic apps, such as MyFitnessPal.
Unfortunately, not all of them are optimal for calculating net carbs. Not all foods in their database include the net carbs count. In MyFitnessPal, US and European foods are mixed together, which messes up the net carbs counts.
So it’s best to use a specialised app that was created with a low-carb diet in mind.
More Keto diet tips in the book about:
- Optimising your Keto Diet
- Solving common Keto problems
- Choosing the most nutritious Keto foods
- Making delicious Keto meals
- Mastering quick cooking methods
- Choosing safe sugar substitutes
- Enhancing Keto breakfasts
- Baking the Keto way
- Choosing the best Keto snacks
- Creating your own Keto desserts and treats
- Staying on track when eating out and partying
- Supporting your Keto Diet with supplements
- Make your weight loss easier with simple mind hacks