New and don't know where to start exactly for ketosis! page

[caldovikingwarrior]

Hi there everyone--I am not knew to alternative nutrition plans altogether, but as far as this is concerned, I would like to stay in ketosis for awhile and not sure of the percentages of protein vs. fat vs. carbs at this stage.
I am 5' 10, big strong American crossfit girl who trains hard 4-5 times a week so I need to stay fueled! I currently weigh about 180 lbs. and don't know my bodyfat percentage. I can tell you this--I'm a recently converted lifelong sugar addict demon, and I've got fat to lose. If you saw me you'd say I'm "thick" and I have a small spare tire!
I carry it well only because of underlying muscle from training--but want to lean out. The standard bodybuilding diets don't work for me.
Any help in breaking down a simple breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack plan would clear my overwhelment and confusion. It's primarily to ensure I'm doing enough of the proteins and fats--I know how to eliminate the carbs. By the way, how can I incorporate fruit into the mix and stay superlow on the carb percentile--or does fruit factor in after a short stay in ketosis? Many thanks-colleen

[freqz]

It's not hard-- you want ~1 gram of protein per day per pound of lean body mass. Keep carbs under 50 grams per day (since you want to stay in ketosis)-- mostly consumed through vegetables, and make up the rest with good, clean fats. That's it, really. Give yourself time to adapt to the no sugar/no grain thing before you get too worked up about it.

I'd limit the fruit during your stay in ketosis to (very) small quantities of dark berries and the like-- this would be a bad time for watermelon. Fruit can be worked back into your diet later.

[caldovikingwarrior]

Thanks for getting back so quickly--how do I figure out what my lean body mass is if I don't know my bodyfat percentage? And what does it look like in a meal setting to have that much fat? In my head I'm imagining everything floating in a puddle of butter or oil!

[pdovers]

I am trying to stick with grass-fed beef, eggs, avocados, sardines, wild salmon, almonds, cream and stevia in my tea, virgin coconut oil, salads, veggies and only 1-2 servings of fruit. You may only want 1 fruit serving. Pork and bacon with your eggs are very popular here too but I don't eat pork.

[caldovikingwarrior]

Thanks--how do you know HOW much to eat at a meal? It seems so scientific with the exact percentages and all!

[freqz]

There are a few ways of determining your body fat-- you can have it measured at the doctors office, measured at the gym (depending on the gym), you can buy a set of calipers and do it yourself, you can get one of those bio-impedance gizmos, or you can bust out a tape measure and estimate it with an online calculator. It's not a goal that's set in stone so it doesn't have to be overly precise-- it's *about* 1 gram per lb

Fat can come from lots of places. Butter and oil can be good sources but don't forget all the wonderful fat in bacon, eggs, meat, olives, avocados, coconuts, nuts, etc.

A typical lunch for me (as an example) is a salad with a couple cups of greens of some sort, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, some balsamic vinegar, some meat (normally leftover), some olives or half an avocado, and a bunch of raw veggies. Maybe some crushed nuts if I'm feelin' like a little treat. LOTS of fat in there.

[jfreaksho]

Is there any particular reason you feel like you need a snack? Try eating three good, solid, healthy, Primal meals every day, with protein, fat, and veggies. Eat until you are no longer hungry, not full, and definitely not stuffed. Snacking provides no real benefits that I am aware of.

[girlarchitect]

First of all .... relax. The numbers are nothing more than a starting point for you to determine what works for you. The ratios are rules of thumb but again starting points only. Once you start eating and your body gets used to the change, it will help tell you what you need.

If you want to work with the numbers - start with your lean body mass. Now, I don't have a lot of muscle at the moment so I just ran a basic BMI and used that percentage to determine my LBM. As you do have muscle from crossfit training, you might want to use calipers to help get a starting point for a BMI to calculate your LBM. You don't need super accurate you just need a starting point.

Now, with your LBM you can determine how much protein you are going to eat in a day. Per Mark, estimate a range from .7 to 1 grams of protein per pound of LBM. Many people just set the goal at 1:1 to keep it easy - I like the bit of give. As you are tall, strong and working on getting stronger (go you) you might want to try for the higher end of the range to start.

Now, determine how many carbs you are going to eat each day. You need to determine if (A) you want to start in ketosis (under 50 grams) or (B) above ketosis (between 50-100 grams). I would recommend starting between 50-100 grams as ditching carbs can be hard enough without giving them up completely. But it's up to you.

Your goal is to get approximately the protein and carb counts you've established plus approximately 50-60% calories from fat. What your numbers are and what exactly you chose to eat will determine the starting point for volume of food. So get out and eat meat and vegetables. Eat more if you are hungry. Eat less if you aren't.

You might want to track what you eat on a program like FitDay or livestrong - something that will give you total protein and carb grams as well as a percentage of calories from fat - to determine that you are getting within your goal numbers and percentages. You may chose to do this for awhile or only a couple days depending on how confident that you are getting the balance you need.

Anyone else jump in if I've missed something or gotten it wrong.

Don't hesitate to jump on the forum to ask questions about what you are going through and how to deal with it.

[caldovikingwarrior]

thanks so much for the input--but what does 50-60% of fat LOOK like in your meals?! I get adding olive or coconut oil to cook with, but how much else in the way of nuts or avocado should you add if you are looking for weight loss? Or does that even matter considering your ratio's are pretty good and only eating till satisfied, not stuffed.---Colleen