Isn’t it better to learn from other peoples mistakes rather than making them yourself? Well that’s what I thought I was avoiding with the amount of videos I watched before starting. With all the “top mistakes to avoid” and “don’t do this on keto”.
But of course, things will always fall through the cracks. And the mistakes you successfully avoided will lead to ones you never saw coming.
Which is why while I was writing this one up, I thought about all the tips I did listen to that I felt were important but didn’t fit into this video. Then that lead me to think about all the tips that were useless.
So, this may be part one of one or one of three. Let’s see what next week holds.
For now, let’s start with this first mistake because it happened right of the bat in the first week.
Trying to do too much
Now I’ve mentioned this before because of the connection I have to it, but I am fond vegan diets. I tried for two years on and off and its during that time that I realized how food should make you feel.
It shouldn’t slow you down and it should give you energy. And I also bought into the propaganda of Cowspiracy and What the Health.
So, when I was first starting to get into keto about 80 pounds ago, I wanted to start with vegan keto. Watched a whole bunch of people say you’re taking two restrictive diets and combining them, and that it can’t (shouldn’t) be done.
I should have listened. I made mashed cauliflower, grilled Portobello mushrooms and asparagus with avocado. That’s all I had… After 3 days I was ready to throw entire diet away.
Now this is extremely specific to me, but it speaks to the larger point of don’t do too much.
Learn keto first, then make the adjustments. If you’re not already vegan (or fasting or working out or add in blank here), don’t start up both at the same time.
A very popular combination is keto and intermittent fasting. It’s a great combo that has worked out great for me.
I’m currently on hour 30 of a fast as I write this. But do not start both on the same day. Start one, then incorporate the other a few days or weeks later.
Exercise is vital for healthy living. I was in the gym 6x a week since my early 20s, with a break in my mid-twenties when life hit me a little too hard.
My point there is that a common tip you might hear is don’t work out when you start keto.
No
Don’t add things when you add keto. But if you already workout, keep working out. If you don’t, then don’t.
You don’t need keto products… to start
It’s very tempting to see all the amazon products on amazon and stroll the aisles to see all the things marketed as low carb and ketogenic.
MCT oil, collagen, keto bars and snacks, fat bombs, cauliflower crusts and rice, 3 net carb wraps, miracle noodles, almond and coconut flours, keto shakes.
For me it was MCT oil, and keto shakes. I was used to protein shakes after workouts. So, I wanted one that had keto friendly macros. Lower protein and higher fat.
It was absolutely delicious. And if it fits into your lifestyle then by all means go for it.
My point here is that these aren’t the price of entry for starting a ketogenic diet. You can start now with none of these things.
As you grow with this diet then absolutely incorporate the things you want. But a mistake I see is that people buy too much too early.
And think they need all of these things. You don’t. You can start small and grow (hopefully like this website).
Not meal prepping
The world is not made for keto.
You can’t go out into the world and think you’re going to be able to avoid carbs without a plan.
I’m sorry for continuing to bring this up, but this was not the case when I went vegan. I was expecting something similar. That I wouldn’t necessarily need to cook and meal plan and prep.
With no animal products I could still have veggie bowls and burritos from chipotle, eggplant in garlic sauce or General Tso tofu from Asian restaurants, no cheese pizza with all the vegetables from Domino’s
And when things were really desperate, I could always have an order of fries from anywhere.
My absolute favorite was a vegan burger from yard house.
What I’m trying to say is that there were options.
With keto, all I found was wings in two flavors from buffalo wild wings (buffalo and parmesan garlic).
And I hate lettuce wraps. Let’s be honest, a lettuce wrap burger is a ground beef salad. Everything is a salad. Now it can be a steak or salmon salad or loaded up from chipotle with sour cream and cheese.
That’s a long way of saying please meal prep. Find recipes that work for you and make sure you aren’t venturing out into the world without a map. Its 2020 and we are already in uncharted territory around the world.
Speaking of loading up
Too much fat… and cheese
Now people everywhere are going to tell you keto is an ultra-super high fat diet. Stop it
It is not. It is a diet where you get most of your calories from fat. A quick reference is if you have 100g of carbs, 100g of protein and 100g of fat. You will be consuming 1700 calories, 24% from carbs, 24% from protein, 52% from fats.
That is all things being equal. Replace a potato with some nuts, avocado, or even dark chocolate and now your keto.
Not really but idea is valid. When I started, I was using full fat coconut milk, the one in the cans that comes out like motor oil. MCT oil and adding cheese to every meal.
I never thought I was lactose intolerant until my first three months of keto. It’s just not necessary.
Yes, if you are hungry add some more healthy fats. But don’t start at this unsustainable level.
I didn’t want an 18-minute video again (these are pretty much the loose scripts I use for YouTube) so I’m going to keep at those and maybe see you in a couple of weeks for parts 2 and 3.
