Gastography

Hold the cat – I’m doing something crazy with my diet again. And no, I’m not doing *another* Whole 30.

Instead of resting on my laurels, this month I’ve decided to break from my long-standing macros and give Keto a try. The DH is itching to give it another shot, I want to knock off the last few stubborn pounds I acquired as a student, and I’m curious to see how my body will react.

So, let’s take a dive – shall we?

First thing’s first. This is where I’m pulling my keto macros from:

http://www.ruled.me/guide-keto-diet/

And what are those macros?

1318 kcal

20g net carbs

70g protein

106g fat

That breaks down to 6% carbs, 21% protein and 73% fat.

Why?

According to the calculator, I have a total energy expenditure of 1757 kcal per day (127 lbs. weight / 31% body fat = 1229 BMR, 123 TEF & 1351 base energy expenditure + a lightly active lifestyle).

To lose weight on the track we’ve chosen, I need to operate at a 25% deficit, which would put me at 0.8g/lb. protein and 20g net carbs.

You keep saying “net carbs” wtf is a carb net? Net carbs are total carbs – fiber; keto people like fiber.

Wait … those macros look kinda familiar.

If you’ve been following my macro obsession for awhile (holla, Nerd friends!), you may think these numbers look familiar. They are. My “regular” macros (based on Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint plan: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-to-the-primal-eating-plan/)

Have me eating:

1500 calories or less

100g or less fats

100g or less carbs

70g or more protein

These macros have been my besties for a couple years now and I know they work. They’re easy to follow, and when I’m actually doing what I need to be doing they at least keep my weight stable.

Erm … so, if keto is so similar to what you already do, why subject yourself to crazy making rules?

I’m treating this foray into ketoland like a Whole30 – I’m hoping to get back to a mindful state of food consumption, rein in the bad habits that have crept into my diet over the past few months, and get back to eating what I know I’m supposed to be eating. If keto is like W30, I’ll quit thinking of excuses to ‘just have a damn sandwich’, things like popcorn won’t be a major focus of my weekend, and I will stop looking for excuses to have things like dessert or drinks or a PSL or fries.

Oooookaaaay … what does a keto day look like, food-wise? I’m betting your favorite breakfast is out.

Unfortunately, I have to say sayonara to my favorite green smoothie – at least until I can figure out how to make it not taste like swamp water with no apple.

Luckily, I have a best friend who is already doing keto and kicking ass at it. She has other restrictions (and funny enough – in looking back at my Whole30 posts to see how I want to format this Keto series, she is the whole freaking reason I did W30 in the first place because apparently she’s *always* been about 5 steps ahead of me), but this is the gist of what she’s eating every day:

Rocket fuel latte for breakfast

Bone broth or an Epic bar for lunch (depending on whether she’s at home)

A palm worth of protein + veggies cooked in lard for dinner

That looks like maybe enough food for me but definitely not enough food for my DH, so the general plan looks like:

Rocket fuel latte for breakfast

Epic bar + snack nuts if I’m out for lunch

Veggies + chicken if I’m home for lunch

Protein + veggies for dinner

Bone broth as a snack as needed

Hard boiled eggs as a snack as needed

Salumi for a snack as needed

Fat bombs for an emergency ‘I need more calories and/or fat after dinner’ ration

My DH will want to add guac and bacon to that list; and we may end up doing eggy muffins instead of rocket fuel for breakfast. Or he may, at least. I love my coffee too much to give it up.

Speaking of … this is going to make getting coffee out a pain in my damn ass again. I need to see what the keto peeps do about this.

I also may revitalize my keto protein bomb smoothies I was making last fall. Those bitches were delicious and more than filling for a meal. Like they’d make an awesome lunch on the go for both of us.

For reference, I’ll be feeding two of us in this experiment. My macros are above; the DH’s are as follows: 1982 kcal, 20g net carbs, 121g protein, 158g fat

I’ll be posting updates daily on what I’m eating and will do a big wrap-up at the end with anything I’ve learned over the whole process.

Curious to see what I had to say about Whole30? Here’s info on my First, Second, and Third Whole30s.