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Getting started correctly is the foundation of a strong keto diet. Here are some tips and products that helped me get started.
- Check with your doctor to make sure that starting a Keto diet is right for you.
- Try to eat all of your favorite foods before you start. I suggest a fantastic “last supper”. 🙂
- Pre-order the items for your Keto Flu Survival Kit: Mio Electrolyte Drops, Potassium and Magnesium Supplements and Lite Salt.
- Be mentally prepared to un-brainwash yourself from everything you’ve been taught is “healthy” eating. You’re going to need to get comfortable avoiding “fat free” and “low fat” and adding butter, oil, and fat to everything you eat! 🙂
- If you’re a woman, I suggest listening to fellow women on Keto. Men lose weight at a different rate and can be super frustrating to follow when you’re not getting the same results! I started with Leanne Vogel’s book, The Keto Diet, and her YouTube videos. Another good one is The Ketogenic Bible.
- Clean out your fridge, pantry, snack lockers, car, purse, office drawers, etc. for high-carb foods. Especially check your mints, gum, and sugar substitutes! Trust me, when you only get 20 carbs a day you don’t want to spend them on 10 Stevia packets from Starbucks. Yes, those Stevia packets have 2g of carbs per packet!!! For Keto friendly replacements, with zero carbs, try these mints and this sugar substitute for coffee/tea and this one for cooking.
- Check out my post, ‘Your First Shopping List’, for what to stock in your kitchen. You want to balance low carb with low calorie if you’re restricting calories for weight loss. (coming soon)
- Here’s my fave two-week meal planner (with shopping list) that helps you set a foundation for daily Keto meals.
- Download the MyFitnessPal App here. Sign up for the yearly premium-plan. You get to try it free for a month, and it’s definitely worth it. You’re going to need to log EVERYTHING you put in your mouth EVERY DAY for at least the first couple of months.
- ALWAYS check the nutrition labels before you put something on your plate, in your coffee or in your mouth.
- Buy a Keto tester. You can choose pee sticks (least reliable but cheapest) or blood tests (most reliable but most expensive). These will help you figure out when you’re in Ketosis.
- Set up a Keto Photo Album on your phone for all of your screenshots and photos of Keto items you find through your journey.
- Convince a friend to do Keto with you or join a FB group for support. Keto is really complicated in the beginning and it’s nice to have friends around.
- Figure out your Macros. Use this calculator or this one.
- Buy a food scale to weigh your food. Seriously, an ounce is not what you think it is!
- Use a sizer guide to eyeball portions in the wild.
- If you can, get a general check-up and do bloodwork to see what your baseline is. Do another check-up, or at least bloodwork, 6 months into Keto.
- Follow me at @KetoJetsetter on Instagram for daily bite-sized tips.
