The number one question we are asked about our weight loss and our commitment to the keto lifestyle is, “How do I get started?” This is a five part series that answers that question. Part 1 is about finding your motivation. For Bill and I, the motivation was his health. He was told that he needed to do keto or face the rest of his life (shortened life) with medical issues. Part 2 talks about the research we did to discover how we wanted to get started on keto. Part 3 is all about preparing for the switch to the keto way of life. Now we look at keto prep.
So, you’ve found your motivation. You’ve done your research. Now, it’s time to get prepared for your new lifestyle. The first thing you need to decide is whether you are slowly introducing your body to keto or if you are going cold turkey. We went cold turkey. Knowing myself, I’m not sure I could have kept my motivation up if I had slowly transitioned. I was also anxious to get this going. I had read the articles and watched the documentaries.
KETO FLU
I was excited to get through the “keto flu” and start feeling the benefits. Other experts suggest this is not a great way to do it. Shawn Myner from the podcast “Keto for Women” recommends easing your body into ketosis over 3 to 4 weeks. This would be easier on your body, definitely. Only you know what would be best for you. But make sure you have a plan.
The first thing Bill and I did was clean out the cupboards. Goodbye, chips and chocolate. See you later, pasta and rice. So long, potatoes. Out you go. We gave some of our food to our daughter and her partner. They got the flour, the sugar for baking, and the carb-laden starches. But it was a little therapeutic to throw out the junk food.
Keto Prep Necessities
The next thing we did was get the necessities for living our keto life. This was pricey at first, but then we staggered what we had to buy. We got sweeteners for the fat bombs we were going to make. Then bought almond flour. We got no sugar added ketchup, no sugar added mayonnaise, and salad dressings with only 1 gram of carbs in a tablespoon. Then there is what we eat each day, like cauliflower, celery, lettuce and cucumber. Those were the basics. As we got going, we found more recipes and added more ingredients to our list. But these were the necessities to get started.
I would really encourage you to find a support person at this stage. You need someone in your corner who will remind you of your motivations and support you when you want to eat carbs. This person will have keto-friendly options when you get together. It doesn’t have to be your partner, although it is handy if it is, because then you are just cooking one meal and doing it together. But it can be a friend or a relative who is just supportive of you and the choices you are making. It’s important that you find this person before you start keto and feel the withdrawal effects from carbs. That’s when it’s easy to give up.
A Keto Prep Plan
Finally, you need to plan for how you are going to track what you eat. Bill and I liked using pen and paper. We made a list of the foods we were eating and figured out the numbers from our recipes. We go into this in detail in our workbook that we have on sale on our website. You can also use an app on your phone. My Fitness Pal and Carb Manager are the two popular ones. They have free options which is nice. I personally prefer My Fitness Pal, as Carb Manager tends to have more American information that may not be correct for us here in Canada.
So now you’re ready to rock. The next part in this series will look at how to actually get started. Stay tuned for Part 4!
Wendy
