How to Go Keto (Simple 5-Step Guide)

Want to go Keto but don't know how?
This simple 5-step guide reveals
everything you need to know.

If you're looking for a simple weight-loss plan that really works, a low-carb diet offers an excellent way to get slim and trim.

However, most of the information you'll find online about how to go Keto assumes that you've already read an Atkins book or the FAQ for Keto over at Reddit.

In addition, most low-carb and keto blogs focus on recipes, and any beginner guides available rarely tell you exactly what to do.
They just offer low-carb tips, an intro to low-carb foods, or briefly dig into the science behind why Keto works.

The problem?

There isn't just one low-carb diet any more.

Since Atkins hit the shelves in 1972, there have been dozens of newer methods to restrict carbohydrates, depending on how much fat you need to lose and your current health condition.

Every low-carb plan will tell you something different. But, in general, each diet is based on the author's personal experience, or the experience of their patients, and this easy low-carb guide is the same way.

It's based on my experience.

In 2007 and 2008, I lost over 100 pounds experimenting with various low-carb methods of weight reduction, so the following guide draws heavily on what I personally learned from going through that weight-loss experience.

(For a step-by-step guide showing exactly what I ate to lose 40 pounds in 6 weeks, check out this post.)

To make it more simple for you to go low carb, I'm going to use a step-by-step method, explaining exactly what to do at each stage of the weight-loss process.

I'll also include links to menus and extra information for those who want to know more.

Step 1: Get into Ketosis Fast

The Atkins Diet uses an initial two-week period, as a sort of introduction to a ketogenic diet. The first two weeks allows your body to adjust to this new metabolic state.

Other low-carb diets skip the introduction and just start you off on their basic Keto plan.

I've always preferred a fast way to get into ketosis myself.

The purpose of Induction is to get you into ketosis as quickly as possible.

But as the Atkins Diet has evolved to include more and more carbohydrates on Induction, over the years, I've noticed that more people struggle to get into ketosis than ever before.

What you really need to know about getting into ketosis is that ketosis is triggered by severely reducing your carbs.

The fewer carbs you eat, the faster you'll go into ketosis.

This is because when you don't eat a lot of carbohydrate foods, you force your body to use its stored supply of glycogen. Glycogen is simply stored glucose.

The reason why you want to get into ketosis fast is because it sharply reduces your appetite, which makes it easier to eat at a calorie deficit later on.

Even when you restrict carbs, you still have to eat fewer calories than the body needs.

The typical Keto diet asks you to reduce your daily carbohydrate intake to 20 or 30 carbs a day, depending on which low-carb plan you're following.

But if you drop your carbs down to 10, or less, you'll go into ketosis much faster, so the cooked vegetables I use in the three-day sample Induction Diet below are optional.

A basic ketosis diet consists of:

• meat, fish, poultry
• eggs
• cheese
• salad
• vegetables
• herbs and spices
• oils and other fats
• calorie-free beverages
• low-carb condiments like salad dressing or sugar-free catsup

During this first step, meat is not limited because it's carb free. You can just eat as much as you need to.

Fats are not limited for the same reason.

The only thing you have to watch closely is your vegetable and salad intake, along with any low-carb condiments you might choose to use.

Some herbs and spices have minimal carbs, but since you don't use much, you'll just need to keep an eye on your garlic and onion powder intake.

I find that the benefit of losing your hunger and cravings quickly outweighs the short-term extra restriction on carbs. And since meat contains no carbohydrates, if you're hungry, you can increase the meat portions I have listed below.

You can also cut out the snacks if you don't need them.

Eggs have minimal carbs,
so you don't have to count the carbs
if you don't want to.

Eggs have a minor amount of carbohydrate, less than 1 carb each, but most people can't eat enough eggs at one time to really make a difference in your daily carbohydrate total.

Cheese is loaded with calories, so you won't want to eat too much of it. But if the choice is between eating and breaking the diet, because you're hungry, then eat more cheese.

Once you're in ketosis, the hunger will settle down.

If you decide to ditch the vegetables, to get into ketosis faster, only use the following low-carb diet menu for three days. Otherwise, it's safe to repeat it as written:

Day 1:

Breakfast:

2 eggs fried in butter or scrambled
3 slices of bacon or a small piece of ham
coffee with up to 2 tablespoons heavy cream and sugar substitute
unsweetened tea, water, or diet soda

Morning Snack: 2 ounces of hard cheese

Lunch:

Lettuce topped with canned tuna or chicken salad
Full-fat, low-carb dressing like Ranch (buy or make your own)
unsweetened tea, water, or diet soda

Afternoon Snack: diet gelatin cup

Dinner:

1 cup of warm salty chicken broth
4 to 8 ounce hamburger patty, without the bun
mustard or mayo for topping
1 cup green beans with butter

After Dinner Snack: Spread 2 to 4 slices of ham or turkey lunch meat with cream cheese and roll up.

Day 2:

Breakfast:

2 scrambled eggs mixed with diced ham and green onions. Can top with some grated cheese
coffee with up to 2 tablespoons heavy cream and sugar substitute
unsweetened tea, water, or diet soda

Morning Snack: 2 ounces hard cheese

Lunch:

1/2 cup chicken salad with mayo, bacon, green onion
lettuce leaves to wrap the salad in, instead of bread
1 cup warm salty chicken broth
diet gelatin cup

Afternoon snack: Cucumber slices with Ranch dressing

Dinner:

4 to 8 ounces baked Chicken
1 cup steam vegetables, like broccoli or cauliflower

After dinner snack: warm chicken broth and 2 hard-boiled eggs

Day 3:

Breakfast:

2 eggs fried or scrambled
3 slices bacon
coffee with up to 2 tablespoons heavy cream and sugar substitute
unsweetened tea, water, or diet soda

Morning Snack: ham or turkey lunch meat filled with cream cheese and rolled up

Lunch:

Lettuce topped with leftover chicken from dinner
diet gelatin cup

Afternoon Snack: 2 ounces of hard cheese

Dinner:

1 to 2 hamburger patties with cheese
1 cup vegetables, like cooked cabbage or summer squash

After dinner snack: 1 cup warm salty chicken broth and some tuna mixed with mayo

***************

This is a simplified version of the 3-day diet included in our post on the fastest way to get into ketosis. You'll find more information at that post, including why you want to drink salty broth, as well as tips on making the first three days more comfortable.

Some people have used that 3-day menu for breaking through a stall and discovered that the reason they were no longer losing weight is because they were eating too much food, but if you're new to low-carb dining, you don't have to worry about calories until you see how the diet affects your appetite and portion sizes.

Give your body time to adjust to this different metabolic path before you worry about weight loss.

The average person experiences hunger reduction within 3 to 5 days. It's fine to repeat the above menu if your hunger hasn't gone down. Being not hungry is the most reliable method of determining whether you're in ketosis, or not.

But if you're close to goal weight and only want to use low carb to trim the last few pounds, you probably won't experience the same degree of hunger reduction that other people do. This is because you'll have less Leptin floating around in your bloodstream.

Step 2: Move to 20 Carbs a Day

No matter which method you used to get into ketosis above, once you're in ketosis, you'll want to make sure that you are eating at or below 20 carbs a day until your body adjusts to the low-carb lifestyle.

This will take a total of 3 to 6 weeks, or more.

There are different ways to do this, some of which do not include counting the carbs.

The most accurate way is to count them using either an online tracker, a phone app, or a book of carbohydrate counts, such as the Corinne T. Netzer Complete Book of Food Counts.

This is the carbohydrate counter that I actually use myself.

It's quick and easy to use, especially when you get to the point in the weight-loss process where you want to expand the variety of your meals. The book lists counts for:

• carbs
• calories
• protein
• sodium
• fats
• cholesterol
• fiber

While low-carb diets are basically meat-and-vegetable diets, there are a lot of other foods that will fit into a standard ketogenic plan.

When I was in the weight-loss phase, I did count my carbs, along with tracking my fat and calories at Fitday.com, but it is time consuming to do that.

Today, there are phone apps that will help you track what you eat, but I only recently laid my old flip-type phone to rest, so I don't have any knowledge about how complicated the apps are to use.

Using Meal Templates Makes Low Carb Easier

An easy way to avoid counting your carbohydrates is to set up your meals as a template.

We have an article on how to do that, which you can find here, but basically, if I were doing 20 carbs again today, this is how I would do it:

Breakfast:

(choose one)

• eggs plus some type of meat and/or cheese and/or vegetables
• leftovers from the night before
• low-carb yogurt
• low-carb protein shake
• salad topped with meat or hard-boiled eggs
• meat-and-vegetable soup

Lunch:

meat or eggs; plus a 2 cup salad or 1 cup cooked vegetables


Dinner:

meat or eggs; plus a 2 cup salad or 1 cup cooked vegetables

Not all vegetables are low in carbs. Corn, for instance, is actually a grain. And peas are a bit starchy, so most people wait until they are closer to goal weight before they try them.

I ate mixed vegetables and peas and did okay with them, but my carbohydrate tolerance is higher than the average low carber.

Low carb vegetables include:

artichoke hearts
asparagus
bamboo shoots
bean sprouts
beet greens
broccoli
brussels sprouts
cabbage
cauliflower
celery
chard
collard greens
cucumber
eggplant
kale
leeks
okra
onions
pumpkin
radishes
sauerkraut
scallions
snow peas
spaghetti squash
spinach
string beans or wax beans
summer squash
tomatoes
turnips
water chestnuts
zucchini

One cup of cooked vegetables comes to about 5 to 10 carbs, depending on the vegetable, and at 20 carbs a day, averaging your carbohydrate works fine for most people.

This means that measuring your cooked vegetables and salad using a standard measuring cup is fine. It will be close enough.

Step 3: Increase Carbs

Many people stay at 20 carbs a day for several weeks or months before they try to add back any more.

As an alternative, and what Dr. Atkins recommended, was to increase your carbs at lunch OR dinner to include both a salad and a vegetable. Adding half of an average avocado is a great way to do this, as well.

The additional vegetable amount will raise your carb intake to 25 a day, enough to get all of the nutrients you need to stay healthy while you're ditching the fat.

Alternatively, you could add the extra serving of vegetables or a small salad as a snack.

Raw vegetables with Ranch dressing or some guacamole with pork rinds or homemade cheese chips would be a nice way to increase your carbs to 25.

Pork rinds are available in the chip aisle at some grocery stores and convenience marts, as well as at Amazon and other online stores.

Step 4: Improve the Variety

If planning low-carb meals is confusing for you, we have several menu posts here at the blog:

7-Day Ketogenic Diet Menu for Atkins Induction
Atkins 72 Induction Menu
14-Day Atkins Menu Plan for Beginners
Low-Carb Vegetarian Instructions

We have tons of recipes and food posts under the recipe box at the top of the blog.

There's also a great curated list of tons of low-carb recipes at Fitness Crest that I ran into the other day.

You can switch the days around inside any one of these menus, mix the menus together (by pulling one day from one menu and another day from a different menu), substitute one of the recipes at Fitness Crest for one on the menu, or use the menu as a template and just substitute one meat or vegetable for another.

For example, if you're tired of chicken and the menu says baked chicken, you could have a sauteed pork chop or even a steak instead. Rather than baked chicken, you could substitute our recipe for Chicken Alfredo Bake.

If bacon in your area isn't all that good, like it isn't in our neck of the woods right now, you could sub out the bacon with a pork chop or small piece of steak at breakfast instead.

You could also do breakfast for dinner or lunch.

There's no reason why you have to eat breakfast for breakfast, lunch for lunch, or dinner for dinner. The meals are interchangeable. When it comes to Keto, there is no such thing as breakfast foods, lunch foods, or dinner foods.

There are just low-carb foods. Lots of people actually eat low-carb cheesecake for breakfast.

If you remember that meat, eggs, and cheese are your go-to foods, and vegetables and salad are what you use to round out your meals, plus a few low-carb condiments like sour cream, mustard, or sugar-reduced catsup, you'll have an easier time adjusting to the low-carb way of life.

What you're eliminating is the grainy breads, rice, potatoes, and other high-carb foods. Everything else can be pretty close to the same.

You'll see how this type of eating style is done in our post on the easiest way to go low carb if you have a family to feed. The idea is to just cook as you normally would but ditch the carbs and/or make small adjustments to your current lifestyle to make the transition easier and simpler.

For example, a rich spaghetti sauce can be served over summer squash or green beans instead of starchy noodles.

Step 5: Find Your Personal Carbohydrate Tolerance

Many people get bored quickly on a keto meat-and-vegetable only diet, so you can add a variety of other low-carb foods, as well. Just look at a carbohydrate counter and find additional foods you like that will fit into your daily totals.

For example, you might want to experiment with:

• cottage cheese
• almonds or mixed nuts
• almond flour
• berries or other low-carb fruits
• products like low-carb tortillas or flatbreads

The average low-carb dieter can eat 30 to 40 carbs a day without it affecting their weight loss. But keep in mind that this is only an average, and you'll want to add foods back very slowly.

Try 5 carbs a day and then evaluate after a couple of weeks to make sure that you are still losing weight with the extra carbs. If everything is fine and you are still losing weight as quickly as you want to, try adding 5 more.

Some people can't eat more than 10 or 20 carbs a day, without gaining weight, and some people can eat as much as 60 or even 80 and still lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. The only way to know where you fit on that spectrum is to experiment on yourself.

The more insulin resistant you are, the lower in carbs you'll have to go to overcome the resistance. If you're insulin sensitive, or only mildly resistant, you'll be able to eat more carbs and still ditch the weight, especially if you exercise.

Different low-carb plans have different opinions on what is or is not allowed on a low-carb diet. I find that to be overly strict and unnecessary.

I agree with the folks at Reddit, that whatever fits into your carbohydrate tolerance for the day is fine to eat. There is no such thing as specific low-carb foods.

All diets are perceived by the body to be a famine situation, so you need to respect your body if you want the diet to work well for you. In addition, there is nothing magical about the vegetables. They are just a good way to keep your calories down and your diet nutrient rich.

If your carb intake is limited, for example, that doesn't mean you have to stick with only meat and vegetables. Skipping the eggs for breakfast and having a half a cup of cottage cheese topped with a half a cup of blueberries or chowing down on a small tangerine in the afternoon is fine, even if that means you have to eat basically zero carbs for the rest of the day.

Do what fits your lifestyle, preferences, tastes, and metabolism. Make the diet work for you. The idea is to find the foods that will personally allow you to maintain a healthy weight without a lot of fuss and effort.