New to NK - but not to Low Carb!

[makesmesmile2013]

Hello:
I recently lost 75 lbs on HCG -- and have gained approx. 20 back (got off track, went to China to adopt a sweet girl... then the holidays, now back to real life! -- I do not want to stay on HCG for life... so I am trying to find a way to live! I have not lost on Low Carb alone and have found it difficult to find the ratios of protein-- knowing it had to be ratio problem -- I am fine without sugar/carbs (well.. I do like them, don't get me wrong -- but I hate being fat more! - plus by doing HCG, I have found alternatives that are ok to live with!) I came across this NK and it seems to be the answer -- I do not have the "book" -- I am trying to piece this together -- the book reviews says it is heavy in medical/academic info -- I really just want plain and simple!

I weigh 215 as of today -- (height 5.6) (however I used to be 265-- and got down to 188 on hcg loved being under the 200 mark) -- I saw someone's post on how to figure your ratio of protein...I want to weigh 150-- by doing the math it looks like I need to have approx 75 g protein -- I can keep my carbs under 20 -- I made sure I had fat today: Here is my ratio's for today:

Can anyone tell me if I am on the right track -- (btw: I have a free meter coming to test)

Menu:
1 cup lettuce/2 slices of cucumber
2 o.z. shredded cheddar cheese
2 o.z. chicken breast
1 avocado
4 small pieces of Chocolate delight (Coconut oil/cocoa and stevia)
2 baked chicken thighs (Skin on)
1 o.z hwc in coffee
Water

Numbers: GRAMS CAL % CALS
Calories 1553
Fat 133.68 1166.6 75.1
Carbohydrates 20.6 75.6 4.9
Dietary Fiber 12.1
Protein 73.5 309.7 19.9
Alcohol 0 0 0

I am not a DETAIL person, but learned to be on HCG -- so I am trying to get my mind in gear for this --

I wish there was a basic downloadable sheet of "do's and Don'ts" and sample menu's-- is there? I am looking... I kept a detailed blog for my hcg journey -- and will do for this as well... I need to find a way to control my weight instead of it controlling me!

Thanks
Terrie:
Age 44 mom of 4-

[reddarin]

Looks good to me Terrie.

NK can be pretty simple. Determine your grams and that is that. Since NK is a subset of LC there are a ton of menus already available. Just chose the macro ratio that fits NK of the bajillion recipes/menus on the net.

[MerryKate]

Welcome Terrie!

First off, congrats on the new daughter! That's wonderful news. My sister and her husband would like to adopt a child from China, but so far they won't consider her because she's over 200 lbs. Were you working through an agency?

Back to the topic at hand: if you go to the January Nutritional Ketosis...Are You in the Zone? thread, Kristn has all the details about NK summed up on the first post, including a link to a thread with daily menus. It's very helpful in figuring out how to do this, and there's another thread for recipes as well.

[MerryKate]

Going by the calculations on the above link, you should eat between 61g and 75 g protein/day. Most of us have found less protein produces better weight loss, so go for the lower amount.

The macro ratio reddarin is talking about is 80% fat, 15% protein and 5% carb - the closer your intake comes to those percentages, the better your chances of being in nutritional ketosis.
Within that, you also need to limit your protein - even if only 15% of your intake is protein, if that 15% is higher than 75 g of protein you may fall out of NK. It can be a little tricky at first, but you'll get the hang of it. When in doubt, eat fat!

[reddarin]

Originally Posted by MerryKate

The macro ratio reddarin is talking about is 80% fat, 15% protein and 5% carb - the closer your intake comes to those percentages, the better your chances of being in nutritional ketosis.
Within that, you also need to limit your protein - even if only 15% of your intake is protein, if that 15% is higher than 75 g of protein you may fall out of NK. It can be a little tricky at first, but you'll get the hang of it. When in doubt, eat fat!

I should have said 'macros' instead of 'macro ratios'. But I was thinking of percentages as a pre-filter for sifting through likely candidates to fit the NK woe. HighFat/VeryModerateProtein/LowCarb.

Be real careful about percentages with macros. They can be remarkably deceptive. I have a good description of how to approach NK and macros in the intro post on our NK thread:

High Fat NK 80/15/5 - January Version

...using 1.1g/kg protein doesn't fit our mold but the information is modular.

[Punkin]

Can anyone just clarify, when working with the percentages are those in calories or in macros?

Meaning if you take in 100g of food. Is it 80g fat, 15g protein and 5g carbs or it it a percentage of the total calories ie. 100cal= 80cal fat, 15cal protein, 5cal carbs. Obviously though numbers are ridiculous but I just wanted to maket the math simple

[makesmesmile2013]

Off Topic:

Originally Posted by MerryKate

Welcome Terrie!

First off, congrats on the new daughter! That's wonderful news. My sister and her husband would like to adopt a child from China, but so far they won't consider her because she's over 200 lbs. Were you working through an agency?

.

Yes, I used Holt International (Oldest most experienced agency in Intn' adoption) We did Special needs (which any child over the age of 14 months is considered Special Needs -- you choose what you can handle most do Cleft/Lip Palate-- a lot of needs are correctable in U.S.) -- we started in Jan. 2012 and got our daughter on Oct. 21 2012 - Life is good... You can see my adoption blog at www.baylesadoption.info) I blogged all the way through the process... God is good and has provided everything.. .She is adjusting very well.and learning English at a VERY RAPID RATE! She is now learning to read -- and has only been home for 11 weeks! If you go standard program in China the wait time is 5-7 years right now... special needs is MUCH FASTER -- plus you don't have the weight requirements etc.... I was 230lbs when we started the program -- I just had to have a physical and my dr. say I was in decent health... and an explanation if I was not... There were a lot of HEAVY people who adopted at the same time as me (much heavier than I...) so I know it can happen.

Back to Topic: Thanks for the info... I will have to work on modifying my protein levels -- I think I had to much yesterday - and need to keep it around 65 -- which is my goal... Once I know what that looks like, I can do it.... I love Choc. Delight, so it sounds like I can load up on that... and just keep my protein at bay.. I usually opt for protein for snacks -- now it will be fat for snacks... not a bad trade off if you ask me! I am reading a lot of the threads and will be making me my own Menu sheet, save all the helpful post in 1 spot for me to go and refer back to...

It won't be a difficult transition, I just don't want to waste time and I want to be productive on it... This will be a helpful place to come to get support!

[reddarin]

Originally Posted by Punkin

Can anyone just clarify, when working with the percentages are those in calories or in macros?

Meaning if you take in 100g of food. Is it 80g fat, 15g protein and 5g carbs or it it a percentage of the total calories ie. 100cal= 80cal fat, 15cal protein, 5cal carbs. Obviously though numbers are ridiculous but I just wanted to maket the math simple

Percent of calories. That is why macro % can be deceptive. 20% protein at 800 calories is very little actual protein grams compared to 2000 calories.

For NK, you figure your actual protein grams and everything else is based off of that. You use macro % as a tool to indicate discrepancies and for rough rule of thumb back of napkin stuff.

[drjlocarb]

Daily Menus-High Fat/Moderate Protein/Low Carb

High fat, low to moderate protein recipes?

Here are the links to some menus and recipes.

Your macros look good. This is what I figured.
cal-1550-1650
carbs-20g
protein-77g

[Punkin]

@reddarin. So if 80g of protein per day should be your macro intake for protein, it doesn't matter if you are taking in 1000cal or 2000cal. So that is why the percentage shifts. When you start reducing calories to lose weight, your calories would drop and your percentage of protein goes up because you have to stick to your daily intake of 80g. Is that how it works?

[reddarin]

Originally Posted by Punkin

@reddarin. So if 80g of protein per day should be your macro intake for protein, it doesn't matter if you are taking in 1000cal or 2000cal. So that is why the percentage shifts. When you start reducing calories to lose weight, your calories would drop and your percentage of protein goes up because you have to stick to your daily intake of 80g. Is that how it works?

If you are saying what I think you are saying then, yes, that is correct.

That is why you have to be careful about macro percentages. I mean, they are very useful and can serve as an early warning if something is out of whack as long as you are aware of their drawbacks/limitations.

It does matter if you are taking in 1000 or 2000 calories a day. Phinney is no fan of very low calorie regimens without clinical supervision.

[MerryKate]

makesmesmile, I really enjoyed your blog - what a lovely little girl! Your story really touched me. I appreciate you sharing the info. about the adoptions as well. I'm going to pass it along to my sister - it would mean the world to her to be a mom.