How to Start the Keto Diet For Real Life (2024)

Published: Jan 19, 2018 · Modified: Apr 30, 2024 by Olivia Wyles · This post may contain affiliate links · 19 Comments

How do you start the keto diet? Let me show you the no fluff easy way to get started.

Do you feel as if you’ve been on a million diets in your lifetime? My biggest downfall was always lack of consistency. Maybe nibble a brownie here or a few chips there, and before you know it the weight you lost is back again. After fighting for one year to lose “those extra few pounds,” I decided to give this keto thing a try. It fits for me because it forces me to be consistent because the whole goal is to keep your body in a state of ketosis. There is no room to be wishy washy.

What is the Keto Diet?

The ketogenic diet is a low carb, high fat diet with the major goal of putting your body into a fat burning state called ketosis. What is ketosis? Put simply, it’s the state in which you burn fat for fuel.

You’re essentially tricking your body into using your fat stores for energy instead of the traditional carbohydrates. Pretty sweet deal, huh?

See Also

Keto Halloumi Fries (Only 4 Ingredients!)How To Meal Prep + Make 4 Meals at Once - Green Healthy CookingKeto Beginners Guide - Best Keto Diet for you - Have Butter will Travel7 Ways To Prevent Keto Flu

Free Keto Food Lists

Get it Now

A keto diet essentially means eatingless than 20 carbohydratesin a day to put your body in a state of ketosis. Always use aTGEE calculatorto determine your specific macros, but less than 20 carbs in a day is considered guaranteed ketosis.

Simple Tips To Get Started On The Keto Diet

1. Empty your house

A week before Day 1, start eating or throwing away anything considered non-keto. If the whole family isn’t doing keto with you, clear a space on one side of the pantry and fridge for “your stuff.”

Once you start your diet, shun the rest of the pantry and fridge as if it doesn’t exist. Make sure you stock your pantry with all the best keto essentials.

Check out my 11 Keto Pantry Staples To Help You Survive guide for all the ingredients you’ll need to get started!

2. Ease into the Keto Diet

Most dieters will think it’s best to go at this with 100% full-force. I don’t recommend this for a ketogenic diet.

The two main goals are a) getting used to weighing your food with a food scale and b) tracking calories and carbs in Carb Manager or Cron-o-meter. In your first week, ease into your macros by cutting down portion sizes and carb counts little by little each day.

Once you get into the habit of eating the same snacks and meals every day, you won’t need to track your food so much. A food tracking app will also comes in handy to double check that carb count when you’re choosing at a restaurant!

If you are trying to lose weight, macros are very important so get really comfortable with tracking your food. To help you remember which macros are most important for weight loss on the keto diet, here is a simple guide:

1. Carbs are a limit. Stay under 20 net carbs, as close to zero as possible.
2. Protein is a goal. Your body doesn’t store it so always aim for that goal to keep you well fed.
3. Fat is to satiate. Contrary to popular belief, if your goal is weight loss, you only need about 30g-50g of fat to stay on track with the keto diet. Fat will keep you feeling full.

How to Calculate Net Carbs: Total Carbs – Sugar Alcohols – Allulose – Fiber = Net Carbs

Missing your morning Starbucks? Here is exactly what you need to say to get that keto version in my Top 10 Keto Starbuck Drinks and How to Order The Right Way guide.

3. Make a meal plan

Know exactly what you’re going to eat and when. Pick a few easy recipes and go to town. After a few weeks on keto, you will fall in love with cooking and prepping your own meals. Here are a few of my meal prep guides to get you started:

1. 30 Keto Meal Prep Recipe Ideas: How To Meal Prep A Month Of Keto Dinners In Just Two Hours
2. How To Meal Prep In A Few Steps

And if you really don’t want to think about meal prep, prepare a week of Keto Chow meal replacement shakes. Seriously, they keep in the fridge and don’t get all separated and gross.

This is literally the best meal replacement shake out there. So good you could drink it for every meal. And the other best part, you can bake/cook with it!

4. Use intermittent fasting

While not required, this definitely helps with sticking to your macros. The most common form of IF is 16:8. This means fasting for 16 hours (including the time you sleep) and eating only during an 8 hour window.

I usually start eating at noon and don’t eat anything past 8pm. It’s the easiest to remember!

5. Call for backup

Use all the tools of the trade to stick with your new lifestyle. To name a few, Carb Manager, Cron-o-meter, a goodtape measure, a reliable digital food scale, a great food guide, and the Internet (seriously, tons of good stuff out there!).

It’s also a good idea to join a community for accountability. Join my private Facebook group and keep in touch. Ask questions, post your favorite recipes, and join the fun!

And remember, keep calm & keto on!

Are you a fan of no fluff recipes? Check out all of my favorite “throw together” meals and snacks :

3. 50 Easy Throw Together Recipes You’ll Flip Over

PIN FOR LATER!