Breakfast - Atkins Protein Shake
Lunch - Chicken and Green Beans (You can get cheap rotisserie chickens from Sam's Club $5)
Dinner - Tuna with a couple ritz crackers and small bit of ranch (each cracker has about 1g carb)
Post Workout - Atkins Protein Shake
Evening - Eggs and sausage with cheese
This is roughly what a typical day would look like. Of course, the meals may change order, or slight differences depending on mood. Sometimes I cook up ground beef in a skillet. I mash it up like hamburger helper and add some spices. Tastes great. Add in some vegetables with the ground beef and you have a meal.
Sugar free jello is a good desert if you feel like you need it. Pickles are a good snack because <1g carbs. You can have salads with dressing on them as long as you don't add too much dressing. I normally use ranch. The atkins protein shakes taste great and satisfy the need for something chocolate tasting. If I'm feeling like cheating I might eat some cocoa almonds, which again are another good chocolate replacement. Don't go crazy on the mixed nuts or almonds though. I've noticed they don't hurt the diet, but can slow down the progress.
The first three days of a no-carb diet you should be super strict in order to get into ketosis. After that, trace amounts of carbs are fine and you will continue to stay in ketosis. You can use the keto pee strips if you doubt this. Lots of green vegetables are fine, cheeses, even some almonds here and there, etc.
There are other ways to lose weight, BUT medically speaking, ketosis is pretty much the fastest route because it turns your bodies fuel for energy into soley your fat stores.
I'm not currently on the diet, but plan to start it again soon this Spring. If you need any food ideas, feel free to PM me. There is a lot you can do with the keto diet.
You really like those Atkins shakes, eh? Are they made from good protein sources (whey isolate or something)? I know Atkins bars are by far the worst protein bars you can possibly buy. They won't keep you in ketosis and have use soy as the protein source instead of whey. They taste incredible, don't get me wrong, but I don't understand how they can be considered "Atkins" when they don't follow the low carb ideal.
What do you think of Quest/Victory bars who claim to have under 8g of carbs/bar?
I am similar to you in the sense that I don't follow a ketgenic diet year round, I let loose around November/December and pick it back up mid February, but I don't stay on keto the whole summer either, I like carb cycling or even doing that Keifer thing where you eat carbs with the last meal of your day and/or post-workout. Worked very well for me last summer, I ate chocolate bars, cereal, rice, pasta, etc... and didn't gain any significant fat, in fact my muscle seemed fuller all the time this way. But then I fell off the wagon completely in Dec and decided to "bulk"
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