#1

Keeping track of calories, weighting and calculating, is very time consuming. It makes, for example, a proper keto or methionine restricted diet (meaning also keeping track of protein ratios) practically impossible. But I found a quite generally applicable trick; maybe it can help you too, or maybe you have some such tricks to share also?

Daily intake in kilo Joules [kJ] is about 10k (quite generally, and for my exercise level etc., online estimators recommend 10k), so 10k, or 7k for caloric restriction or whatever, is the limit.

Now my trick:
Remember in terms of frequent/daily items that are 1000 or 1500 kJ. Sticking close to those for the first 5 to 6 k, I hardly need calculating yet no longer bust limits by thousands of kJ.

Sub categorization into fat or protein content of the total of fat + protein + carbs, for example avocado and walnuts have ~60% fat by weight, thus 82% in terms of kJ, helps keeping track of the desired ratios of macronutrients. Examples:

100% fat:
4 Tbsp EVOO = 1000kJ
Cooking in 40 g tallow = 1500kJ

~60% fat by weight:
7 Walnuts = 1000kJ

~60% fat by kJ, rest protein:
120g fatty mackerels = 1000kJ
3 large or 4 medium chicken eggs ~ 1000kJ

More protein:
210g beef liver = 1000kJ

Others with more carbs:
Milk, 250ml pack, and another half (125ml) = 1000kJ

Medium Apple (200g ~ 420 kJ), thus, 2.5 fruits (apple, orange, some berries) ~ 1000kJ

All my supplements, AA, creatine, Vit, ginger, turmeric, garlic,… together ~ 500 kJ

You see the point? No, it is not accurate, especially if not always using a scale, and all of that, so I do not give more examples, because the message is this: A few days make the effort to weight and look up and calculate a bunch of things you usually eat, all into heaps of 500, 1000, or 1500 kJ (for example 40g fat = 40 * 9 * 4.186 = 1507), and after that, you remember those heaps (like about 120 g mackerel) and never need calculating and weighting again on busy days; just eat 8 such heaps and know you had about 8000kJ, neither 12k, nor only 6000. If you also desire a limit on proteins or carbs, say, the heaps will have to reflect that.

#2

I suggest you try MyNetDiary https://www.mynetdiary.com/. Its AI makes tracking food simple and easy. Just snap a photo and the AI does the rest. Remarkably accurate in my experience.

#3

Calorie amount is irrelevant for ketosis, it’s all about tracking amount of carbs your eating measured in grams. That’s the most important “trick” I can share in regards to keto diet.

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#4

gram or kJ is irrelevant, you need to track all the amounts in order to stay below the limits of whatever diet you prefer, no matter it is 5% max kJ for keto or 30% in weight of protein for whatever reason, so your “trick” is of no help, while my trick is a generally applicable method to make it easy for all kinds of busy, lazy, forgetful, etc people

#5

Or you do it my way and don’t need a phone and be on line be tracked and rely yet more on AI. I just ate my 7200 kJ for today without even having to use a computation device once. Used a scale to see the piece of beef liver is 600g, which AI would have no way of knowing without 3D shape and lenght scale.

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#6

Not sure I understand the importance of any of this. Why do keto? Evidence to support it? And why count calories? Get enough protein and not gain weight unless you’re trying to.

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#7

Yes, let us assume all keto is is bad (who cares about cancer patients out of other options) and assume it is all about the protein (rapa for the BCAA, glycine for the methione, or plant based), now how do I know to get enough protein without overeating, which has perhaps other effects beyond weight gain, perhaps somewhere discussed on this forum. Hmmm, might just have to look at certain ratios, use scales, calculate? A, f it, let us all just eat protein, that is all there is. So easy. We can close this forum now. All has been resolved, guys. Eat protein! Gluconeogenesis? Never mind.

#8

I don’t think you understand how keto diet works.
Calorie/energy intake is irrelevant.
Macronutrient weight is the key to achieving ketosis.

  1. Most important step is to limit carbs under 20-30 grams.
  2. Protein intake stays the same or it can be lowered.
  3. Fat intake increases. Now technically the calories from fat should replace the calories from carbs so you could keep track of that, but that is not necessary. You can just add fat ad lib and as long as you follow #1 and #2 you can reach ketosis.

Carb counting is the most crucial step not calorie counting.

Calorie counting is very useful in calorie restriction diets, but KETO is not a calorie restriction diet it’s macro restriction diet.

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#9

Again, my post is not about keto but general, second, as I already told you, whatever you aim for, you need to know the ratios, calculate, weight out the food, and add up to the totals every day, else you cannot know how much carb, or protein, or whatever, and lastly, that a tall huge guy needs the same as a tiny short female, namely your 20g, is ridiculous.

What is it on this forum that people have such a hard time with reading comprehension and jump in arguing totally beside the point???

(BTW, you are also wrong on protein in keto, since the liver can make glucose out of it!)

#10

Maybe because you put word “keto” in a second sentence of your post and relate it to the counting of calories. Maybe you have hard time comprehending your own posts.

I find keeping track of calories, weighting and calculating, way too time consuming. It makes keto practically impossible.

#11

Exactly, you go off on one word in the second sentence instead of comprehending the whole.
And it seems typical here.

#12

Please tell us how, given a bunch of walnuts and avocados etc being involved, do you magically know the carbs today are under 20g???
Again, using kJ or calories or kg or ounces is entirely irrelevant. My post is about quantization into equal, thus easily remembered, units such as 7 walnuts, no matter protein calories or carbs in Marsian furlongs.

#13

@vongehr youre way too defensive. Many of here looking for common sense solutions supported by data. We understand that we’re talking about complex issues and there will be variations to everything.

My opinion is that except in rare cases, pure keto offers very little. Low carb is probably beneficial to most people but it doesn’t matter if you’re low enough to be ketotic.

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#14

THE POST IS NOT (!!!) ABOUT KETO!
Reading comprehension!
Everybody commenting here: Hit the nootropics, lay off of the rapa, it seems to facilitate dementia!

#15

YES !! That’s the only way to do keto. Medium avocado has 13 grams, so I would eat 1/4 and get about 3 grams. Carbs from eating few walnuts are negligible under 1 gram. Eggs, cheese, meats, oil, butter are all ZERO. It’s really not that hard

#16

Bro, you literally made it about KETO. Why don’t you go back and delete the 2nd sentence of your post because you literally you made about counting calories is hard and makes KETO impossible.

#17

So you fully agree with my post, namely once determining and then remembering certain heaps of food, only problem, you do not want to consider proteins for example (say mathionine restriction).

#18

Yes, real keto that often also considers proteins, not your oversimplification.
Look, this is a post written by a real scientist, trying to help many people with tracking calories (including macronutrient ratios !!!) for their many different various diets that people interrested in rapa are on. Could you please stop hijacking the thread with this keto obsession. I revised the line that triggers you, ok? Keto is just one good example because it is so easy to bust the limits even with only the supplement stack including aimed for amounts of polyphenols, chokeberries, apple skin, a little milk and bang the milk suggar busted the limit. So one needs to keep track.

#19

Hopefully your attitude will improve with time. Until then on ignore.

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