Day 3 of intermittent fasting (IF) and I’m feeling good after my fast day. My energy is great and I’m looking forward to a nice big breakfast to start the day. A nice big low-carb Keto breakfast!
Many think that taking away carbs can be restricting to your diet, especially taking away things like bread and pasta which are very much staples in many people’s lives, but learning how to live low-carb, you find that there are many other alternatives out there, that are much better for you in the long run.
A “Normal” Eating Day
On a standard 5/2 IF diet, I believe a “normal”eating day still means that you are meant to stay within your recommended calorie range IE 2500 cals. Not eat as much as you want.
For me, a “normal” day of eating revolves around eating when I feel hungry and not sticking to any particular meal times. Of course this depends on your occupation and may be not suitable if you have a set time to eat, but if you are in a position where you can have some food to snack on during the day, this could be a better option than to cram 2000 calories into your gob at lunchtime.
I’ve found on the Keto diet with the low-carb foods that I select, I tend to feel full quicker and for longer, so I don’t try to eat when I’m not hungry.
All-You-Can-Eat Feast!!
Following on from my fast day yesterday, I was planning on having a decent breakfast, because I had plans of going to the gym later to work it off anyway.
I got caught up doing some things in the morning and didn’t end up eating until 11:00am, so a pretty late “breakfast” but for those of you that are worried about the restrictions of a low-carb diet, check out the pic below of my meal.
Now, before you go entering my dish into Masterchef or any “Rate My Plate” sites, I’ll give you the breakdown of the meal, nutritionally speaking:
NOTE: Carbs are calculated by total carbs minus fiber (NET carbs)
2 Fried Eggs:
1g Carb, 9g Fat, 12g Protein, 220 Cal
1 Tomato:
3.3g Carb, 0.2g Fat, 0g Protein, 22 Cal
40g Of Tasty Cheese:
0.2 Carb, 13.2g Fat, 9.3g Protein, 154 Cal
Keto Bread:
0.2g Carb, 29.5g Fat, 9.2g Protein, 307 Cal
Diced Bacon:
0.5g Carb, 20g Fat, 17.8g Protein, 235 Cal
Salsa:
4.2 Carb, 0.2 Fat, 0.8g Protein, 24 Cal
1/2 an Avocado:
1.4 Carb, 11g Fat, 1.5 Protein, 120 Cal
TOTAL:
10.8g Carb – 83.1g Fat – 50.6g Protein – 1082 Cal
The Keto bread mentioned was a homemade bread that is made from almond flour, eggs, butter and baking soda. I will post the full recipe up at a late date. Pretty easy to make. (If I can do it, anyone can!)
This meal is well within the range for the keto diet and was very filling. I couldn’t even quite finish it and I didn’t eat until dinner time at 6pm. The 1082 calories from my “brunch” was 42% of my daily intake and left me with plenty of calories for the rest of the day.
My dinner was a chicken parmigiana (parmy!) with, cauliflower, silverbeet and roast carrots. The chicken was crumbed and was probably the main thing on my plate that is not ideal for Keto due to carbs, but the rest of the meal was fine.
The Numbers – Day 3
Weight (start of day): 123.1 kg (271.4 lb)
Weight Loss To Date (2 Days): 1 kg (2.2 lb)
Maximum calories allowed: 2560
Calories consumed: 2220 (leaving 340) – 345 (Fitbit Calorie adjustment) = 685 calories remaining
Water consumed (inc tea/coffee): 2.3 Litres
Fat consumed: 156g (47.3%)
Carbs consumed: 69g (20.9%)
Protein consumed: 105g (31.8%)
Keto Goal: Fat 70%, Protein 25%, Carbs 5%
Day 3 Round Up
It was a good eating day, I ate a lot of food but still finished below my max calories by 685, so I’m happy with that.
In terms of the Keto goal, since I have been on this diet, I have always found it very hard to get that ratio of fat, protein and carbs correct to do Keto “by the book.”
The ideal amount of carbs for Keto is 20-30 carbs (net). The main thing that I try to focus on is keeping my carbs below 50, as anything above that may be enough to kick me out of ketosis. It takes a fairly high consumption of protein for this to happen, though. It can also depend on whether you eat all the carbs or protein in one go or spread out through the day.
Ohh… and the gym session I had planned didn’t happen, due to having some visitors pop in… plenty more days in the week though….
Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
