Can anyone give me a crash course in keto please?

[KetoKitt]

I have a holiday in 10 weeks and I want to lose a little.

Put simply, your body has 2 ways to burn fuel: fat burning or sugar burning. Keto is a way to put yourself into fat burning, by not eating the sugars (carbs).

Or were you after recipes?

Sorry on the app so can't seem to get the Topics link but if you go to Topics > Big/slim/whatever > low carb bootcamp

There's loads of threads for recipes and support.

Basic principles are very low carb ie just what you get in green veg, high protein and high fat.

Double cream instead of milk
Full fat Greek yoghurt
Full fat cottage cheese
Eggs
Meat
Asparagus, green beans, broccoli, kale

No veggies that grow underground
do not fear fat
obvs no bread, rice etc
beware the tomato

It works, but if you're really strict enough with the carbs to send your body into Keto, you will likely suffer from constipation. Any Atkins diet book will give you recipe ideas, but we enjoyed working through the recipes in Tom Kerridges Dopamine diet book. My husband and I both lost weight relatively easily; in his case an enormous amount. Me not so much, but then I had less to lose. His constipation was bad, but as I wasn't so strict mine was manageable without resorting to laxatives. But of course like any other diet, when you stop following the rules it's easy to put the weight back on again.

Start by removing the carb aspect of your plate from your diet, grains, potato, rice, bread as well as anything sweet/containing sugar (with the exception of small portions of dark chocolate and strawberry/raspberrys.

Instead...you can eat all the meat, all fish/sea food. All dairy, eggs.
Veg. is a little harder but avoid the root veg especially and go for the green stuff.
courgettes, salad leaves, broccoli, cabbage (red and green) plus mushrooms and nuts.

Add as much fat as you can. Oil, butter, cheese, this is important.

Use as much herbs, spices, garlic, seasoning as you want to enhance flavor.

Recipes i keep going back to

Salad with protein - cheese and bacon, chicken and roast veggies, hallumi, tuna etc with oil dressing or yoghurt dressing or full fat mayo.

curry (check carb count) without rice and extra veg

meat kebabs with yoghurt raita, and salsa

burger with everything but the bun, cheese, bacon

meat and veg soups (no bread obviously)

Creamy baked chicken/ creamy baked salmon

stirfrys with meat/prawns soy sauce and seseme oil and lots of garlic

omlettes/baked eggs

Beware the tomato!! Lol! So true....!

You don't have to be ketogenic to lose weight. Drop your carbs, ie beige stuff and sugars, and you'll release less insulin. That gives glucagon a chance. It's the fat burning hormone, and can't operate if your body is in insulin mode. So if you ate a little sugar every half hour, you'd get very malnourished and hold onto your fat far more, and the lack of fuel would be catered for by your body not maintaining homeostasis (so, moody/crap skin/poor sleep/low immunity etc)

Why tomato?

www.healthline.com/nutrition/tomatoes-on-keto#tomato-based-foods

Not all tomato-based foods are keto-friendly
Although raw tomatoes are considered keto-friendly, not all tomato products are.
For instance, many store-bought tomato products, such as tomato paste, tomato sauce, salsa, tomato juice, and even canned tomatoes, contain added sugars.
This significantly raises their total carb content, making them more difficult to fit into a ketogenic diet.
Therefore, be sure to check the ingredient label when purchasing a tomato-based product and avoid those containing extra sugar.
Sundried tomatoes are another tomato-based food that may be considered less keto-friendly than raw tomatoes.
Due to their low water content, they end up containing around 23.5 grams of net carbs per cup (54 grams), which is significantly more than the same serving of raw tomatoes.
For this reason, you likely need to limit how many sundried tomatoes you eat while following a ketogenic diet.
SUMMARY
Tomato-based products, such as sauces, juices, and canned tomatoes, may contain added sugars, making them less suitable for a ketogenic diet. Sundried tomatoes may also be considered less keto-friendly than their raw counterparts.

No grains (sugar, rice or flour).

Scrambled eggs made with only eggs and butter for breakfast each day.
Add bacon or smoked salmon if you want more to eat.