For example, if you were eating 2,000 calories a day, you’d need to eat roughly 165 grams of fat. For reference, 6 large eggs have about 30 grams of fat. [3] X Research source
This is the primary way that keto differs from other diets and from health advice generally, which cautions you to limit saturated fats. If you stay on the keto diet for more than a few months, you could end up with high levels of LDL cholesterol, which is linked to heart disease.
On a typical keto diet, 5-10% of your daily calories come from carbs and 10-20% come from protein. The remainder comes from fat. Set the amount of carbs and protein you need to eat and don’t eat any more than that. If you eat more fat, that’s simply lowering the percentage of carbs and protein in your diet.
Generally, consume natural fats, such as those that come from butter from grass-fed cows, olive oil, and coconut oil. Limit “yellow oils,” such as vegetable and seed oils. These tend to be highly processed and also contain high levels of polyunsaturated fat, which is the type you should be limiting on a keto diet.
For example, assume you’re planning on eating 2,000 calories a day. If you want 10% of those calories to come from carbs and 20% to come from protein, you would need to eat 200 calories worth of carbs and 400 calories worth of protein. That leaves you with 1,400 calories worth of fat. To figure out food portions, remember 4-4-9: 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrate, 4 calories in a gram of protein, and 9 calories in a gram of fat. [9] X Research source So 1,400 calories ends up being roughly 156 grams of fat. While this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to constantly count calories on keto, you’ll need a ballpark idea of the number of calories you want to consume each day. Use that number to figure out generally how much fat you need to be eating, then go from there.
In the keto diet, fat’s function is to help you feel full. If you feel hungry, you need to eat more fat. If you’re restricting your fat intake, you’re probably not going to lose as much weight as you could be. When you’re just starting out on keto, you’ll probably find that you need to eat more fat to feel full. This is because your body’s still adjusting to the diet. Once you’ve been on the diet for a week or so, you might start to feel full with less fat—which might mean you need to adjust your macros accordingly.
Even if you are in ketosis, if you eat less fat, you’ll probably notice that you lose less weight. But as long as you keep your carbs and proteins in check, you’ll be fine.
You can buy commercial fat bombs online or in the diet section of most grocery stores—or you can make your own. Search online for fat bomb recipes and experiment with ingredients until you find the combinations you like the best. Most fat bombs are made of a creamy base, such as cream cheese or peanut butter, with other keto-friendly ingredients, such as dark chocolate chips or bacon, added in. You just roll them into balls and freeze them for a couple of hours—no baking required![13] X Research source
Fat from highly processed oils, as well as trans fats, might have other negative health consequences, so it’s best to avoid those. But keep in mind that would be true whether you were on keto or not. Only eat as much fat as you need to feel full. If you’re just mindlessly eating more fat than you need to satisfy hunger, you’ll slow down or even stop weight loss. Your body isn’t going to burn stored fat when it can burn the fat you have coming in. [15] X Research source
Your total carbs may vary depending on the specific plan you’re following and the number of calories you consume in a day, but all keto diets restrict carbs to 50g or less per day. To put this into perspective, a single medium plain bagel has more carbs than that. Protein is second in importance to carbs. If you don’t consume enough protein, your body will start burning muscle fiber for energy instead of the fat you want it to burn. On the other hand, if you eat too much protein, your body won’t go into ketosis, so keep that in mind as well.
If you’re just getting started with keto, choose a plan that you think will work for you and that includes lots of foods you enjoy. If you’re eating things you like, you’re less likely to think about all the things that you’re missing.
