How many carbs can I have on Keto? This is a common question for keto beginners and long time ketoers who are looking to take their health to the next level.
You have probably heard from some people in the keto community that if you’re not under a certain number of carbs it’s not “real” keto. The truth is there is no one size fits all number. In fact, your carb limit can even change day to day.
The number of carbs you should have on keto varies significantly based on your age, health, personal goals, along with a variety of other factors. In this post, I’m going to walk you through the different factors and give you some recommendations based on where you’re at and your personal goals.
30 Total Carbs for Keto Beginners, But It Depends
I recommend starting with a 30 carbs limit for keto beginners if I had to pick one number that works for most people because it’s going to help you adapt to the keto lifestyle and start seeing the benefits faster.
If you’re new to keto, check out my free Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Keto where I share everything I’ve learned from losing over 40lbs and keeping it off for over 4 years!
A few important things to know if you’re a keto beginner:
1. A 30 total carb limit will put you in ketosis quickly. For most people your body adapts to keto in a few days to up to two weeks.
2. Avoid the keto flu. You will need more electrolytes in the first few weeks. You can learn how to avoid the keto flu here.
3. Higher ketone levels aren’t always better. Ketones are a byproduct of burning fat for fuel not an indicator of success.
4. Celebrate non-scale victories! Weight loss isn’t always the only way to track progress.
5. Don’t starve yourself. Fat is calorie-rich and nutrient-dense. You should be able to eat until you feel full.
6. You don’t have to be perfect. It’s ok slightly above or below your target carbs for the day. It’s about progress not perfection.
7. Don’t let other people define your success. Your results after a week, a month, or a year don’t have to match someone else’s big transformation story. Again it’s about progress and we all move forward at a different pace.
8. Have fun! There are a number of great recipes out there so you never have to feel like you’re missing out. A few of my favorites are keto steak dinner, keto chicken stir fry, and keto chocolate mousse dessert.
9. Ask for help. If you’re struggling with any aspect of the keto lifestyle don’t be afraid to ask for help. You can contact me here and I read every message.
Below is a Pinterest friendly photo…so you can pin it to your keto board!
Now that we’ve set 30 carbs as a starting point, let’s dive into the details of factors that may change that number for you and your goals.
To begin with we need to have a basic understanding of macros.
The Basic Macros for Keto
If you’re a keto beginner, welcome to the keto community! The keto lifestyle continues to become more popular because of the health benefits to include weight loss, increased energy, and enhanced focus.
To get all of the benefits from the keto lifestyle we need to have a basic understanding of macros (short for macronutrients).
There are 3 types of macros
- Carb(Carbohydrates): Carbs are a quick energy source your body breaks down into sugar (glucose). Over the last 70 years, carbs have become the dominant food source for the Standard American Diet (SAD). In most people, too many carbs can cause the metabolic issues we’re struggling with today to include obesity, fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, and other diseases.
- Protein: Protein is an important macronutrient that helps your body build and maintain your muscles. However, your body needs more than just protein to function properly.
- Fat (glycerides): Fat is in desperate need of a new name because ironically eating healthy fats helps you lose body fat. Healthy fats are full of vitamins and minerals our body needs to stay healthy. For example, steak has a number of essential nutrients like iron, zinc, selenium thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin D, magnesium, and potassium
This is the basic description of each of the macros. Numerous books have been written on each of these macros to go in-depth, but today we’re going to stick to what we need to know to get the personal results you’re looking for.
In general, the keto diet is 70% fat, 25% protein, and about 5% carbs.
For Faster Results, Measure What Matters
There are a variety of numbers that you can use to track your progress on keto including weight, body measurements, calories, carbs, protein, fat, glucose, ketones, and more. However, many keto beginners get confused and overwhelmed and quit after a week or two because they’re trying to log all of these numbers.
The most important number to track for faster results as a keto beginner is carbs! If you keep your intake to around 30 carbs a day for the first few weeks you will become fat adapted faster and start enjoying all the health benefits of the keto lifestyle (weight loss, increased energy, and enhanced focus!) much sooner.
After a month or two when your body is fat adapted you can start making adjustments. For example, you might want to turn up the dial on carbs a little to make your keto lifestyle easier or add intermittent fasting to boost your weight loss.
This isn’t to say that those other numbers don’t matter. They may be useful if you hit a weight loss stall and need to tweak your keto lifestyle to reach your goal or want to build muscle, etc.
What are Net Carbs for Keto
Counting net carbs versus total carbs is another hot topic in the keto community.
Net carbs are the number of total carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols. In theory, carbs from fiber and sugar alcohols are not easily digested and used by your body; they don’t affect blood sugar levels or cause your body to respond with insulin.
In practice, sugar alcohols are certainly better for you keto lifestyle than regular sugar but they’re not a free pass. An insulin response that can kick you out of ketosis can vary widely from person to person with sugar alcohols because of a variety of metabolic and environmental factors.
How to Calculate Net Carbs for Keto
You can calculate net carbs using the formula: Total Carb- Fiber -Sugar Alcohols = Net Carbs. Net carbs can be helpful by allowing for more flexibility in adding vegetables and certain fruits.
Here a few different examples.
- A cup of cauliflower has 5 grams of total carbs – 2 grams of fiber = 3 net carbs. This makes cauliflower a very keto friendly vegetable.
- My favorite dessert, keto chocolate mousse. A serving has 12 total carbs – 8 carbs from sugar alcohol = 4 net carbs. It a fairly high in total carbs, but low in net carbs. For me, it’s a dessert so it’s ok to have once in a while, but not something I should eat with every meal.
- Some products use the net carb loophole to claim to be keto friendly, but really aren’t. For example, the SlimFast “Keto” bars have 15 grams of total carbs – 9 grams of fiber – 2 grams of sugar alcohol = 4 net carbs. Again, a high amount of total carbs especially for a bar with less than 200 calories. Also, they use IMO fiber which does impact blood sugar so it can’t be subtracted like regular fiber.
To avoid the confusion, I try to eat real whole food whenever possible but sometimes you need a bar in a pinch. My favorite clean keto bar is Perfect Keto’s almond brownie flavor.
In general, avoid products that claim to be keto friendly and highlight the number of net carbs. Many of them are low in nutritional value and full of sugar alcohols that can upset your stomach and cause problems.
Net Carbs vs Total Carbs on Keto
Yes, you can have keto friendly sweeteners. My favorite keto sweetener is Swerve.
However, you’re not going to get the results you’re looking for living off fat bombs and keto desserts. Real whole foods and healthy fats are much better option for a long term healthy keto lifestyle.
For keto beginners I recommend sticking with 30 total carbs for the best results in your first month or two. After you get the hang of the keto lifestyle if you want to mix in a few more keto friendly desserts or fat bombs go for it!
How Many Carbs on Keto – 10 Factors to Consider
Ok, here’s where we’re going to dive a little deeper into the factors to consider when thinking about how many total or net carbs is right for your keto lifestyle.
#1Sustainability: for keto beginners less than 30 total carbs can be tough as you’re learning a whole new way of eating. However, once you get the hang of the keto lifestyle you’ll have a few go-to keto dinner recipes that you can make half asleep after a busy day at work or a long night taking care of a sick kid. One of my favorite go-to keto dinners is keto chick stir fry.
#2 Personal Goals: Again for keto beginners, more than 30 total carbs per day and you might not get the health benefits of weight loss, increased energy, and enhanced focus you want from the keto lifestyle. On the other hand, once you’re fat adapted you can lower total carbs to increase your weight loss or increase your total carbs some to make the keto lifestyle more flexible to your busy life in the spirit of “lazy” keto.
#3 Metabolic health: If you have metabolic health conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes, or fatty liver disease consult a keto or low-carb doctor before you make any significant changes in your eating habits. Changes in your diet can dramatically change how your body interacts with medications you may be using.
Also, know that if you have metabolic health issues you may need to reduce your carbs below 30 grams per day to become fat adapted and it may take much longer for you to see the benefits from the keto lifestyle.
#4 Metabolic Memory: the longer you’ve been fat adapted the more efficient your body is at turning fat into fuel. Also if you’ve been fat adapted for a while and you come out of ketosis for that birthday or anniversary your body’s metabolic memory helps you get back to burning fat for fuel much faster.
#5 Type of Carbs: The type of carbs you eat matters too. For example, carbs from candy are going to quickly spike your glucose (sugar) levels, but black beans and pinto beans have very little glucose response.
#6 Stress: Ever gained weight when you were going through a very stressful time in your life? When we feel stressed our body releases a hormone called cortisol to make you more alert. Cortisol also makes your body produce more insulin. The more insulin in your bloodstream the harder it is for us to adapt to burning fat for fuel and stay in ketosis.
Our stress levels vary from day to day. As a result, your carb tolerance can also vary some from day to day. Ideally, we want to work on reducing stress in our life so let your spouse or a friend put together the Ikea furniture next time 🙂
#7 Sleep: Similar to stress, when you don’t get 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night on a regular basis your body has stronger insulin response and this makes it hard for you to become fat adapted and maintain fat burning.
#8 Age: As the playwright Bernard Shaw once quipped, “youth is wasted on the young.” As you get older our tolerance for carbs decreases. This means someone in their 20s may be able to get great results with 40 or 50 carbs a day while someone in their 50s might need to stay around 20 carbs per day to become fat adapted.
#9 Sex: Yes, like most thing in life getting into ketosis and weight loss is easier for men than women. There are a number of different reasons for this that we’ll cover in another post.
#10 Exercise: If you’re in good shape you can probably have more than 30 carbs a day and stay in ketosis. Also, if you do high intensity workouts your body will burn the little sugar you have available from carbs so this can increase your carb limit as well. Moreover, the more muscle mass you have the less insulin sensitive you are and the higher your carb tolerance.
Put another way, exercise is a good offense and a healthy keto diet is a good defense from obesity and other metabolic diseases. You need them both to be truly healthy.
Takeaways for How Many Carbs on Keto
If you’re a keto beginner start with 30 total carbs for the first month because for most people it’s going to give you help you adapt to burning fat for fuel in a week or two so you can enjoy all the benefits of the keto lifestyle. Additionally, it’s flexible enough to make keto sustainable for busy professionals and parents.
After the first month, feel free to make adjustments to fit your personal goals. For example, you can dial down your carbs to boost your fat burning and weight loss. On the other hand, if you’re doing high-intensity workouts you may want to dial up your carbs some to get your best performance.
Additional Keto Resources
Looking for more keto resources? Check out my series on the best places to shop keto.
- 3 Best Keto Snacks at Target (plus one to avoid to lose weight on keto)
- Top 7 Keto Items at Whole Foods Market
- 5 Best Keto Items at Trader Joe’s
- 10 Best Keto Products at Walmart
- Top 12 Keto Items at Costco (plus 4 you should avoid)
Also, If you’re looking for other keto resources you’ll want to read the best FREE keto apps along with 4 best exercise programs for keto online.
Until next time, remember it’s about progress, not perfection and keto on!
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