Kimkins Low Carb Diet Tips

For optimum weight loss whether you're a Kimkins member or losing with a different weight loss plan, accountability for your food choices is critical.

Guesstimates or 'forgetting' calories is a recipe for disaster ... and slow or no weight loss.

Kimkins members ask for help in the Kimkins Cafe to discover why weight loss has slowed down or stopped. Whether you use your own paper & pen food diary or something online like Fitday or Daily Plate, be sure you're entering your foods correctly.

Here's a few a few of the common food journal errors I've noticed over the past 10 years: when members ask for help with a "stall".

Tablespoons & Teaspoons

Be sure you know which one you're talking about. 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons and they are actual measuring spoon amounts, not a typical cereal spoon.

Some people use these measurements interchangably -- DON'T.

Measure Correctly

Veggies should be loosely placed in the measuring cup, not packed. If we try hard enough, we could squish a whole package of frozen spinach into 1 cup. But then I'm only lying to ourselves. And the scale will reflect it.

Anything powdered should be "flat measured" which means use a measuring spoon and scrape it level across the top with a knife blade -- no "heaping" spoons. A "cup" is 8 oz not a coffee mug "cup" which could be 50% more.

A splash of cream in your coffee is not a teaspoon. Measure it for a week, be surprised!

Important: Protein is measured by weight (ounces), while everything else is measuring by volume (measuring cup ounces). Dumb idea, but that's how it goes.

Veggies

If you use an "ounce" option, the amount measured is by weight -- not volume. For example, 1 cup of lettuce is about 1 ounce by weight, but if you enter lettuce in Fitday as "1 ounce" it will not show calories, fat, carbs and protein counts for 1 cup.

Protein

Get a cheap food scale at Wal Mart or Target. Whether a digital or spring style, doesn't matter. A removable bowl is nice for cleaning. Hey, while you're there, grab measuring cups & spoons. Now, weigh your protein for 7-10 days so you get a really good idea of how much 4 oz really is.

To help Kimkins members I'm always glad to review their Fitday accounts. Often there will be an entry that goes something like "chicken breast, raw, 4 oz". When I ask how they know it was 4 oz, the answer is often the same: they figure 4 oz is an average serving and 1 chicken breast is an average serving -- so 1 chicken breast must be 4 oz. Nope, a chicken breast is actually 6-8 oz.

If you're choosing pork, keep in mind that while pork tenderloin is very lean, a pork loin roast is very fatty and high in calories. Shop carefully!

Coffee & Tea

Both have carbs, but what's important is that you measure the size of your favorite coffee mugs. The default amount a serving of coffee in Fitday is 6 oz, which are those tiny cups that come with dinnerware sets. Most coffee mugs are actually 12 to 16 ounces, so measure yours so you can enter good info -- and make an informed choice on what you're choosing to drink.

Cheese

In Kimkins we count cheese as a fat. Be positive you know how much you're eating. If you have a small bag of preshredded cheese and sprinkle 1/4 of it (which won't look like much) don't count it as 1 oz. It's 2 or 3 oz.

Alcohol

You must be honest here! Yes, it's empty calories. Yes, your body processes alcohol for energy before any other food. Yes, it makes you relax so you're tempted to eat tidbits you shouldn't. But it still counts.

The default amount for hard liquor in Fitday is 1 oz which is only 2 tablespoons. You know you're pouring more than that! Figure if you use a typical 12 oz kitchen glass and fill it 1/4 full with rum or vodka, that's 3 oz! And if you have more than 1 count 'em all.

The default amount for a "glass" of wine in Fitday is 3 oz. I don't know anyone who pours 3 oz glasses. Small restaurant type wineglasses are 8-12 ounces each, while large balloon size goblets can be 20 oz!

Measure the glasses you use and how much you pour. Be brutally honest when fessing up in your food journal. Not losing as quickly as you'd like to? Go back over your journal with a fine toothed comb. Bottom line is you've got to be honest about what you're eating and how much.

You can try to lie to yourself about how much you're eating or drinking, but your bathroom scale will tell always tell the truth.