When it comes to my health and fitness, I try my best to keep track of what I can to keep my personal goals alined with my daily habits. Although tracking your progress and results seems like a pain, there are plenty of apps and devices to make tracking easy and effortless. Putting tons of thought into your diet and fitness routine is much more beneficial when you have other health elements aligned with your goals, especially if fat loss or muscle gain is your goal.
First, I'll start off with what I DON'T track - my weight. Although I can admit I can't help but occasionally step on the scale, I try my best to not let that number get in my head or hold any significance when evaluating my progress. When following a low carb diet, our bodies fluctuate based on electrolyte and water consumption. In other words, I've seen my weight go up and down 3-4 pounds in two days (usually after a night of too many margs followed by a day of rehydration). The list below outlines the elements of my health I pay more attention to and have honestly been a big help to me reaching my personal goals.
Fat Percentage
Instead of tracking the number on the scale, I tend to pay more attention to my body's fat percentage. This helps me get a broad understanding of my fat to muscle ratio and makes calculating my lean muscle mass easier. As I mentioned, water retention on keto can sometimes make that number on the scale skyrocket. Tracking the changes in my overall fat percentage does a better job in showing me my progress when it comes to loosing fat and/or gaining muscle. How do I do this: a weird, crazy, handheld device my brother got on amazon. You enter your sex, height, weight, and activity level and the little thing works its magic and presents your fat percentage and even compares it to the average for someone with a similar bmi as you.
Ketone Levels
This is something I did when I started out keto a few years ago, with a big goal to loose weight. I don't do this anymore because my body is pretty much keto adapted, but when starting out a low carb plan making sure you're in ketosis is a helpful way to point out if your macros coincide with your goal to burn fat and more importantly - it helps determine if you're eating enough fat. When first beginning, many individuals don't consume nearly enough fat or calories in general to amp up their ketone levels. (It's crucial to be getting your fats for fuel!) There are many different ways to track ketone levels, but the easiest and cheapest way is by using ketone sticks. My favorite are these from Kiss My Keto and you can try them for a discount with my coupon code CARBFREEINNYC !
Macros
Yes, at first it's annoying to track your macros - and if you're exercising daily and not overeating I wouldn't call it necessary for weight loss. BUT - if you want to get the most out of your keto diet, tracking your macros helps you stay on track unlike anything else. You shouldn't be just shoving any "keto-approved" food down your throat with no inkling of the protein, fat, and carb values of your meals. This isn't something I do all the time, but after a holiday of slipping off the keto wagon I make sure to track my macros until I'm confidently back to burning fat for fuel. There are many apps out there, but my favorite is carbmanager because it is geared towards a low carb diet and takes your personal info into consideration.
Activity
No matter what kind of smart watch you'd like to slap on your wrist, I recommend getting one. Tracking my daily activity has proven itself to be extremely helpful on keto. With my Fitbit, I can visualize how much time I was in fat burning or cardio mode during my workouts, compare the improvement of my running speed to other days, and even see how many calories I burn during each workout. It also helps me feel comfortable editing my macros based on my workout that day. If I go on a 5 mile run and burn 400 calories, you bet I'm going to end the night with a snack a bit higher in carbs than I usually would have.
What's cool about Fitbit is I can also track my calories burned throughout the entire day, not just while working out. This really helps me eat more or less that day depending on my movement and helps me stick to my goals. For instance, on a day I take 17,000 steps and walk up 68 floors I'm not going to stress myself out about fitting in a workout because I can see I already burned way over 2,000 calories that day. This also helps me to not wear myself out! YES, running around all day at work CAN count as your workout and you'll have the stats to prove it.
Water to Electrolyte Balance
If you're going to do anything on this list, THIS IS THE ONE. On a low carb, keto diet, our bodies need and crave more water than we are used to. We need fluids to flush out all of the fat we are consuming. Water will help ease digestion and prevent symptoms of the keto-flu (otherwise known as carb-withdrawal). Take note that drinking an excessive amount of water without enough minerals can cause an electrolyte imbalance, which may causes you to feel weak and tired. Therefore, you must make sure you're consuming enough sodium through electrolyte supplements or pink Himalayan salt to maintain a healthy fluid balance. The best way to know if you're dehydrated or need more minerals is really by analyzing how you're feeling. Many confuse the feelings of stress and fatigue caused by dehydration and electrolyte imbalance with hunger, so be sure you're getting enough minerals to prevent overeating. There are a lot of electrolyte supplements on the market, but I like the oneS below from Kiss My Keto and you can also try them at a discount with my code CARBFREEINNYC. The powder (voted best keto electrolyte supplement) is super easy to throw into smoothies while the pills are quick and great for on the go!
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