Weight / Fat loss

An important thing to note about short term low carbing, is that you will lose a heap of weight but not really fat. It takes longer for the ketosis to kick in properly.

The massive rapid weight loss will actually be the loss of the stored carbs & water. For every gram of carbs you store, there are three grams of water. If you want to increase this effect (like if you are losing weight for a weigh in or getting photos done) then you can drop salt aswell.

If you actually want to lose fat and have more persistent compositional changes, then it will take longer. You can buy ketosis test strips cheaply of ebay to check whether you have entered the state, and also find a threshold of carbs you can ingest without coming out of ketogenesis.

As always, these carbs are best consumed to fuel your sporting activities/exercise, most specifically just afterwards.

Well, this is the initial carb/water weight that usually goes in the first week or two. I've actually found keto to be the most effective diet I've tried for getting rid of fat but you've got to be strict and stick with it. Especially as you start to really lean up you stop really losing weight - ie the numbers on the scale don't change too much but measurements will.

My meal plan is usually something like this:

Flaxseed pancakes w/ cream cheese + black coffee for breakfast.

Don't eat lunch unless I'm working, tend to opt for a few of the following: cooked chicken/tinned fish/cheese/almonds/left over pancakes from breakfast/

Big dinner with plenty veg - usually broc, spinach, mushrooms, courgettes, cucumber and then get some protein from either eggs or meat.

Dessert/treats: 85 or 90% Dark Choc, Frozen summer fruits ice cream thing I make.

I also allow myself red wine when I do decide to drink as spirit + diet mixer is horrible.

Flaxseed pancakes are a godsend for me as they're the only no-carb equivalent that doesn't suck.
Recipe off the top of my head is:
2tsp Butter (melted)
1tsp cream
1tsp baking soda
3tbsp milled flax seed (linseed)
2-3tsp splenda or other artificial sweetener.
2 eggs.

Mix dry ingredients, add melted butter, add cream, beat in eggs, fry in pan. They come out like thick pancakes, not crepes (although I have made crepe style pancakes with ricotta before that weren't bad).

The Frozen summer fruit icecream thing is super simple, get half a cup of frozen summer fruits, add a bit of cream and some artificial sweetener then blend in a cup with a hand blender. It's pretty low carb but not super low - for a relatively low carb treat it's the fuckin' shit though. The blending seems to half whip the cream and then the frozen fruit seems to solidify it. Some use a bunch of ice to make a sort of iced smoothie but I've never tried it.