Keto Q&A, January 2019: Maintenance, Meal Prep, Salt, Kids and Going Off Plan

2019-01-08

A 40-minute Live in my Facebook group on January 8, 2019, right after a maintenance video on the page. The first few minutes are me talking to an empty room and asking for questions. Then they come in, and it turns into one of the more practical sessions I did.

In this recording

[0:07] Q&A in the group. How page Lives and group Lives show up for different people.
[0:53] to [4:25] Waiting for questions: how your 2018 went, goals for 2019, macros, recipes, rumours you want checked.
[5:39] Maintenance after reaching goal: add about 50 to 100 grams of fat, usually by choosing fattier proteins, like rib eye.
[7:19] My own weak spot: I love food. Sometimes I overeat on purpose; I said it's deliberate, not emotional eating.
[8:16] Someone called their 2018 a failure. I pushed back: a long year with some keto meals and some learning isn't a failure. Mine was one of the messiest years of my life, and I was trying not to call it that.
[9:14] Starting from zero: are you a tracker or a guidelines person? For a guidelines person, spot-track a day here and there to see where you stand.
[10:04] Meal prep: pick a time for the store and the prep and attend it like a class, ideally with a friend.
[12:39] Cut the pure carb sources first: bread, rice, pasta, soda, sugary coffee. Changing a coffee habit alone can be huge. Sandwiches were mine.
[13:31] My one-hour Sunday prep: a pound of ground beef, a couple of chicken breasts, a pound of bacon and a dozen hard-boiled eggs, then remix them all week.
[15:12] On regaining after a hard year: if you lost it once, you gained the skill of losing it.
[16:50] Cauliflower "rice" isn't rice; call it something else so you stop comparing. Zucchini noodles and spaghetti squash for noodles.
[17:45] Salt capsules? I said the form doesn't matter much, then said I like a cup of chicken broth for sodium, energy and fullness, with a pat of butter in maintenance, maybe a pinch of cayenne.
[19:20] You don't have to stay keto to keep the weight off, if you've got portion control and aren't fighting cravings.
[20:13] A plug for my coaching (left out here).
[21:03] In maintenance, the hardest part is the old self-image.
[21:58] Family not keto: make sides they can add and you can skip.
[22:50] A parent asked about a kid who lives on carbs. I said full keto for children is a grey area, and the problem with candy and chips is nutrition, not carbs. [32:41] Cook together, and stop buying the junk.
[25:22] Low-carb wraps: they're fine, but count them; three or four can use up a day's carbs.
[26:10] Family says you're too skinny when you're not underweight: tell them this is how you feel best.
[27:53] Skip most keto recipe channels and their flour substitutes. Learn to cook foods that were already keto. [28:41] Brussels sprouts pan-seared with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and butter beat the steamer bag.
[29:28] Intermittent fasting: if it fits your life. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
[30:20] Carbs vs calories when you go off plan (below).
[35:05] Drain bacon grease through a reusable coffee filter and keep it.
[37:30] Sweet cravings: sugar-free chocolate chips and diet soda.
[38:17] Close.

Watching this in 2026

The best answer in here is the one for the person starting from zero. Not a macro target, but a question: are you a tracker or a guidelines person? Then cut the obvious carb sources, learn a few meals, and spot-track now and then. That's "keto made easy" in about three minutes, and it's the same order the tapering guide uses.

The going-off-plan answer at [30:20] was a member asking me to repeat something I'd said in a recent Live. It's the same rule as my December 2017 holiday clip: off plan on carbs or on calories, not both, because carbs on top of a surplus refill glycogen (live LXTA1256). My example this time was a 2,000-calorie person eating 1,100 calories with a good share of carbs: those carbs get burned, not stored. I also said keeping calories under on that day cuts down the headaches and stomach trouble of bouncing in and out of ketosis. That's my experience, not a measured result. See the holiday clip for what's backed and what's reasoning.

The line that didn't hold up: salt

On salt capsules I said sodium gets into the body pretty much any which way, that you could get it in by sticking your hand in salty water (live LMPM3790). I wouldn't repeat that. Nothing on the evidence pages supports getting meaningful sodium through skin, and it's beside the point anyway: the useful part of the answer came next.

The broth habit is the part to keep. For a target, US guidance puts the adult sodium adequate intake at 1,500 mg a day and says to cut back if you're above 2,300 mg (NASEM 2019). If you have high blood pressure, kidney disease, or take blood pressure medication, talk to your doctor before adding salt or capsules. More in sodium and broth for keto flu.

On kids

What I said about children and full keto was my opinion, and none of the evidence pages covers children. The useful part of that answer doesn't depend on it: fix the nutrition first, cook together, and don't stock what you don't want eaten. Any real diet change for a child is a question for their pediatrician.

Key points

Maintenance: add back about 50 to 100 g of fat, mostly through fattier proteins (live LMPM3790).
Starting out: decide if you're a tracker or a guidelines person; cut bread, rice, pasta, soda and sugary coffee first.
One hour of Sunday prep (ground beef, chicken, bacon, eggs) covers a lot of meals. See also the slow-cooker video.
Cook real vegetables well instead of chasing keto baking substitutes.
Off plan? Carbs or calories, not both.
Salt: broth works; check with your doctor if blood pressure or kidneys are in the picture.