Keto Reboot Week One: Track Two Days, Cut Whole Carb Sources, Measure With Strings

2019-12-01

This is the short version of week one of the "Reboot Me" group I ran from December 1, 2019. It's a 12-minute clip for people who didn't have time for my longer video that day (the longer one isn't in this set). It never went on YouTube. I filmed it with bad hair, about to walk the dog in cold drizzle, and I said so.

In this recording

[0:38] We're assuming everyone is in week one, even if you've done keto before.
[1:01] The group's focus is weight loss. I'm not a medical professional, so thyroid conditions, breastfeeding and ultramarathons aren't what this group is built around.
[1:17] Assignment one: track. Even just two typical days, so we have a baseline and you can ask whether your food is on point.
[2:19] Tracker caution: many entries are user-entered. Look for an official source entry or check the label.
[3:01] We focus on weight loss, not ketosis. This week is about lowering your carbohydrate and insulin exposure.
[3:41] Build plates on protein: meat, fish, chicken, eggs, bacon, tofu. Protein-based snacks.
[4:04] Fat bombs are dessert. We are never trying to hit a fat goal in this group.
[4:25] Remove whole carb sources: bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, fries, rolls. Don't sweat the breading on chicken fingers yet.
[4:52] Getting under 150 g of carbs would be good; 50, or 20 net, would be best. New to it? Taper.
[5:34] No macro goals this week. More protein and fewer carbs are better, but the job is a baseline.
[6:32] Bonus: electrolytes. Most electrolyte drinks are far too low in potassium to matter.
[7:27] Pink salt is pretty, but its trace minerals don't add much and it has very little potassium.
[7:59] Cramps, fatigue, headaches or palpitations usually mean electrolytes; with any heart history, involve your doctor.
[9:15] Strings: tie one around waist, thigh, arm and neck, cut it, hang it up. Size and weight don't always move together.
[10:41] Post in the group every day. Accountability is a huge part of success.
[12:08] A member's comment about dropping sizes faster than pounds: as you gain muscle and lose fat, you get denser.

Watching this in 2026

What I like about this one is how little it asks. There's no macro target and no "go strict on day one." There's no ketone testing either. Track a couple of days, take the bread and potatoes off the plate, put protein on it. That's the same taper I'd been recommending since 2017 (taper video). The tracker is the one I walked through setting up in 2017 (setup); the warning about user-entered macros is new in this one.

The strings are the part I'd keep exactly as is. On the scale, a month of real progress can look like nothing. A string that's shorter than the one on the wall is hard to argue with. If you'd rather use a tape measure and write the inches down, I said that's fine too (live QYSK1658).

Then vs now: five weeks later

This is the week-one recording, and the group's week five was the New Year's Day Live. There I told the December cohort it was time to bring added fats down and switch to leaner proteins. I also gave my protein formula and the protein-versus-carbs-plus-fat rule (write-up; live QWCT4343). So the order was deliberate: carbs first, then protein, then fat comes down once hunger has settled. Week one doesn't count anything but what you're already eating.

The claim worth unpacking: the electrolyte numbers

I gave potassium needs as about 4,700 mg a day and sodium as 3,500 and up, "probably closer to 5,000" (live QYSK1658). Those are higher than what the reference bodies on the electrolytes evidence page now say:

National Academies 2019: potassium adequate intake 2,600 mg a day for women and 3,400 for men; reduce sodium if above 2,300 mg (NASEM 2019).
WHO: at least 3,510 mg a day of potassium from food for adults (WHO 2012), and under 2,000 mg of sodium (WHO 2012).
The PURE cohort associated 3 to 6 g of sodium a day with the lowest rates of death and cardiovascular events. That was an observational study, using one morning urine sample per person (O'Donnell 2014).

So my sodium range sits inside what PURE observed and above what the guideline bodies recommend. My potassium figure is above all of them. I'm leaving both views side by side. The practical point from this video still holds: one electrolyte drink won't come close to either set of numbers. If you take blood-pressure medication, or have kidney disease or a heart condition, talk to your doctor before you change your salt or add potassium.

Key points

Track two typical days so you have a baseline. No macro goals in week one.
Take whole carb sources off the plate first; taper if you're new.
Put protein in the middle of the plate. Fat bombs are dessert.
If cramps, headaches, fatigue or palpitations show up, look at electrolytes, and bring in your doctor if you have heart history.
Measure with strings or a tape; size can drop while the scale sits.
Check in with the group every day.