Foundation
Before you change what you eat, you need to understand one number: net carbs. Net carbs are total carbohydrates minus dietary fiber. On keto, your target is under 50g of net carbs per day — ideally under 20g in the first two weeks to enter ketosis reliably. This week, we're not restricting anything yet. We're learning to see carbs.
Read every food label you encounter this week. Look at total carbs and fiber. Do the math. You'll be surprised where carbs are hiding — and where they aren't. Steak has zero. Bread has 30g per slice. A banana has 24g. This awareness is the foundation everything else is built on. You can't manage what you can't see.
Your one habit this week
Read every food label this week and calculate net carbs.
Net carbs = total carbohydrates minus fiber. Do this for everything you eat — not to restrict, just to see. By Sunday you'll have a mental map of your current diet that most people never build.
Recipe of the week
Butter-Basted Salmon with Garlic Spinach
5 mins prep · 15 mins cook · serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 salmon fillets
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 200g fresh spinach
- 1 lemon
- Salt and black pepper
Steps
- Season salmon fillets generously with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Melt 1 tbsp butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add salmon skin-side up.
- Cook 4 minutes, flip, add remaining butter and garlic to the pan.
- Tilt the pan and baste salmon continuously with the butter for 3–4 more minutes.
- Remove salmon. In the same pan, wilt spinach for 2 minutes with the remaining butter and garlic.
- Serve salmon over spinach with a squeeze of lemon. Net carbs: under 4g.
Movement this week
Focus: Light movement only — protect your energy
During the first week of keto, your body is depleting glycogen stores and hasn't yet adapted to burning fat efficiently. Heavy exercise now will leave you exhausted. This week: gentle movement only. Walks, light stretching, easy cycling. Your time to train hard comes in weeks 4–6 once fat adaptation begins.
- • 20–30 minute walk daily — easy pace
- • Light stretching or yoga
- • Avoid any high-intensity exercise this week
Supplement of the week
Electrolyte Blend (Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium)
This is non-negotiable in week 1. When you cut carbs, your kidneys excrete significantly more sodium, which pulls potassium and magnesium with it. The resulting electrolyte depletion causes the 'keto flu' — headaches, fatigue, brain fog. An electrolyte supplement eliminates most of these symptoms. Take it daily, especially in the first two weeks.
View on Amazon →Book recommendation
The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners
by Amy Ramos
The best-selling keto starter guide for good reason. Clean layout, simple meal plans, shopping lists, and zero overwhelm. Read this before week 2 and you'll feel genuinely prepared.
View on Amazon →The science
Ketogenic diet leads to significant reductions in body weight, BMI, waist circumference, fat mass, and body fat percentage.
Springer Current Nutrition Reports, 2025 →After 3 weeks on keto, quality of life significantly improved with no deterioration in social or environmental wellbeing.
iScience/Cell, LMU Munich, 2024 →Keto diet reduces insulin resistance and improves lipid profiles in overweight adults across multiple metabolic reviews.
PubMed/Cureus, 2023 →
Coming next
- • Week 2: Consistency — your first full week under 50g net carbs
- • How to know if you're actually in ketosis
- • The electrolyte mistake that derails most people in week 1
Ready for Week 2?
- • 9 more weekly lessons, recipes, and habits
- • Weekly coaching emails to keep you on track
- • Full supplement & book recommendations
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