Keto for Beginners: The Carb Manager Quick Start Guide

Nobody succeeds in life without a little help. And succeeding on Keto is no exception. 

Carb Manager gives you more than a little help as you surge toward your wellness goals. It's a macro calculator, digital companion, and supportive community with all the tools you need to succeed. 

This guide to Keto for beginners will detail—with infographics—all the ways Carb Manager can help you become your healthiest self. You'll learn how to log meals in a flash, access professional Keto recipes, create custom Keto meal plans and shopping lists, set trackable goals, join the Carb Manager Challenge (instant motivation!), and much more. 

If you're a visual learner, this manual is for you. And if you prefer reading text, focus on the info portion of the infographics. Either way, it should be a fast read. 

Let's start at the beginning. You just downloaded the Carb Manager app—so now what?

Onboarding

After downloading, the Getting Started Wizard (picture Gandalf from Lord of the Rings) launches automatically. Gandalf will then ask you questions—current activity level, height, weight, etc.—to calibrate your baseline Keto diet. 

This data helps tailor your dietary program. It helps inform your recommended carb count, calorie intake, calorie burn while exercising, and more. 

But nothing is set in stone. In Settings, you can adjust:

• Your main dietary requirements or macro goals (Carb Manager supports many diets beyond Keto)
• How carbs are tracked (net carbs vs. total carbs)
• Units of measure
• Various exercise settings
• And much more

Pro tip: For the juiciest features (custom meal plans, premium recipes, goal tracking, photo food logging, Keto Academy, etc.), subscribe to Carb Manager Premium. 

The Daily Log

The Daily Log is the heartbeat of the Carb Manager app. It's where you log meals, supplements, water, exercise, glucose, and more. 

You already set your goals—i.e., lose weight, maintain, or gain muscle—with the Getting Started Wizard. (Tip: you can modify your goals in Settings→Goals.) Now it's time to start moving towards those goals. 

The Daily Log home screen offers a visual guide, complete with snappy graphics, for assessing your situation. (Macros, calories, etc.) 

By the way, food logging with Carb Manager is a snap. Save time by:

• Creating custom meals for one-click adding
• Voice logging your meals
• Snapping pictures to log meals (are we living in a science fiction movie??)

Recording supplements, water, exercise, and various biomarkers is also intuitive. Just click "Add The Item" from the Daily Log screen. Easy peasy. 

Goals

To get anywhere in life, it's helpful to have a goal. A goal provides a target to aim at. 

But goals don't achieve themselves. You need a system to accomplish them. 

That's where Carb Manager comes in. You'll set goals (we covered this already) and track your progress in the "Goals" section. 

You can log and track:

• Measurements like body weight, body fat, waist size, arm size, blood glucose, ketones, insulin, and more. 
• Dietary goals like carbs, protein, fat, fiber, total calories, micronutrients, and more. 
• Lifestyle goals like exercise, fasting, hydration, and sleep. 

The bottom line? Carb Manager is your secret weapon for achieving your goals. 

Meals

How's your appetite? The "Meals" tab is waiting. 

There you'll find over 5,000 Premium recipes developed and tested by professional chefs. While navigating recipes, click the filter button (three lines with three dots) to the right of the search box to filter by:

• Preferred macros
• Specialty diet (Paleo, pescetarian, vegan, vegetarian)
• Food intolerances (egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, wheat-free, and more)
• Which meal you're hungry for (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert)

Click "Meal Planning" on the top bar to create a custom meal plan or use one of our premade meal plans. Either way, meal planning helps you stick to your diet. 

One final tip? Create a healthy shopping list (see the "Shopping List" button) so you can stay on point at the supermarket. 

Connect

Without human connection, life would be a lonely affair. It would also take more work to achieve your health goals. 

A supportive community helps motivate positive changes. Let Carb Manager be that community for you. 

The "Connect" tab is your entry point. There you'll find:

• Challenges. Join monthly Carb Manager Challenges and score points for hitting your macro, exercise, and sleep targets. 
• Groups. Groups like "over 50 keto," "Living w/ Type 2 and Doing Low Carb", "Thyroid Weight loss support group," "Keto kool moms," and others help you connect with folks on similar journeys. 
• Articles. Expert articles on Keto dieting, weight loss, metabolic health, supplements, and more help you take control of your health. 

From the "Profile" tab, you can add friends (or family) to share your Carb Manager health journey. You'll be motivated to do better with someone else along for the ride. 

More Tools and Resources

Here are some other resources for navigating the Carb Manager Universe:

• The Carb Manager knowledge base. This network of support articles should answer any lingering questions about the app or its features.
• A Crash Course in Carb Manager. A fantastic companion piece to this visually-driven manual. 
• How To Crush the Carb Manager Challenge. Hint: it's less about winning and more about celebrating your progress. 
• How to Track Macros with Carb Manager. And the top 7 macro tracking mistakes to avoid. 
• Carb Manager: More Than Just a Keto Diet App. Why CM isn't just a carb counter but the best food tracking app out there.

And don't stress—no need to read everything now. Just bookmark this page and return whenever you need a little help from your friends at Carb Manager.