The keto diet is one of the easiest and most effective ways of losing weight quickly and safely
The Ketogenic Diet
This is a low carbohydrate diet with higher fat and moderate protein levels.
The keto diet is one of the easiest and most effective ways of losing weight quickly and safely.
You won’t feel hungry and will be surprised how much energy you will have and how good you will feel.
How to Get into Ketosis
The aim of the keto diet is to drop your carbohydrates down to around 20 grams of carbohydrate daily while maintaining good levels of protein and fats
After 2 -3 days on the diet your body will switch from burning carbohydrate for energy to burning fat for energy
You will know when your body has switched into burning fat because you will start to flush ketone bodies out in the urine. The exciting thing about that is you can easily test whether you are in ketosis by using keto strips to measure. Simply run keto strip through the stream of urine and compare the indicator color with what’s on the label. When the urine stick turns pink you know you are burning fat.
There are also keto meters available which you can breath into and will give you a ketone reading.
The keto strips and meters give you control over how much carbohydrate foods you can have before going out of ketosis. After a few weeks on the diet, you can start increasing your carbohydrates a little and see what your carb tolerance is. If you exercise you will have a higher carbohydrate tolerance.
What are Ketones?
Ketones are by-products of the body breaking down fat for energy.
When the body has exhausted glucose as a fuel source for energy it looks for and finds an alternative source which is fat. The lowering of blood sugar levels initiates the process and the same thing happens when people fast or do prolonged exercise.
It is important to drink lots of water on the keto diet so you can flush the ketones out of the body.
Keto Foods
The macronutrient levels on the keto diet are
50% fat
30% protein
20% carbohydrate
You can achieve great results on the diet using food alone but it can make life easier if you e protein shakes and keto snacks as well. With anything you do use on the diet, it is important to look at the protein and carbohydrate levels particularly as labels can be misleading.
A Ketogenic Day could look like this
Two or three healthy meals containing
Approximately 1 palm-size portion of a protein
3 cups of low carbohydrate vegetables
1 serve of healthy fats eg nuts, oils, avocado, eggs.
In between meals you can bring in a keto snack eg nuts, keto cookies or bars
One meal could be substituted for a protein drink or a keto bar.
What You Can Eat on the Keto Diet
Protein
Consume lean protein eg chicken, fish, beef and Free-range eggs.
Healthy nuts and nut butters can be great as well. eg almonds, peanuts, brazil nuts
If you have or suspect a dairy allergy then keep all forms of dairy to a minimum.
Vegan protein sources are also available but often supplementation with vegan protein powders is necessary to remain in ketosis.
Fat.
Use pure sources of the anti-inflammatory Omega 3 oils
Nuts are great snacks which bring in protein as well as healthy fats
Include coconut oil, macadamia oil, and hemp seed oil into the diet
Cook with organic olive or coconut oils which have a reasonably high heat tolerance
high fat cream is allowed on the keto diet I would recommend still keeping it to a minimum in favor of healthier options.
It is great to know you can have a treat on foods that won’t break your diet.
Cabohydrates
Incorporate lots of keto-friendly vegetables into the diet. Some fruits are also included which are naturally low in sugar
Organic choices in all the food groups are always ideal if it is available to you where you live
What could be better than waking up to a delicious protein shake which is easy and quick to prepare as you are getting yourself and family ready for your day? Or maybe an omelet or scrambled eggs with onions, peppers cheese, avocado.