Interested in how to start the keto diet? Here’s some background on the diet that is all the rage and how to get started safely and effectively.
For years we?ve been told that in order to live a healthy life, we should eat a diet consisting of high carbohydrates, moderate protein, and low fat.
A high-fat diet has always been synonymous with weight gain, and in some cases, people will do their very best to avoid all sources of fat.
While the keto diet has been used in treating disorders like epilepsy and diabetes, recent research has brought rise to a style of dieting that claims it can help you lose weight, burn fat, and provide more energy throughout the day. Celebrities have jumped on board and the keto diet has become commonplace and one of the most common diets today and supermarkets are now stocking their shelves with keto products.
What Is the Ketogenic aka Keto Diet?
The ketogenic diet is a diet that focused on the opposite of many other traditional diets. Rather than shunning fatty foods, the low-carb diet is powered by a high amount of unsaturated fats and moderate intakes of saturated fats as a staple.
In addition to high intakes of fat, the keto diet also requires that you remove much of the carbohydrates in your diet and replace them with lean protein sources.
A low-carb, keto diet contains approximately 60% of calories from fat, 25% from protein, and 15% from carbohydrates (sometimes even lower).You can use a keto macros calculator that factors in your weight and goals to know exactly how much of each group you should eat to properly start a keto diet.?
Why Try the Keto Diet?
Many of us have been struggling for years to lose weight and effectively live a healthy life with the current foods we?re eating. A low-carb diet may just be the best change you can make to start losing weight and feeling great. Specifically, studies show – and I along with tens of thousands of others – that the keto diet is especially effective for women as we age and hormone fluctuations make it difficult to lose stubborn weight among other effects.
A ketogenic diet works to induce a state of fat oxidation.
This state is called ketosis and will occur when the body has a higher supply of fat and the frequency of meals decreases.
Your body will enter a mild starvation, or fasting phase. At this time your body can start to utilize stored fat as fuel, effectively burning calories and fat you may have had stored for years.
What Do You Eat?
One of the first question I get when people ask me how to start the keto diet is what to eat. The keto diet works best when you?re in a moderate fasted state, with high amounts of fat as your primary source of calories.
So what foods are best?
The main idea on a keto diet is to eat as few carbs as possible. Of course, you?ll need some carbohydrates in your diet, but avoiding high carbohydrate foods will help you to enter ketosis much more effectively.
Here are the best foods to eat on a keto diet:
- Natural fats. The staple nutrients on a low-carb diet are natural fats, including oils, butter, and some whole milks.
- Meats and seafood. Both meat and seafood contain high amounts of fat and are great sources of protein. Beef, chicken, cod, salmon, and other meats are also staples in a ketogenic diet.
- Eggs and cheese. We start to run into small amounts of carbohydrates when we eat eggs and cheese, although it?s highly recommended that you consume 1-2 servings of eggs and cheese daily.
- Dark, leafy vegetables. Vegetables like broccoli, spinach, avocado, asparagus, cabbage, and peppers are the perfect vegetables to consume on a daily basis.
NOTE: Vegetables should be your main source of carbohydrates on the keto diet.
We have a printable, free list of keto foods here that is a great start.
Foods to Avoid on a Keto Diet
You?ll want to avoid all foods that contain moderate to high concentrations of carbohydrates. This means everything from fruit to pasta – and even candy (yep, candy has very high carbohydrates).
Is Keto Right for You?
The ketogenic diet isn?t right for everyone. While many people may benefit, others could struggle with the specific dietary requirements needed to succeed.
Chances are, if you?ve been struggling to lose those pesky pounds, you could use a suitable change to your diet.
Above all the specific dietary requirements on a ketogenic diet, the change to a keto diet will help you to become more conscious of what you?re eating. You can’t eat any junk food on this diet – no candy, desserts, or baked goods. All the junk food is taken out of your diet and replaced with whole foods.
With the keto diet and the astounding benefits of achieving a state of ketosis, weight is sure to drop off faster than you can say ?I miss bread.?
