The KETO diet
The ketogenic diet consists of high fats, no sugar, and low carbohydrates. The main purpose of this diet is it forces your body to burn fats for energy instead of carbs. This is a major transition for your body to take on especially if you are a bread, pasta, or rice fanatic. I have tried different diets but I found that the keto diet works best for me when I want to lose weight. In 3 months, I lost 18 lbs with this diet while also working out consistently. I am going to share with you what I have learned from this diet and the process in doing so.
Before I began this diet, I was eating fast food at least 3-4 times a week and snacking multiple times throughout the day. I was working out everyday, but because my diet was so bad, I wasn’t seeing results and I did not feel good about myself. When I decided to try the keto diet, I knew it was going to be a big adjustment to my past lifestyle. In order to help the transition go smoothly, I decided to do a juice detox for 3 days to flush out any unhealthy toxins that were in my body. The first day, I strictly did 5 pressed juices and no food. The next day, I had 4 juices and ate a salad for dinner, and the final day I had 2 juices and ate 2 meals. I was groggy and I chose not to workout for these 3 days because my energy levels were so low.
Once I finally started keto, I had stocked up on meats, fish, dairy, vegetables, and nuts. These are some of the staple items you will need once you start keto:
Eggs: There are so many different recipes you can make with eggs and I include them in my breakfast almost everyday. They are low in carbs and high in protein.
Avocado: A MUST HAVE on the keto diet. Avocado is high in healthy fats and contains many vitamins and minerals while being only 1-2 grams of carbs.
Berries: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries make for a good, keto-friendly snack when consumed in moderation. Most fruits are high in carbs such as banana (27 grams) or an apple (25 grams). Berries are also loaded with antioxidants that help prevent diseases.
Cheese: All cheeses are high in fats and low in carbs. Mozzarella cheese sticks are an easy go-to snack. I also like to add cheese to my omelets and in my salads.
Nuts: Pecans, almonds, macadamia, and walnuts are also a staple food source for this diet. One of my favorite snacks is honey-roasted almonds. When eaten in moderation, they are low in carbs and high in healthy fats and protein.
There is also something called the “keto flu” that happens within the first week of starting this diet. When your body is transitioning into ketosis you can experience symptoms such as nausea, headaches, constipation, and fatigue. I only experienced this the 3 days on my juice detox before officially starting the diet. If you experience this, you should not workout until the symptoms subside.
I also tracked my macros, which are my carb, protein, and fat intake, daily with the Carb Manager app. This helped me to stay on track and is also useful when shopping because you can scan a barcode and it will pull up the health statistics for that product. You can also input your water consumption for the day and if you are able to track your workouts and calorie loss, it can be added to the app.
Carb Manager
Free and easy to use.
Before starting this diet it is always important to consult your doctor first. Some benefits of this diet are:
Supports weight loss: the keto diet boosts weight loss by reducing your appetite and increasing your metabolism.
Reduces your risk for heart disease: low-carb diets decrease the levels of triglycerides in the bloodstream. Triglycerides are fat molecules in the blood that can increase the chance of getting heart disease.
Reduces blood sugar levels: it is said that the keto diet can be specifically helpful for people with diabetes and insulin resistance. According to a study done by Bio Med Central, 95% of people with type 2 diabetes who started a low-carb diet had reduced or eliminated their glucose medication within 6 months.
Starting a diet is not easy but once you put your mind to it and you start seeing real changes and real results, the struggle will prove its worth. We must also remember to not be hard on ourselves. There will be days where you don’t feel like working out or you might have a bag of chips and it is OK. Life is about doing things that make us feel good and maybe that bag of chips felt good in the moment. It is OK. Starting this diet helped me become more cautious every day of what I eat and I am constantly researching different recipes and the benefits of different foods that will fuel my body. I can say that it changed my lifestyle and it could potentially change yours, too.