Guess what?
A Ketogenic Diet is not just a low carb diet!
This is the number one problem that folks new to keto struggle with. If you’re going Keto, for beginners that means you need to be eating a hell of a lot of healthy fats – AS WELL AS drastically reducing your carbs. This can be hard when you start out. I’m talking 60-80% of your total daily calorific intake needs to be fat. Healthy fat.
Let’s get this straight – when you start off you will not be able to guess this. You will need to weigh your food and use a website or app like Cronometer (or just follow the FFF Plan). I’m talking daily avocados, drowning your plate in extra virgin olive oil, eating lots of tinned sardines, choosing fatty cuts of meat, cooking with lots of coconut oil, eating some high quality, organic, full fat dairy, adding MCT oil to your coffee etc
Also, even when you get your fat intake up to the required levels and your carb intake down to the required levels you will probably not be able to tell if or when you are in ketosis – well at least not at the beginning. Get a ketone breath analyser like this one and learn how to use it.
It’s all about the fat!
People say they’re going or trying keto. They then proceed to drop the refined sugars and carbs and reduce or eradicate their grain, potato and pasta consumption but don’t replace those missing calories and macros with fat! Disaster! At best they might up their protein intake which isn’t necessary or correct and can lead to other issues down the line or they just slowly starve themselves and wonder why they’re reaching for the chocolate ice-cream in the evenings. This approach will almost certainly end in failure. They might last a few months but more likely just a few weeks before they return to their old habits. But now also disappointed and disillusioned. This is obviously not what we want!
Let me sum it up in one simple sentence…
Keto is as much about consuming fat as it is about reducing carbs
Minimise Fruit, Maximise Veggies
Keto for beginners – yes you can eat some fruit every day. But limit it to a single serving per day of either of the following:
- Watermelon
- Red Berries
- Cantaloupe or Honeydew Melon
- Peaches
- Avocados and Tomatoes (but us normal people don’t count them as fruits although they obviously are)
Usually between 50-100g of one of these fruits end up in my evening Greek Yogurt Mix (stay tuned for that one – it’s an age reversing, miracle mixture!)
And more importantly – DO NOT LIMIT YOUR VEGETABLE INTAKE – In fact, you’ll want to step-up your veggie game and then some. Eat as much as you like from this list:
- Avocado
- Pumpkin
- Squash
- Courgette
- Cucumber
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Celery
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Swiss Chard
- Peppers
- Asparagus
- Tomatoes
It’s Simple
Keto for beginners – do it right and no matter what age you are you can open up a whole new chapter of your life where you’re full of energy, enthusiasm and positivity, have better sleep, a better sex life and better memory. Look great, slow down ageing and have the cardio of a professional athlete. As well as lose weight without losing muscle mass, sharpen your mind, improve your concentration and stop bloating. The list is endless…so what are you waiting for?