There are so many diet plans around and the Ketogenic Diet is one of them. What is Keto Diet and how do you lose weight with it? The ketogenic diet is one of the most effective diets on the planet and has been proven to work. Millions of people have shed their excess pounds much faster with this diet.
The keto diet will get you results much FASTER and you will lose weight if you stay motivated and not quit on your weight loss goals.
The first step is to understand that you MUST eat natural fats to lose fat. Back in the day, it would have been anathema to tell people to use coconut oil in their cooking. They’d gasp and envision impending heart attacks. This was erroneous thinking.
The commercially-sold hydrogenated vegetable oils that you see parading on the shelves in supermarket aisles looking all clean, healthy and golden – those oils wreak more havoc on your body that you could ever think possible.
Inflammation, obesity and many other health issues are directly and indirectly linked to these supposedly ‘healthy’ oils. The truth of the matter is that these oils will kill you slowly, while the fat in coconut oil will benefit you and help you to lose weight.
How does eating fat make me lose fat?
For starters, you’ll only be eating healthy, natural fats. Secondly, you’ll be seriously restricting your carb intake. If you stopped to think about it, most man-made foods are high in carbs and sugar. This is exactly why obesity has reached epidemic proportions.
When your diet is mostly comprised of fats, your body realizes that it has a constant supply of fats coming in. This makes it much readier to burn off the fat stores that are stubbornly clinging on to your belly and hips.
There’s a reason they call it ‘stubborn fat’… your body is fighting your attempts to get rid of the fat. It views your fat stores as ‘stored energy’ that could be used for future needs. This is the body’s way of self-preservation.
When it seems that you’re constantly feeding it with ‘energy’, it will realize that there really is no need to ‘save for the future.’
Ketosis – the secret to shedding the fat!
Once you get over the hurdle of getting 80 to 90 percent of your calories from natural fats, your body will enter a state of ketosis. Your blood sugar levels will stabilize. Inflammation will decrease, and your body will be in a state where it burns fat for fuel instead of glucose.
This is the key to burning fat – to train your body to use fat instead of glucose for its energy needs. When you’re on a ketogenic diet, since your carb intake will be very low, your glycogen stores will be low too.
The body will not have access to glycogen and will have no choice but to burn fat for fuel. On another note, the reason why so many people gain weight is that they keep eating carbs and when their glycogen stores are full, the body converts the excess glucose to fat.
Now you’ll understand why the body treats it as stored energy. It uses glucose for fuel, and any excess glucose is stored as fat. The ketogenic diet will put an end to this fat storage and turn your body into a fat burning machine.
Do give it a try and you’ll be amazed at how effective it is. Don’t knock it till you try it.
Keto Foods that Accelerate Weight Loss
To be on a keto diet means that you’re going to be eating fatty foods all the time. About 75% to 80% of your calories will come from fat. Initially, this may seem like fun. You get to eat all the bacon you want.
However, after a while, you’ll find it tougher to stay on the diet because most of us have been raised on a diet that was high in carbs and protein. Making the switch is challenging.
You’ll not be allowed to eat more than 50 grams of carbs per day. In fact, it’s better to stick to just 20 grams. Even protein is best consumed in an amount that makes up 20 percent of your calories a day.
Your goal should be to focus on high-fat foods. That said, you can’t just eat any ol’ fat. Your foods should be good quality fat that is beneficial to your body.
So, what is good quality fat?
Coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil are good sources of fat. Margarine and refined vegetable oils are bad sources of fat and should be avoided.
The general rule of thumb is that the source of fats needs to be as natural as possible. Margarine is man-made. Hydrogenated oils such as corn oil, canola oil, etc. are also man-made and go through a series of chemical processes that make them very unhealthy. They may look golden and clean, but they’re highly detrimental to your health.
Some of the best keto foods to eat are:
Coconut oil
Olive oil
Cocoa butter
Ghee
Lard
Butter
Full fat cottage cheese
Bacon
Cured Meats
Salmon, sardines, and other oily fish
Almost all types of vegetables (avoid white potatoes)
Peas
Most meats
You may notice that many of the foods mentioned above are carbs and protein. The list above are foods that are ideal for the keto diet. Your portion sizes, however, will need to abide by the rules of the keto diet.
In other words, even if you’re eating vegetables, you shouldn’t have more than 50 grams. If you’re eating meat such as chicken, the calories from it should not amount to more than 25 percent of your daily calories.
It may seem difficult to follow a keto diet if you need to plan so much. How do you even cook a keto meal and keep track of the calories and fats, etc.?
The best way around this will be to do your research online or get a book that shows you how to plan a keto diet. Alternatively, you may wish to engage the services of a nutritionist who will be able to plan a diet for you that’s easy to follow and sticks to the keto rules.
If you’re more of a do-it-yourself type of person, that’s fine. There are many keto recipe books to help you navigate the diet. As long as you use the ingredients and follow their recipes, you’ll be able to whip up keto dishes that taste good and help you to lose weight.
The secret to accelerating weight loss with the keto diet is to just follow the rules and maintain a daily caloric deficit of about 500 calories.
The foods above are a guideline and if you stick to them, you’ll be doing great. Ultimately, it’s your compliance to the rules of the diet that matter. Focus on the rules and portion sizes. Once your body reaches a state of ketosis, you will burn more fat than you ever thought possible.
Taking Your First Steps With the Ketogenic Diet
If you have decided to give the Ketogenic diet a try, you’re in for an awesome journey. Keto diet has seen a surge in popularity with thousands of people raving about it because of its effectiveness.
Numerous scientific studies have shown that a ketogenic diet will help you lose weight and that the weight loss can be much greater in comparison to other diets.
However, as with any commitment, there can be difficulties when you’re first starting out. It might take from 5 to 20 days before you become fully accustomed to being in a state of ketosis and start to reap the benefits.
As with all things, you only reach cruising altitude after going through some initial turbulence. This should not discourage you. The ketogenic diet is much easier to adopt. If you do not give up with keto diet you can lose weight.
Disclaimer: This website is written by a regular human being. I am not a Health Professional. Please get professional medical advice for your health needs.