How to start the keto diet

The keto diet is everywhere. Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter of Snapchat everyone’s talking about it. But what is keto? Is it something special or just a new trend that will probably fade with time?

Keto or ketogenic diet is simply leaving out on carbohydrates and increasing the fat content in your diet to bring your body to a state called “ketosis”. 

We all know our body requires energy and this energy comes from burning what we eat. When we have carbs, our body burns it and creates energy so that our cells can function. 

Many believe that fat makes you fat but that is not the case. Good fat is beneficial for you and since your body needs to use something, it relies on burning fat, which in turn making people lose weight.

Now that we’ve explained what keto is and how the diet works, let’s focus on how to start the keto diet.

Changing your lifestyle and eating habits suddenly may be difficult but the results are promising, rest assured. There are a few basics one can consider continuing staying in ketosis. 

Note that even if you consume more than the carbohydrates allowed in a single day then your body will fall out of ketosis. So, know that it isn’t easy to lose weight this way.

Coming back to our original topic, you will need to restrict to less than 20g net carbs per day to stay on the keto diet. But carbs are not all that has to stay under the limit. Your protein intake needs to be restricted as well since a keto diet isn’t a high protein diet either. 

If your protein levels are high, your kidneys will be in stress so you’re better off not having too much protein in your diet.

Keto diet is high in fat and since not all fats are bad for you, you can consume fats as your hunger is satisfied. However, don’t go overboard and multiply the fat content by tenfold, too much of anything is bad for you!

Additionally, you’re supposed to drink more water than you do regularly while you’re in ketosis. The reason is simple: your body stores less water when carbs are limited or reduced to minimal. This can make you dehydrated quickly and your kidneys require water to cleanse from the body to stay hydrated at almost double the rates you normally do while following the keto diet. 

Perhaps the most important note to keep in your mind: eat only when you’re hungry!

A major reason why people become obese is that they tend to overdose on “snacks”. These mini-sessions of food offer no benefit since they add to your calorie intake, making you gain fat over your body.

Keto diet not only restricts you on snacks but completely bans you from eating anything apart from your daily meals. A morning breakfast, followed by a light meal in the daytime and finally, a healthy and nutritious dinner to end your day. That’s all. However, some argue that eating vegetables or fruits, that are allowed by keto, are allowed.

Keto offers quick results. Once you drop carbs, your body no longer stores water molecules and the initial weight people lose in the first few weeks of keto is because of water weight. This inspires people to continue with keto however, note that the rate at which your weight drops will reduce with time. 

 

There are debates that this diet is not known to give long-term results but, research is constantly being undertaken to produce new data to know whether keto should is ideal to sustain for a longer period or not.