13 Things You Need to Know Before Starting on a Keto Diet

Keeping your body healthy is the first most important thing you can do. Without good health, everything else in your life is harder than it should be.  As physical exercise like having a daily jog or going to the gym regularly keeps both mind and body invigorated, maintaining a healthy diet provides the building blocks and energy needed for endurance and longevity.

THE BIG FAT PROBLEM

Currently, an alarming percentage of the population today is considered obese.  In most cases, this is a result of consuming foods that are low in nutrition and high in carbs, causing one to instinctively eat more food, and more frequently.  This causes the bloodstream to have a constantly elevated blood sugar level, which means a constant presence of insulin as well.  Over time, the body develops insulin resistance, making the body require even more insulin to metabolize blood sugar.  The constant presence of insulin makes getting fat easy and burning fat virtually impossible.  The only way to burn fat is to allow the body’s insulin level to drop back down and stay down until the next meal.  This is where the keto diet can help.

WHAT IS KETO?

Keto is short for ketogenic, meaning that which promotes the body’s use of fats instead of carbs for fuel.  Any food which introduces significant carbs into the body’s bloodstream (not ketogenic) increases the presence and duration of insulin as well.  As long as insulin is present in the blood, stored bodyfat cannot be burned for fuel.

The keto diet consists of a moderate protein, low-carbohydrate, and higher-fat diet that enables the body into achieve a metabolic state which is commonly known as ketosis. Ketosis happens when a body’s liver generates ketones from the breakdown of fats, which become the major source of the body’s energy, instead of generating glucose from carbohydrates.  In this state, when all the dietary fat has been used up and the body needs more, the liver starts to use the stored bodyfat that is available.  This is why how much fat you eat matters too.

ORIGIN – AND, ISN’T THIS LIKE ATKINS?

Though it seems to be a recent trend, this diet has existed since it was first introduced in the 1920s as a cure for epilepsy.  It is still being utilized as a treatment today, even though some medical experts still debate its efficacy, preferring instead to prescribe expensive medications.

The Keto diet is similar to the Atkins diet as both promote the use of dietary fat as the means to avoid hunger.  However, the Atkins diet promotes a higher intake of proteins, strongly limiting intake of any type of carb source, even vegetables.  What isn’t mentioned is the fact that eating more protein than the body needs results in converting that excess protein into glucose (blood sugar) through the process of gluconeogenesis.  This causes a rise in insulin levels, and fat burning shuts down again.

13 THINGS TO UNDERSTAND BEFORE STARTING ON YOUR KETO DIET:

1. SAY NO TO SUGAR AND HIGH-CARB FOODS (IT’S GONNA BE OK!)

It’s not so much about the carbs as it is about the presence and duration of INSULIN in your bloodstream!  You must avoid the foods that make insulin show up and stick around.  Say NO to sugars and fruits (except for berries and avocados); grains like wheat/bread/pasta, rice, corn, oats, etc.; moderate use of legumes, and starchy vegetables can be successfully used, but it helps to initially avoid these when starting out.

Artificial sweeteners, including Equal/NutraSweet (aspartame, acesulfame potassium, dextrose and maltodextrin), Splenda (sucralose), Sweet’n Low (saccharin) are effectively carb-free; however, it should be noted that even the body’s perception of sweetness on the tongue provides an insulin response.

You can experiment to see if using these artificial sweeteners has an overall significant negative affect on your fat loss progress.  It tends to make you feel like eating more that you need, which doesn’t make things easier.  The best rule of thumb is to move away from desiring sweetness and toward savory choices instead.

2. ENJOY THE FOODS THAT YOU CAN EAT

Foods that you can include in this diet include proteins (in moderation) like eggs, fish, poultry, and meats. Low-carb veggies like leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, bell peppers, and other common salad veggies, berries (and the list goes on).  Fats include vegetable oils, butter, and avocado. Nuts and dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheeses are also good sources of fat, but be very careful to minimize how much and how often you eat them, as they also can quickly increase your daily carb count.

3. CARB COUNT IS VERY IMPORTANT

To successfully follow this diet, you need to compute your macronutrients, or macros in short. By determining the amount of carbs, fats, and protein you need to consume in order to optimize losing weight on your diet, you are well on your way to achieving your goal.

Being successfully ketogenic requires tracking the amount of carbs you eat each day.  This can vary, based on your current physical condition, anywhere from 120 grams (g) down to as little as 20 grams.  You can easily find out what your value is by referring to Ketone Measurement in the next section below.

There are various keto macro calculators you can search and use on the net to help you calculate macros.  They take into account what is appropriate for your age, weight, height, activity level, etc.

To maintain this diet and know what adjustments are needed during your journey, it’s advisable to use a food diary to keep track of what and when each food/meal is consumed every day.

4. KETONE MEASUREMENT

To see if you are on track with your keto diet, it is important to take measurements that prove you are making consistent progress.  The best way is to measure the level of ketones your body is generating.

Many people on a keto diet use ketone urine strips, which show a color change that you match against an included color chart.  This is a non-invasive and easy way to get a reading, but provides results for indications of ketoacidosis (a serious diabetic problem).

The most relevant test is for nutritional ketosis (beta-hydroxybutyrate), which is found by directly measuring blood ketones, the same way you measure blood glucose when monitoring diabetes.  The test strip you would use is meant for ketones instead of glucose, and you must use a corresponding meter designed for that purpose.  There are meters which can use both kinds of test strips and show their corresponding results.

5. WEIGHT LOSS – WHAT KIND, HOW FAST

People typically think of fat loss when they speak of weight loss.  But this is not always the case.  When you strictly follow the keto diet, the first week will result in a dramatic drop in weight and a noticeable reduction in facial bloating.  This is exciting and the tendency is to think you will hit your weight loss goal in short order.  But it is important to expect a slower pace going forward.

The keto diet has a dehydrating effect, causing a loss most if not all of the body’s accumulated excess water weight, accounting for around 10 pounds on average in the first week of the total weight loss measured.  The following weeks will be significantly less dramatic, but respectable nevertheless.

Some of the ways to determine your body composition (% bodyfat) are bio-impedance measurements, skinfold calipers, and hydro or pneumatic weight/volume displacement services.

6. MENTAL STRENGTH AND COMMITMENT

By sticking with your new regimen, the cumulative effect will be quite satisfying.  Remember, it took a while to create your excess bodyfat, so it stands to reason that it will also take some time to get back to where you want to be.  And now you are finally doing just that!

As your body gets adjusted to using fat for fuel, it is important to not interrupt the process by making “small” compromises here and there with foods you aren’t supposed to eat, but miss enjoying.  Remember, it takes a while to get back into ketosis every time you slam down a bunch of carbs.  This is not simply a diet; it is a lifestyle you need to embrace and believe in.

7. WHEN AND HOW OFTEN TO EAT

Intermittent fasting is a term you may have heard, which kind of sounds like “sometimes suffering” but it really isn’t.   Fasting is technically the duration of time between meals.

Intermittent fasting involves longer durations between meals, from several hours up to one or even two days.  Think of it as having a window of time when you eat, like 8 hours in a 24-hour period.  The other 16 hours you don’t eat, which isn’t so bad when part of that is while you sleep at night.  It also involves eating fewer meals and determining when and how far apart to eat those meals in a given day.  Also, no snacking between your planned meals.

We won’t go into depth on this topic, but the “straight skinny” on this is that it promotes longer periods of dropped insulin levels, which enhances the rate of burning bodyfat.  In many cases this is successful by eating anything you want, but the keto diet turbo-charges intermittent fasting through better insulin control and avoiding hunger cravings.

8. SUPPLEMENTS FOR SUCCESS

It’s always a good idea to supplement your diet with vitamins and minerals, especially when changing your diet plan.  You need these substances to maintain healthy body function.  Cutting some of the carb foods you used to eat can also cut down on these necessary substances.  So be sure to replace these lost sources with supplementation.

A word about “gummies” and other chewable options: make sure that before you purchase and use this form of supplementation that you check the label for sugar content.  If you decide to go with the chewable option, at least make sure those supplements are sugar-free.  Otherwise, they will derail your efforts to succeed on a keto diet.

9. CRAVINGS WILL EASE

Whenever you cut your carb intake from your diet, you will go through a period of craving those types of foods.  But as you stay true to the keto diet, the cravings will lessen after a few days, eventually becoming immune to temptation altogether.  When your body relies on fat for fuel, there is constant state of non-hunger, making it easy to space meals further apart.

10. KEEP HYDRATED

A high carb diet is responsible for water retention in the body.  Dehydration is a normal side effect from following a keto diet.  It is important to consistently replenish your body with more water, which helps facilitate the import of nutrients and excretion of metabolic toxins and waste.

When you drink water, the body flushes out valuable sodium and minerals, which is needed to maintain a sustained electrolyte balance for proper neurological function (energy and alertness). Insufficient electrolyte levels tend to make one irritable and sluggish, and more susceptible to bad judgement, like eating carbs to “feel better.”  Be sure to add some sea salt, like the pink Himalayan variety.  This contains pretty much every mineral your body needs, as well as the necessary sodium content.

11. BEWARE OF SIDE EFFECTS

The keto diet can have some side effects, and varies from person to person.  While proponents believe that these are indications that the diet is working, these side effects can also be unpleasant. Some common negative effects, especially at first, are dehydration, increased urination, dry mouth, constipation, bad breath, lethargy, headaches, cramps, brain fog, and what is known as the keto flu.  By following the tips shared above, you can minimize or even avoid experiencing these conditions.

12. DON’T FORGET TO EXERCISE AND BREATH

Exercise, placing physical demands on your body, forces you to require more energy conversion, which now primarily comes from dietary fats and bodyfat stores.  One significant difference between using fuel from carbs and fat is that breaking down fat for fuel is a slower process, requiring more oxygen from breathing than that required from carbs.  So, performing explosive moves like weight lifting or climbing stairs can become taxing very quickly, especially when the glycogen stores (similar to an emergency battery backup) in your muscles have become depleted.  It’s important and more effective for fat loss to maintain at least a regular to moderate exercise regimen to see the best results from this diet.

13. DOCTOR CONSULTATION IS IMPORTANT

If you have some pre-existing health conditions or past medical issues and/or you are taking medications, you must talk with a doctor before beginning the diet as it may be potentially detrimental to you. In some cases, it may be necessary to change, taper or even eliminate some or all of the medicines you are taking, depending on your medical profile.  It’s advisable to get supervision and recommendations from a medical expert when making any intense changes in your diet.