A low carb diet has become a seriously popular phenomenon in recent years. Everybody wants to look good, lose weight and everybody wants quick results. There are many different types of diets out there, however, some of them are actually not very good for your health. Some diets, such as the cabbage soup diet, resemble an anorexic’s lunch!
With everybody obsessed with losing weight, it’s time to stop the fad diets and concentrate on losing weight in a healthy way. The ketogenic diet is a great way to achieve healthy weight loss, and if you’re wondering how effective it is, the keto diet results really speak for themselves. In this article, we’re going to give you the ultimate guide to the ketogenic diet, including information, keto food lists, and much more. By the end of it, you’ll see that it’s the right one to go for when weight loss is concerned.
How Does It Work?
The body usually looks towards carbohydrates to use and store for its energy, breaking down and burning these carbohydrates. However, when there are no carbs around, the body needs to look towards other sources of energy, and this is where fat burning kicks in. When the body burns it’s fat stores, it enters a natural metabolic state known as ketosis. When you’re in ketosis, you can burn fat easily and also increase your efficiency in burning fat. As long as you limit the number of carbohydrates you eat, you can achieve ketosis and have your body burning all of your fat reserves away. It’s remarkable how simple it is, and best of all, it’s healthy! It is a restrictive diet, and you’ll need to concentrate on eating the correct types of food.
What to Eat
When you’re on this kind of diet, you will want to get 60% of your calories from healthy fat. By healthy, we’re not talking about hydrogenated fats such as margarine or trans fats, but healthy monounsaturated fats. You can make some great keto recipes from the following foods:
- Fatty fish
- Avocados
- Salmon
- Olive oil
- Many kinds of nuts other than peanuts
Next up, 20% should come from good quality protein. Avoid anything that is processed because it will not be good for your body. You may be thinking “lots of fat and protein, well, I can gorge on junk food” but this is absolutely the wrong attitude. Try to get good quality protein from the following ingredients:
- Fatty meat
- Red meat
- Eggs
- Sausages
- Nuts
- Seafood
Last but not least, you’ll want to try and seriously cut down on the number of carbs you can eat. But where will you get your vitamins and minerals you may be asking? We thoroughly recommend eating good fruit and vegetables but avoid any starchy and sugary varieties. Here are some brilliant things to eat for low carb diet weight loss:
- Nutrient-dense leafy green vegetables
- Kale
- Spinach
- Broccoli
- Swiss chard
Related: How to Burn Visceral Fat and Keep it off?
What Not to Eat
It simply suffices to talk about what not to eat as this is a healthy diet. We would highly recommend avoiding the following because they are high in carbs and sugar which will get you out of ketosis:
- Alcohol
- Grains such as pasta, rice, and oatmeal
- Added sweeteners
- Carbonated and sugary drinks
- Root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots (they contain a lot of starch)
- Low-fat dairy products as they often contain sugar
- Snack-based foods such as potato chips and crackers
So are you saying we can’t have deserts? Certainly not! There are many keto desserts and even keto diet snacks that you can eat and still lose weight. You just have to get creative and inventive. When you’re thinking of snacks and desserts, have high fat and low carbohydrate in mind. We would highly suggest eating berries such as blueberries, raspberries, and red currants with your desert because they are nutrient-dense and contain fewer calories than most fruit.
Related: 10 Best Ways to Stop Drinking Alcohol
Bonus Tips
Even though the ketogenic diet isn’t about counting calories, it’s good to maintain a calorie deficit of around 25% or lower if you are able. The simple fact is that if you eat fewer calories than you need to maintain your weight, you’ll be able to lose weight as a result.
If you’re wondering about low carbs on keto and what you need to eat, plan your meals ahead. With a bit of math and organization, you’ll be able to calculate just how many carbs you get per meal. After a while, you’ll start to notice instinctively how many low carbs are in each portion of food.
Last, but not least, we thoroughly recommend you exercise while on this healthy diet. What you can eat on a low carb diet is important but getting enough exercise will kick things into overdrive and will allow you to maintain a healthy body. You can really turbocharge your metabolism and burn extra calories when you’re exercising. A simple 15 minutes of intense exercise or half an hour of less intense can make all the difference.
Conclusion
At first it may seem hard to think about the keto diet but you will soon learn to love it and develop good habits such as purchasing fewer snacks or not drinking alcohol when you’re out with your friends. Stick with the diet for at least a couple of weeks in order to ensure that your body can reach keto quickly. After this, you’ll be sure to watch the pounds fade away.
