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Healthy Diet: This is how the ketogenic diet works for beginners

The ketogenic diet continues to enjoy great popularity. No wonder, because with the fat diet (as the ketogenic diet is also called), the pounds drop off. And that, although unlike other diets, the keto diet really does fill you up.

By Gary BarrientosPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
Healthy Diet: This is how the ketogenic diet works for beginners
Photo by LYFE Fuel on Unsplash

The secret recipe behind it is: Low Carb - High Fat. Means: With the ketogenic diet you have to avoid sugar and carbohydrates as much as possible and significantly reduce the consumption of protein. On the other hand, healthy fats can be given a lot.

Because the body is deprived of the carbohydrates that it normally burns for quick energy production, it falls back on the fat cells and excess fat deposits and burns them.

This state in which the metabolism converts the fatty acids into ketones for energy production is called ketosis.

But for beginners in particular, switching to high-fat foods can be quite a challenge.

This is how beginners lose weight on the ketogenic diet

1. Preparation is everything

“I'm going to go on a keto diet now!” This sentence and the plan that goes with it are doomed to failure. Because what all nutrition and diet experts agree on: You need good and well thought-out preparation to change your diet to the ketogenic diet.

This is what diet specialist Julie Stefanski also says: “Never try to improvise a keto diet!” She advises setting a fixed start date and remodeling the kitchen and pantry until then. At the start of the keto diet, the refrigerator should be well stocked with suitable and permitted foods - because spontaneously shaking a high-fat and low-carbohydrate meal out of your sleeve is almost impossible.

2. Seek medical advice

Let's be honest: the ketogenic diet is pretty drastic and in extreme cases can even have blatant side effects. Hair loss and unpleasant body odors are still among the less dramatic.

Therefore, the diet should only be carried out under the supervision of a doctor who ensures that all important macro and micronutrients are supplied to the body.

3. Adjust the sports plan

The above-mentioned ketosis can be quite exhausting for the body with energy expenditure. On top of that, a hard sports program is simply too much.

At the beginning of the diet change, you should therefore reduce your exercise plan a little and make sure to consume more carbohydrates on extremely active days.

Do you want to get your Custom Keto Diet Plan? Please, click here to get it.

4. Eat lots of small meals

As Dr. Nutritional therapy expert Josh Ax reports on shape.com that he recommends three to four meals and additional snacks per day on the keto diet. "This way, the body is supplied with a good mix of protein and fat throughout the day, which we need to have enough energy."

He emphasizes that you should definitely listen to your body. If you are hungry, you can easily switch to five or six smaller meals a day.

5. Let's go - with an exemplary meal plan

Breakfast on the ketogenic diet

1st variant: an omelet with spinach, mushrooms and feta, plus a keto coffee with MCT oil or melted butter

2nd variant: Whole milk and unsweetened yoghurt with high-fat sour cream, plus a few raspberries, chia seeds and walnuts

Lunch on the ketogenic diet

1st variant: salmon from the oven with broccoli

2nd variant: Salad with bacon (nitrate-free), avocado, cheese, pumpkin seeds, cocktail tomatoes and a high-fat salad dressing (e.g. ranch dressing)

Dinner on the ketogenic diet

1st variant: Caesar salad with romaine lettuce, chicken breast, bacon and lots of Parmesan, with a dressing made from olive oil

2nd variant: grilled chicken breast with eggplant, yellow pumpkin, zucchini and a few tomatoes, fried with garlic in olive oil.

Dr Jean-Michel Lecerf: Head of the nutrition department at the Institut Pasteur de Lille.

"Diets that provide more than 40% of energy intake as fat damage the arteries and can cause digestive problems. The ketogenic diet can never be followed long term without harming health."

Do you want to get your Custom Keto Diet Plan? Please, click here to get it.

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