At some point in just about everybody’s life, some level of dieting becomes a necessity. Whether you find that your health and weight have begun to slip or you simply want to bring yourself to your optimum level, what you put into your body plays a major roll. No amount of exercise is going to get you there if you don’t have a diet to match.
With so many dieting trends out there, the search for the right plan can be a daunting task. How are you supposed to know which one is right for you?
For most people, the main reason they start a diet in the first place is to burn off unwanted fat. While there are a variety of other health reasons to maintain a particular diet, the desire for weight loss can be quite a motivator.
This is where the Ketogenic diet really shines.
Put simply, a Ketogenic diet is designed to put your body into a state of Ketosis, where it begins to burn fat for fuel instead of carbs. Sounds great right? To properly follow this type of diet, you need to eat large amounts of fat, plenty of protein and a very low amount of carbohydrates. Now, this is where the Keto diet begins to sound a bit counterproductive to some people. How could a diet that is high in fat cause you to burn fat?
Like most diets, the Keto diet relies heavily on the restriction of caloric intake. Controlling the amount of calories that you’re ingesting is the basic principle behind any weight loss program.
What makes the Ketogenic diet more successful than most is its ability to control hunger and food cravings?
A lot of people find themselves constantly battling their self-control when dieting. Because of the constant cravings they face, dieting becomes a cycle of temporary healthy living followed by binging on junk food to make up for those missed comforts. The low success rate of these diets can be extremely discouraging and usually causes people to feel that diets don’t make much of a difference.
The real key to the Keto diet is the low carbohydrate consumption. When we eat carbs, it causes our blood-sugar and insulin levels to rise rapidly. The insulin disperses the excess blood sugar, which causes you to feel hungry. This is why people that follow a diet that focuses solely on counting calories often fail. Feeling like you’re starving yourself can leave you unhappy and struggling to maintain control.
By greatly limiting your carbohydrate intake, the Keto diet keeps blood-sugar levels low and much more stable, helping you to avoid feeling hungry all the time.
The reduction in insulin levels is also necessary since insulin causes our bodies to store fat instead of burning it. So it turns out all those calorie counting diets weren’t so effective after all.
The best part about following a Keto diet is just how satisfying it can be. No more eating tiny, non-filling meals better fit for a rodent. Since the majority of your daily calories will come from fats and protein, you’ll find that the meals can be quite filling. Not only that, foods that are high in fats and proteins are almost always delicious.
Try this on for size:
Bacon and Ricotta Pancakes.
If you’re anything like me, I had you at bacon.
Now that you’re on board with the Keto diet, there are a few things you should know about how to move forward.
Getting started with a Keto diet can be a little tricky. In general, you want to keep yourself limited to less than 50 grams of carbs each day. When starting out, it’s typically recommended that you limit yourself to 20 grams per day in order to successfully force your body into Ketosis. Being strict with yourself in the beginning will also make your diet much easier to follow later on.
Another thing that can be incredibly helpful in the beginning are test strips that determine the Ketone levels in your urine. The results registered on the strips will tell you if your body has entered Ketosis and how much fat your body is using. It can be helpful to regularly test your Ketone levels because it lets you know that you’re following the diet properly. The strips are also great motivators to keep pushing you along your path toward a healthier lifestyle.
This type of diet can take some adjustment to get it just right. Every individual is different so it may take a bit of trial and error to determine how many carbohydrates you can consume each day and the types of meals that are working for you.
However, once you get the specifics ironed out, you’ll be sailing smoothly toward a much healthier and more satisfying lifestyle.
Source: www.themancancook.com
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