THE KETO DIET BASICS 101

(For your safety, it is best to consult with your physician before starting or beginning any major dietary changes to your health regimen especially if you have any preexisting medical conditions. This following information is only my personal knowledge and personal research and/or anecdotal experience. Please do your due diligence and consult your physician first if considering the Keto diet, along with ANY new diet.)

Hello everyone, so I’m sure you’ve heard this thing called the “keto diet” thrown around a one or few times. Also known has low carb-high fat (LCHF) to some. Within recent years this new and unconventional diet where people are consuming things like bacon and cheese and putting butter or coconut oil in their coffee to lose weight. It sounds crazy and too good to be true, right?!

Here’s just a basic overview of what the keto diet is to help educate yourself or to clear up any misconceptions you may have regarding this particular diet.

-Keto is short for ketosis. Ketosis, basically, is manipulating your body’s own metabolism to utilize fats for energy and fuel instead of carbohydrates.

-Nutritional Ketosis is not to be confused with DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS (DKA). DKA is defined as a life-threatening medical condition found in individuals who have uncontrolled Diabetes Mellitus. Nutritional ketosis is what we will be discussing in this article.

-Keto is a high fat, moderate protein, and very low carb diet.

-The goal is to keep your carb count to <50 grams of carbohydrates per day (net or total count) . Some people have goals for as low as 20-30 grams per day. Net carbs are carbohydrates minus the fiber. For example: 1 medium avocado is approximately 234 calories; of that it contains a total 12 grams of carbs and 10 grams of fiber. Therefore the net carbs would be 12 subtract 10 which would then equal 2 grams of NET carbs.

-Generally, your macronutrient breakdown APPROXIMATELY should be coming from fat 70-75%, 5-10% from carbohydrates, and the remainder from protein 20-25%. Protein and carbohydrates both contain 4 calories per gram, while fat provides 9 calories per gram.

Example: For a person with a daily allowance of 1000 calories per day. That equates to 750 calories from carbohydrate sources or 83 grams of fat; 200 calories from protein = 50 grams of protein , and the remaining 50 calories from 12.5 grams carbohydrates.

The best way to track your macros would be through the MyFitnessPal app which I also use for tracking my own diet goals for the day, and calculating meals and snacks.

The following picture is an example of a pretty decent, good day for my macronutrients consumption.

-When starting this diet , you will get the “KETO FLU.” The keto flu is a collection of symptoms which include: fatigue, fogginess of the brain, sugar cravings, lethargy, headaches , irritability, nausea, and constipation to name a few. This is not an all-inclusive list because every body responds differently to physical changes but these are some of which I have experienced myself. The keto flu occurs early in the beginning where your body is adapting and adjusting to having very little carbohydrates available to use for energy. This point your body is transitioning into ketosis by trying to begin utilization of fat as it’s primary energy source now. For me it took 3-5 days to get over the flu. Some people report 1-2-3 weeks.

My personal experience , within the first week or 3 days to start I felt very lethargic and weak and could sleep for a good 10+ hours soundly. I also experienced lightheadedness, dizziness and some crankiness which soon passed.

-Once the flu passes : Signs and symptoms you may be in Ketosis include clarity of mind, decreased appetite, thirst, weight loss; change in smell of your urine and breathe. Reason being, no more carb crashes because you’ve cut most of the carbs out of your diet. I like to think that my body is using all the extra belly fat to feed itself, so it’s like your body is “eating” or “feeding” itself which in turn leads to a decreased appetite and a smaller waist.

Glycogen is a type of carbohydrate, key function is to”hydrate” and glycogen does so by binding itself to water. The feeling of thirst is a result of ketosis creating a diuretic effect on your body through depletion of glycogen stores within the muscles and liver.

Lastly, the change in the smell of your breathe and urine caused by acetone, which is one of the 3 types of ketone bodies. Ketones are alternative fuels for the body that are made when glucose aka sugar (or carbs) are low in supply which are created in the liver from the breakdown of fats.

My personal experience: I am rarely sleepy or tired. I feel focused throughout my entire 8-12 hours of work and even after work up until it was time to go to bed. I feel satiated from 1 meal and never had hunger pains or a growling belly. My urine also did have a stronger, I would not say “foul” but more stronger smell but it was not concentrated or dark in color, it was still light yellow in color. I also noticed I crave saltier foods now more than I used to. I think this is because there is a depletion of water, the sodium in the foods helps try to compensate by retaining what water I do consume. I am also thirsty all the time, so I’m consuming multiple liters of water in day.

Ketones bodies are formed and excreted through the urine. And some people like to test their urine, with ketone urine dipstick test strips to see how “deep” into ketosis they are. The color of the strip can vary throughout and depends on the time of day you are testing.

I have found it tends to be darker, more purple, towards the end of day and lighter in color when checking first thing in the morning upon waking. Some will argue that checking your urine ketone levels is not accurate enough or does not suffice to qualify as being in ketosis but I feel it can in used in conjunction with the changes your body feels such as the feelings of thirst, energy levels, lack or appetite, and so forth to use as a gauge to see where you are in the process.

I use these particular strips myself. 4.5/5 stars of 5000 reviews per customer reviews on Amazon. It also qualifies for PRIME shipping so you can get it as soon as tomorrow! Here’s a direct link , just click the picture 🙂

My recommendations:

When starting into the LCHF dieting world/keto-diet, maybe start off low and slow. Some argue that going too quickly into a low-carb state can cause metabolic damage. But also to minimize the feelings of the “keto-flu” going low and slow would probably also minimize the crummy feeling you might have. Try tapering your carb intake slowly more and more as each week passes so your body can slowly adjust to the transition of glucose to fat metabolism. Maybe start off the first week to less than 100 grams of carbs per day, then the next week 80-90 carbs per day, and so forth.

I have also found that fasted exercise or fasted cardio first thing in the morning helps with getting into ketosis MUCH QUICKER. I did this for a good 3 days straight.

Also, personally I feel this is an “ALL OR NONE” diet where you cannot have cheat days… at least initially. You are training and tricking your body’s metabolism, and therefore consuming carbs/glucose and sugars can only slow down and delay the transition process and hence cause metabolic damage. Once you have made the transition where your body has become entirely efficient at metabolizing fats for energy, probably a solid 2 months or 8-10 weeks of pure keto, you might be able to get away with a carb load day, but NOT SOONER until after your body has proven it’s ability to do so.

-Listen to your body! If you do get hungry, feed it. If you do get thirsty, quench it. People can have periods of fasting for crazy amounts of time for as long as 1-2 or 3 days, some for even longer because they just don’t feel hungry as often on this diet.

-It is easy to consume TOO MANY calories and therefore you will not see any weight loss. At this point, it will be especially important to track your intake. The high-fat low carb food you eat will be more satiating because it’s very caloric dense and usually small in portion so it’s important to watch what you are taking in.

-VEGGIES and fiber are your best friend. Green veggies are super low carb and can help prevent and ease constipation issues. Spinach and lettuce are my top two ! It’s important to be selective in choosing your veggie sources because some may be TOO high in carbohydrates and therefore possibly throw you out of ketosis.

Side note:

The keto diet is one which some people choose to do long term for a life-time. I personally use the keto diet as a tool for when I need the extra push to lose weight or more specifically extra fat loss. I also LOVE FOOOD too much and things like ramen and rice and pastas to miss out on those wonderful delicious foods also. So this is a diet I choose to do medium length of term for for at least 3-4 months at a time to at least see maximum results. There is no singular , correct, right or wrong way to diet, it’s just about figuring out what works best for you!

Hope this info helps you out whether you decide to take the KETO DIVE or not.

-Stay Curious my friends 🙂

The Orange Appeal