Whether you’re trying to slip back into your favourite pair of jeans or want to live a healthier lifestyle, one thing’s for sure- keto works! This article will break down what the keto lifestyle is all about and how to get started towards living your best keto life!
What Is The Keto Diet All About?
So, you’ve finally decided to give Keto an honest try; good for you! There are many benefits to incorporating the keto diet into your daily routine, but before we dive in, let’s discuss what Keto is.
Keto, short for Ketogenic, is the process of burning stored body fat for fuel instead of the sugar from the foods you eat. This is done by turning ketones into fuel. For easy understanding, ketones are fat deposits created by the liver that it sends into your bloodstream to provide energy.
Instead of your body using your morning blueberry muffin and double whipped chocolate espresso for its energy source, it pulls from your reserves. So that turkey and spinach dinner you had four Saturdays ago (or last night)? It’s now being used to keep your body functioning.
Now that we’ve gotten the science part out of the way let’s get back to the benefits of Keto. Besides giving your body a break from processing high sugar, over-chemicalized foods, it has been said that the keto diet can:
- Balance hormones
- Improve ailments such as high cholesterol, diabetes, and seizures
- Reduce symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
- Help severe cases of Dementia and Epilepsy
- Produce rapid weight loss
The claim of rapid weight loss propelled the keto diet into the spotlight, and ever since, the lifestyle has been used by athletes, celebrities, models, and of course, the general public. But how exactly do you live the keto lifestyle, and can this be done long term? Let’s find out!
How Do You Make The Keto Diet A Lifestyle?
A lifestyle is a particular way of doing things in one’s daily life. Thus, the keto diet can turn into a lifestyle by making changes to your daily dietary and exercise routine. Let’s look at an example:
Regular Lifestyle:
- Wake up
- Shower & get dressed
- Check social media, news, and email
- Eat breakfast & go to work
- Sit down all-day
- Buy snacks from the vending machine
- Eats quick high calorie processed meals
- Drinks coffee with sugar, creams, and an artificial flavoring for a boost
- Leaves work and fight traffic
- Gets home & is exhausted
- Plops on the couch with comfort meal & entertainment material
- Falls asleep
- Repeats step 1
This is not taking into account extra duties like pets, caretaking, and other adult responsibilities. You can see here that little to no exercise was done, minus the trips for meals and getting in and out of the car.
Plus, an overabundance of high-calorie, high sugared meals left you drained and tired. We’ve all have been here before and know what it feels like to step on the scale or get the recommendation from your healthcare provider that you need to cut back and make some changes.
Now let’s take a look at a lifestyle someone on the keto diet might have.
Keto Lifestyle
- Wake up
- Quick workout & stretch
- Shower & get dressed
- Check social media, news & email
- Packs a meat & veggie lunch with vitamins
- Grabs water & goes to work
- Sits down the majority of the day but takes breaks to walk around or climb stairs
- Avoids snack machine and eats healthy nuts and drinks black coffee
- Leaves work and sit in traffic
- Heads to the gym or does a home workout routine
- Eats dinner
- Takes vitamins with healthy oils and finishes water
- Enjoys entertainment channels before bed
- Repeat steps 1
Even with including additional responsibilities, you can see the difference between the two lifestyles.
Creating a keto diet lifestyle does not have to be a long, overcomplicated process. Remove the added sugars, swap water cooler breaks with a brisk walk or climb up the stairs and eat meals 95% made up of meats and vegetables.
Doing this consistently, day-in and day-out can significantly improve mental clarity, physical appearance, and any skin concerns you might have.
Foods To Absolutely Avoid On Keto
Followers of the keto diet utilize meal plans filled with high-quality meats, fish, dairy, and eggs. Interestingly enough, artificial sweeteners and processed foods can be consumed as well but in moderation.
How? Well, the keto diet follows the science of blood sugar regulation. It is assumed that meals higher than 15 grams of carbs will trigger insulin production, and your body responds by using the sugar for energy instead of fat reserves.
Because of this, Keto focused on only eating food items with less than 15 grams of carbs within a 2-hour window so that insulin production does not occur. This means you should avoid the following at all costs:
- Any food item with total net carbs above 15 grams
- Coffee that is not dark
- Alcoholic beverages and prepared drinks
- Sugared meals like honey baked ham or apple bacon
- Fruits with high sugar contents
- Beans and potatoes
- Rice
- Creams of any kind
- Fast food meals (hamburgers, fried chicken, French fries)
Eliminating foods will be the most challenging part, but luckily many restaurants and eateries have developed food options for those on speciality diets.
What Does A Day On A Keto Meal Plan Look Like?
If you want to know what your new keto meal plan consists of, look no further. Whether you choose to stick with meats, oils, and veggies or give yourself some wiggle room with snacks and desserts, here’s a few food items to try out:
- Low-carb cauliflower pizza
- Lettuce wrapped hamburger with American cheese
- Beef and broccoli
- Veal stuffed cabbage rolls with tomato sauce
- Pork chops with asparagus
- Oven-roasted salmon and steamed veggies
- Vegetable omelettes
- Dark chocolate-dipped peanut butter crackers
- Deviled eggs
- Mexican burrito bowl (minus rice or chips)
- Vegan keto dark chocolate protein bites
- Sugar-free sorbet
- Sugar-free Italian ice
- Cinnamon sugared butternut squash
- Cucumber and fruit infused water
Simple Rules To Living The Keto Lifestyle
Stay consistent. And we’re talking beyond the 90-day habit marker. Although you may start to see immediate benefits, Keto provides the best results if implemented for one year or more.
Know your triggers. If you know that you are easily triggered through emotions or certain cues, acknowledge them and develop different coping strategies.
It may not be fun to take a walk or do squats when something upsets you, but think about how sexy you’ll look when you finally tell someone to knock it off.
Drink water & take vitamins. Many people harp on the negatives of the keto diet, like constipation, lethargy, or bad breath. To avoid this, make sure you’re eating consistently, keeping up with vitamins, and drinking lots of water.
This will help the body not to think that it’s in starvation mode. Adding to this, taking a few spoonfuls of healthy oil like avocado or olive oil will help your internal organs stay lubricated – preventing severe forms of constipation.
