Everything you need to know to start a keto diet with my free course and free 7 day meal plan!

WHAT DOES KETO MEAN?

Keto is short for ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state your body can get into when you restrict carbs. It is not a starvation diet or a low calorie diet.  When you eat a very low amount of carbs daily, you can easily get your body into ketosis. Being in ketosis means you will switch what your body uses for fuel and energy. You will become a ketone burner instead of a glucose burner.

On the typical Standard American Diet, you are a glucose burner, using glucose for energy that comes from high carbs in your diet. Insulin is produced to process and use the glucose in your body for energy. But when insulin is high, which usually happens after a high carb meal, it will halt your body from using any other source of fuel. When insulin is chronically high, your body will not be able to lose weight. Insulin causes you to hold onto body fat.

When you burn ketones for fuel and balance your blood sugar, you won't spike insulin. You will start using your own body fat stores, which helps you lose weight. The traditional macros for keto have been 5% carbs, 75% fat and 20% protein, but these macros can and should change for your individual needs. Not everyone needs high fat. In fact, I never lost weight eating that much fat. Once I reduced my fat intake and prioritized protein, I lost weight. In fact, I created a 4 week self-paced stall buster keto course that focuses on fat leveraging to break stalls and lose weight. 

KETO FOR WEIGHT LOSS

Depending on your age, your activity level, your own personal history with dieting and any chronic conditions you might be dealing with, a keto diet can help you lose weight despite these factors. You will lose weight without being starving. You will balance your blood sugar, reduce your sugar and carb cravings and you will notice more satiation at your meals. You will not need snacks every two-three hours because when your body uses ketones, it's sustains you longer than using glucose from carbs. Learning how many carbs to eat a day to get into ketosis can be a bit challenging, but once you figure out what is right for your body, you will be well on your way to reaching your health goals! 

LOW CARB VERSUS KETO

The biggest difference between a low carb diet versus a keto diet is the amount of carbs you eat on a daily basis. In order to get your body into ketosis, most people need to limit carbs to 20 per day, but there are some people who can get in to ketosis eating 50 carbs or less. A low carb diet could be 150 carbs a day or less. When I tested myself with strict keto in 2018, you can see I did not lose many pounds but from my pictures, you can definitely see fat loss. More info and pictures here in my Low Carb Versus Keto and My 6 Week Results post. 

When I found out I was hypothyroid, net carbs no longer worked for me so I switched to total carbs pre day and that helped. But not until I figured out how to leverage my dietary fat intake, did the weight start really coming off! 

FOOD TO AVOID ON KETO

• All packaged, processed, refined carbs
• Anything with sugar added. Be careful of condiments!
• All grains, wheat, pastas, breads, cookies, cakes, etc. 
• All high carbs like potato, yams, sweet potatoes.
• All inflammatory fats and oils, like canola, soybean, corn, margarine, etc.

FOODS TO INCLUDE ON KETO

A keto diet should be one that includes whole, nutrient dense foods. Single ingredient foods, like beef, chicken, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, dairy.  Low starch vegetables like leafy greens, broccoli, kale, Romaine, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels, asparagus. Include healthy fats and oils like butter, lard, avocado oil, olive oil, etc. 

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU'RE IN KETOSIS

If you really want to make sure you are in ketosis I would suggest buying a glucometer which is a blood test. A simple prick on your finger using ketone strips to measure. Anywhere from 0.5 and up means you are most likely keto adapted. It's definitely not cheap but it is the most accurate measurement. There are other methods as well, like using urine ketone strips but not as accurate I don't feel. There is also a breath ketone meter if you hate the blood pricking idea.

FREE KETO BASICS COURSE & FREE 7 DAY KETO MEAL PLAN

I've created a very quick and easy, 15 minute Free Keto Basics Course that explains all this and more! Register here to watch the video course and once you complete it, you will receive my Free 7 Day Keto Diet Meal plan to get you started! Once you register, you will be redirected to the keto basics course.  REGISTER HERE FOR THE FREE KETO BASICS COURSE!

If you'd prefer a Sugar Detox course rather than doing keto, you might prefer my 6 week Self-Paced Sugar Detox course that you can purchase with live weekly support meetings on Zoom for a more personal coaching program.