Keto Diet Routine Tips for Success

With so many diets that promise you’ll lose weight and cut fat, it’s hard to choose one that isn’t too restrictive. Fortunately, you can start your mornings with a wonderful keto diet routine, which will help you burn calories. So follow along if you want to learn more about this diet and how to have successful results.

What is a Keto Diet Routine

Although it has only recently acquired popularity, the ketogenic diet dates back to the early 1920s. It was initially successful in lowering seizures in epileptic children, and some doctors still suggest this diet for the same reason. Today, it’s widely used as an approach to weight loss.

The keto diet involves cutting off carbs and increasing saturated fat consumption. Dietitians recommend receiving about 75% of your calories from fat, such as nuts, olive oil, cheese, and avocado, 20% from proteins, such as eggs, fatty fish, and meat, and just 5% from carbohydrates, such as non-starchy and low-carb veggies, and some leafy greens.

Benefits of a Keto Diet Routine

Following this type of diet for a long time causes your body to enter a state known as ketosis, in which your body can burn fat for energy instead of carbs.

Many people prefer high-fat foods like fatty fish, red meat, cheese, nuts, and butter, and the keto diet allows them to have all of these tasty treats while still losing weight. Unlike many other diets, the keto diet routine isn’t as strict regarding protein and fat consumption, as long as they are healthy sources of these elements.

Those on keto diets report feeling less hungry than those on other restrictive diets and experience a gradual and safe weight loss as their bodies learn to reduce calorie intake. This is due to the keto diet’s high-fat content, which takes longer for the body to break down.

If you follow an exercise routine and you need to lose weight quickly, the keto diet routine is an ideal addition to your regimen. Moreover, other possible benefits of the keto diet include the reduction of symptoms related to neurological disorders. While more research is needed to better understand the effects of this diet on patients, it’s a promising way to take care of our bodies.

Other benefits you can obtain by following a keto diet routine include:

• Improved skin appearance
• Reduced risk of developing certain cancers
• Improved blood pressure

What to Eat and Avoid on a Keto Diet Routine

While the keto diet isn’t as restrictive as others, it still has its limitations. For that reason, we recommend that you talk to a nutritionist before deciding to start a keto diet, as they can give you better guidance and create a meal plan that works for you.

Do Eat

The keto diet is all about healthy fats, such as omega 3 and omega 6. Protein and non-starchy vegetables are also welcome. 

These are some of the foods you can eat on a keto diet:

• Seafood
• Meat
• Poultry
• Eggs
• Brie 
• Camembert
• Mozarella
• Plant-based milk
• Green leafy vegetables
• Avocados and olives
• Non-starchy vegetables

Avoid

Since the keto diet focuses on limiting the intake of carbs, you need to avoid the following foods:

• Bread
• Pasta
• Cereals
• Beans
• Fruits
• Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, acorn squash, beets, and corn
• Beer
• Mixed drinks
• Sugary sodas and juices
• Condiments like ketchup and barbecue sauce
• Chocolate

While the serving size of some of these foods is enough to reach your carb limitations, others exceed it. This doesn’t mean that you have to stop eating all of these foods altogether. Instead, you can try to eat them every once in a while and keep track of the carbohydrates you consume to make sure they don’t go past the limit required to achieve ketosis.

Frequently Asked Questions About a Keto Diet Routine

The keto diet routine is surrounded by myths and misconceptions that many still consider true to this day. If you want to try out this fantastic diet but have some questions about it, we have compiled a list of the most common questions regarding the keto diet and answered them for you.

How Does Keto Work?

Following a keto diet pushes the body to a metabolic state known as ketosis. During this process, the body will stop relying on glucose as its source of energy and instead, consume fat to burn calories. As a result, people lose weight and reduce their blood sugar levels.

How Long Does it Take for Keto to Work?

It can take your body about a month to adapt to a keto diet routine and almost three months to show evident results. The more you’re able to avoid carbs during the first weeks of your diet, the more likely you are to see better results and help your body adapt quicker. 

Are There Any Side Effects?

While weight loss, balanced blood sugar levels, and low cholesterol levels seem like ideal results, there are also some side effects of the keto diet you may want to take into account.

The keto diet can deprive your body of important vitamins and minerals and fibers from restricted foods. As a result, many people experience “the keto flu,” which makes people feel weak and drowsy. These symptoms may disappear over time, but it’s best to visit the doctor if you keep feeling this way after several weeks.

Moreover, some people can experience dehydration as the body stops retaining water. Some kidney disease patients have even faced the risk of increasing dialysis due to the renal system’s changes with this diet.

How Long Can I Go on a Keto Diet?

It’s unwise to frequently go on and off a diet, as your body will suffer the effects of sudden changes. We recommend you follow a keto diet for three to six months and go back to it whenever you feel like giving your body a chance to lose weight again. However, we also recommend that you still eat healthy to keep the weight off once you turn back to a normal diet. This way, you won’t have to go through the whole process again.

Can I Go Back to Eating Carbs?

Carbs will likely be the first thing you crave when you go off a keto diet. As a result, you may regain the weight that you lost during the process, putting all the effort you made to waste.

To avoid this, you can slowly bring your calories up by introducing small portions of carbs to your diet. Create a meal plan, if necessary, to make sure everything is under control, and the incorporation of these foods into your diet doesn’t affect the work you’ve done.

Keto Diet Routine Tips for Success

Going on a diet can be a difficult task when you don’t have the right guidance. For that reason, you should always go to a nutritionist to get the right plan for your body.

Other tips that will lead you to success when going on a keto diet routine are:

• Keep track of your meals: use a food journal to register all the meals you have during the week and their respective carbs, protein, and fat content.
• Plan your meals: you can compile several keto recipes and buy your groceries according to the ingredients you need. This way, you’ll only surround yourself with keto-friendly food, and you’ll also save yourself some time and money by having all the ingredients ready for your meals.
• Try intermittent fasting: to boost your body’s adaptation to the keto diet, you can follow a safe intermittent fasting method to get your body into a ketosis state faster. 
• Exercise frequently: following a workout routine is a great way to allow your body to burn that glucose and start to rely on your fat to obtain energy. Moreover, exercising will also help you lose weight and balance your blood sugar levels.
• Drink lots of water: when you enter ketosis, your body releases more water as there are no carbohydrates that help retain it. Make sure you drink enough water to stay properly hydrated, especially on hot days.
• Share the process: surrounding yourself with friends who also follow a keto diet is a great way to stay motivated. You can encourage each other to keep going when things get complicated and celebrate your accomplishments.

The keto diet can be challenging. For that reason, the most important tip we can give you is to try to enjoy the process, and be honest with yourself whenever you feel like your body can’t take it. Some diets don’t work well for everyone, so learning when to stop is better than putting your body and mind at risk.