Do you feel like you’ve got a number of puzzle pieces with regard to Ketogenic Eating?
Are you having trouble figuring out how to get them together.
What to believe and what not to is sometimes difficult to sift through.
This article is designed to give you some no-nonsense starting-point information.
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Ketogenic eating is a clean eating lifestyle designed to heal your body from inflammation, immune system malfunctions, metabolic syndrome disorders and more. It just so happens that when you begin healing and fueling your body correctly, weight loss is a by-product. Thus, the “new diet” explosion. If your goal is to start eating clean, whether to lose weight or improve your health, then the Ketogenic way of eating is worth your consideration. This way of eating has been used to treat epilepsy since at least 500 BC and was a documented way of treating immune disorders by physicians as early as the 1920s. In the past 15 years, research has exploded giving evidence to the health benefits of this style of eating. It has made its mark among health and fitness enthusiasts, lately as well.
Aren’t other diets out there similar to Keto? Well, yes and no. Low Carb, Low Carb-Low fat, Low Carb-High Fat, Adkins, Sugar Busters, etc. The differences are subtle but distinct. The results will not be the same. Ketogenic eating has specific goals for your body’s functionality.
- Reducing insulin production and it’s bombardment of your cellular receptors
- Fueling your body from Ketones, a by-product that is produced when you burn fat for fuel.
- Repair and healing of hormonal systems in the body, that have been neglected, because your immune system has been so busy trying to repair the inflammation damage done by the imbalance of carbohydrate intact in the Standard American Diet.
Each of these are accomplished when you deprive your body system of carbohydrates to fuel itself. Your body will LOVE fueling with fat, both your inside stored fat as well as nutritional fat that you eat. Your brain loves it, your muscles love it. You will be amazed at how happy your body becomes when your immune system no longer has to fight your nutritional intake. It should be noted that this way of eating is not for everyone. It is restrictive. The science behind this shows, that in order for this to change your life, you must be determined and dedicated. It won’t be overnight, as the damage did not occur overnight. But if you play both sides of the fueling fence, sugar fueling and fat fueling, your system will become more damaged, the healing process and weight loss progress will be delayed, withdrawal symptoms will be worse and last longer. Your body will gladly accept the carbohydrates as fuel, defeating the purpose for all of the above. This is not a diet, and should not be entered into without careful consideration.
Specifics you should know!
Restricting carbohydrates is more than getting rid of sodas and bread. Carbohydrates are found in most anything that is processed. That is the reason it is imperative that you read ingredients on everything you purchase. Whole foods, one ingredient foods, are always best. Some heavy whipping cream has nothing in it but cream, however, some others have many extra additives. A recommended food list is available on our site @ https://ketorecipesforbeginners.com/. High fat foods are recommended on this diet, but what does that mean? Will any fats work? NO! Healthy fats are different from the fats that most Americans eat daily. Vegetable oils, corn oils, soy oils are NOT good for you. Omega 3 and Omega 6 oils, animal fats, avocados, and even limited nut oils all increase your metabolic levels and give your body the nutrients and vitamins it needs. A list of good fats are listed in the article https://ketorecipesforbeginners.com/keto-where-do-i-start/. Insulin is a major player in our metabolic functionality. We have all been instructed to eat lots of small meals each day to boost our metabolism, while in fact, each time you eat a bite of anything, (except pure fat) you cause an insulin release from your pancreas. That insulin floods your blood stream going to your cells. Your cells however, have receptors that must accept the insulin in order for the insulin to be usable at the cellular level. Most individuals with a long history of weight problems, or diabetes, or insulin resistance (a pre-diabetic state) have damaged cellular receptors and can no longer receive needed insulin amounts. The best way to repair (yes our insulin receptors can repair themselves) our receptors is to deprive them of the constant bombardment of insulin. That is HARD to do when you are sugar fueled. You need to refuel constantly or you feel the effects of low blood sugar. When you are fat fueled, you have none of these symptoms. Your body is happy with the slow and hot burning fat, to keep you full and satisfied for hours at a time. The by-product, your receptors will slowly begin to heal. Waiting longer between feeding times, will heal your body.
What about Protein?
The Ketogenic way of eating advises moderate protein. Too much protein causes problems for digestion. Your body will take what protein it needs and then put the excess protein into storage for theoretical use later. We all know how that has worked out for us in the past. Once nutrition is stored, it is very hard to get it out of storage. So how much is enough? I like to use the protein calculations from Dr. Adam Nally’s from DocMuscles.
- Females: 5’ tall should start at 45.5g of protein per day, and you should add 2.3g of protein for each inch over 5 foot and subtract 2.3 grams per inch under 5’.
- Males: 5’ tall should start at 50g of protein per day, and you should add 2.3g of protein for each inch over 5 foot and subtract 2.3 grams per inch under 5’.
And Exercise?
Exercise has always been good for us. But does it actually help weight loss? This has been disputed. Exercise has been proven by countless studies to be good for us. Muscle movement, increased oxygen, heart muscle gets stronger just like all muscles will get stronger. But will that 300 burned calories help you lose weight? Probably not so much. Exercise also makes you hungry. So what is the recommended practice. Get out and move. Do something for about 30 minutes a day to increase blood circulation and oxygen in your system. Move your muscles. If walking around your yard is a challenge, then that is all you need do for now. If you can go for a 30 minute walk, then wonderful. As you begin your journey, you need to assess your current physical condition and what you can do without injury. As you get healthier, and some excess weight comes off, you will feel like moving more and more. It will be a normal and healthy progression. This way of eating does not promote grueling exercise as you get started. If you are already exercising and have a routine that you enjoy, eating this way will only enhance those workouts. You will not “hit the wall” due to energy depletion. You will be amazed at how good you feel once you are converted to being fat fueled.
So Let’s Do This!
Now you need to think about converting your fueling process. This is the 1-4 weeks that your body will require to become “fat adapted”. Until you are adapted, tracking fat and or protein is not really necessary. As you begin your journey, you need to feed yourself protein and fat without regard for quantity. You will begin to read your ingredients and TRACK your carbohydrates. Limit yourself to 20 a day. (Don’t count avocados-they are freebees) As your body begins to convert, it will begin burning fat for fuel. Your hunger will vanish. You will notice the cravings go away. This is a process. Be patient, get sleep, give your body time to convert processes. There are mechanisms that have gone dormant within the cellular structure that will need to be developed to enable your body to fuel itself with fat exclusively.
While this is happening, there are some things you need to do to minimize the symptoms of coming off the sugar. Your body has become addicted to sugar. Think about addiction. What symptoms would you expect an addict to exhibit? A need for the product. A change in behavior when the product is unavailable? A change in priorities when the product is deprived? Unable to do without? Your body has all of those symptoms towards sugar, not just mentally, but also physiologically. The Standard American Diet, and the sugar industry have worked hard to tell you that these symptoms are natural and normal and that you should feed your addiction. Think of the Snickers Candy bar commercial when a loving wife becomes an angry, aggressive construction worker, until provided a sugar fix and then all is well again. Those emotions and feelings are real. Unfortunately, they have been nurtured by an industry that wants you to purchase their products. SUGAR!
So the first thing you must do is break the addiction. These first few weeks will be the only difficult part of this way of eating. Processed foods have tons of salt in them. When you stop eating those, you will need to feed your electrolytes to minimize withdrawal symptoms. Some call this the KETO Flu. Some get these symptoms harder than others. Steps you take make a big difference. The article on Where Do I start stated above will give you more details about this.
Start with your next meal. Eliminate the processed foods, the starches and the sugars. Read labels and track your carbs