<ul>
<li>Restrict your carbohydrates. Try to stay below 20g net carbs and below 35g total carbs per day.</li>
<li>Restrict your protein intake. For weight loss, you want to eat between 0.6g and 0.8g protein per pound lean body mass.</li>
<li>Stop worrying about fat. Fat is the primary source of energy on keto.</li>
<li>Try drinking a gallon of water a day. </li>
<li>Stop snacking.</li>
<li>Start fasting. Fasting can be a great tool to boost ketone levels consistently throughout the day.</li>
<li>Add exercise in.</li>
</ul>

How to Reach Ketosis

This is an abbreviated term of macronutrients. Your macros are your daily intake of “the big 3” nutrients: fats, protein, and carbohydrates.

“Macros”

Is a very common experience for new ketoers, but it often goes away after just a few days – and there are ways to minimize or even eliminate it. 
When transitioning to keto, you may feel some slight discomfort including fatigue, headache, nausea, cramps, etc.

Keto Flu

<ul>
<li>Increased urination. Keto is a natural diuretic, so you have to go to the bathroom more.</li>
<li>Dry mouth. The increased urination leads to dry mouth and increased thirst. </li>
<li>Bad breath. Acetone is a ketone body that partially excretes in our breath. It’s usually temporary and goes away long term.</li>
<li>Reduced hunger & increased energy. Usually, after you get past the “keto flu,” you’ll experience a much lower hunger level and a “clear” or energized mental state.</li>
</ul>

How to Know if You’re in Ketosis

<ul>
<li>Standard Ketogenic Diet (SKD): This is the classic keto diet that everyone knows and does. </li>
<li>Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD): This is a variation where you eat SKD, but intake a small amount of fast-digesting carbs before a workout.</li>
<li>Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD): This is a variation of keto for bodybuilders and contest goers, generally giving one day a week to carb up and resupply glycogen stores.</li>
</ul>

Types of Ketogenic Diets

In the short-term, you may notice some small physical performance drops, but this will subside as you continue replenishing fluids, electrolytes, and adapt to the fat intake.

Physical Performance

<ul>
<li>Cramps (and more specifically leg cramps) are a pretty common thing when starting a ketogenic diet.</li>
<li>Constipation. The most common cause of constipation is dehydration.</li>
<li>Heart palpitations. When transitioning to keto, you may notice that your heart is beating both faster and harder.</li>
<li>Reduced physical performance. You may see some limitations on your performance when you first begin a keto diet, but it’s usually just from your body adapting to using fat</li>
</ul>

Common Side Effects on a Keto Diet

Keto is high in fat, moderate in protein, and very low in carbs. Your nutrient intake should be something around 70% fats, 25% protein, and 5% carbohydrate.
Typically, anywhere between 20-30g of net carbs is recommended for everyday dieting – but the lower you keep your carbohydrate intake and glucose levels, the better the overall results will be

Keto Macros

<ul>
<li>Grains – wheat, corn, rice, cereal, etc.</li>
<li>Sugar – honey, agave, maple syrup, etc.</li>
<li>Fruit – apples, bananas, oranges, etc.</li>
<li>Tubers – potato, yams, etc.</li>
</ul>

Foods To Avoid On a Keto Diet

<ul>
<li>Weight loss.</li>
<li>Keto naturally lowers blood sugar levels due to the type of foods you eat.</li>
<li>Mental focus: Ketones are a great source of fuel for the brain.</li>
<li>Increased energy & normalized hunger: Fats are shown to be the most effective molecule to burn as fuel.</li>
<li>Epilepsy: Keto diet has been used since the early 1900’s to treat epilepsy successfully.</li>
<li>Cholesterol & blood pressure: shown to improve triglyceride levels and cholesterol levels most associated with arterial buildup.</li>
<li>Insulin resistance.</li>
<li>Improvements in your skin health.</li>
</ul>

Benefits of a Ketogenic Diet

Ketosis is a natural process the body initiates to help us survive when food intake is low. During this state, we produce ketones, which are produced from the breakdown of fats in the liver.
The end goal of a properly maintained keto diet is to force your body into this metabolic state

Ketosis

<ul>
<li>Meats – fish, beef, lamb, poultry, eggs, etc.</li>
<li>Leafy greens – spinach, kale, etc.</li>
<li>Above ground vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, etc.</li>
<li>High fat dairy – hard cheeses, high fat cream, butter, etc.</li>
<li>Nuts and seeds – macadamias, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.</li>
<li>Avocado and berries – raspberries, blackberries, and other low glycemic impact berries</li>
<li>Sweeteners – stevia, erythritol, monk fruit, and other low-carb sweeteners ></li>
<li>Other fats – coconut oil, high-fat salad dressing, saturated fats, etc.</li>
</ul>

What To Eat On a Keto Diet

food

Food

health

Health

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

The Ketogenic Diet

A keto diet is well known for being a low carb diet, where the body produces ketones in the liver to be used as energy. It's referred to as many different names - ketogenic diet, low carb diet, low carb high fat ( LCHF), etc.