Keto Diet: Jumpstarting Your Weight Loss Journey

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that causes weight loss and provides numerous health benefits. It is a metabolic state in which your body burns fat for fuel instead of glucose. To get into ketosis, you must have a limited amount of glucose in your body. This can be achieved by minimising your carbohydrate intake. The amount of carbs you need to cut down on will vary from person to person, but a maximum of 5% to 10% of your daily calories can be used to achieve ketosis.

There are several ways to know if you are in ketosis. One way is to test your ketone levels, which can be done through urine testing, breath testing, or blood testing. Another way is to monitor your fasting blood sugar levels, which will drop significantly on keto as you reduce your carbohydrate intake. Additionally, tracking your weight and body composition can help you understand if you are in a state of ketosis.

Minimize your carb consumption

Minimizing your carb consumption is the most important factor in entering ketosis. Eating a very low-carb diet is the best way to get your body to start using ketones as its main source of energy.

Your body stores glucose in the form of glycogen in your liver and muscles. When your carb intake is very low, your glycogen stores are reduced and your levels of the hormone insulin decline. This allows fatty acids to be released from fat stores in your body.

Your liver converts some of these fatty acids into the ketones acetone, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate. Portions of your brain can use these ketones as fuel.

The degree of carb restriction needed to induce ketosis varies by the person and can be affected by certain factors, such as the types of exercise you do. Some people need to limit their net carb intake to 50 grams or fewer per day, while others can get into ketosis while eating more than that.

Each person will potentially have a different carb intake limit to reach and maintain ketosis, depending on the total number of calories they eat and their daily activity levels. Generally, eating 5–10% of total calories from carbs will produce ketosis.

• Avoid sugar and natural sweeteners like agave, honey, and maple syrup.
• Limit your intake of sweetened drinks, such as soda and sweetened iced tea.
• Cut back on refined grain bread.
• Choose lower-carb snacks such as nuts, cheese, and eggs.
• Start your day with eggs or other lower-carb breakfast foods.
• Use sugar alternatives such as stevia, erythritol, and xylitol.
• Substitute alternative flours such as coconut or almond flour for white flour.
• Emphasize non-starchy vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
• Focus on high-protein foods such as legumes, beans, lean meats, and fish.

Include coconut oil in your diet

Coconut oil is a plant-based oil derived from coconuts. It is high in saturated fats, which are rapidly and directly absorbed into the bloodstream and used for immediate fuel. Coconut oil is 47.5% lauric acid and less than 8% capric, caprylic, and caproic acids. It is also a good source of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA).

Coconut oil can be a nutritious addition to your diet and should be treated like any other fat or oil. It is suitable for medium-heat cooking and baking. It is best to stick to no more than two tablespoons (28 grams) a day. Here are some ways to include coconut oil in your diet:

• Sautéing or stir-frying: Use 1–2 tablespoons of this oil to cook vegetables, eggs, meat or fish.
• Popcorn: Drizzle melted coconut oil on air-popped popcorn or try it in this stove-top popcorn recipe.
• Baking: Use it to coat poultry or meat before rubbing with seasonings.
• Coconut oil can be substituted for oil or butter in a 1:1 ratio in most recipes.
• Smoothies: Melt it and add to smoothies, and protein shakes gradually.
• Tea: Aim for a small amount — about a teaspoon or two.

Ramp up your physical activity

Being more physically active each day can help you get into and stay in ketosis. When you exercise, you deplete your body's glycogen stores. These are normally replenished when you eat carbs, which are broken down into glucose. The glucose that isn't needed immediately is stored as glycogen. However, if you minimise your carb intake, your glycogen stores remain low. In response, your liver increases its production of ketones, which can be used as an alternative fuel source for your muscles.

Working out in a fasted state has been shown to drive up ketone levels. But keep in mind that although exercise increases ketone production, it may take 1–4 weeks for your body to adapt to using ketones and fatty acids as primary fuel sources. During this time, your physical performance may be temporarily reduced.

Tips to increase your physical activity

• Get up out of a chair and walk for 2 minutes every 30–60 minutes.
• Connect with physical activity professionals to create an individualised programme that works for you.
• Use mobile technology applications.
• Create a "Walk with a Doc" programme in your local community.

Increase your healthy fat intake

Why Getting Enough Fat Is So Important on Keto

Getting enough fat on keto isn’t just a vague, wishy-washy aspiration. The right amount (compared to protein and carbohydrates) is actually necessary to keep the body in the metabolic state of ketosis, which burns fat for fuel.

If your macros are out of whack with too little fat and too many proteins or carbs, you won’t reap all the benefits of a keto diet, such as weight loss and better blood sugar management.

And not only that, but you’re likely to be hungry and feel low on energy if you don’t get adequate fats, which makes the keto diet less than sustainable.

Getting around 70% of your total calories from fat is the key that unlocks these goals.

Barriers to Eating Enough Fat on Keto

Multiple barriers may arise to keep you from consuming enough fat on keto.

In a culture that consumes the majority of its calories from carbohydrates, changing your macronutrient math may seem almost radical. Adding rather than subtracting fat can feel unfamiliar or even outright uncomfortable, and undoing lifelong carb-heavy patterns of cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and pasta for dinner isn’t easy. Plus, when eating with others in social settings, it’s always challenging to diverge from the herd by making your own unique food choices.

The end of the twentieth century was replete with messages that fat was bad and that we should avoid it. Though you may intellectually understand that these myths have since been debunked — and that a keto diet can help you attain your health goals — applying this knowledge to real-world behavioral change takes significant effort.

A true keto diet is all about getting enough fat, and there are three different types of fats you’ll want to include.

All fats contain nine calories per gram (making them the most energy-dense macronutrient), and all add to your feeling of fullness. But fats aren’t all healthy, so it’s vital that you’re aware of which types of fat to eat and which to avoid.

Here’s a look at the various types of fats you’ll want to keep in balance, which ones to steer clear from, and their effects on the body.

Saturated Fat

Do you cringe at the mention of saturated fat? You’re not alone. For years, public health experts warned against the dangers of overconsuming saturated fat, believing that it directly correlated with heart disease risk.

These days, though, research shows that this type of fat may not be as harmful as previously supposed, especially when kept within limits. For example, a large meta-analysis from 2010 analyzed 21 studies on over 347,000 people. It concluded that saturated fat intake was not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease or coronary heart disease.

While this isn’t a free pass for drinking bacon grease, many health experts now view saturated fat as an in-between category that’s neither praiseworthy nor evil. Along with unsaturated fats, which have more documented health benefits, saturated fat can play a supporting role in a healthy diet.

Foods High in Saturated Fat

You’ll find high amounts of saturated fat in the following foods:

• Coconut products such as coconut oil, coconut cream, and coconut flakes
• Dairy products such as cream and full-fat milk and cheeses
• Red meats like beef, lamb, pork, sausage, and bacon

Monounsaturated Fat

Saturated fat gets its name because its carbon atoms are “saturated” with hydrogen, holding as many as possible. Monounsaturated fats, on the other hand, have fewer hydrogen atoms bonded to their carbon chains, leaving them liquid at room temperature.

This type of fat, found in everyday foods like avocados and olive oil, is often touted for its health benefits. Eating monounsaturated fat may lower your LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol, maintain your

Try a short fast or a fat fast

Intermittent fasting is a popular method for jumpstarting weight loss. It involves eating patterns that cycle between periods of fasting and non-fasting. There are several ways to practice it, but the most common ones are the 16/8 method, the 5:2 diet, and the eat-stop-eat method. The 16/8 method involves fasting for 16 hours and eating within an 8-hour window. The 5:2 diet involves eating only 500-600 calories on two non-consecutive days of the week, while eating normally on the other 5 days. The eat-stop-eat method involves fasting for 24 hours once or twice a week.

Intermittent fasting has been linked to weight loss because it reduces the amount of time you can eat, which leads to a decrease in calorie intake. It can also affect hormone levels, such as lowering insulin levels and increasing the release of the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine. Additionally, it can lead to an increase in metabolic rate.

It's important to note that the main reason intermittent fasting helps with weight loss is that it makes it easier to eat fewer calories overall. If you eat large amounts during your eating periods, you may not lose any weight. It's also crucial to adopt a healthy eating pattern on non-fasting days and avoid overeating.

Before trying intermittent fasting, it's important to consult with a healthcare professional, especially if you have any medical conditions, problems with blood sugar regulation, or a history of eating disorders.

Frequently asked questions