Kick-Starting Weight Loss With Keto: A Guide

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that has been proven to help with weight loss and provide numerous health benefits. To jump-start keto weight loss, it is important to understand the process of ketosis, where the body uses fat as its main source of energy instead of glucose derived from carbohydrates. This can be achieved by reducing carbohydrate intake, increasing physical activity, intermittent fasting, consuming more healthy fats, and testing ketone levels. It is also important to be mindful of potential negative symptoms and consult a healthcare professional before starting the keto diet.

Reduce carbohydrate intake

Reducing your carbohydrate intake is a key aspect of the keto diet. Carbohydrate restriction triggers a metabolic state called ketosis, where your body burns fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. Here are some detailed tips to reduce your carbohydrate intake and jump-start your keto weight loss journey:

Gradually Reduce Carbohydrate Consumption

It is important to gradually reduce your carbohydrate intake rather than eliminating them all at once. Start by identifying and reducing your consumption of simple carbohydrates, which are typically derived from highly processed foods. These include sugar-sweetened drinks, refined grain bread, fruit juice, and starchy vegetables like potatoes. You can replace these with complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain bread, whole fruits, and non-starchy vegetables like broccoli and carrots. Additionally, focus on increasing your intake of lean protein, which can help curb your appetite.

Choose Lower-Carb Snacks and Breakfast Options

Snack foods like chips, pretzels, and crackers can quickly add up in terms of carbohydrate content. Opt for lower-carb snacks like nuts, cheese, and eggs, which are also high in protein and healthy fats. Similarly, traditional breakfast options like granola and cereal can be high in hidden carbohydrates and sugar. Instead, start your day with eggs or other lower-carb options like yogurt, nut butter, or a vegetable omelet.

Read Food Labels and Track Your Carbohydrate Intake

Reading food labels is essential to understanding the carbohydrate content of packaged foods. Pay attention to serving sizes, especially for foods that may be high in sugar and have smaller serving sizes than you typically consume. Additionally, consider using a nutrition tracker or app to monitor your daily food intake and ensure you're staying within your desired carbohydrate limits.

Substitute Alternative Flours for White Flour

White flour is a refined flour commonly used in baked goods and fried foods. It is stripped of fiber and nutrients, leading to faster digestion and potential insulin spikes. Instead, opt for whole grain flour or alternative flours like coconut or almond flour, which tend to be lower in carbohydrates.

Focus on High-Protein and Healthy-Fat Foods

Emphasizing high-protein foods in your diet can help you feel fuller for longer and reduce cravings. Include foods like meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and seeds in your meals. Additionally, supplementing with healthier fats like fatty fish, olive oil, avocado oil, and nuts can add variety to your diet and provide additional health benefits.

Increase physical activity

Increasing your physical activity is a great way to get into ketosis and has the added benefit of being free! The type and intensity of exercise you undertake while on a keto diet is important, however. High-intensity exercises that require short, sharp bursts of energy are fuelled by carbohydrates, so while on a keto diet, performance during these types of exercises tends to be limited.

Low-intensity, steady-state exercises, on the other hand, are less affected by the keto diet. Examples include:

• Walking
• Hiking
• Jogging
• Cycling
• Yoga
• Swimming
• Brisk walking

If you are looking to lose weight, a combination of cardio and weight training is the most effective method. This will help you benefit from steady energy levels during endurance activities and build or maintain muscle mass through resistance training.

If you are new to keto, it is recommended that you begin with low-intensity exercises for 30-45 minutes, 3-4 times a week, during the first week or two. This will help your body adjust to burning fat for fuel. In weeks three and four, you can start to build intensity by incorporating moderate-intensity exercises.

In week five and beyond, you can introduce high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions 1-2 times per week, alongside moderate-intensity exercises. HIIT involves short bursts of intense activity followed by rest periods and can be great for improving cardiovascular fitness and burning fat.

It is important to listen to your body and adjust your workout intensity based on how you feel. It is okay to have lighter days as your body adapts to its new source of fuel.

Fast for short periods

Intermittent fasting (IF) is a great way to kickstart your body into ketosis. IF doesn't restrict what you eat, but rather when you eat. This usually involves eating only during an eight-hour window in a single day, for example, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and fasting for the remaining 16 hours.

Other approaches include alternate-day fasting, where you significantly restrict calories for a day (usually to 400-600 calories), and then return to your normal eating pattern the next day. Another popular method is the 5:2 diet, where you eat normally for five days and then restrict calories for two non-consecutive days.

Intermittent fasting is a good option for those who find it hard to stick to other diets. It is also a healthier option than keto diets, which often include large amounts of meat and eggs, and may be hard on the heart.

Fasting for 24-48 hours can put your body into a state of ketosis. During this time, your body will burn through its glucose reserves and then start burning body fat and dietary fat for fuel. The production rate and concentration of ketone bodies rise significantly before reaching a plateau on the fifth day.

It's important to note that anyone interested in trying IF should consult a doctor first, as it is not suitable for everyone. Additionally, it may take a few days or even a week or longer to enter ketosis, and maintaining ketosis for prolonged periods can have adverse effects.

IF is a safe and effective way to lose body fat while retaining muscle mass. It lowers insulin levels and lessens hunger cravings by reducing the body's glycogen stores, which are normally replenished when eating carbs.

IF is not a restrictive diet, and you can eat the foods you want. It simply changes when you eat, providing a flexible and achievable approach to weight loss and improved health.

Increase healthy fat intake

Increasing your healthy fat intake is a crucial component of the keto diet. Here are some detailed tips to help you incorporate more healthy fats into your keto journey:

Embrace the Change:

It can be challenging to shift from a low-fat diet to consuming up to 90% of your daily calories from fat. However, embracing this change is essential for the success of your keto diet. Don't be afraid to include more fat in your meals. Natural fats are an important part of a keto diet and are not harmful to your health.

Choose the Right Fats:

Not all fats are created equal. Opt for healthy fats such as avocado, grass-fed butter, ghee, lard, mayonnaise, cocoa butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, and MCT oil. These fats will not only help you stay in ketosis but also provide your body with essential nutrients.

Vegetables as a Vehicle:

Don't neglect your vegetables! Choose low-carb, high-fiber vegetables and use them as a vehicle for healthy fats. Drizzle extra virgin avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil over your salad or cooked veggies. You can also opt for high-fat dressings or dips. For example, blend full-fat dairy or dairy-free yogurt with mayonnaise (olive oil or avocado oil-based) to make a creamy and nutritious dip.

High-Fat Proteins:

When choosing your protein sources, opt for those with a higher fat content. Examples include pork, 80/20 ground beef, chicken legs and thighs, duck, chicken with the skin on, turkey legs, and sausage. These options will help you increase your fat intake while also providing essential proteins.

Snack Smart:

When hunger strikes between meals, choose snacks that are high in healthy fats. Some options include full-fat dairy or dairy-free yogurt (no added sugar), canned sardines packed in olive oil, or high-fat nuts like pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, and Brazil nuts. Just remember to eat nuts in moderation, as some are also high in protein and carbs.

Creative Cooking:

Add healthy fats to your cooking whenever possible. Cook your eggs, veggies, or meat in grass-fed butter or ghee. You can even add butter or ghee to a freshly grilled steak or fish for an extra boost of flavor. Save the grease from cooking bacon and other high-fat meats and use it for cooking veggies or as a salad dressing base.

Fat Bombs:

Fat bombs are a keto staple and a great way to increase your fat intake. They are usually a combination of healthy fats and flavors or sweeteners. You can find many fat bomb recipes online or experiment with creating your own. They can be stored in the fridge or freezer and are a perfect snack when you need a quick boost of healthy fats.

Beverages:

Even your beverages can be an opportunity to increase your healthy fat intake. Try bulletproof coffee by adding grass-fed butter, coconut oil, MCT oil, or heavy cream to your coffee. You can also make any hot beverage a creamy, delicious treat by adding MCT oil, grass-fed butter, coconut cream, or cacao butter.

Full-Fat Ingredients:

When purchasing dairy products, always opt for the full-fat versions. Choose full-fat cream, cream cheese, butter, cheese, and coconut milk. Read labels carefully to avoid "light" or "low-fat" options, as these can hinder your keto progress.

Dressings and Dips:

Making your own creamy salad dressings and dips is an excellent way to increase your healthy fat intake. Use ingredients like mayonnaise, sour cream, and heavy cream. Adding a couple of tablespoons of these to your salad or as a dip for veggies can significantly boost your fat intake.

Remember, while increasing your healthy fat intake is crucial on the keto diet, it's important not to overdo it. Monitor your progress and make adjustments as needed to ensure you're on the right track for your health and weight loss goals.

Test ketone levels

Testing your ketone levels is a good way to confirm that you are in ketosis and that your keto diet is working for you. The three types of ketones—acetone, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate—can be measured in your breath, urine, and blood, respectively.

Breath Testing

Breath testing measures acetone, the least abundant ketone, in parts per million (ppm). Breath testing devices are fairly expensive and slightly less accurate than blood testing, but they are painless and do not require additional supplies like lancets or strips. Breath acetone levels ranging from 2–40 ppm, and even higher in some instances, may indicate nutritional ketosis.

Urine Testing

Urine testing uses test strips that change colour based on the presence of the ketone acetoacetate. The darkness of the strip indicates the extent to which you are in ketosis. Urine strips are inexpensive but also the least accurate testing method.

Blood Testing

Blood testing directly checks beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the most abundant ketone. It is the most reliable way to measure ketone levels and is done using a blood ketone meter, which works similarly to a blood sugar meter. Although your body produces three types of ketones, most blood ketone meters check for BHB.

There is some disagreement among researchers about the best time of day to test ketone levels. When you last ate appears to be a major contributing factor to your ketone levels, so you may want to do your ketone testing 3 hours after eating a meal.

Ketone Levels for Weight Loss

If your primary goal for starting a keto diet is weight loss, achieving "light nutritional ketosis", or 0.5 mmol/L-1.0 mmol/L, is a good starting point. From there, aim for "optimal ketosis", which is when your ketone levels are between 1.0 mmol/L-3.0 mmol/L.

Ketone Testing Tips

• You don't have to test your ketone levels at all to be successful on keto.
• You may want to check your ketone levels daily for a few days after starting keto to ensure that you reach nutritional ketosis, and then once a week or so while on the diet to ensure that you're remaining in ketosis.
• For some people, checking their ketone levels may provide a source of encouragement or motivation to stick with the diet.
• If you want to test often, urine testing strips are the least expensive way to do so, although they're also the least accurate.
• The best way to measure your ketone level is with a blood ketone meter.
• You may want to check your levels 3 hours after a meal for the most accurate reading.
• Nutritional ketosis is defined as blood ketone levels of 0.5–3 mmol/L, which also represents the optimal ketone range for weight loss.
• To achieve these levels, you need to significantly restrict your carb intake.
• Using a blood ketone meter is the best way to check your ketone levels, but checking these levels is not necessary to lose weight on keto.

Frequently asked questions