The Keto Diet – What You Need To Know

If you’re someone who’s getting ready to start up on a fat loss diet plan, one particular plan that you may be carefully considering is the ketogenic diet, or the Keto diet for short.

What all does this plan entail and is it one that is going to yield you maximum results?

Before you dive onto any sort of diet plan, it is important that you take a few points into consideration as it’s vital that you find a diet that’s right for you.

Let’s give you the low-down on what the keto diet is all about so that you can make an informed decision.

The Premise Of The Diet

The idea behind the keto diet plan is that you take your carbohydrate intake so low that the body is forced to find an alternate source of fuel, namely fat.

As it does this, the body will begin burning up a combination of incoming dietary fats along with stored body fat, which then helps you see the weight loss results you’re looking for provided a lower calorie intake is maintained.

When you’re in the process of burning up fat as a primary fuel source (rather than carbohydrates as is normal), you’ll be in a stated called ‘ketosis’, which is how the diet gets its name.

In order to reach this state of ketosis, you need to be using an intake of around 30% protein, 5% carbohydrates, and 65% dietary fat.

This combination is what will yield you optimal results.

Who This Diet Is For

So who is this diet best for? This diet is best for those who don’t tend to function all that poorly on low carb diets and who struggle with hunger when on a typical fat loss diet plan.

When you enter a state of ketosis, hunger is typically extremely low, if not non-existent, so this can make maintaining a much lower calorie intake that much easier.

Those who will have a harder time using the keto diet include those who are doing intense exercise programs at the same time. The problem here is that you must be consuming glucose for an energy source when doing intense exercise as it’s the only form of fuel the muscle tissue can use for intense contractions, therefore the standard keto diet won’t provide this.

If you want to use the keto diet and still maintain an intense workout, then you’ll want to be focusing on adding some form of carbohydrates right before and possible after the workout session is to take place as this will ensure that you are providing the body what it needs.

Then after the workout is completed, you can then move back to your very low carb approach and move right back into ketosis.

This approach is often referred to as the ‘targeted ketogenic diet’.

Another approach that can be used if you prefer is a cyclic ketogenic diet, and this would be where you do one very large carb-up on the weekend, which would resaturate muscle glycogen levels and make exercise possible during the week.

Either way you slice it though, carbohydrates do need to come in at some point if you are going to maintain intense workout sessions.

Those who don’t do well eating very large amounts of carbs at once will do best using the targeted approach, while those who do fine can use the cyclic approach.

Pros:

Provides very good hunger control
Allows you to easily follow a lower calorie intake
Helps keep energy levels more stabilized
Controls food cravings (in most cases)

Cons:

Some individuals may experience feelings of being ‘foggy minded’
Some people may find their energy levels are much lower
Those who struggle with carb cravings may frequently cheat
If healthy food choices are not made, the diet can cause health concerns due to its high fat nature

The Verdict

All in all, the keto diet is a relatively good approach for most people. The key thing to remember with it is making sure that you do look after the exercise side of things, making sure that you are taking in enough carbohydrates over the course of the week to fuel this activity, and then furthermore, making sure that you aren’t overdoing it on intense exercise that you become overly fatigued.

Then in addition to that, you want to make sure to eat plenty of fresh vegetables as they are so few in carbs, but high in nutrients and you’ll need these to sustain good health. Choosing these along with healthier fat sources and lean proteins will make for a health promoting keto diet.

Choosing unhealthy fats and fatty cuts of processed meats will make for an unhealthy keto diet. Realizing the difference is essential.

So if you’re someone who wants to see good fat loss results, doesn’t feel too bad taking carbs lower, and is looking to calm hunger pains, the keto diet may just be the perfect approach for you.