How do I Start a Keto diet?

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I am following A Dirty Lazy Keto diet.

If, you landed here no doubt you are looking for basic information about KETO diets and how to start one. A lot of websites contain lots of advanced information and hyped up reports on how to follow and maintain a keto diet.

Some sites charge you to become a member of their keto club and cover topics that would require a PhD. in Biochemistry to understand. The fee usually includes meal plan options, related articles, tip tactics, and supplements. I want to provide you with FREE, easy-to-understand, information on how to start and maintain a keto diet.

Caution:

Keto Diets Can be Hard To Follow!

I don’t care what the experts say! Yes, there are a lot of keto-friendly deserts out there and easy to follow recipes but when the cravings hit whose got the time to make a healthy keto meal?

“I’ve had a long day at work, and I deserve a reward.”

Is one of my favorite mantras

Let’s get real here OK?  Keto Diets are not for the Fair Weather Dieter.

Most humans are creature of habits and growing up in a culture where carb-loaded food is the normal staple, it’s only natural to eat a carb-loaded meal especially during the holidays.

Depending on your addiction to carbs, Keto diets can be darn right torture. I don’t care what other proponents of the diet say.

If you are addicted to CARBS, you are addicted to CARBS… period.

You will find it difficult to follow a low carb diet, especially if there is a 24-hour doughnut shop on the way home from work.

A typical keto diet consists of

  • 70% fat
  • 25% protein
  • 5% carbs

Ketosis can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 2 months to achieve. That’s why you don’t want to have a “cheat day” while in ketosis because then you would have to start all over again. An endless series of stop and starts….not FUN!

So, if you want to go keto, and you are willing to stay the course and put up with a lot of setbacks then, welcome aboard. This article will try to give lots of positive encouragement and sound advice.

 

So, let’s dive In and Go, Keto

 

First thing First, What is a Keto Diet?

Perhaps you’ve read a lot of articles about keto diets and are curious about them. Are keto diets just a bunch of hype? Is it another fad diet developed by popular celebrities?

Or is the keto diet a sound nutritious alternative to weight loss and other health benefits?

The answer is yes.

Keto diets can be very beneficial to overall health and vitality. Some benefits include:

  • Weight loss
  • Increased mental focus
  • More energy.

In fact, back in the 1920’s keto diets were used to help treat epilepsy and some forms of diabetes.

How Does a Keto Diet Work?

Keto diets involve training the body to use fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. Normally the body uses glucose and stores of glycogen to provide nutrients to cells and tissues. When carbohydrates, are eliminated from the diet the body goes into starvation mode which forces the body to use fat as a fuel source.

That’s why keto diets are popular with people that want to lose weight. The diet burns off excessive fat stores and trains the body to use ketone bodies as fuel. The brain burns ketones more efficiently than glucose which increases mental focus. 

Ketones are like having a high octane fuel source that burns cleaner than glucose. 

Keep in mind diet plans are not one size fits all and some people are more carb sensitive than others. That’s why I suggest sitting with a well-trained nutritionist or doctor to set up a keto-diet plan to meet with your specific dietary needs. There are Keto coaches that can help design a specific keto diet to meet individual dietary needs.

But if you are just curious and want to learn more about keto diets then go ahead and try the diet.

 

But…Without a sound goal for following a Keto Diet, you will flounder.

  • I’ll be honest with you, keto diets are not for the casual dieter. If, you want to enjoy the benefits that diet offers:
  • mental clarity,
  • weight loss,
  • more energy throughout your day, you have to be committed to the keto diet.

In some cases, it can take a good year to develop the keto lifestyle and get your body acclimated to burning fat. Otherwise, you’ll be one of those people who gave it shot, went back to the carbs and declared that keto diets don’t work.

What are your reasons for starting a keto diet?

  • Weight Loss?
  • Better concentration?
  • More energy?
  • Cardiovascular health?

Plaster your personal goals on your wall, on your bathroom mirror, in your car and put a note on your desk at work. Make a recording of your voice that says

“I love Keto”

Everybody’s Reasons for Following a Keto Diet will be Different.

The goals can be anything, just make sure they have meaning for you.

For example, “ I want to follow a keto diet because I want to have enough energy to spend time with my grandkids as opposed to I want to get ready for beach season.”

Bottom line: It doesn’t matter what the goal is as long as you have one and it has meaning for you.

Keto Tip:

To keep from being tempted by high carb foods at the store, buy keto-shopping lists from Amazon. You will never be lured away from the keto diet when shopping at your local grocery store again.

Keto Diets Can be Difficult To Follow But With The Right Goals in Place The Chances of Success are Very High!

Keto diets are doable if you have the right mindset, which includes setting realistic and value-driven goals. Without a sound diet plan in place you will go back to the high carb foods and falsely conclude that keto diets do not work.

Think of the Keto Diet plan as a lifestyle and not so much of diet so if you deviate and go back to your high carb ways you’ll know that you are not perfect and at the next meal you’ll make a better choice.

  1. Develop a vision for your diet plan: you want to follow a diet plan because of _________? (Fill in the blank with your awesome reason.)
  2. Obtain a daily meal calendar with all the meals mapped out in advance: Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, and Dinner
  3. Join a group of like-minded individuals that will help you maintain a keto lifestyle.

There are a lot of cookbooks I can recommend that will help develop a meal plan and stock up on keto-friendly ingredients. If you want to spend the extra money there are websites that will provide all the meals for a monthly fee that will deliver meals right to your door. They offer breakfast, lunch and dinner plans.   

But in the long run, those meal plans can be quite pricey and keto-friendly ingredients are not exactly cheap either.

I think its more cost-effective to learn to prepare keto-friendly meals yourself. The extra effort in preparing your own meals will burn excess calories.

Think of all the calories you’ll burn by shopping. (Food shopping with or without a grocery cart burns 154 calories.)

As always leave comments, criticisms, we are all on the lookout for the latest trends in keto dieting and other forms of health and wellness tips.

Finally, before you go be sure to check out my reviews on Blenders. When you don’t have time to prepare a keto-friendly breakfast, smoothies are the next best option. Smoothies make great meals at any time of the day.