Get Started with the Ketogenic Diet in 5 Easy Steps

A ketogenic diet is a low carb diet that can help you lose weight. On your part, you need to commit to weight loss. By the end of this article, you will have an idea of how to chart your journey, tweak your methods for the best results, and follow the diet such that it works best for your body.

Here is how you crack the low-carb ketogenic lifestyle in five easy steps – 

1.   Consume the right amounts of macronutrients – Getting macronutrient consumption right is key to succeeding with the ketogenic diet. This diet is low in carbohydrates; initially not more than 25 grams of carbohydrates is recommended. The remaining calorie deficit is made up via proteins and fats in diet. The ratio of carbohydrates, fats, and protein will depend upon your health objectives – building muscle, losing weight, developing endurance, or managing health conditions.

 

Make it a point to read food labels and mentally calculate portion sizes and calories. Altering your diet to meet the daily calorie goals may prove a little tricky in the beginning. Always keep your target macronutrient calorie goals in mind. Calculate these by using a macronutrient calculator developed particularly for ketogenic diets. Ketogains Calculator is a good choice.

 

With some research and trials, you will be able to make a list of food items that you need to consume in order to meet the calorie goals through fats, protein, and carbohydrates. Meeting the calorie targets becomes easier with time. Make it a point to keep the fridge and larder stocked with essential supplies.

 

The next stage, once your body has adjusted to the low-carb diet, is to begin refining your calorie consumption by measuring fats, protein, and carbohydrates in grams and adjusting these with respect to your age, gender, current weight, and body type.

 

Check out MyFitnessPal, it is a handy app that lets you track food intake such that it is commensurate with the daily calorie targets. Download the iOS or Android version of the app and change the settings to reflect your daily ketogenic diet objectives. The app has a barcode scanner that lets you automatically feed the details for packaged foods. Enter the details of what you eat during the day. Track the data entered so that you don’t eat any more than the targeted portions. Connect your MyFitnessPal account with your profile on Heads Up so that your nutrition data is visible on the site.

 

Being able to track macronutrients is central to succeeding with this diet. Spend some time on online communities where experienced dieters and newbies share their progress. This will help you in your journey, give you answers for your questions, and shorten your learning curve. 

2.   Track blood glucose levels – You will have ensure that your blood sugar levels stay balanced. To measure blood sugar, you will need a glucometer. Regularly measure fasting blood sugar. This measurement is taken when you’ve not had solid food or drink other than water for eight hours. Over time, the blood sugar levels will drop. This indicates that the keto routine has begun to work, and that in the absence of carbohydrates the body is now entering a state of ketosis.

 

You will also be measuring blood sugar levels after consuming food. This postprandial sugar level points to the amounts of simple and complex carbs in our diet. Ideally, this reading should be low so that our insulin response too is commensurately low. The postprandial sugar levels should be not higher than 140mg/dL and, if possible, below 120mg/dL. Healthy fats do not increase blood glucose levels.

 

You can easily transfer readings from wireless glucometers like iHealth to the Heads Up Health database. Or, you can simply enter the readings by hand. Doing so gives you the opportunity to add more useful information that adds context to the readings. 

1. 3.   Keep body composition in check – Monitor your weight regularly. This is particularly important during the early days. Ketosis causes the body to lose fluids, which results in weight loss. This weight loss can be up to 10% of the body weight. You must drink water regularly to stay hydrated.

 

After a few days when your body gets used to the changes in diet, it will begin breaking down fat. This happens when the high fat and low carb diet alters the body’s insulin response and changes its behavior from storing lipids to melting them. This low carb diet does not force you to starve and keep off calories. You don’t lose hard-earned muscle with this diet. In fact, so long as your weight is constant and you’re losing fat, you’re on the right track and can actually build muscle.

 

You can enter the measured weight manually or connect your Heads Up account to wireless scales from FitBit and other companies.

 

Scales that measure only bodyweight do not offer a correct picture of body composition. DEXA scans offer a more well-rounded impression. These scans taken twice a year are an excellent complement to daily measurement of body weight using standard scales. Even if the scales do not show a loss of weight at a rate that you would like, your composition is definitely improving. Your muscle mass is increasing while you are losing fat.

 

1. 4.   Track the ketones – Once you have a firm understanding of macronutrient consumption and the data that you accrue from an app such as MyFitnessPal, and you know that your fasting blood sugar levels are dropping, then you’re ready to move on to the next stage, which is tracking ketone levels. This will enable you to track your body’s progress into ketosis.

 

Testing for ketones can be done in three ways –

 

·        Testing for ketones in the blood is the most accurate method. It is a quick method and as painless as testing for blood sugar. Safe ketosis is in the range of 0.5-3.0 mmol/L.

·         Testing for ketones in breath is the easiest and least expensive of the three methods. A simple breath ketone meter, like the one offered by Ketonix, will do the job.

·         Testing for ketones in urine is a simple and quick method. The test strips are easily available and not expensive. It is the best method for beginners.

For some people, entering a state of ketosis is not very difficult. They can easily transition into a ketogenic lifestyle within a few days of cutting down on calories and meeting the deficit with proteins and fats. Others may have to persevere until they achieve the results. 

You may test for ketones less frequently after you understand what the body undergoes during this phase, and you have discovered aspects of your lifestyle that influence the level of ketosis. These factors include stress, sleep, food timings, and others. 

1. 5.   Periodic lab work will allow you to monitor blood chemistry. This will inform you on where you’re actually headed with the ketogenic diet. Keep particular track of the following –

 

·         Lipids – These include cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoproteins. As a rule of thumb, the lipid panel numbers should look good as you progress in keto. Cholesterol and LDL numbers may increase; at the same time, the HDL numbers too increase. Triglycerides numbers drop.

·         Inflammation – As your intake of refined and processed foods comes down, the markers of inflammation, like homocysteine, begin to come down.

·         Glucose – Fatty foods have a negligible effect on blood glucose and insulin levels. These markers should begin showing a downward trend as you progress with this diet.

·        Thyroid markers – You should consider this if you feel that you’ve done everything you could have but have not made sufficient progress. The results will inform you on hormonal health and general metabolism.

  

Summary

The ketogenic diet is gaining popularity with each passing day. It has delivered results for practitioners by training their bodies to burn fat for energy instead of sugars. This is not a quick fix diet; you have to be prepared to put in some work.