So what exactly is the ketogenic diet? The Ketogenic diet (keto for short) is the newest craze that everyone is trying.

Except it’s not that new at all. It was developed in the 1920’s as a treatment for epilepsy, but slowed down in popularity due to the creation of anticonvulsant drugs.

But over the last few years, the keto diet has gained it’s momentum back, and it’s the biggest reason for major weight loss in a short period of time.

What Does The KetoGenic Diet Do For You?

Keto is a high fat low carbohydrate diet that switches you from burning glucose to burning ketones for energy.

To break this down in simpler form: our main source of fuel comes from glucose, which we acquire primarily from consuming carbohydrates. When our bodies run out of our glucose storage, our bodies respond by producing ketones that then assume the role of our primary energy source. Ketones are producing primarily from the fat we consume.

Each meal should be approximately 5% carbohydrates, 75% fat and 20% protein. When your body switches to this style of food consumption a few things can happen:

• Your metabolism speeds up
• Muscle mass increases
• You feel less hungry
• Increased energy
• Reduced brain fog
• Weight loss is achieved

How Do You Burn Fat By Eating Fat?

The keto diet allows you to burn fat instead of storing it by creating ketones. As your body begins to break down fats, ketones become present putting you in a state of ketosis.

Why do People Fail On The Ketogenic DIet?

Normally, your body can go into ketosis if you reduce your carbohydrate intake to under 50 grams per day. For strict keto dieters such as myself, they will reduce their intake to 20 grams to ensure we stay in ketosis.

First time starting out, you need to be knowledgeable about what you are putting into your body or you probably wont see many benefits. Tracking your food intake is going to keep you much more accountable and keep you on the right path indefinitely. Instead of guessing how many carbs, fats or proteins might be in your food, do the research and find out exactly how many macronutrients you are consuming.

Here are a few reasons someone might not lose weight on the keto diet:

1. Carb Consumption is high. Make sure to read all nutrition labels and keep track of what you put in your body. Only 5% of consumed food should be carbohydrates.
2. Lack of nutritious foods. Processed foods, can halt your weight loss. Instead of buying the keto snack bars or processed/packaged foods, stick to unprocessed whole foods such as; eggs, fish, poultry, avocado, olive oil, and greens.
3. More calories in than out. Pay attention to portion size, what types of keto food you’re eating and be sure to increase your physical activity.
4. You have an un-diagnosed medical issue. Before beginning any diet, always talk it over with your doctor.
5. Unrealistic weight loss goal. Healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week. If you are going to start a ketogenic diet to lose 50 lbs in a couple weeks, you need to reconsider your decision.

How Will I know What To Eat?

When you first start out, I’d hope you did a lot of research. You’ll know the basics to eat like eggs, poultry, healthy fats, etc. But just in case, I’ll provide an article on 16 different foods you can eat here.

But honestly you’re going to have no idea what kind of meals you can make unless you are already a health nut and know everything about ingredients and nutrition labels.

Eventually, you’re going to start…and everything will start to flow.

Before my first week of keto I found this awesome article that gave me a 14 day keto meal plan. It breaks down your macros for you, so you don’t have to do the math and calculate your carbs, protein and fat. I picked all of the meals that looked good and made a grocery list.

Once I started cooking a couple of these dishes, my confidence skyrocketed. The food was great! I love cooking as it is so I decided to build meal prep into my Saturday routine. It was really fun to try new recipes and I could easily track my carb intake. After the first week whenever I would eat something different than what was on that meal plan, I would look up the nutritional values and taught myself what I can and can’t eat.

Now that I have a ton of different meals and foods I like, eating became easier. In the very beginning I remember I was constantly STARVING, and had no idea what I could snack on. Now that I’m educated, snacking is simple and quick.

I would also recommend joining a couple Facebook groups. The “ketoers” are a little (big) community that bounce facts, recipes, advice, and accomplishments off each other. My favorite one is called Keto/Low Carb Challenge Group.

Is The Ketogenic Diet Sustainable Long Term?

The reality is that most of the people who hop on the keto diet bandwagon fail, because they thought it would be a quick fix to lose weight. Once they don’t achieve their unrealistic goal they give up and go back to their previous way of eating.

Keto is not a quick fix. It’s a lifestyle change that you need to be ready to make. There are people who have committed to this lifestyle and have done it for years, while others start to lose the weight, but eventually increase their carb intake slightly to maintain their weight.

I remember reading every article I could find about keto, and why so many people fail on it and being terrified I would lose weight, and then drastically put it all back on and then some.

But, doing all my research helped me see that this diet is doable for me and my needs, and when it’s time to increase my carb intake I will be educated enough to still be making healthy food choices.

Final Thoughts

I tried to condense the most basic keto facts into my post for readers to take the first step in deciding if this is the lifestyle change they want to make. When done right, keto can turn you into a completely new person. One that you love!

I had no idea what I would feel like when I first jumped on the keto train besides what my sister kept telling me. But now that I am fully into it I feel amazing. I’ve lost 12 healthy pounds in one month, and feel more energized than ever. That’s an average of 3 pounds a week!

If you read my blog, you will see that I teach Physical Education which means:

I AM CONSTANTLY RUNNING AROUND!

Just yesterday a co worker came to visit me in my gym as I was setting up for my first graders (going from 6th to 1st grade SUCKS when it comes to equipment set up and take down) and I had to stop to take a breath to talk to her. Anyways the point of this is that I’m busy. But being on the ketogenic diet has given me that extra push of energy I want and need to get me through my busy day with my students.

So are you are up for a lifestyle change? Are you are ready to meal prep, and not to go out to eat? That is until you figure out what you can eat, and track your carbohydrates, fat and protein….then you are ready to try keto.

Now that you know what the ketogenic diet is, I hope you succeed!

For meals and recipes to help you lose weight on the ketogenic diet CLICK HERE!

To find out what the ketogenic diet did to me mentally and physically CLICK HERE!