Ketogenic Diets - What Are They? Do They Work

 

What would you say if I told you that you could supercharge your energy levels with a switch to your diet? How about lose fat or bulk up using the same diet? Would you like to eat the foods that are considered taboo?

Ketogenic Diets - What Are They? Do They Work?
What would you say if I told you that you could supercharge your energy levels with a switch to your diet? How about lose fat or bulk up using the same diet? Would you like to eat the foods that are considered taboo? You know... The good foods, the ones with all the fats that really taste good. We are speaking of ketogenic diets (or keto for short). Countless books have been written on this very subject and yet the world does not understand the value of this diet. I keep hearing the same comments: "Man that diet is bad for you." "You will have excessive cholesterol and probably have a heart attack." Where does this come from? A common lack of knowledge! Most of the time we fear that which we don't understand, so we are here to shed some light on the subject and hopefully leave you with a better understanding about this diet.

 
The Problem
The most common problem today is what we eat. Modern man seems to have gotten so wrapped up in processing stuff that it actually became bad for us to eat. Many years ago man ate meat! This was his diet. He would kiss his family goodbye and go off in search of a wild animal for meat. There was no processed wheat, refined sugars or msg to concern himself with.
Benefits
First let's cover a few aspects of the benefits from using a keto diet, though there are many.
Increased fat loss
Increased energy levels
Decreased hunger while cutting
 
Basic Mechanics of Fat Loss on a Keto Diet
The object of a keto diet is to force your body to get into and stay in a glycogen deprived state and maintain a mild state of ketosis (burning fats for energy). In order to achieve this you need to increase the fat intake and restrict the carbs to a minimum.
On a carb based diet, carbs are converted into glucose and this is what the body will use for its primary fuel source. The glucose that is not used for energy is converted to glycogen and stored in the liver for future usage. Now once the stores are full we get a sort of "spill over", and the excess is stored as adipose tissue or fat, as we all are familiar with. You know the stuff around the waistline we call the spare tire or the dreaded "love handles". Now we feel this is proof positive as to why you get fat, not due to eating fat, but due to excessive carbs. "But I don't eat a lot of food and I still get fat." This is possibly due to an intolerance to insulin. You would be surprised how many are walking around borderline pre-diabetics. How many obese people do you see today? Ask some of them what they eat and how much, I bet you would be surprised at the answers. I found most people are struggling with their weight due to this intolerance to insulin, especially as the aging process takes its toll.
The one factor I find interesting is that you are able to control this insulin problem with this diet. We are faced with too many carb related problems, such as Diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, which are due largely to hyper-insulinism. In the last 10 to 15 years scientists have realized that metabolic disturbances which usually occur in the obese, is caused by a form of insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone which will constantly rise and fall according to foods we eat. It is better to control the insulin to our advantage, which will be covered in the next few installments, such as after a weight training session.
Increased Energy Levels
Believe it or not glucose is not the preferred fuel source for the body. We subject it to carbs constantly and the problem is carbs are not efficient and clean burning. You can compare it to your car. Would you want to put the lowest grade octane in the tank when it calls for the higher grade? What would happen? Pinging, lousy gas mileage, dirty valves, soon the available power would slow down. Same with the body, after a few days of carb withdrawal, many  report increased energy to the point where they are bouncing off the walls. With the dense nutritional energy in a gram of fat (stored or dietary) is it any wonder? Free form fatty acids are the actual preferred source of fuel. But with carb based diets the body rarely gets to use them due to the fact that glucose is not only more readily available but is easier to utilize. The body will assume the easiest method but not always the best method for energy. It is really simple. If we feed it carbs, it will use carbs. If we feed it fats, it will use fats. It actually takes less energy to burn carbs which is 4 calories per gram, versus the 9 calories per gram for fats. So unless the body is forced at first to utilize fatty stores it will not. This will be covered more in the next installment.
Decreased Hunger While Cutting
It's pretty simple really. Fat is more nutritionally dense than carbs. Fat will take longer to digest and therefore a fuller feeling for a longer period of time. When you feed the body fats tells you that it is happy and satisfied.
When you eat a carb-based meal you sort of feel hungry a bit later on. You can compare it to the old saying, "Like eating Chinese take out, one hour later you are hungry again." The rapid rise in insulin will actually do a few things. It will cause increased lethargy (being excessively tired) and cause you to be hungry again soon afterwards. Ever notice right after a meal with carbs, like a big boal of pasta, you feel tired immediately after? How about one hour later you find yourself snacking again? This is common with a carb-based diet. It all comes down to the same thing: insulin. To be more precise it's a chemical disorder we talked about previously called hyper-insulinism. It's due largely to the sugar and more simple carbs we consume today. Again, man was not intended to eat the sugar and highly refined stuff we eat today, and in this authors opinion it is that which is slowly poisoning us all.
Remember the last time you dieted? Remember the hungry feeling you always seemed to have, the hard time you had because you were never satisfied with what you ate? There may have been times where you wanted to end the misery of dieting and just go ahead and eat. I am sure we have all faced this at one time or the other. This is where this diet comes in to play. Think about it.... rich fatty foods to satisfy your cravings. Tempting, huh?
Stay tuned for the next installment on Keto diets, we will discuss the ratios and foods we should eat. Until next time, keep the faith baby!
 

Celebrities who Used Keto Diet for Weight Loss

   

You have to admit that the Hollywood celebrities do start the fashion trend in the market. They influence our lives in many ways. How we live, how we walk, talk, eat and especially wear. They are all over our lives. And, it’s not a bad thing if you make something good out of following your favorite celebrity.
Talking about following a celebrity, do you think you are the only one struggling with the weight loss? Well, sometimes, these celebrities have to gain and lose the weight quickly for the role they are offered. Yes, many of them exercise daily, but there’s another thing they do, and this is to control their diet. If until now, nothing has inspired you, motivated you to start your keto diet, then what if we told you that some of your favorite celebrities have lost many pounds because they followed the Keto Diet. Some of them are still following it because they fell in love with the diet.
Starting our list with my personal favorite
1 Melissa McCarthy
Melissa McCarthy starred in SPY, Identity Thief, Bridesmaids (for which she got nominated for the Academy Award), Tammy, The Heat, oh! The list of her movies is long. Along with the movies, and for her clothing line, there’s one more thing she is in the news for and that is her weight loss. She lost 75 pounds and came back to size 14 physique. She did it with Low Carb Diet or Keto Diet and HIIT (High-intensity interval training) workouts. Out of her busy schedule, she always found her way to exercise. What’s stopping you? Anyways, we loved you then Melissa, and we love you now! And congratulations on the weight loss!
2 Britney Spears
Hello! Music lovers, we all loved her music numbers. She’s back, but not for a song, but for another good reason. A week ago, she uploaded her picture in a bikini on Instagram. She was lean, looked fit and fresh, and it was clear that she had lost a decent amount of weight, which glared in her charm. The reports revealed that she was following a Keto Diet or Low Carb Diet and was on Yoga Workouts! It also revealed that she loves high carb, sugary foods, but focused strictly on low carb foods. Look what she achieved! If she can, why can’t you! Doesn’t this inspire you? If you are a real fan of Britney Spears and struggling your ways with Keto Diet, this might give a crucial boost!
3 Kim Kardashian

Not once, but many time she was up in the news because of her weight loss. In 2014, Kim shed 56 pounds in 6 months by following the Keto Diet. And, from December 2015 until now, she had lost over 40 kg. She gave birth to her second baby in December. Soon after that, she went on the Keto Diet because she gained 60 pounds when she got pregnant. She has limited her carb intake to 40 grams a day. The physique like is difficult, but not impossible to get if you are focused on two things; your diet and regular exercise.
Another Kardashian on the list
4 Rob Kardashian
Rob Kardashian was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes. He was a famous athlete in high school. But due to stress and depression, he gained 100 pounds and since then was looking for a way to get back in shape. He also did what Melissa McCarthy, Britney Spears, and Kim Kardashian did and that’s to start a Keto Diet.
5 Tim Tebow

Not only does the Keto Diet make you look good, but it keeps you high on energy throughout the day. The story of a sportsman, an NFL quarterback, Tim Tebow. Who gained weight and felt low on energy. He recently shifted to the Keto diet and had never felt better. He admits that you get the feeling that you are eating a lot of boring food, but the energy you have throughout the day keeps you running. He started his day with coffee, unsweetened almond milk, butter, 2-3 drops of English Toffee flavored Stevia and heavy whipped cream. He suggests never to count the calories as his weight fluctuated between 236 and 250 pounds when he was on a keto diet.
6 Kate Middleton
During a tennis workshop at Craigmount high school, Edinburg, Scotland, Kate Middleton flaunted her tennis skills and her skinny form. Her rapid weight loss news echoed in the industry like fire. She revealed later that she did yoga workouts and followed Keto Diet and in two months she lost 29 pounds.
So, this was it, the list of our top 6 celebrities who followed and still follow Keto Diet. Along with these 6, there’s also Sharon Osbourne, Linda O’Byrne, Megan Fox, Kellan Lutz, Tim McGraw, Robin Wright, and Adriana Lima followed the diet that prevents cancer, diabetes, depression, heart disease and enhances weight loss. You know which food we are talking about.
The idea of supermodels and Hollywood Celebrities following a keto diet is gripping. Many people don’t know that for the past 40 years various Hollywood celebrities have followed the keto diet.
Thanks to these celebrities, many of their fans might also have started a Keto Diet and is on the right track to living a healthy and fruitful life.
While being in a condition of “ketosis” sounds unsafe, it just implies that the body is no more relying upon sugars for energy and is, rather, searching out the old fat that has turned out to be serenely stored in the cells and perilously surrounding the inward organs. The ketogenic diet arrangement is the most concentrated type of weight reduction diet and takes praise for making various well-known celebrities reach their weight loss goal. Keto diet not only delivers weight loss, but as mentioned above, it is useful in the prevention and therapies for seizures, cardiovascular disease, and some particular types of cancer.

 

 

 

TIPS ON USING MY FITNESS PAL FOOD DIARY

    My Fitness Pal  Food Diary

You can enter your meals into the food diary and track your daily intake of your calories. I do this on my phone and can see an overall view of my daily intake of nutrients.

You tap the MyFitnessPal Logo at the top left of your screen, and then tap Diary in the list that shows up.

Once you are at your diary, you can add new meals and snacks in there by tapping the plus [ + ] button on the top right of your screen. You can view charts of your daily intake of nutrients and see how you are doing. The chart will be inaccurate because it does not calculate net carbs!

Keep in mind that you are on a keto diet, so you have to calculate your net carbs. Take your total carb intake and subtract out any fiber you have.

For the day, my total net carbs = 34g – 12g = 22g – not bad! This isn’t my actual daily diet, but I put together a quick example of what you should be looking at.

I hope you utilize this tool that makes the most out of your efforts on a keto diet, and I hope I didn’t confuse you too much! It’s very beneficial to keep a log of what you are eating, especially in the first 2 months that you start. I’ve been logging my diets daily for years now and it can help me understand what I am lacking or what I need more of in my diet. Since I eat almost the same thing every day, logging what I eat has become simple. You can copy diary entries from day to day and week to week, plus you can edit any entry so that logging your diet is extremely easy.

Let me know if you have any trouble in the comments and I’ll be sure to help you out!

                                               

Keto beginners guide

Keto beginners guide

A keto diet is well known for being a low carb diet, where the body produces ketones in the liver to be used as energy. It’s referred to as many different names – ketogenic diet, low carb diet, low carb high fat (LCHF), etc. When you eat something high in carbs, your body will produce glucose and insulin.

Glucose is the easiest molecule for your body to convert and use as energy, so it will be chosen over any other energy source.

Insulin is produced to process the glucose in your bloodsteam, by taking it around the body. Since the glucose is being used as a primary energy, your fats are not needed, and are therefore stored. Typically on a normal, higher carbohydrate diet, the body will use glucose as the main form of energy.

By lowering the intake of carbs, the body is induced into a state known as ketosis. Ketosis is a natural process the body initiates to help us survive when food intake is low. During this state, we produce ketones, which are produced from the breakdown of fats in the liver.

The end goal of a properly maintained keto diet is to force your body into this metabolic state. We don’t do this through starvation of calories, but through starvation of carbohydrates. Our bodies are extremely adaptive to what you put into it – when you overload it with fats and take away carbohydrates, it will begin to burn ketones as the main energy source.

What Do I Eat?

To start a keto diet, you will want to plan ahead. That definitely means having a viable diet plan ready and waiting. What you eat really depends how fast you want to get into a ketogenic state. The more restrictive you are on your carbohydrates (less than 15g per day), the faster you will enter ketosis. Normally, anywhere between 20-30g of net carbs is recommended for every day dieting – but the lower you keep your glucose levels, the better the overall results will be.

You might be asking, “What’s a net carb?” It’s simple really! The net carbs are your total dietary carbohydrates, minus the total fiber. Let’s say for example you want to eat some broccoli (1 cup)

• There are a total of 6g carbohydrates in 1 cup.
• There’s also 2g of fiber in 1 cup.
• So, we take the 6g (total carbs) and subtract the 2g (dietary fiber).
• This will give us our net carbs of 4g.

Here’s a list of the most common low carb vegetables.

Vegetable	Amount	Net Carbs
Spinach (Raw)	1/2 Cup	0.1
Bok Choi	1/2 Cup	0.2
Lettuce (Romaine)	1/2 Cup	0.2
Broccoli (Florets)	1/2 Cup	0.8
Cauliflower (Steamed)	1/2 Cup	0.9
Cabbage (Green Raw)	1/2 Cup	1.1
Cauliflower (Raw)	1/2 Cup	1.4
Collard Greens	1/2 Cup	2
Kale steamed	1/2 Cup	2.1
Green Beans steamed	1/2 Cup	2.9

Your nutrient intake should be something around 70% fats, 25% protein, and 5% carbohydrate.

You want to keep your carbohydrates limited, coming mostly from vegetables, nuts, and dairy. Don’t eat any refined carbohydrates such as wheat (breads, pastas, cereals), starch (potatoes, beans, legumes) or fruit.

Dark green and leafy is always the best choice. Most of your meals should be a protein with vegetables, and an extra side of fat. Chicken breast basted in olive oil, with broccoli and cheese. Steak topped with a knob of butter, and a side of spinach sautéed in olive oil. If you’re finding yourself hungry throughout the day, you can snack on nuts, seeds, cheeses, or peanut butter to curb your appetite.

                   

                    Benefits of a Keto Diet

• Cholesterol. A keto diet has shown to improve triglyceride levels and cholesterol levels most associated with arterial buildup.
• Weight Loss. As your body is burning fat as the main source of energy, you will essentially be using your fat stores as an energy source while in a fasting state.
• Blood Sugar. Many studies show the decrease of LDL cholesterol over time and have shown to eliminate ailments such as type 2 diabetes.
• Energy. By giving your body a better and more reliable energy source, you will feel more energized during the day. Fats are shown to be the most effective molecule to burn as fuel.
• Hunger. Fat is naturally more satisfying and ends up leaving us in a satiated (“full”) state for longer.
• Acne. Recent studies have shown a drop in acne lesions and skin inflammation over 12 weeks.

Physical Performance

You may see some limitations on your performance when you first begin a keto diet, but as your body fully adapts to using fat as the primary source of energy – all of your strength and endurance will return to normal.

Many people ask if carbs are needed to build muscle. Of course they’re not. If you’re asking this question, I will assume you know how you gain mass.

Your glycogen stores can still be refilled while on a ketogenic diet. A keto diet is a great way to build muscle, but protein intake is key here. It’s suggested that if you are looking to gain mass, you should be taking in about 1.0 – 1.2g protein per lean pound of body mass. Putting mass on may be slower on a ketogenic diet, but that’s because your total body fat is not increasing. If, for some reason, you need to put on body fat also, you can achieve your goals through a Cyclical Keto Diet or a Targeted Keto Diet.

People often argue that performance is affected when on a keto diet, but that’s not true. A study was done on trained cyclists who were on a ketogenic diet for 4 weeks. The results show that aerobic endurance was not compromised at all, and their muscle mass was the same as when they started. Their bodies adapted through ketosis, limiting both glucose and glycogen stores, and used fats as the predominant energy source. There was another study done on 8 professional gymnasts who had the same results.

Both groups were fed a strict diet of green vegetables, proteins, and high quality fats. So, even if you are doing long bouts of cardio – a keto diet has been proven time and time again. The only real time where ketosis can give performance loss is in exercises that need an explosive action. If you need a little boost in your performance during these, you can “carb-up” by eating 25-50g of carbs about 30 minutes before you train.

Dangers of a Keto Diet

There are a lot of misconceptions about low carb dieting which has caused an infamous outlook on this type of diet. There’s been tons of studies published over the last 30 years that show how high amounts of fat and low amount of carbs are beneficial.

People normally get this confused with high fat and high carb diets, which are terrible for the body. Of course when you eat a lot of fatty foods that are high in sugar, you’ll be getting yourself in trouble.

Thinking of going on a low fat diet? It’s been shown that a ketogenic diet is healthier AND more effective than low fat dieting. When you eat foods high in carbohydrates, your body naturally produces glucose. Carbohydrates are the easiest thing for the body to process, and therefore it will use them first – resulting in the excess fats to be stored immediately. In turn, this causes weight gain and health problems that are associated with high fat AND high carbohydrate diets, NOT a keto diet.

As a precaution, you should always check with your physician if you have any concerns about starting a keto diet. You should especially be weary if your family has any pre-existing kidney or diabetic conditions – as the higher intake of proteins will put strain on your kidneys.

High cholesterol, high blood sugar, and heart disease is not something you need to worry about. High fat, low carb diets are well-known and documented for their improvements in cholesterol, blood sugars, and reduction of heart disease.

What Happens To My Body

Your body is used to the simple routine of breaking down carbohydrates and using them as energy. Over time the body has built up an arsenal of enzymes ready for this process, and only has a few enzymes for dealing with fats – mostly to store them.

All of a sudden your body has to deal with the lack of glucose and increase in fats, which means building up a new supply of enzymes.

As your body becomes induced into a ketogenic state, your body will naturally use what’s left of your glucose. This means your body will be depleted of all glycogen in the muscles – which can cause a lack of energy, and a general lethargy. In the first few weeks, many people report:

• Headaches
• Mental fogginess
• Flu-like symptoms (known as the “keto-flu”)
• Dizziness
• Aggravation
• Yep, it’s pretty much a week of PMS for everyone!

Most of the time, this is the result of your electrolytes being flushed out, as ketosis has a diuretic effect. Make sure you drink plenty of water and keep your sodium intake up. In fact, you should go overboard with the salt – salt EVERYTHING! This will help with water retention, and help replenish the electrolytes.

For a normal person that is starting a ketogenic diet, eating 25-40g of net carbs a day, the total adaptation process will take about 2 weeks. My advice is to cut your carbs to fewer than 15g to ensure that you are well on your way into ketosis within 1 week.

You may notice that if you’re an avid gym goer, you lost some strength and endurance. This is normal. Once your body becomes keto-adapted, your body will be able to fully utilize the fats as its primary source of energy. Many studies done have shown that there is no long term drop in performance for professional athletes on a very low carb ketogenic diet. Many also report more energy at sustainable levels throughout the day.

Getting Started

Overall, eating a high amount of fat, moderate protein, and low amount of carbs can have a massive impact in your health – lowering your cholesterol, body weight, blood sugar, and raising your energy and mood levels.

Once you’re in the mindset to start a more realistic, healthy approach at losing body fat – a low carb lifestyle doesn’t seem as bad. Give it a few weeks to get over the initial hump, and those cravings for carbs will go away.

Some studies have shown links between artificial sweeteners and sugar cravings, so if you drink diet sodas or if you use a lot of artificial sweeteners – try to throw them out and reform your eating philosophies.

If you need help tracking your calories or carbs for the day, I’ve written up an article to help you do that. While it’s not necessary, it certainly helps to know exactly what you’re eating so that you can pinpoint mistakes easily.

There’s no real danger involved in a keto diet unless you have previous health conditions relating to the kidney or type 1 diabetes. Just be sure to know that the first week usually gives you some killer headaches and lethargy while your body adapts.

I also suggest creating a meal plan. Need help! email me at artemiovidafit82@hotmail.com