Just How Do You Start the Keto Diet?

Are you looking to lose weight and start the Keto diet but don't know where to begin? You're not alone! Many people want to try the Keto diet but don't understand how it works. Don't worry - we've got you covered! Here's a simple guide to get you started on your Keto journey: 

The basics of the Keto diet is: 

The Keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet. It involves reducing your carb intake and replacing it with healthy fats. This helps your body enter a state called ketosis, where it burns fat for energy instead of carbs.  

Most people, when hearing this, become concerned about eating fats and damaging their hearts.  While you should never start any diet program without talking with your physician, the clue in the above statement is trading carbs for healthy fats.  There are good fats and there are really bad fats and this diet focuses on eating only the good fats and avoiding the bad ones.

The next thing people worry about is the term "ketosis"; thinking that is associated with diabetes and being afraid of it.  The term simply means that your body is burning fat for energy instead of glucose. That is a good thing since too much glucose in your bloodstream is what causes diabetes. This can help you lose weight and improve your overall health.

The next thing you need to know how to do to get started is to calculate your macronutrient needs. Macronutrients are proteins, carbs, and fats, and the right balance of these will help you reach your keto goals. 

Macronutrients are the main sources of energy for the body, consisting of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

When determining macronutrient needs on Keto, the general guideline is to consume 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbohydrates. This ratio of macronutrients will help the body transition into a state of ketosis, which is the goal of the Keto diet.

Once you know the general ratio of macronutrients you should be consuming, the next step is to calculate the exact amounts of each macronutrient you need to reach your goals. To do this, you will need to know your:

 Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is the amount of energy your body needs to sustain its current weight.

 Activity Level: This is the amount of physical activity you engage in on a daily basis.

  Once you know this, you need to use this information to find your own personal macros that will keep your body well fed while helping you lose weight.  It sound complicated, and it does take a bit of work, but here is a link to a free macronutrient calculator for the keto diet that should help you out.

 The next step then, is to do your meal planning because cooking for Keto requires just a bit of thought and planning.  Since you won't just be eating things precooked or prepared at a fast food place, you need to have keto appropriate items available at home for you and your family when you run short on time.  Since most keto meals are fully home-prepared, you should set aside time each week for meal planning, cooking, and freezing or storing these items.  Doing this will make your life easier and you will stay on the food plan. 

Meal planning for the keto diet involves selecting meals that are high in healthy fats, low in carbohydrates, and moderate in proteins. Foods that are typically included in a keto meal plan include lean proteins such as fish, poultry, and eggs; healthy fats such as avocados, nuts, and seeds; and low-carb vegetables like leafy greens, broccoli, and cauliflower. Whole grains, starchy vegetables, and fruits should be limited or avoided due to their higher carb content. Additionally, it is important to monitor your macronutrient intake, as the keto diet is a very specific ratio of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.

In order to make sure that you are getting enough healthy fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, you may want to create a meal plan that outlines the types and amounts of foods that you will be eating each day. This will help you stay on track and make sure that you are meeting your macronutrient goals. Additionally, it can be helpful to create a grocery list for the week so that you can easily purchase the foods needed for your meal plan.

Finally, it is important to remember that the keto diet is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach more tailored to individual needs. Therefore, it is important to consult with a qualified healthcare professional to determine what works best for your individual health and lifestyle.

So now you understand how to start the keto diet, but what do you eat?  There are a myriad of keto cookbooks available, but you can find just about any kind of recipe you want to make for free on the internet.  The only thing to remember is that everyone has differing tastes, so a recipe you find on Pinterest may need to be tweaked to meet your own needs.  It may be helpful to keep your recipes in a book and make notes on each one after you make it so you know if everyone liked it, if it tasted good, if you had to make any changes to the recipe and such.  That will make your life so much easier because we all cook pretty much the same things over and over again.

Now, if you still need help or still have questions, you may be interested in checking out this link.  It will take you to the Keto Resource Guide which might be exactly what you need to get started on your way!

What on earth is a "CHAFFLE"?

If you are thinking about starting a Keto diet, you will quickly come up with the "chaffle" because recipes abound on Pinterest, YouTube, and Google.  What the heck is a chaffle, you might ask me?

One of the things you will quickly learn on Keto is that you miss bread.  You miss bread very, very much.  You miss all the things you eat with bread such as sandwiches, cream cheese spreads, etc.  You miss bread things like pizza crust.  You dream of bread.

Out of desperation, the chaffle was invented.  Originally it was made with one egg and mozzarella cheese.  Also touted as required was a Mini Dash or some type of waffle iron.  Here is the basic recipe for the original chaffle:

I know that doesn't sound like it would taste very good, but I have to say it is a fairly good bread substitute, especially when you have been bread-deprived for a long while!

After this recipe was around for a bit, Keto dieters everywhere got busy inventing new and better chaffle recipes.  Everything from savory chaffles to desert chaffles.  Here are a few of these types of recipes:

Then you get to the best one!  Pizza chaffles!!!

Here's a link to Amazon to get your own Mini Dash.  They are fairly inexpensive and I love mine.

So what are you waiting for?  Get your mini waffle maker and start enjoying chaffles!

In leaving, let me give you my favorite chaffle recipe.  I use this every day for sandwiches:

5 Proven Benefits of the Keto Diet

Carbs are an important part of the human metabolic process. They are stored in our liver and muscle cells in the form of glycogen. Their role is to serve as a quick source of energy for our bodies.

Once our body gets depleted of glycogen, the liver starts producing organic compounds called ketones. These compounds are formed when our body burns fat for fuel, and that is how the high-in-fat keto diet contributes to effective weight loss.

Besides enabling our liver to convert fat into ketones, leading to a lean figure, the keto diet has many other physical and mental health benefits.

Consider these benefits of the Keto Diet: 

1. Reduced appetite. When your body begins breaking down fats, you typically experience significant appetite reduction. Feeling full for more extended periods can be highly beneficial for weight loss.

* The keto diet helps in reducing food cravings and urges to binge. Such conditions are the most significant obstacle to successful dieting and can cause the so-called yo-yo effect. In the absence of these obstructions, it's more likely that you'll stick to your desired diet regime.

* Our brain, heart, and muscle tissue are more inclined towards burning ketones than glycogen. When ketones are burned, we can conserve blood sugar and function more effectively.

2. Decreased levels of triglycerides (fat found in your blood). Production of triglycerides happens when the dietary fat (the fat that we consume through food) and our body fat turns into Free Fatty Acids (FAA). When FAA's start freely flowing through our bodies, they get attached to insulin, and this combination forms triglycerides.

* High levels of triglycerides are hazardous for our health as they're known to cause obesity, heart disease, and seizures.

* Cutting down on carbohydrates, especially refined sugars, decreases insulin stimulation, resulting in lower levels of fat in the blood.

* The keto diet limits many types of carbs, including refined sugar, starch, alcohol, and fruit - all of them known to be insulin stimulators.

3. Increased levels of good cholesterol (HDL cholesterol). According to 12 medical studies performed on 1257 patients, carbohydrate-restricted diets, such as the keto diet, offer improvement of cardiovascular health because they increase the levels of HDL in the body.

* A low carb diet is a more efficient method of increasing the good cholesterol when compared to traditional weight-loss diets that are focused on reducing, rather than increasing, the fat intake.

* If you are looking to improve the overall health of your heart, increasing your HDL cholesterol levels is a great starting point.

4. Better blood pressure balance. Because high-fat diets are often considered as unhealthy by the general public, many people are suspicious about going ketogenic. Even though the keto diet might have some side-effects, negatively affected blood pressure is not part of them.

* Lower-fat diets are more often associated with increased prevalence of high blood pressure than the high-fat food regimen. Diets with a higher number of calories coming from quality fatty foods, such as fish, avocado, walnuts, and olive oil, contribute to healthier blood pressure.

5. Supports the treatment of mental health disorders. The keto diet has a lot of applications and benefits for people who have epilepsy, bipolar disorder, seizures, and other mental health conditions. It has been clinically used to treat anxiety and depression.

* For people whose brain health is optimal, the keto diet is proven to contribute to more focus and clarity.

If you are interested in improving your figure, focus, or health condition by going on a keto diet, it's wise to consult your dietitian or doctor in choosing a safe and supportive plan suitable for you.

Welcome to my new blog!

Hello and Welcome!

My name is Shirley Williams and this is my new blog.  When I first started out on my Keto journey, I have to tell you that I became extremely confused.  What could I eat, what couldn't I eat, how do I figure up macros, what to eat with what, how to determine net grams of carbohydrates?  It was almost too much for me!  There is so much information on the internet--some accurate; some not so much; some just plain wrong.

I finally found something that helped me get onto my Keto diet and stay on it for almost a year with a total weight loss of 50 pounds, which for a 69-year-old, I thought was pretty darn good!  This resource is fantastic and with it, I was able to sort through all the information to find just what I needed to begin and stay on my journey for the long-term.

Let me warn you, though.  Going Keto is not for the quick fix, although you will lose weight rapidly.  This diet is a lifestyle change and requires your full commitment to both losing weight but also having to replace your wardrobe.  Fast food is not on this diet--I know that hurts, but I want to give you the honest truth.  You will have to cook, but with keto, it is easy to cook for a week at a time.  I use Sunday afternoons to cook up all my meals for the week and that has worked well for me.  You may need to do something different, but you will find your groove and then Keto becomes a piece of "low-carb" cake!!

In addition to the weight loss, you can expect to feel more energized, your skin and hair will become softer, you will sleep better than ever, and you will have mental clarity all day long.  All of these things are side-effects of being on a Keto diet.

This Keto Resource includes a 28-day done-for-you program to get you going correctly.  You get information on what to eat when to eat, and what not to eat.  You learn about what ketosis really is and why you need to monitor it.  You learn all the basics of a Keto diet.  You learn how to avoid the Keto flu.  Best of all, with this program, you get a plan.  A plan is what separates the weight loss winners from those who start and fall off the wagon.

I like this program so much that I became an affiliate for it.  I believe that this program is really what everyone needs when they embark on their own Keto journey.  It sure takes all the guesswork out of the process and makes losing weight a real possibility for us who have tried so many diets in the past that we have just about given up.  I continue to lose weight now, but I do so more slowly.  The best part of all this is that I haven't gained a pound back even when I fall off the Keto wagon and have to start all over!  You owe it to yourself to try this program.  It doesn't cost a lot and has a 60-day money-back guarantee, so you really have nothing to lose except those unwanted pounds!