Achieving Optimal Ketosis: Foods to Avoid
If you stick to the food listed in the previous section, you do not have to worry about not achieving optimal ketosis. On the same note, as you increase intake of those foods, you should also be on the lookout for the following foods that may hinder ketosis:
Avoid all grains, whole meal included (rye, wheat, oats, barley, corn, millet, rice sorghum and buckwheat). Also, avoid all products made from grains; these include foods such as crackers, pasta, pizza, and cookies.
Avoid refined fats and oils like sunflower, canola, grape seed, corn oil, soybean, and Trans-fats such as margarine.
Avoid milk (only full-fat raw milk is acceptable). For coffee, replace milk with reasonable amounts of cream.
Avoid tropical fruits such as bananas, pineapples, mango papaya, etc., and some high carb fruit.
Avoid fruit juice.
Avoid factory-farmed pork and fish.
Avoid all artificial sweeteners containing Aspartame, Sucralose, Saccharine, etc.
Avoid alcoholic sweet drinks such as beer, and sweet wine
Avoid Soy products
Now that you know what to eat and what to avoid, is there a way to guarantee faster adoption of ketosis? The answer is yes. The following section illuminates such tips:
How to Get Into Ketosis ‘Fast’: Invaluable Tips
It takes 48 hours to get into ketosis. To get there, you must correctly adapt the keto diet. Below are tips that should help you do just that and get your body into ketosis faster:
Tip 1: To get into ketosis faster, eat less than 20G of carbs a day.
Tip 2: Drink water, about 100 ounces per day. Drink more to lose more.
Tip 3: Purchase some Ketosis. Getting some validation that the diet is actually working will be a great motivation to keep you on a diet considering the intimidating nature of the first few days of the diet.
Tip 4: Do not panic. Be aware of the keto flu coming your way. The dizziness, the irritability, and fatigue you will be feeling on the first three days may have you experiencing mood swings; but don’t give in just yet. Reward yourself with bacon and delicious keto friendly foods as you crave for carbs and sugars. The craving will disappear as long as you’re full.
Tip 5: Consume more salt. This is really important. While on a keto diet, your body does not retain water as it normally would; hence, electrolytes like sodium quickly flush out of your body. Therefore, you need constant replenishing; otherwise, you will feel awful. As indicated earlier, opt for sea salt.
Tip 6: Never open the door to hunger. When you feel the tiniest bit of a hunger pang, immediately eat high-fat low-carb foods. The moment you get too hungry, it forms the temptation pathway. Remember: go simple. Do not over plan things because when you do, you may end up making everything strict and less fun. The keto diet is fun; keep it so.
Tip 7: Remember: this is not a high protein diet. The keto diet is high fat, low carb, and moderate protein diet. Moderate is the key word here.
Tip 8: Embrace the fat. Eat fat to lose fat that is your new motto. Do not shy away from the fat because it is your ticket to a healthier you.
Common Keto Diet Mistakes You Should Avoid Nobody is perfect, and no diet is perfect. As you adopt this diet for good health and weight loss, you are bound to make several mistakes; this is normal. The best way to avoid, or minimize the effects of mistakes is by learning and preparing for common mistakes. Below is a list of common keto diet mistakes dieters make:
Eating Too Many Carbs
There is no exact definition of what ‘low carb’ means. Some would say it is simply anything under 100 to 150 grams a day simply because they get amazing results with this range. However, this may be excessive if your aim is to have plenty of ketones in your bloodstream. Most keto dieters go for under 50-grams of carbs per day to get into optimal ketosis. Anything beyond that is termed as excessive.
Eating Too Much Protein
Remember: the keto diet is all about protein moderation.
Impatience
As you adopt a keto diet, you need patience: patience to get into ketosis and patience to adapt to ketosis. Understand that previously, your body’s main source of energy was carbs; now, it has to adapt to a new source of energy, fats. The body requires time to do this; therefore, be patient.
Obsessing Over The Scale
The number on your weigh scale should not determine your keto diet success. Let this be the least of your worries. Just live life and enjoy your diet. Weight loss will happen; do yourself a favor and keep away from that scale.
Not Eating Enough Fats
The unrestricted consumption of fats may seem excessive. However, the keto diet is a high-fat diet. Just trust keto and enjoy the fat. However, you should eat the right kind of fats, preferably monounsaturated and saturated fats.
Eating Processed Keto’ Foods
When you are on a keto diet, always think about it this way: the intention is to eat natural ingredients and not foods that come in wrappers such as Atkins bars and Quest bars. Although you can occasionally eat these, the idea is for a large portion of your diet (we are talking about 70-80% of your entire diet) to consist of natural ingredients.
Being After A Quick Fix
If this is your aim, do not start the diet. The Keto diet is more of a lifestyle change than a short-term diet plan. Dropping a few pounds and then going back to your normal bad eating habits will be a waste of time.
Indecisiveness
Half-heartedly adopting the keto diet could be the worst thing you could do to yourself because you are just wasting time. If you are not all in, you will not survive through the temporary effects that come with adopting the diet. Decide on what you want and think of everything you will gain by going keto to keep you motivated.
Breakfast Recipes
1. Egg Salad
Serves 6
Ingredients
1/3 cup of finely minced white onion
½ cup of mayonnaise
12 large eggs
1-teaspoon salt
½-teaspoon ground mustard
2 tablespoons melted butter
1-teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
1. Place eggs in a pot of water. Let this boil for 10 minutes, pour the water from the pot, and replace it with cold water. Let the eggs sit in the water for 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Take out the eggs and peel them. Using an egg slicer, chop the eggs into ¼-inch pieces. Add the remaining ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Total carbs: 1G
2. Keto Porridge
Serves 1
Ingredients
¼ cup of crushed almonds
½ cup of hemp seeds
1 tablespoon of xylitol
1 cup of non-dairy milk
2 tablespoons of freshly ground flax seeds
¾-teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-tablespoon chia seeds
Topping
1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
Instructions
1. Mix ingredients except the topping and the almonds in a saucepan and stir well until they are properly mixed.
2. Heat this over medium heat until it begins to boil lightly. Stir once and let it cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat, add in the ground almonds, and pour into a bowl. Add toppings then serve right away.
Net carbs per serving: 4g
3. Avocado Salmon Breakfast
Serves 1
Ingredients
60 grams of wild caught smoked salmon
2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
Celtic sea salt
Juice of 1 lemon
30 grams of fresh, soft goat cheese
1 ripe organic avocado
Instructions
1. Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed.
2. In a food processor, process the other ingredients until coarsely chopped.
3. Place the cream inside the avocados then serve. Alternatively, you could also cut the avocados into cubes and the salmon in small pieces and mix them up together. Add the rest of the ingredients with the goat cheese and mix well.
Net carbs per serving: 4g
Keto Main Meals
4. Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Serves 4
Ingredients
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
3 ounces of Italian salami, thinly sliced
½ teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning
4 tablespoons of butter
½ cup of organic tomatoes, diced
1 large spaghetti squash, halved and seeded
1 cup of onion, diced
A handful of Italian flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
4 large pastured eggs
2 cloves of garlic, minced
½ cup of Kalamata olives, halved
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees and place spaghetti squash on rimmed baking sheet, cut side up. Spread 1 tablespoon of butter on each half and sprinkle with black pepper and salt. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2. As the spaghetti bakes, heat a skillet and add remaining butter to it. Once melted, add onions, garlic, pepper, and salt to taste. When the onion starts turning golden, add the salami and tomatoes.
3. Sauté for about 10 minutes and add in the olives.
4. Once done, scrape off the flesh from the spaghetti squash and mix it with the onion mixture. Create four wells in the mixture and crack an egg onto each.
5. Place pan in oven and bake the egg whites cook through. Just before serving, sprinkle some fresh parsley.
Net carbs per serving: 13.25g
5. Tuna Salad
Serves 1
Ingredients
1-tablespoon virgin olive oil
1 head lettuce
Salt taste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
140G of tinned tuna
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 medium spring onion
2 organic hard-boiled eggs
Directions
1. Tear up the lettuce, wash, and then drain.
2. Spread the leaves at the bottom of your serving bowl and place the shredded tuna on top.
3. Place the mayo, fresh chopped onions, and the boiled egg on top. Mix well, drizzle with olive oil and enjoy.
Net carbs per serving: 3.9g
6. Ginger