What Is Keto?

The Million Dollar Question: I am new to the keto diet and lifestyle. Where do I start?


Start with the fun part, what to eat! You will need to gain a knack for measuring, recording and reading nutrition labels. Every person is different, thus carb tolerances differ, however generally when you are starting the ketogenic diet you should not exceed 25 grams of net carbs per day (net carbs=total carbs-fiber). Additionally protein consumption should be between 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. But, instead of doing all this by hand, use our favorite keto calculator here:

http://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/

After you have figured out what you can eat, plan your meal prep. This is as essential as the actual food you eat on a ketogenic diet. You do not want to be caught without snacks or without knowing what to eat in a bind. There are a lot of good recipes and resources, here's a couple that we have used:

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html
https://www.verywell.com/top-ready-made-low-carb-foods-at-the-grocery-store-2242527
http://www.mydreamshape.com/low-carb-fast-food-options-keto/

Exercise. If you intend to live an active keto lifestyle it's important to note that initially performance may decline but will quickly rebound with adaptation--and use of exogenous ketone supplementation can mitigate most of this decline!

Adaptation into nutritional ketosis takes weeks. Every person is different but for a male expect an adaptation period of three to five weeks, for women four to seven weeks, assuming strict diet adherence. The good news is once you are keto-adapted, or into nutritional ketosis, you can play with carbohydrate tolerances to determine if you can increase carbs to higher levels before being "kicked out" of ketosis. To determine success, test ketone levels regularly. Ketone levels can be tested three ways:

1. Blood (most accurate): Blood meters measures beta-hydroxybutyrate in blood. To measure, you can use a blood ketone meter like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Blood-Glucose-Monitoring-System/dp/B000N64MZA/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1478208914&sr=8-2&keywords=blood%2Bketone%2Bmonitor&th=1. However, you must also purchase blood ketone test strips, sold separately. For blood testing methods, we recommend several tests at thirty, forty-five and an hour and fifteen minutes after ingestion of ketones. Blood values are measured in mmol/l.

2. Urine (easiest, least expensive): Ketone Test Strips show the excess concentration of Acetoacetate in the urine, or in other words, unused ketones that are being excreted. These strips will clearly indicate whether or not ketones are present in the body, but are not indicative of maximum ketone levels achieved during diet and/or supplementation. For urine testing methods, we recommend testing two to three hours after ingestion of ketones.

3. Breath: Breath analysis measures acetate in your breath. Breath ketones are measure in PPM (Parts per Million). For directions, refer to device instructions.

And there you have it. Eat meat, cheese, eggs and minimal carbs and, ta-da! Ketosis...well, kind of. Be patient and remember that each person's body reacts differently. Let us know if you have any questions. We answer all sorts of questions, even those not product related. We are here to help!

Fit Emmett
Fort Mill Top Personal Trainer