Among the strategies available for the people in today’s world to lose weight, keto diets have received a lot of attention. If you are looking forward to get into a keto diet and follow it, you will need to pay special attention towards your intake of carbs. In fact, you will need to work out to the final gram of carbs to avoid hassle and frustration in the long run. There is no hard and fast rule about the carb limit that you need to be aware of, while following a ketogenic diet. However, it is better if you can take a look at the carb intake, before you prepare food at your home, or before you order something at the restaurant.
What Should You Keep in Mind When Following a Ketogenic Diet?
A ketogenic diet is not all about a low carb diet. In other words, you need to keep in mind that a ketogenic diet is not a quick fix available for a fad diet. It has got the ability to promote a long lasting effect on your body and take your body to the next level. The changes that will be introduced to your body by the ketogenic diet will make you less dependent on sugar and glucose. As a result, your body will be in a position to burn fat and get its energy requirements catered.
In order to follow a ketogenic diet, you should actually go through a metabolic shift. In here, you are making a guess whether your carb intake is low enough, so that your body will be able to go ahead and burn deposited fat to get the energy requirements catered.
While you are following a ketogenic diet, you cannot completely refrain from the consumption of carbohydrates. You will need to consume carbs up to a certain extent. However, you need to make sure that your carb intake is kept within a specific range, so that your body will be able to operate at all times. Otherwise, your body will fail to achieve the state of ketosis. In such a situation, it will not be possible for you to experience any positive results out of following a ketogenic diet.
You must also keep in mind that a ketogenic diet is not in a position to provide overnight results to you. You will need to stay committed and follow the restricted carb meal plan for a considerable duration of your time. Then you are guaranteed to end up with positive results. You will absolutely love what you are being provided by the low carb ketogenic diet at the end of the day as well.
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How Many Carbs Should You Consume?
The amount of carbs that a person should consume when following a ketogenic diet differs from one individual to another. If you are an average person, you will be able to go ahead and follow the standardized keto dietary ratios. That’s because you cannot find a single version of ketogenic diet plans. Therefore, you will need to follow the standardized diet plans.
It is possible for a person to experience a large number of benefits as well as advantages by following a ketogenic diet plan. The ability to lose fat holds a prominent place out of them. On the other hand, you will be provided with a sharp mental focus, improved energy levels and an enhanced lifespan by following a keto diet. However, it is important to keep in mind that different people react differently to the amount of carbohydrates consumed. Therefore, it is important for you to be aware about the macronutrient ratios that you need to consume.
Around 70% to 80% of your daily macronutrient intake should be from fats. Then you need to think about making proteins cater about 20-25% of the daily macronutrient intake. Then it is possible for you to fill up the remaining 5-10% with carbs. This is the ideal diet that you need to follow in order to achieve the ketogenic state. Any healthy person will be able to follow it and end up with positive results.
If you are an average individual, you need to limit your intake of carbs to around 30g per day. But if you are an active individual, such as an athlete, you should increase the daily carb intake to around 5g to 10g. Instead of focusing on the specific amount of carbs in grams, it is better if you can take a look at the proportions as mentioned above. Then you will be able to achieve the state of ketosis and experience all benefits that will come on your way.
What are the Best Foods to Consume?
All the foods that you can find out there in the world will not be able to provide assistance to you with sticking to the above mentioned proportions of carb intake. Due to this reason, you need to understand what foods are good for you to consume and what are not.
You should consume eggs, poultry, lamb, beef and fish as they provide a high amount of proteins to your body, instead of carbs. Then you need to take a look at the above ground vegetables, such as cauliflower and broccoli and leafy greens such as kale and spinach. Sunflower seeds, walnuts and macadamias can also be added into your diet because they are low in carbs.
Then you can think about getting your fat intake catered with the assistance of high fat dairy products. Some of the high fat dairy products that are available for your consumption include butter, high fat cream and hard cheese. Other food items that you will be able to consume in order to ensure your fat intake include saturated fats, high fat salad dressings and coconut oil.
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Count your Carbs and Be Precise
You need to understand what amount of carbs that you need to consume to achieve the ketogenic state and start losing weight. It is completely up to you. However, you need to make sure that you are religiously adhering to the limits that you need to follow. If you don’t adhere, it will never be possible for you to experience all the benefits that come along with a ketogenic diet.
When you are following a ketogenic diet, you will be altering the internal chemistry of your body. Therefore, you need to be ready to get to the extreme limits. You shouldn’t let room even for a slight deviation to take place. If you do, there is a high possibility for the conditions to interfere you in a negative manner. Hence, you will not be able to get the desired outcome.
You should also keep in mind that your body weight will change while you are following a ketogenic diet. Therefore, you will need to be aware of all the changes that take place in the body. It will not be an easy task to keep track of all these changes, while counting the amount or percentage of carbs that you consume. But if you can do it, you will definitely get surprised with the results that you will be able to achieve at the end of the day.
How to Test the Ketone Levels
Last but not least, you need to be aware on how to test the ketone levels. You need to do it every couple of weeks. Then you will be able to see where you are heading with the ketogenic diet that you follow. Plenty of guides are available for you to learn how to test the ketone levels. You are strongly encouraged to locate such a guide and follow the steps. Then you will definitely be impressed with the results that you will be able to achieve in the long run.
CONCLUSION
If your primary objective of following a ketogenic diet is to lose weight, you need to reduce around 300 to 500 calories when focusing on the nutrient ratio percentage. Once you reach the body weight that you want to achieve, the deficit you consider at the initial stage will no longer be valid. When you arrive at that instance, you need to focus on what you should be eating and try to focus a lot on your maintenance level. Then you will be able to end up with positive results, which would benefit you for a lifetime.
