The keto diet has you eat low carb, high-fat foods that allow your body to enter a metabolic state called ketosis.
But that means you have to cut certain foods out of your daily life. And how do you stay away from those pancakes or that tempting slice of pizza?
We’ve put together some of the most important keto diet tips that’ll help you succeed when you make the switch to the keto lifestyle.
So let’s dive in!
Clean Out Your Kitchen
If you surround yourself with food you can’t eat, sticking to a keto diet will be difficult. Keeping those foods in your kitchen makes you more prone to give in to your cravings because everything you need is right there.
So take the time to clean out your kitchen.
Remove any food you can’t eat, such as pasta, candy, bread, and anything else stuffed with carbohydrates.
Keep Keto Friendly Snacks on Hand
Make sure you bring keto friendly snacks with you wherever you go.
Offices, schools, malls, theaters, and any other place you visit may not have keto friendly food available. If you have trouble finding something, you may give in and buy something you aren’t supposed to eat.
So be prepared.
And plan restaurant visits in advance if you can. Avoid places you know don’t offer keto friendly meals. However, you don’t have to stay away from restaurants entirely. Most restaurants have something you can eat on the keto diet.
Just get creative. You might have to swap out parts of the meal, but you can still enjoy a night out.
Make Time for Exercise
Before your body can enter ketosis, it has to get rid of all the glucose first. When you take a run or head to the gym, your body uses that glucose for fuel.
The more you exercise, the faster you can clear the glucose from your system. Without glucose, your body will then start to burn fat into energy.
But that doesn’t mean you should overexert yourself.
Instead, create a workout schedule that includes both high and low-intensity workouts. You should also have two to three days of the week set aside as rest days.
Drink Plenty of Water
You have to pay extra attention to the amount of water you drink when you’re on a keto diet.
Why?
When your body is clear of all carbohydrates, it will excrete more water than normal. This means you can easily dehydrate yourself if you aren’t drinking the right amount of water.
And you’ll want to drink more than the recommended 64 ounces. In fact, you should try to drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water every day.
Lower Your Stress Levels
When you get stressed, your stress hormone cortisol makes your blood sugar levels get higher.
This means, even if your body is free of glucose, you’ll have a hard time entering ketosis. Your body won’t be able to burn fat because there’s too much sugar in the blood.
Do your best to stay out of stressful situations. In those times when stress is unavoidable, make sure you have a few different ways to relax. This might include breathing exercises, enjoying your favorite hobby, taking a long bath, exercising, etc.
Get Enough Sleep
If you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll have a much harder time losing weight. A lack of sleep can also lead to higher stress levels, which can prevent your body from entering or staying in ketosis.
Make sleep a priority.
Do your best to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Go to bed at the same time every evening and wake up at the same time every morning. This will help improve the quality of your sleep.
Use MTC Oil
MTC oil is a good thing to keep on hand when you make the switch to the keto diet. You can take this oil every day by cooking with it, adding it to drinks, mixing it in with protein shakes, and more.
When you eat MTC oil, your body will convert it to ketosis bodies and use it for energy right away. In other words, it doesn’t have to go through the digestive process.
But don’t make the mistake of thinking MTC oil is the same thing as coconut oil. While similar, these two oils have several molecular differences.
Make sure the oil you buy is really MTC oil, not coconut oil.
Eat Protein, But Not Too Much
Protein is a big part of the keto diet, but you don’t want to eat too much. Otherwise, your body will take the amino acids inside the protein and turn them into glucose.
This can pull your body out of ketosis.
Take some time to figure out how much protein works for you. Start by eating one gram of protein per pound of body weight. But depending on your lifestyle and your personal needs, that amount may have to go up or down.
Take Collagen Supplements
If you’re worried about not getting enough protein on a keto diet, you should turn to collagen supplements. While Collagen contains protein, it doesn’t have enough to kick you out of your ketosis.
On top of that, collagen also provides important amino acids you might not get from other keto-friendly foods. Try adding some healthy fats, like coconut oil, to a collagen drink to get more keto benefits.
Collagen will allow you to cut back on the meats without hurting your daily protein consumption.
Plan Your Meals in Advance
One of the easiest ways to keep yourself from cheating on your keto diet is to plan your meals in advance.
Take some time at the beginning of the week to plan what you’ll eat every day. Make sure you have the ingredients you need in the house. In fact, you may want to prepare your meals in advance as well.
This makes it quick and easy to grab dinner on a busy night.
Don’t like the sound of all that work? Try cooking in bulk. You can get several meals out of one recipe.
Effective Keto Diet Tips for Success
If you don’t take the right steps, you might find yourself straying from the keto diet within a matter of days. So make sure you remove foods you can’t eat from the kitchen, plan ahead, and stick to these keto diet tips.
Recognizing what you can and can’t eat might be difficult at first. But over time, you’ll get more familiar with the process and be able to relax.
Not quite sure the keto diet is for you?
Click here to check out the benefits of eating fermented food instead!
