Tag: keto

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How To Make A Keto Meal Plan

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May 4

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Keto Diet, Weight Loss

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This article is written for people who are ready to start following the keto diet but aren’t quite sure how to make a keto meal plan. Whether you want to control your weight or gain muscle while following a keto diet, read on to learn the easy steps to calculate how many macros and calories you have to plan for.

Calculating the number of macronutrients for a keto diet

Diagram of a keto diet food pyramidThe first few pieces of information you’ll need to make a keto meal plan are:

    • Your height, weight, and age
    • What is your level of physical activity
    • Your body composition goals

This information is used to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) as well as your Total Energy Expenditure (TEE).

BMR is the calculation to find the number of calories you need just to exist with no regard to your activity level (i.e., how calories would you need if you never left your bed?).

TEE is your personal BMR plus daily living activity plus the energy used for exercising.

How many calories will you need to consume on the keto diet?

The most accurate way to find your BMR is to use an indirect calorimeter which is not cheap!  The next best thing is to use the Mifflin St. Jeor equations calculator.

    • Men’s Equation: 10 x your weight in kilograms + your height in centimeters x 6.25 – 5 x your age in years + 5
    • Women’s Equation: 10 x your weight in kilograms + your height in centimeters x 6.25 – 5 x your age in years – 161

Once you have your BMR calculated, you can find your TEE by multiplying your BMR by one of the following activity factors:

With little or no exercise TEE = BMR x 1.2
Exercising one to three days a week TEE = BMR x 1.375
Exercising three to five days a week TEE = BMR x 1.55
Exercising 6 or 7 days a week TEE = BMR x 1.725
Exercising twice/day or extra heavy workouts TEE = BMR x 1.9

If you’re not keen on math you can use this online BMR calculator.

After deriving your TEE you need to calculate your macronutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrates) as a percentage of your total caloric intake.

If you want to lose weight, reduce your daily intake by 500 calories to lose about one pound per week. To gain weight, add 500 calories per day. To maintain your weight and reap the other benefits of a keto diet, hold your caloric intake to your TEE.

As an example, if a ketoer’s TEE is 2000 cal/day and they want to lose weight, they would reduce their consumption by 500 cal/day and only eat 1500 calories worth of food per day. The next thing to do is figure out how many calories are needed from fats, proteins, and carbs.

The standard keto diet is 80% of the calories come from fat, 15% from protein and just 5% from carbs.

How many grams of fat, protein, and carbs you will need

These calculations are based on a 1500 cal/day diet.

Fat:
Fat makes up 80% of your calories, so 1500 X 0.8 = 1200 cal/day from fat.

There are nine calories/g of fat. Therefore we divide 1200 cal/day by 9 to get 133.33 grams of fat.

Protein:
Fifteen percent of your calories is to come from protein. So we do the math, 1500 x .15 = 225 cal/day from proteins.

Protein contains 4 cal/g. Dividing 225 cal/day by 4 gives us 56.25g of protein per day.

Carbs:

This is easy. Take the total daily calories minus the calories from fat and protein will give the carb calories.

So, 1500 cal/day – 1200 cal/day from fat – 225 cal/day from protein = 75 cal/day from carbs.

And we know carbs have 4 cal/g so we divide 75 cal/day by 4 and get 18.75 g/day of carbohydrates.

So that’s 133.33g of protein, 56.25g of protein, and 18.75g of carbs per day when modified TEE = 1500 cal/day.

Easy peasy, right?

Now you know how to make a keto meal plan that ensures you’re getting the right quantities of fat, protein, and carbs in your keto diet.

A much easier way to go is to have a custom keto diet plan prepared for you based on your height, weight, age, level of physical activity, and personal weight goals. Click the banner below to learn more about your customized keto diet plan, or click here to go straight to your custom keto diet meal planner.


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The Keto Diet Over 40

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April 29

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Brain Health, Keto Diet, Weight Loss, Wellness

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Photograph of a knife above a fork separated by the words "keto diet" to illustrate, "The Keto Diet Over 40".Many people associate pain and illness with aging. But aging doesn’t mean you have to become sickly, or shouldn’t. In this article, we’ll talk about aging and health as well as how lifestyle and diet contribute to living a long and healthy life.

Health over 40 and keto

Aging does include some diminishment in our body’s functions, but it doesn’t need to be debilitating or create isolation for us. Unfortunately, for many of us aging is debilitating to various degrees. The processed, high-carb, food of the standard American diet doesn’t help either.

Instead of viewing aging as an unfortunate reality, we can live our best life in terms of physical and mental health and any age with a good diet. There are a lot of advantages to eating the keto diet over 40.

Ketogenic diet benefits

For many people, aging includes becoming overweight and having to deal with insulin-related conditions such as diabetes. Diabetes can lead to other serious conditions like kidney disease, loss of vision, etc. A benefit of the keto diet is how it improves our insulin resistance.

When we’re over forty we need to start thinking about osteoporosis which affects our bone density making them more fragile and brittle. Increasing our intake of calcium through consuming more milk products isn’t the right answer. Curiously, the countries with the highest levels of dairy consumption are also the countries with the greatest occurrence of osteoporosis. It’s better to follow the keto diet which is inherently low in toxins that hinder the absorption of nutrients, it’s also rich in micronutrients instead of overloading on a specific nutrient (i.e., calcium in this case).

Aging brings with it more pain from injuries compared to injuries when we were younger and sometimes problems with our joints like arthritis. When we are in the state of ketosis production of cytokines is reduced reducing the effects of inflammation.

Aging adults often have deficiencies in important nutrients like B complex vitamins, vitamin D, iron, and fats. The more highly nutritious foods included in a keto diet provide an excellent source for these nutrients.

Blood sugar control

Doctors know there is a relationship between poor blood sugar and brain-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, etc. Some of the contributing factors may be:

    • Excess carbohydrate consumption
    • Insufficient dietary fats and cholesterol
    • Oxidative stress

Following a keto diet will help to control your blood sugar and improve your nutritional intake. This in turn improves your insulin response and helps to protect you from the memory problems that come with aging.

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Keto and aging

The foods consumed in a keto diet are highly nutritious per calorie consumed. That’s important since the metabolic rate decreases as we age, meaning we need fewer calories as we age, but we have the same nutrient requirements as to when we were younger.

A person over 40 will find it more difficult to live on junk food compared to someone in their twenties. So it’s even more critical for an older person to consume food that supports health and fights disease. It can literally be the difference between enjoying your golden years or living with pain and suffering.

The standard American diet, which most people choose and are also what is provided by hospitals and retirement/nursing homes, is a high-carb diet loaded with grains and sugar.

A diet that is low-carb and rich in fats and protein is much better at controlling insulin sensitivity, reduces cognitive decline, and promotes overall health and wellness.

Longevity and ketosis

Improving our chances of feeling good and functioning well for the remainder of our life is never a bad idea. We can start doing better at any time, although the sooner we start the better, it’s never too late to start. Even people who have neglected their health for many years can begin a keto diet and repair or reverse some of the damage done to their bodies.

Having said that, the earlier we start making changes to improve our health and longevity, the better.

In summary

Every one of us knows we’re getting older and death is inevitable. However, we now have the knowledge to control our quality of life to some degree. Even though we are living longer than ever now, we are also getting sicker by following the standard American diet. The keto diet helps to improve our health as we age beyond 40 allowing us to flourish instead of getting sick and enduring pain in our later years.


Custom Keto Diet

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Lose Weight Fast With Yoga And Keto

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April 26

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Keto Diet, Weight Loss, Wellness, Yoga

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You typically need to do more than simply following a strict list of meals after you choose a diet to lose weight. To really be effective, your new diet has to be more like a change of lifestyle. One of the most popular diets today is the keto diet with its high-fat, low-carb, medium protein meals helping many dieters lose impressive amounts of weight.

If you’re giving the keto diet a try, there certainly are other changes you can make in your life to make keto even more effective. The most beneficial of those changes is to add more physical activity to your daily routine. Added physical activity is a great way to lose weight fast. And yoga is a fantastic exercise for getting the most from your keto diet.

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Yoga builds strength, improves balance, and increases your range of motion

Get your "Custom Keto Diet Plan"Yoga is great on its own, but it also improves your performance and ability to do other exercises even better. Since yoga is centered on stretching it builds strength, improves balance, and increases your range of motion. Yoga can also develop your core’s strength depending on which poses you do.

You may be able to participate in exercises, activities, or sports that haven’t possible because yoga improves your strength and range of motion. And being more active will lead to greater and easier weight loss.

Losing weight with yoga

Although a lot of people think of yoga as a technique to relax and stretch, there’s more to it. Yoga can be very effective on a person’s weight-loss ability. Many studies have shown that the connection between mind and body can affect weight loss. Because yoga strengthens that connection, yoga can make weight loss even more obvious!

Consider other weight loss tips & tricks as well

You can do to magnify your results after starting a custom keto diet plan and incorporating yoga into your routine. There are many dietary supplements on the market designed to enhance a variety of body types and fitness levels. Supplements are designed to help you lose the most weight safely can in conjunction with a keto diet and exercising.

Be sure to do your research on the various keto supplements available to pick the right ones for you.

Summary

There are so many good things about yoga, you just can’t go wrong with it.

    • Yoga is suitable for all ages
    • Yoga is a gentle exercise that virtually any body type or shape will benefit from.
    • Because yoga is a gentle exercise, it wonderful way to begin exercising.
    • Yoga provides many mental benefits

 

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10 Ways To Know You Are In Ketosis

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April 21

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Keto Diet

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The Keto diet is an effective and popular diet for losing weight and improving health. When you follow this high-fat, medium protein, low-carb diet correctly the ketone levels in your blood will increase. Those ketones will be your body’s new fuel source, causing most of the health benefits of the diet.

When you’re following a Keto diet your body goes through a number of biological adaptations. These include an increased breakdown of fat and lower insulin levels. After this happens the liver begins to produce large numbers of ketones. The ketones supply your brain the energy it needs.

It is difficult to know whether or not your body is in a state of ketosis. Following are 10 ways to know you are in ketosis to help you figure this out.

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10 Ways To Know You Are In Ketosis

1 – Halitosis (foul breath)

After achieving full ketosis people frequently report having bad breath.

This is very common. A lot of people who follow the Keto diet, and similar diets like Atkins, say their breath starts to smell fruity. Specifically, this is caused by acetone, one of the ketones that are expelled in both your urine and by exhaling.

Although breath like this may not be ideal in a social setting, it is a positive sign that you’re following the diet correctly and you are in ketosis. One way to deal with this is to brush your teeth many times a day. Another way is to chew sugar-free gum or sip on sugar-free drinks throughout the day.

If you choose to chew gum, or sip on drinks, read the nutrition labels for carbs to avoid elevating your blood sugar and coming out of ketosis.

2 – Losing weight

Both a Keto diet and a more traditional low-carb diet are good for weight loss

There are many studies showing you probably will lose weight in the short term as well as the long term from switching to a Keto diet. Weight loss can happen very quickly in the first week of the Keto diet. This initial weight loss is mostly from stored up carbohydrates and the release of water, though many dieters wrongly think it’s fat loss.

After the first week or so of rapid weight loss, you will continue to burn your stored fat as long as you follow the Keto diet correctly and remain in a caloric deficit.

3 – Increased ketones

An indication of being in ketosis is reduced sugar and increased ketones in the blood. As you continue with the Keto diet, your body will start burning fat and ketones for fuel.

Using a specialized meter is the most accurate way to measure the ketone levels in your blood. They measure how much beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) is in your bloodstream.

There is a consensus that ketosis, as it relates to the Keto diet, is defined as having 0.5 to 3.0 mmol/L of ketones in your blood. Measuring from a blood sample is the most accurate way to measure ketones. But that requires pin pricking similar to the way a diabetic person measures their blood sugar.

Should you be interested in testing your ketone levels, there is a good selection of meters offered by Amazon starting at about $30.

4 – Ketones in your breath and urine

An alternative to blood testing kits is breathalyzers, though not as accurate as blood analysis.

Breathalyzers monitor the level of acetone. Acetone is one of three major ketones produced while in ketosis. The amount of acetone is an indicator of your ketone level because more of it leaves your body during ketosis. Breathalyzers are fairly accurate but not like their blood testing counterpart.

Another method is to measure your urine daily with urinalysis test strips. This measures the level of ketones being expelled through your urine. This is the least expensive way to measure ketones, but it’s also the least accurate.

Both breathalyzers and urinalysis strips are available from Amazon.

5 – Hunger reduction

A lot of Keto dieters say they have less of an appetite following the Keto diet.

The reasons are still being investigated. But the current thinking is the reduced appetites may be due to the increase in protein and vegetable consumption, as well as changes in your body’s hunger hormones.

Possibly the ketones have an effect on the brain reducing the appetite.

Custom Keto Diet

6 – More energy and focus

Oftentimes a person will experience fatigue, brain fog, and feeling a little sick when they first start the Keto diet. This has been coined “Keto Flu”. But once they get past that hump, long-term dieters feel an increase in energy and focus.

Your body has to adapt to burning fat in place of carbohydrates when you start the low-carb Keto diet. Then as you move into ketosis your brain has to adjust to using ketones instead of sugar for its energy. It can take a little while for your body and brain to adjust.

Ketones are very powerful fuel for your brain. Ketones have been tested clinically for treating brain diseases, concussions, and memory loss. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that people frequently feel improved brain function and focus when they’re on a Keto diet.

Drastically reducing your carb intake will stabilize your blood sugar, further increasing brain functioning and focus.

7 – Fatigue

One of the biggest problems people have when starting the Keto diet is fatigue. This frequently makes the would-be dieter quit before they achieve full ketosis and see the benefits of the Keto diet.

Fatigue is a natural side effect of starting a ketogenic diet. It’s caused by making our body shift from a long-term carbohydrate-heavy diet to a low-carb diet very quickly. This shift in your won’t happen overnight. It will take from 5 to 30 days to get into full ketosis.

Since electrolytes are lost due to the quick reduction in your body’s water content and the reduction of salt in the diet, consuming extra electrolytes can help reduce fatigue.

8 – Performance decrease

Along with feeling tired from fatigue the Keto dieter may feel a decrease in physical performance. This is mostly due to there being less glycogen stored in the muscles that provide the primary and most efficient energy for any high-intensity activities. After a short while, many Keto dieters will see their performance become normal. In some endurance sports performance may even improve with the Keto diet. Additionally, you will increase your ability to burn more fat while exercising.

There’s one study that showed athletes on a Keto diet burned up to 230% more fat while exercising versus those who weren’t following Keto. It’s unclear if a Keto diet will maximize performance for an elite athlete, but once you are fat-adapted you shouldn’t have any trouble with general exercise and recreational activities.

Related reading: Endurance Athletes And Ketogenic Diet

9 – Digestion problems

For most of us, a Keto diet brings with it a major change in the kind of food we eat. Digestion problems like constipation or diarrhea are common at first. Most of these problems will cease after a transition period. But it’s important that you be aware of which foods cause you problems, and avoid them or minimize their consumption. Additionally, be certain to include lots of low-carb vegetables that have plenty of fiber, and consume a diverse range of foods. The lack of variety, in any diet, can lead to an increased risk of digestion and nutritional problems.

To help you plan your Keto diet you may want to try this online custom keto diet planner.

10 – Trouble sleeping

8 week custom keto meal planEven though many Keto dieters say they sleep better than before they started the diet, it’s common for some people to have trouble sleeping when they first start dieting. The sleeping issues usually go away in a couple of weeks.

This was a list of 10 ways to know you are in ketosis. Sooner than later, by following the Keto diet correctly you will enter a state of ketosis.

If you’re interested in the science and want to know exactly what your ketones are, use one of the measuring methods we talked about here (analyzing your blood, using a breathalyzer, or urinalysis strips)

But in the end, if you’re following the diet, feeling healthy, and losing weight, there really isn’t a need to be preoccupied with your ketone levels.

 

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Top 7 Benefits Of The Keto Diet

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April 17

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Benefits, Keto Diet

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Word cloud of keto concepts and benefits to illustrate, "Top 7 Benefits Of The Keto Diet".The first thing you might think about when you first heard of the ketogenic diet is how can it be as good as people say it is? The short answer is that there are enough benefits to change your life!

What is a Keto diet?

The Keto, or ketogenic, diet is a diet of moderate amounts of protein, high in fat, and low in carbohydrates (carbs). The goal is to dial in your nutritional intake in a way that your body enters a metabolic state known as ketosis.

Ketosis happens when your body has depleted its stores of glycogen sugar used for fueling your energy needs. After the available sugar is consumed your body has to use its stored fats for energy. Our body’s fat is converted into ketones by the liver as a source of energy. This is the reason the Keto diet is such an efficient way to lose body fat.

Top 7 Benefits Of The Keto Diet

Unlike other diets, where the only benefit is weight loss, the Keto diet offers several additional benefits.

1 – Weight loss

There’s no doubt that weight loss is the main goal of a Keto diet. The diet works because it causes your body to use its fat reserves to fuel its metabolism. Let’s go a little deeper into the process.

When a person is deprived of carbohydrates they enter a condition known as ketosis. In ketosis, blood sugar and insulin levels decrease. When our bodies convert fat cells to energy the fat cells release quite a bit of water. The combination of using fat for energy and the accompanying water loss makes for some great weight loss.

The fat is then free to enter the bloodstream and then the liver turns it into ketones to energize the body. So long as you can stay in a caloric deficit you will reap the weight loss benefit of the Keto diet.

2 – Keto curbs your appetite

When your diet isn’t loaded with carbs you won’t have the craving for as much food as you did before. A lot of people who use the Keto diet often fast for much of the day, only eating at mealtimes. They just don’t feel as hungry as they used to.

3 – Greater ability to focus

The Standard American Diet loads you up with a lot of carbs. Our brains have to deal with the resulting rise and fall of blood sugar caused by all those carbs. It’s hard for our brains to focus when we have fluctuating energy levels. But on a Keto diet, our energy levels are more constant and consistent. That makes it easier for the brain to focus and to stay focused longer.

4 – Feeling more energetic

Your body is always on the verge of running out of energy on a regular diet. You have to eat continuously to refuel it. On a Keto diet, your body is tapping into its fat reserve which is nearly an unending source of energy. Then the body can keep its energy level constant all day long. Resulting in you feeling much more energetic!

5 – It can help diabetes

A person who has Type II Diabetes experiences high levels of insulin. Because the Keto diet removes excess sugar from your diet it can help to stabilize their HbA1c counts and may even reverse Type II diabetes.

6 – Keto improves your levels of good cholesterol

HDL cholesterol helps your body get rid of bad cholesterol. After you start a Keto diet your triglyceride level decreases and the levels of HDL cholesterol increase.

7 – Improves your blood pressure

Being on a Keto diet can lower your blood pressure. Many people on a Keto diet are able to decrease their high blood pressure medicine or stop taking it entirely.

A person’s life can change dramatically, and in a positive way, on a ketogenic diet. The Keto diet isn’t hard to start either. There are plenty of Keto recipe books. All you need is a willingness to give it a shot.

Why not request our FREE eBook “Deliciously Easy Keto Recipes” and learn more about the ketogenic diet?

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Does Keto And Alcohol Mix?

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April 16

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Keto Diet, ketosis

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The question comes down to this, can you stay in ketosis and still enjoy an adult beverage or two?  This article will tell you everything you need to know.

A lot of “ketoers” (keto dieters) feel like alcohol is taboo in their diet. There are some good reasons for thinking this way.  Besides just being generally unhealthy alcohol can be counterproductive for ketoers.

Here we’re going to discuss whether you can, or should, have alcohol while on a Keto diet as well as provide a shortlist of keto-friendly alcohol and some that are not so keto-friendly.

** This article contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products and services we can stand behind. Thank you very much for your support. **

Does keto and alcohol mix?

The way keto works

Before we get into what the effect of alcohol is on a keto diet we need to understand what a keto diet is.  It’s a strict diet of high-fat, medium protein, and low-carbs that puts your body into a state of ketosis. 

Normally your body runs on glucose as its primary source of energy. Regardless of your body’s state of activity, it’s using energy to keep everything functioning well. If you don’t eat enough carbohydrates you will have a deficit of glucose to fuel your body.  

Luckily, your body is able to burn fat for energy when your stored glucose is depleted. It’s our body’s ability to do this that makes the Keto diet so effective for weight loss.  When your body is using fat as its primary fuel source you are in the state of ketosis.

For more information about getting started on the keto diet go to “Custom Keto Diet Planning”. 

Click to get your own Custom Keto Diet Plan

Is alcohol bad for keto?

The medical profession’s consensus is that alcohol is generally unhealthy and it’s not too good for that keto diet either.  There are plenty of reasons for this and we’ll look at 6 of them here:

1 – A lot of alcohol is loaded with carbs

The reason alcohol is bad for the keto diet is that many types of alcohol are loaded with carbs.  Since too many carbs will knock you out of ketosis, any high-carb beverage is bad for keto.  Even one dose of glucose will impact your weight loss effort by reducing your body’s glucose tolerance, which in turn makes you more sensitive to carbs.  Then the consumption of carbohydrates leads to blood sugar spikes taking you out of ketosis.

Additionally, there are studies showing that low-carb dieters can suffer physical damage by reintroducing high levels of carbohydrates to their diet suddenly. The study’s subjects had elevated biomarkers in their blood that indicates blood vessel damage.

Just how bad are the different alcohols?

Keto and wine

In reality, wine is comparably low in carbohydrates with +/- 2g in a small glass.  Even the strictest ketoer could nurse a couple of glasses (about 9 fl.oz.) and keep their total carbs under the 20g daily keto limit!

Dryer wines are preferred on the keto diet because they have less sugar than the sweeter varieties.  Also beware of the sweet dessert wines which are loaded with sugar, which is obvious since they’re so sweet. Five ounces of a Muscat or Sherry will add over 200 calories and 20g of carbs.

Keto and beer

Beer is especially high in carbohydrates, having 13g or more of carbohydrates.  Beer is made with wheat, barley, and corn for the most part. Its ingredients give the beer a lot of bioavailable carbs the will move you out of ketosis very quickly.

Drinking large amounts of beer regularly is an obstacle to lose weight, or trying to keep it off. There’s a reason we say “beer belly”

Overall, avoiding beer and choosing lower-carb beverages is necessary to stay in ketosis.  Fortunately, there are low-carb options if you really want a cold one, we call them lite beers.

Liquors and spirits

Pure spirits are practically a zero-carb beverage (gin, vodka, whiskey, etc.).  So they won’t likely take you out of ketosis, however, we’re talking about 80 proof alcohol; moderation is key.

The issue with drinking spirits and liquors is the addition of the mixer to make them a little more drinkable like a “Tequila Sunrise” versus a shot of tequila.

Mixers are typically loaded with sugar and made from sodas and fruit juices, that are full of carbs, to balance the alcohol. So be mindful when choosing mixers and pick those that are low in sugar carbs (i.e., sugar-free tonic and seltzer, diet sodas, etc.).

Even though liquors have virtually zero carbs, they have calories.  Calories won’t take you out of ketosis, but they will add weight to your body or make it harder to lose weight.


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2 – Alcohol and metabolism

On the keto diet, your metabolism works very specifically to keep you in ketosis.  Sadly, alcohol can interfere with your metabolism and your ability to stay in ketosis.  Some of that interference is caused by byproducts produced by alcohol.  Those by-products can cause a sudden burst of energy, but this may also stop ketosis.

Some alcohol byproducts are phosphatidyl ethanol, acetate, and acetaldehyde. All of these byproducts are quite toxic and your body tries to metabolize them like any other poison, prioritizing the toxins over burning sugars or lipids. Meaning, drinking alcohol often enough you will spend more time metabolizing its byproducts which can result in fat storage.

3 – Alcohol is calorie-dense

Alcohol can be low-carb, but all alcohol is pretty high in calories.  Calories aren’t as troublesome as carbs on a keto diet, you should still be aware of how the additional calories will impact your weight goals.  If you’ve gone keto to lose weight then you are most likely watching your calories since you won’t lose weight without being calorie deficient.

Alcohol is calorie-dense.  For example, wine, gin, and beer have 123, 73, and 154 calories respectively. That may not sound too bad, but you can see how easily the calories can add up with just 3 or 4 drinks.

For a quick point of reference, a Snickers bar (2 oz) contains 280 calories.   That’s equivalent to a 30-minute run.  Just two beers have more calories than a Snickers bar!  

4 – Alcohol impairs your judgment

Other than causing you to make poor decisions it leads people to make poor food choices.  If you go for drinks with your friends it’s wise to evaluate yourself and your willpower. Will you really hold to a keto diet after downing a few cold ones before your friends start ordering non-keto appetizers?

What about the day after?  Will you have the self-control to avoid the “hangover munchies”?

5 – Your alcohol tolerance on keto

It’s likely you’re drinking less alcohol while you’re on the keto diet, so your tolerance will be much lower than before.  On top of that, your glucose tolerance also drops when you’re in ketosis making your body more sensitive to any carbs or sugars you eat.  This also means you will feel carb crashes more as well. 

Because most alcoholic drinks are full of both carbs and sugars you may find your emotions and energy level will be on a rollercoaster too.

6 – Alcohol is generally unhealthy

The number one reason alcohol is thought to be unhealthy for ketoers is that it’s simply unhealthy.  It’s not nutritional.  It’s kind of the opposite of being nutritional, taking away nutrients your body has when you began drinking, interfering with digestion, and absorbing nutrients.

Not all alcohol is without nutrition.  Red wine and beer are known to have antioxidants and B vitamins, respectively. But for the chronic drinker, the negatives outweigh the positives of alcohol.  


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Which alcohols are best for keto?

Infographic of liquors (alcohol) with 0 gram (0g) of carbohydrates (carbs) to illustrate, "Does Keto And Alcohol Mix?"As stated early alcohol isn’t ideal for dieters wanting to stay in ketosis. Alcohol might lead to more fat storage due to our metabolism. But having an occasional drink isn’t the end of the world.  It’s possible to have a drink or two if you pick some low-carb drinks that won’t derail metabolism.

Alcohol with low-carbs

If you’re on a keto diet, be sure to drink only low-carb drinks. If you like your drinks neat, you’re in luck because most hard drinks are carb-free, meaning them without worrying about exceeding your carb limit!

Still, remember alcohol can negatively affect your state of ketosis even if it’s not a high-carb drink.  Here’s a shortlist of low-carb drinks for you to enjoy without too much guilt.**

        • Gin, tequila, rum, vodka, or whiskey neat for zero carbs.
        • Wine (red or white) has 3-4g of carbs
        • Light beer averages 3g per can

Low-carb mixes

The next point of cation is your choice of mixer for your cocktail.  The popular cocktails are typically made with high-carb juice, soda, or an energy drink.  To make a tasty low-carb drink use a carb-free mixer like these:

        • Sugar-free tonic water
        • Seltzers
        • Diet sodas
        • Carb-free juice mixers like Crystal Light

Whether you’re on a keto diet or not it’s imperative you know your limit regarding alcohol.  But if you’re on the keto diet you need to set a limit much lower than usual.  There are many reasons to keep your drinking to a minimum:

        • Drinks are loaded with empty calories, meaning calories without nutrients
        • Drinks may increase your chances to gain weight and take you out of ketosis
        • Drinks have a tendency to drain you or nutrients, leading to nutritional deficiencies
        • Excessive drinking can lead to physical and mental health issues

According to the Mayo Clinic, moderate drinking generally means one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men. Examples of one drink include:

        • Beer: 12 fluid ounces (355 milliliters)
        • Wine: 5 fluid ounces (148 milliliters)
        • Distilled spirits (80 proof): 1.5 fluid ounces (44 milliliters)

In summary

Infographic of "alcohol on keto used to illustrate, "Does Keto And Alcohol Mix?"A lot of keto dieters believe alcohol is a no-no for anybody on a keto diet.  But it’s not that simple. Choosing to include alcohol with a keto diet hinges on a number of factors. There are some things to consider before heading out:

    • There are a lot of varieties of alcohol and some are low-carb. Hard liquor is all but carb-free and wine has 3g of carbs or less per glass
    • Despite some alcohol being carb-free, all alcohol generates toxic byproducts that your body has to metabolize.  Unfortunately, your body makes it a priority to burn the toxins first which can take you out of ketosis
    • Regular, or frequent, consumption of alcohol can cause your body to store fat
    • Be sure to use low-carb alcohol and mixers for your drinks

Keep all this information in mind and you should have no trouble including alcohol (in moderation) in your keto diet.

Are you ready to start your Keto Diet? One way to get started with a Keto Diet is to have an 8-week “Custom Keto Diet Plan” created for you based on your height, weight, age, level of physical activity, and personal weight goals. Click the banner to learn more about your customized keto diet plan, or click here to go straight to your custom keto diet meal planner.

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Endurance Athletes And Ketogenic Diet

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April 12

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Low carbs and long training sessions

Regardless of your goals as an endurance athlete, the common denominator of all athletes is their drive to be in the best physical shape possible and feeling good about it. Due to their heavy load of training, it’s vital that they match their diet to the intensity of their training. The tricky part is when body composition gets confused with fitness.  Here we’re going to look at endurance athletes and the ketogenic diet.

But even with that in mind, it’s hard to ignore the attractiveness of today’s trendy diets. Like the controversial Keto diet that is still the focus of many around the world.

The proponents of ketogenic dieting tell us it is the best diet ever. And it’s easy to see why with all of the stories of rapid weight loss, decreased cravings, lower appetite, improved insulin and HDL cholesterol (the good stuff), and especially the improved endurance in aerobic activities. It all sounds very appealing. But there’s another side to the story. The ketogenic diet is labeled a medical diet and it comes with some serious risks.

Should Keto be part of your plan if you’re an endurance athlete in training?

What is the Keto diet?

The ketogenic diet, “Keto” for short, is a weight loss diet that’s been making headlines for many years touting the ability to improve an athlete’s body composition and performance. Keto is a low-carb, high-fat diet that was originally developed to reduce children’s epileptic seizures.

The Keto diet restricts your carbs to under 50g/day (+/- 5% of the USDA’s daily allowance). That’s about half a cup of oats and one medium-sized banana. The rest of the calories come from fat and protein, 75% and 20% respectively.

By reducing the number of carbohydrates consumed by our bodies also reduces the amount of glucose in our blood, our body’s preferred fuel. Being on a Keto diet puts us in a state of ketosis where our bodies use ketones for fuel. When there isn’t sufficient glucose available our livers will produce ketones from our fat stores, this is ketosis.

Low carbs and long training sessions

How does a low-carb diet affect endurance athletes considering their energy requirement for both training and on race day? Supporters of the Keto diet like Dr. Phil Maffetone who is a leader in modern medicine and has worked with Mark Allen, a Hawaii Ironman champion six times over, believes optimal athletic performance can be achieved with Keto’s fat-burning ability. Dr. Maffetone tells us our aerobic system can be maximized in a low-carb environment and it also increases our ability to use fat during strength and endurance training. This also leads to more stable energy levels, less stress to our GI system, and leaner bodies.

Is your Keto curiosity heightened?

Are you ready to give the Keto diet a try? Keto guides suggest dramatically shifting your macronutrients to cause increased oxidation and ketosis. There’s typically a two to four weed transition period with the end goal of consuming:

      • 50g of carbohydrates per day
      • 65% to 80% of your calories from fat
      • 0.6g to 1.0g of protein for every pound you weigh

Keto is a challenging diet. It can be difficult to create satiating meals with the correct proportions of macronutrients required by the diet. The majority of this diet is comprised of animal proteins and leafy vegetables with an occasional piece of fruit.

Custom Keto Diet

Keto flu

During the transition period from your standard diet to a ketogenic diet, you will most likely feel some symptoms like:

      • Headache
      • Fatigue
      • Low levels of energy
      • Extreme hunger
      • Difficulty sleeping

These symptoms during the transition period have been coined “The Keto Flu”. It will pass fairly quickly. Drinking a lot of water helps.

So, what should you be eating?

It takes quite a bit of effort and time to research the right portions for your personal goal. Obviously, there are a lot of keto recipe books on the market. This is great, once you know what to do with all that information.

Wouldn’t be nice if you were provided with a complete meal plan based on your specific activity level, body weight, and food preferences?

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Ketosis And Weight Loss (Fat Loss)

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April 8

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Benefits, Keto Diet, ketosis, Weight Loss

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Over the years many diets have come and gone promising miraculous weight loss and an overall improvement in body composition and wellness. But at what cost and how many have actually worked?

Photograph of a woman's small waist in oversized pants to illustrate, "Ketosis And Weight Loss (Fat Loss)".Most diets are designed to keep its practitioner in a caloric deficit. Meaning to consume fewer calories than their body needs to work normally and maintain its weight.

Generally speaking, the average person needs about 2,000 calories a day to function normally and maintain weight. The usual diet is designed to restrict our calorie intake to about 80% of normal, or 1,600 calories per day. These diets concentrate just on calories instead of considering the macronutrients that different food provides.

Obviously, this method of dieting works for many people. The challenge is when we run up against plateaus in our weight loss journey. People have been experimenting, for a number of years now, with high-fat diets and their possible benefits regarding weight and fat loss.

How can a diet high in fat help you lose weight?

It’s not very intuitive, but a high-fat diet can help you lose weight by putting your body into a state of ketosis. Ketosis is very effective at burning body fat.

What is ketosis?

Under everyday circumstances, our bodies can draw upon various sources of energy as needed. The primary energy source is glucose which comes from the carbohydrates that we consume. But when glucose isn’t available our bodies look for other forms of energy, these are called ketones.

So ketosis is our body’s metabolic state when there isn’t enough glucose and we’re using ketones as our energy source.

Eating a high-fat, low-carb diet can put us into the state of ketosis. While we are in ketosis our bodies convert our fat stores into ketones for energy.

Achieving ketosis

Whenever we fast for a prolonged time our bodies will enter a state of ketosis. A lot of the experts think that runners will enter ketosis during a long run, especially so when carb cycling.

Other than fasting or exercising, we can enter ketosis by consuming very few calories. By limiting the number of calories we get from carbohydrate consumption to less than 15% of our caloric intake, our bodies will start taking energy for its stored fat instead of the restricted carbohydrates.

Can ketosis help with fat loss?

There are always instances when any diet won’t work. However, the Keto diet is known for effectively stimulating fat loss and consequently weight loss.

Some recent research has shown the keto diet improves the levels of triglycerides, LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol), blood sugar, and HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol). These effects are all beneficial to your overall health and well-being.

What are the downsides?

Nothing is perfect and diets aren’t any different. Even though we know low carb, high-fat diets are quite effective at getting rid of unwanted fat and weight they might be dangerous for people who have diabetes or a pre-existing heart condition. For that reason, you should talk to your primary health care provider before starting any diet that is a dramatic change from your normal diet.

Converting stored fat to usable energy for our bodies is much slower than readily convertible carbohydrates. So anyone on a Keto diet may find themselves lagging in high-energy activities like sports, cross fit, powerlifting, etc.

A balanced lifestyle is important

Long-term research hasn’t found any major negative health issues brought on from following a Keto diet. In fact, the opposite has been noted citing weight loss and weight control as well as internal health benefits.

Just remember, a balanced lifestyle is important no matter your diet. Don’t think just because you’re on a high fat diet you eat nothing but double bacon cheeseburgers without consequences. The Keto diet is intended to put your body in a state of ketosis by consuming whole foods, healthy oils, lean proteins, seeds, nuts, and plenty of dark leafy greens.

Undoubtedly, a healthy diet will lead to a healthy lifestyle including a healthy weight, more vitality, and deeper satisfaction with your life!