Ketogenic Diet: Top 20 Mistakes to Avoid ©Greg Mason
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© Copyright 2016 by – Greg Mason - All rights reserved. This document is geared towards providing exact and reliable information in regards to the topic and issue covered. The publication is sold with the idea that the publisher is not required to render accounting, officially permitted, or otherwise, qualified services. If advice is necessary, legal or professional, a practiced individual in the profession should be ordered. - From a Declaration of Principles which was accepted and approved equally by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations. In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. The information provided herein is stated to be truthful and consistent, in that any liability, in terms of inattention or otherwise, by any usage or abuse of any policies, processes, or directions contained within is the solitary and utter responsibility of the recipient reader. Under no circumstances will any legal responsibility or blame be held against the publisher for any reparation, damages, or monetary loss due to the information herein, either directly or indirectly. Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher. The information herein is offered for informational purposes solely, and is universal as so. The presentation of the information is without contract or any type of guarantee assurance. The trademarks that are used are without any consent, and the publication of the trademark is without permission or backing by the trademark owner. All trademarks and brands within this book are for clarifying purposes only and are the owned by the owners themselves, not affiliated with this document. The author is not a licensed practitioner, physician or medical professional and offers no medical treatment, diagnoses, suggestions or counseling. The information presented herein has not been evaluated by the U.S Food & Drug Administration, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Full medical clearance from a licensed physician should be obtained before beginning or modifying any diet, exercise or lifestyle program, and physician should be informed of all nutritional changes. The author claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application or interpretation of the information presented herein.
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Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Truth be Told .................................................................................................................................... 6 Ketosis: What You Need To Know.................................................................................................. 8 Mistake #1: Eating when you are not hungry .................................................................................. 9 Mistake #2: Eating too much protein ............................................................................................. 11 Mistake #3: Eating too little fat........................................................................................................ 12 Mistake #4: Avoiding vegetables .................................................................................................... 13 Mistake #5: Eating too much dairy .................................................................................................. 14 Mistake #6: Eating too many nuts ................................................................................................... 15 Mistake #7: Eating right before bedtime ........................................................................................ 16 Mistake #8: Exercising during the wrong times of the day .......................................................... 17 Mistake #9: Too Much Stress ........................................................................................................... 18 Mistake #10: Obsessing over your ketone body levels ................................................................. 19 Mistake #11: Not Getting in Enough Electrolytes ......................................................................... 20 Mistake #12: Being impatient & giving up too early .................................................................... 21 Mistake #13: Not getting enough sleep .......................................................................................... 22 Mistake #14: Indulging in too many low-carb treats .................................................................... 23 Mistake #15: Giving into social pressure ....................................................................................... 24 Mistake #16: Drinking alcohol ........................................................................................................ 25 Mistake #17: Failing to plan ............................................................................................................. 26 Mistake #18: Cheating on your diet ................................................................................................ 27 Mistake #19: Having unrealistic expectations ............................................................................... 28 Mistake #20: Not applying what you have learned ....................................................................... 29 Helpful Tips for the Ketogenic Diet ............................................................................................... 30 Learn to Count Your Net Carbs ..................................................................................................... 30 Beware of Hidden Carbs ................................................................................................................ 30 Choose the Right Foods.................................................................................................................. 30 Limit Your Consumption of Fruit ................................................................................................. 30 3
Spend More Time in the Kitchen ................................................................................................... 31 Find Others that are in the Same Boat........................................................................................... 31 Keep a Health Journal .................................................................................................................... 31 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................... 32
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Introduction “Health and cheerfulness naturally beget each other.” ~Joseph Addison
Thank you for purchasing ―Ketogenic Diet: Top 20 Mistakes to Avoid. With any addiction, there’s always an unsaid and an undisclosed pain that’s always concealed underneath an unsaid verity. And we seek refuge from this agony through the abuse of an ingredient. The journey often starts as an innocent and playful experiment, grows into a crutch with time and before long, completely takes over our everyday life with coercions that remove you from the reality and inescapably cause greater agony than what it was trying to avoid in the first place. This is the true obscenity of an addiction. It seduces you with a tantalizing invitation that slowly saps on your strength to free yourself of its chokehold. If you suffer from a sugar or food addiction, then you can totally relate. Picture the surprise when you finally discover you can bring this vicious cycle to an end with something that provides your body with the essential sustenance that you must partake daily to boost your health, metabolism, energy and vitality. The Ketogenic Diet is a healthy and natural way of life that feeds your food addiction by conditioning your system to start rejecting unhealthy food and create room for healthy and natural food. This is the true genius of the Ketogenic Diet. It teaches us how to create mouthwateringly flavorful dishes that are super healthy and destroys the idea that healthy food cannot become comfort food. Whether you’ve already started your journey in the Ketogenic lifestyle and have found road bumps along the way, or you want to educate yourself with as much as information as you can before you jump on the diet, this book will help you achieve the amazing benefits that the Ketogenic Diet offer. We will get into the bottom of why the Ketogenic Diet seems like not working for you, or why you’re experiencing some adverse effects of not properly following the diet. Most importantly, we will get into detail of the top mistakes that Keto dieters make that’s why they don’t find success in meeting their health goals. Of course, this book will not only about knowing about those mistakes, but also identifying the strategies on how you can avoid or overcome these blunders. I would like to say congratulations for downloading this guide, I hope it sheds light into why achieving ketosis and losing weight has been a little out of your reach and help you remedy what you’ve been doing wrong.
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Truth be Told… We are now going to dive into a sneak peak of the problem that will serve as an eye opener, especially if you are having an issue achieving or maintaining ketosis or losing weight in your healthy Ketogenic Diet. What if you are just looking to embark on the Keto diet? Well, prevention is better than cure and these mistakes will teach you the best way to approach the Keto diet by learning through other people’s experiences. Before we go any further, it’s important to note that a well-designed Ketogenic Diet is very individualistic. There are so many people who follow a variation of thee Keto Diet, but if others were to delve into their eating habits, they wouldn’t achieve the state of ketosis. There are some of us who are so metabolically compromised that just adding lime juice to their drinking water can throw them off ketosis. A tailored and properly formulated Ketogenic Diet does not have the adversely ill effects of when newbies first go low carb such as getting sick or insanely fatigued. One of the most common mistakes is that most of us start adding in fruits and carbs because we feel better after adding these carbs. The problem in the first place is that our diet wasn’t properly formulated. When you embark on the Keto diet the first thing you do is lose a lot of water weight. When most people adapt to the keto lifestyle, they get a significant improvement of insulin sensitivity. The reason is, eating a predominant low carb diet results in your insulin levels falling quickly as your body starts expelling insulin resistance. Once your insulin levels start falling, your kidneys start releasing more fluids. If you’ve already started following the keto diet then you may have noticed that you tend to even wake up at night to pee, especially if you are in the initial stages of adapting the diet. This fades off eventually, which is good news for you, but there’s also some bad news. Part of the good news is that when your body releases excess fluids, the oxidation of fat starts improving. Well, the bad news is that the excess fluids also erode essential electrolytes and sodium. When your body’s sodium levels go below a certain threshold, you start experiencing some undesirable effects such as fatigue, flu-like symptoms, cramping, dizziness, among others, or what most people refer to as the low-carb flu. If at this point you don’t supplement as you should in order to restore the lost sodium, you experience these symptoms and if by chance you add in carbs such as high carb veggies such as spaghetti squash or fruit, you will start feeling better, but the issue in the first place is that you didn’t formulate your keto diet properly. Eating to achieve and remain in ketosis is actually not complicated. You first need to listen and understand what your body is saying. Just because your friend achieved ketosis by doing a, b, and c doesn’t mean you are going to achieve ketosis by doing the exact same thing.
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However, there are some general guidelines that if you follow, will set you on the right path. If for example you notice you are losing too much sodium and electrolytes, it doesn’t mean that the only solution is to run off and bury your head in carbs. There are healthy and natural food s that that will keep you on the keto track and that will help you get into ketosis faster and stay there for the long haul. With the keto diet, the trick is knowing yourself and acknowledging the reason why you are following the diet in the first place. It’s no secret that the Ketogenic Diet has health benefits aplenty that are being confirmed by scientific studies day in day out. As such, there is no justifiable reason for you to throw in the towel and say that maybe the Keto Diet is not meant for you. We are going to look at ten of the most common errors that could be slowing you down and keeping you from achieving ketosis. If you’ve fallen victim to any of these, don’t worry, all you need to do is pick yourself up and dust yourself then learn from your mistake and soon you’ll be on the path to keto glory. If you’re however just starting out, these pointers will serve as a cautionary tale that will keep you on the right path to achieving ketosis minus the speed bumps. Don’t turn your back on the Ketogenic Diet thinking it doesn’t work for you because it actually does, all you need to do is to make it work seamlessly for you.
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Ketosis: What You Need To Know Granted, there are several variations of the keto diet that are making their rounds in the nutrition world, they all converge on one fundamental principal – to eat food just as nature intended for us to eat. No one will teach you about this diet in school and that is why you find so many variations as everyone is simply trying to make what they understand work for them. But, it is important that you understand the basics so you are able to know exactly what you need to be eating and how you should be eating it. The first thing you should understand is that the human body is adept at using different sources of energy to run all its physiological processes. It can either burn glucose or ketones to get the needed energy and it can even use both under certain conditions. The brain is one of the most active organs in the body and as such uses quite a substantive amount of energy. If you deprive your brain of glucose for about 72 hours, it will have to tap into an alternative source of energy for you to survive. Luckily, our bodies have certain backup systems in store and in such an event, the body can tap into the protein content in our muscle tissue for energy. But, this is not an optimal solution as this would mean that your muscles get degenerated making it very difficult to handle even the simplest of tasks. The other option, which is the most viable, is the body can turn to your liver which can convert fat into ketones that the body then uses for energy. This would then explain how a starving person lost in the Grand Canyon for up to 60 days can still be alive. This is because your body can convert fat into ketones. Imagine if the starving individual’s body could only get energy from glucose, this person would not be able to survive for more than five days. What about protein? Well, the body would simply collapse due to massive muscle wasting. Leading a healthy and wholesome lifestyle with the Ketogenic Diet is exactly how nature intended for human beings to eat and live. Ever wondered what our ancestors ate back in the day? They could go for up to four days without food in between successful hunts meaning their bodies relied on ketone bodies for energy. But with the agricultural revolution, everything went haywire with carbs dominating the nutrition world and this is believed to be the primary source of chronic illnesses.
Fun fact: Did you know all exclusively breast fed babies use ketones as a source of energy? The introduction of carbs into their diet is what transforms them into glucose burners instead of ketone burners. Now let’s get right into the top keto mistakes that could be keeping you from achieving ketosis.
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Mistake #1: Eating when you are not hungry You’ve read and heard from so many weight loss diets that one of the most effective ways on how you can get your metabolism working and lose weight is to eat small frequent meals—even six to eight meals throughout the day! So even if you don’t feel any hunger at all, your mind is programmed to eat small meals because your diet is designed that way. If you’re a glucose burner, you do need to eat this often since eating a lot of carbs burns up a lot of amino acids and you’ll therefore need a considerable amount of insulin to boost your muscles. And if you don’t eat your meals frequently, you might experience what is called ―hangry‖ or the deadly combination of being hungry and angry. However, in the Ketogenic Diet, it’s not important how many meals you eat, it’s when you eat them. Eating breakfast minutes after waking up is not only doing your waistline injustice, it’s also not helping you attain or maintain ketosis. If you are regularly feeding your body (particularly carb-loaded foods) it will be burning glucose rather than ketones, which will also deter you from entering into the ―fat-burning mode.‖ So then, when is the best time for you to eat your meals in order to enter into a fat-burning state? Let me introduce you to Intermittent Fasting (IF). This is not a diet, but a schedule of eating that is complimentary to the Ketogenic Diet. The schedule of your meals or when you eat your food is underscored in IF. You have to understand that the body has two states when it comes to digestion. The first is the fed state, also known as absorptive state, where your body is digesting and absorbing food. This state usually begins when you start eating and will usually last for four hours as your body completely digests everything you consumed. And then the second one is the fasting state or post-absorptive state, which refers to the period in which your body isn’t in the process of digesting a meal, which also means that your body is using its reserves to burn as fuel for energy. When the body is in the fasting state, the body will begin to use its glucose reserves (liver’s stores of glycogen) for the brain and will maintain your sugar levels for about four hours. After this, (or around eight hours after your last meal), your body will then go into its fat-burning mode to generate the fuel that your body needs. Obviously, the longer that you are in the fasting state, the longer your body continues to burn fat for energy. Therefore, when you are in this state, your body is burning fat more efficiently. You can follow the following IF schedules below and see what works for you best. 8/16 Schedule – or eight hours of feeding and 16 hours of fasting (12nn-8pm feeding, fasting from 8pm12nn). This means skipping breakfast and then eating two big meals for lunch and dinner. 6/18 Schedule – or six hours feeding state and 18 hours fasting state. This might be a challenge for beginners as you will have to follow a schedule of eating only from 1pm to 7pm and then fast from 7pm to 1 pm.
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5/19 Schedule – or five hours feeding and 19 hours fasting. This is for individuals who are used to fasting or can commit to fasting for up to 19 whole hours. A schedule for this type can be feeding from 2pm to 7pm and then fasting from 7pm until 2pm. It is advisable that you start with the 8/16 schedule first, since this give you a wider window to eat your meals. However, as your body starts getting used to fasting, you can try expanding your fasting period to enjoy more benefits of IF, including efficiently burning fat for energy.
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Mistake #2: Eating too much protein Nowadays, it seems like everyone is obsessed about getting enough protein in, especially those that are on a low-carb diet, like the Paleo or Ketogenic Diet. Protein is, of course, one of the most important macronutrients because it is needed to build and rebuild our soft muscles, organs, and other soft tissues. However, dieters who consume too much protein might not be aware that when this is digested in the body, some amino acids in the protein gets converted into sugar (this is a process called gluconeogenesis) and into your blood—the same effect as to eating too many carbs. In fact, for every 100g of protein, 56g of it can be converted as glucose. Since the body can only hold as much protein as it can, any excess of it is turned into glucose which prevents your body from entering into ketosis. Although protein is important in our diet, always remember that a perfect balance of your macros is important as this is the key into entering ketosis and achieving the benefits of the Ketogenic Diet, which of course, includes losing weight. Authors and doctors Jeff Volek and Steve Phinney suggest that in order to achieve a low-carb, high-fat and moderate protein diet, you should aim for a 1.5 to 2.0g of protein per kilogram of your lean body weight. You can identify your lean body weight using calculators found online. Simply multiply your lean body weight it to 1.5g (lower range) to get the ideal amount of protein you can consume. For example, a person who weighs 45kg can consume up to 67.5g of protein (45x1.5=67.5) A good strategy in order to stay within this number is to cut your consumption of protein throughout the day. Most protein sources (animal meat) contain 7g of protein per ounce. This means that in order to stay within the 67.5 range, you must only eat up to 9.6 ounces of meat or fish every day.
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Mistake #3: Eating too little fat Probably most people believe that fat in your diet is bad. In fact, to some, fat might be synonymous to high cholesterol, heart attacks, or hypertension. There are even others who develop what is called fat phobia or the irrational fear of dietary fat. This belief (or phobia) makes people avoid fat entirely in their diet. However, what many don’t realize is that there are two types of fat—the bad fat and the good fat. Of course, in the Ketogenic Diet (which is a high-fat diet) more good fat such as Omega-3s, monounsaturated and saturated fats is introduced into your diet. Unfortunately, some people who go into this diet and would want to lose weight would take advantage of the low-carb intake in Ketogenic Diet and then would also lower their consumption of fat thinking that it is better. You must remember that when you lower your consumption of carbohydrates, which was the original source of energy of your body, you must replace this with another source of energy or you will starve. If eating carbs for energy is out of the question in the Ketogenic Diet, then you should compensate this by consuming a hefty amount of fat. Some dieters would prefer a 50-60% of fat in their calories, however, Ketogenic advocates suggests that it is even better to have around 70% fat of your total calories. Get over the thought that fat is bad for you, you can achieve this percentage by choosing fatty cuts and adding into your diet the healthy types of fats such as coconut oil, olive oil, butter, and lard.
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Mistake #4: Avoiding vegetables Yes, good sources of healthy fat and protein are what your diet will mostly consist of. If you take a look at some food lists of the Keto Diet, you will realize that there are only a few vegetables that are included in this diet, but this doesn’t mean that you should avoid veggies entirely. Remember that vegetables are extremely vital in a healthy diet, you must however also realize that there are some veggies that contain high levels of sugar (potatoes, peas, yams, etc.), and so you really have to avoid them. Of course, there are also some types of vegetables that you can include in the Ketogenic Diet that are loaded with nutrients but low in carbohydrates and I am referring to the dark and leafy vegetables. From spinach, kale, bok choi, and lettuce, there is a long list of vegetables you can eat even on a Keto Diet. These recipes are low in calories but boasts nutrients such as fiber, potassium, folic acid, and vitamins A and C. If you’re clueless on what you can do with these veggies, you can always look for veggie recipes on Keto blogs or books.
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Mistake #5: Eating too much dairy Although you are encouraged to eat full-dairy, instead of low-fat dairy that most weight loss diets suggest, it is always easy to overeat this type of food if you have no control over your portions. Keep in mind that dairy also contains an amino acid that makes your insulin level to spike; even as much as white bread. Having high insulin levels can deter your body from entering into a fat-burning metabolic state which is needed in order to achieve the benefits (especially the weight loss benefits) of the Keto Diet. So what’s the solution to this dilemma? Try to look at the carbohydrate and sugar content when buying dairy. In general, a regular cow’s milk should be limited as this is heavy in carbs. What you can use as substitutes for this is heavy creams or heavy whipping cream. You can also include in your diet dairy products such as full-fat cheese, full-fat cream cheese, full-fat sour cream and butter. But keep in mind that dairy should be consumed in moderation. Of course, if you’re allergic to lactose or intolerant, then dairy should be out of your food list.
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Mistake #6: Eating too many nuts Of course, it’s hard not to overeat nuts. One pop of almond in your mouth, you’ll be grabbing for more until you’ve finished the whole bag. Although the nuts (particularly almonds walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia, and brazil nuts) are a great source of protein and fat and is perfect Keto food to snack on, munching on too much of them can kick you off ketosis. That’s because nuts are heavy in carbohydrates and are very easy to over eat. In fact, just 100g of macadamia nuts contain over 700 kcal and over 70g of fat, which is not ideal for people in the Keto Diet who are trying to lose weight. Too much consumption of nuts could also mean a plateau in your weight loss. However, I’d like you to remember that nuts, although high in carbs do not affect your blood sugar levels as they are also high in soluble fiber. But just like any other food, you must snack on nuts in moderation or in controlled portions.
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Mistake #7: Eating right before bedtime Ketosis and weight loss are all about the manipulation of your endocrine system. You have great control of the human growth hormone, cortisol and insulin with your eating. The natural increase of the human growth hormone occurs within 70 minutes after you fall into natural sleep but insulin is its primary adversary. If you eat and then go to sleep right after, your insulin levels rise, and the human growth hormone—the fat burner, becomes suppressed as insulin is more potent. Another problem you have to deal with when you eat a full meal right before bedtime is that trying to sleep with a full stomach might cause some discomfort which makes getting quality sleep a lot harder for you. As you know, disrupted sleep can cause you to feel hunger, light-headedness, and drowsiness. A solution to this problem is intermittent fasting (IF). IF is seen to improve sleep, especially when you don’t consume your heavy meal right before sleeping. Make sure that at least there is a 3 to 4-hour window before heading to bed. Again, it is suggested that you try the 8/16 schedule first. It is up to you if you want to do it every day, once a week, or twice a week.
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Mistake #8: Exercising during the wrong times of the day Although your body is in a fat-burning state during ketosis, including workouts in your lifestyle can increase the potential of you losing weight. Not only that, it can also help build lean muscles, which again, helps your body in burning fat more efficiently. However, besides the schedule of your meals, the timing of when you exercise is important, especially if you’re trying to lose weight in the Ketogenic Diet. Mornings are seen to be the best time to exercise as this is the when the cortisol levels in your body are at its peak. If you wait until evening to exercise, you get another rise of cortisol that messes with the natural hormonal balance and this can lead to fat being stored around your belly. Now the question is, what is the ideal exercise regimen you can adopt alongside your diet to attain weight loss? If you lived a sedentary lifestyle and is only beginning to start a workout routine, experts suggest that you start with at least 30 minutes of light cardio, such as walking, at least three times a week. When your body is used to your regular physical activities, you can move to adding resistance training in your routine to build lean muscles until you go on further to doing intense training workouts.
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Mistake #9: Too Much Stress Ever wondered why losing weight seems inevitable to you even if you (almost) did follow the rules in the Ketogenic Diet to the letter? Maybe that’s because you’re living a stressful life. Remember that cortisol is a type of hormone that is released when we feel anxious or stressed. Of course our flight or fight response is but normal and is part of our human nature, however, experiencing stress that stays with you for longer periods of time can cause you to experience its adverse effects such as breaking down of protein for sugar, increase of visceral aka belly fat, which in turn increases insulin resistance, increased appetite, and most of all, elevates the sugar level in your blood that deters ketosis. Since stress, or cortisol affects ketosis, what you need to do is to deal with stress, or at least find ways to manage it. One of the most effective ways to decrease stress is regular exercise. If you have read the previous item, you will now realize that physical activity does not only help you lose weight, but it also helps decrease stress since exercise is seen to produce endorphins or the happy chemicals. Drinking supplements such as magnesium, B-complex, and melatonin can also help reduce stress levels. Also, allotting time to do what you love most, such as painting, playing music, reading, etc. can also contribute in reducing stress.
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Mistake #10: Obsessing over your ketone body levels Make fat the majority of your calories, eat moderate protein and avoid carb-rich foods (including nonstarchy vegetables)—this the formula on how you achieve ketosis, or the metabolic state in which your body is burning fat for fuel. Sounds simple, right? Yes it is, if you know the right amount of macros you need to consume in order to achieve and remain in this state. However, I would remind you to not obsess too much over your ketone body levels. You can monitor your ketone levels with the use of urine ketone strips such as ketostix. If you’re using the strip and it’s your first time to enter ketosis, you may get a shade of dark purple in the test. However, after a few weeks, this shade might become lighter, but this doesn’t mean that you’ve gone off from ketosis. The dark color only means that your body is making ketones (most of which you do not need) and then, as your body gets used to the fat-burning state, your body will then only excrete the ketones that it needs. You can also watch out for your body’s signals to find out whether you are in ketosis or not. You may smell acetone in your urine, sweat, or breath when you’re in ketosis; but there’s nothing to worry about this, it only means you’re in ketosis. A good rule to remember: Stop stressing about your ketone body levels, as long as you follow the Keto Diet guidelines you’ll surely stay in ketosis.
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Mistake #11: Not Getting in Enough Electrolytes One of the effects of a low-carb diet is frequent urination along with some other symptoms such as headaches, constipation, and fatigue (this is what others call as the Keto flu). Let us, however, focus on frequent urination and how important it is for you to replenish the electrolytes in your body when you’re urinating too much. Electrolytes are electronically charged ions that are behind your every movement, every beat of your heart, and even regulation your blood pressure. The types of important electrolytes that you need in your body are sodium chloride, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. These electrolytes, however, are expelled through urination, that’s why it’s important to ―replace‖ them. According to low-carb diet expert, Dr. Jeff Volek, proper management of minerals and electrolytes in the body is key in order to avoid the initial effects of low-carb diets, such as Keto Diet. In order to replenish your body with electrolytes some of the things you can do are: Eat a banana – a medium sized banana contains 400mg of potassium which is a type of electrolyte (do not do this often though) Add a pinch salt to a glass of water – this is a simple recipe for a sodium-chloride drink that help in rehydrating your body Eat yogurt – yogurt is rich in calcium which also helps in replenishing the electrolytes in the body Drink coconut juice – coco water is a great source of sodium, magnesium, and potassium, which are all types of electrolytes. Enjoy a bowl of bone broth – this is rich in magnesium, sodium, and potassium, as well as other minerals that help in reducing the symptoms of the Keto flu.
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Mistake #12: Being impatient & giving up too early Like what I mentioned earlier, the first stages of the Ketogenic Diet might bring in some symptoms of the Keto flu. Dizziness, headaches, fatigue, and an upset stomach are what others can experience in the early stages of a low-carb diet. However, these symptoms does not mean that you should give up on the Keto Diet immediately. These things are only a result of depriving your body with carbs and shifting into a state where the body burns fat as fuel—so stay strong! If you remind yourself of the benefits that the Ketogenic Diet can provide you in the long run, you will see that understanding macros, monitoring if your body is in ketosis, and watching what and when you eat is all worth it. Be patient, you will be burning fat in no time!
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Mistake #13: Not getting enough sleep Ever found yourself in a situation where you thought you were going to lose a lot of weight during summer because of your increased level of physical activity only for you to gain more weight? Well, it all boils down to sleep. Unfortunately, sleep is hugely underrated when it comes to the weight loss equation. As a rule of thumb, you should aim to get 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep every day. If you experience sleepless nights or don’t get enough sleep then your body will start registering increased levels of ghrelin – which tells your brain that you need to eat. And if you respond to this signal, you may find yourself eating more than usual which will not only throw you out of ketosis but also cause you to gain weight. Listed below are effective tips that you can follow in order to get better sleep: Follow a sleep routine – try to create a sleep schedule where you will go consistently to bed at the same time daily. This will help your body to adapt to a sleep cycle, which in the long run helps in getting quality sleep. Just lay down, close your eyes, and try not to do anything for 15 minutes. If you’re still feeling restless after a few minutes, try to do some activities that will help you relax. Set the mood – of course, getting sleep is impossible if you’re in a room that does not induce relaxation. In order to get some quality shut-eye try setting the atmosphere in your room that will help you feel sleepy. Eliminate noise (or if you prefer, play relaxing music), set the temperature in your room a little cooler, make your bed more comfortable, and avoid anything that can cause anxiety or stress, like checking your work email in bed. Maintain a workout routine – once again, exercise also brings another benefit that is not only losing weight, but it can also help you get quality sleep too. Eat yogurt or drink milk – eating a heavy meal just before going to bed can disrupt sleep, that’s why it’s important that your dinner a few hours before heading to the bedroom. However, if you’re having a hard time sleeping, you can consume light snacks that can help you sleep like yogurt and milk.
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Mistake #14: Indulging in too many low-carb treats We all love our low-carb treats every once in a while, but getting too used to them is not a very good idea not only if you are trying to lose weight but also for ketosis. Keto sweeteners and treats can breathe life into your cravings and reawaken your sweet tooth which can get you falling off the wagon and back into your old eating habits. That’s why it’s important to limit or better, avoid low-carb treats if you just started following the Ketogenic Diet since you don’t have control over your cravings for sweets yet. The aim of the Ketogenic Diet is to rewire your brain and eating habits into healthy and natural ones and that is what you should aim for. Treating yourself occasionally is not bad but don’t turn every day into a special occasion. If you really cannot last a week without eating sweets, you can delight on some dark chocolate to control your cravings; just remember not to overeat though!
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Mistake #15: Giving into social pressure It is definitely hard to turn away from the ―temptations‖ that your relatives or friends put you through when they encourage you to veer away on your diet once in a while. Sure, eating a piece of cake won’t hurt, right? But what they don’t understand is that this single cheat on your diet can cause you to get off the fat-burning metabolic state. If you’re really serious in following the Ketogenic Diet, you must not give in to the pressure of cheating from your diet. If you still don’t have control over your cravings, it’s best that you consume meals that you made yourself and avoid eating out as this will really tempt you to try other foods outside of the diet. As you go further in the Keto lifestyle, it would be best if you share with you rfamily or friends the wonders of the diet so that they will have a better understanding of the diet and its benefits to the health. You might not know it, but you may even win some of your friends or relatives to go into the Keto Diet themselves.
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Mistake #16: Drinking alcohol When most people start following any diet, they often opt for the lite version of their alcoholic drinks to save on a few calories. But this is a very small piece of the pie. Did you know that alcohol consumption lowers your metabolism by as much as 70 percent? What this means is that the main effect of taking alcohol is not so much how many more calories you consume rather how it stops your body’s ability to access your fat stores in order to burn fat for energy. Seeing that your body can either derive its energy from fat, protein or glucose; your body will now stop burning fat for energy and start utilizing alternative sources meaning that the food you take will now be stored as fat. Alcohol also tends to dehydrate your body and for fat to be used as energy, it needs to be transported to the liver via your bloodstream from the fat cells. When you get dehydrated, the liver is forced to help your kidneys, meaning it will no longer focus on metabolizing fat. While on a Keto Diet it is best that you set a rule that alcoholic drinks, particularly beer, is big a no-no. Beverages such as carbonated water flavored with fruit (check the label first!) can be included in the Keto Diet as well as coffee and tea (replace milk with fat cream), and ta-dah!—a glass of wine (avoid the sweet variety) can also be a Keto drink if you’re not on a strict Ketogenic Diet.
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Mistake #17: Failing to plan Benjamin Franklin’s quote ―If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail,‖ not only applies is business or planning for your life, but it is also applicable in preparing for your diet; like the Ketogenic Diet. Numerous studies on nutrition have shown that those who fail to plan and track their diets have a hard time losing weight. When you take the time to plan your meals in advance, you will have the ingredients to prepare all your meals and never will you have to settle for one thing simply because you don’t have the right ingredient which can help you achieve and maintain ketosis and also help you lose weight. You can make use of a tracking app which will really help you stay on track with your keto diet and it will also teach you the foods that are good for you and those that help you maintain ketosis so you can focus more on them. Planning to do a pantry purge will also help you so you can ―cleanse‖ your food stock with products that are not in the Keto Diet food list and will cause you to cheat on your food plan. Deciding when you should also start jumping (again) on the Ketogenic Diet is also vital to your success. Of course, planning to begin the diet when there are special occasions that include feasts can cause you to derail from the Keto Diet immediately, so it’s best that you also consider this factor too. Human beings are creatures of habit and when you make meal planning and tracking your habits, rarely will you find yourself out of ketosis or gaining weight.
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Mistake #18: Cheating on your diet There is a very clear distinction between having a cheat meal and having a carb-up meal. For example you can take a higher carb meal after a highly intensive interval training session but this is not the same thing as eating something from the disapproved foods in the keto diet. The problem with diet cheating is that what starts as one innocent cheat meal can easily progress into two, three…until you find yourself completely off the wagon. However, in the event you find yourself in such a situation, don’t give up all hope, just go back to the starting point and the good thing is that this time, you will know exactly what’s expected of you. This is not an exhaustive list of the keto mistakes but it’s a good place to start from in terms of being aware of what you should not do. The important thing is to tailor the keto diet to your needs. Be sure to read our books on the Keto Diet that go into more detail complete with tasty recipes that will help you attain and maintain ketosis and also lose weight.
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Mistake #19: Having unrealistic expectations Achieving the benefits of the Ketogenic Diet does not happen overnight. Like any other healthy diets out there, seeing the results of following this food regimen cannot be immediately felt or seen. Of course, in order to attain the benefits of this fat-burning diet, proper planning, discipline, timing and understanding all the facets of the Ketogenic Diet is vital in order to fully reap its benefits. I must also remind you that you should not put too much pressure on yourself when you set goals in doing pursuing the diet since this will only cause you to stress and obsess on achieving ketosis. What I would advise however, is that you just enjoy every milestone you achieve in the Ketogenic lifestyle.
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Mistake #20: Not applying what you have learned The biggest mistake that you will make is not applying what you have learned from this book and from all the other references you’ve read about the Ketogenic Diet. Sure, you will have to adjust depending on what works for you, but being guided by the rules of the Ketogenic Diet will help you effectively achieve the benefits it promises to deliver.
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Helpful Tips for the Ketogenic Diet Learn to Count Your Net Carbs As you now know, the key to entering a state of ketosis is to limit your carbs to 20-25grams (net carbs) every day. One of the useful tools to help you monitor this is through the use of an app called MyFitnessPal (I encourage you to download this on your device!). With this app, you can easily log your foods which can help you monitor the foods you consume. Although this app doesn’t provide you with your consumption of net carbs, but it will provide you with the fiber and carbs that you have consumed. To get your net carbs, just simply subtract the fiber from the carbs you consumed.
Beware of Hidden Carbs It will be very easy for you to avoid foods such as pastas and bread because you know that they contain loads of carbs. However, what most people fail to do is to also count the carbs that are ―hidden‖ in foods such as baked beans, salad dressing, and tomato sauce which all have carbs in them! So make sure to read labels and count all carbs to stick to the 20-25 grams daily and achieve ketosis.
Choose the Right Foods Even if the Ketogenic Diet is a low carb-high fat diet, this doesn’t give you the liberty to consume as much fat as you can. Of course you want the food you consume to be of quality and are rich in nutrients. But one good tip to remember is to just stay away from carbs such as pastas, breads, rice, and even sugar. The 20-25 grams of carbs that you’re allowed to consume should be made of vegetables that also have carbs in them.
Limit Your Consumption of Fruit We all know that fruits have loads of vitamins, fiber, and other nutrients that are good for the body. However, if you want to reset your metabolism and allow it to use fat as fuel instead of glucose, then you must limit your consumption of fruit to a minimum. That’s because all fruits are high in fructose (a type of sugar found in fruit), which causes your insulin levels to spike. When that happens, the fats cells in your body are locked and your body will use glucose as energy.
Remember that in the Ketogenic Diet, you are only allowed to have 20-25 grams of net carbs a day. A medium-sized banana already amounts to 24g net carbs, which means, you almost have already consumed all your carbs for the day in just eating a banana. If you still want to consume fruits, you can stick with a cup of mixed berries that has 5g net carbs, but this is not recommended to be consumed daily.
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Spend More Time in the Kitchen For you to achieve ketosis, it is vital that you watch over the foods you eat. That’s why it is advisable if you prepare your own meals and avoid eating out too much. Don on your apron and sharpen your skills in the kitchen. It may take time for you to learn how to prepare and cook your own meals, but this is important if you want to make sure that you only consume Keto-friendly meals. Yes, you will have to sacrifice a bit of your time, but it’s definitely worth it. If you have hectic weekdays, what you can do is to cook large batches of food during the weekends, so you can have ready to reheat meals for the coming week.
Find Others that are in the Same Boat Finding a support group or someone to support you to keep you on track is a very important thing when it comes to shifting your diet completely, and is no different with the Ketogenic Diet. It's no secret that fats are still devil of the health world, and what you eat on this diet will most likely be shunned by the people around you. Forgive them, for they do not yet understand. Being able to vent about this and talk to like-minded people around you will not only help bring stress levels down, but allow you to express your feelings and frustrations with such a big transition. Most people report higher percentages of success when they have someone else or a group of people to talk to about the ins and outs of what they're doing. Being able to talk about frustrations, talk about understanding the new world of healthy fats, and gaining new ideas from people will all lead to a more successful journey. So make sure you find a ketogenic buddy or two.
Keep a Health Journal Put it down on paper. As you begin your journey in the Keto lifestyle, it would really help you a lot, especially when you experience road bumps or weight loss plateaus when you record your Keto Diet experience. Write in your journal your experience in the early stages of the diet, your weight, as well as the state of your health before you jumped in the Keto lifestyle. By doing this, you will see how far you’ve gone and how you were able to overcome difficulties that you’ve encountered along the way. This will give you the inspiration to push through and continue pursuing the Keto lifestyle.
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Conclusion I would like to thank you again for downloading ―The Ketogenic Diet: Top 20 Mistakes to Avoid‖ I hope that this short guide was able to show you what could be keeping you from attaining or maintaining ketosis as well as losing weight on the Ketogenic Diet. The next step is to adapt a properly formulated Ketogenic Diet that follows all the guiding principles of the diet. The keto lifestyle will help place food back at the epicenter of your home, bringing bucketfuls of health and joy. Your health is your main priority and when it’s in place, all other things in your life will fall in place. Remember to treat your body like a temple and ketosis and weight loss will never be a problem for you Finally, if you feel that this diet book has been of great value and is what you have been looking for to help you lose the excess weight, then I’d like to ask you a favor; would you be kind enough to leave a raving review on Amazon. It will be greatly appreciated!
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