It’s a new year we all want to have good health and wellbeing. But how to do it that where we are stuck. If you are looking for get into the Keto life style is SIMPLE stick to the basics.Now, what does it actually means:
1. Stick to the basics
This is probably the hardest but most important tip for anyone who’s trying to start the Keto lifestyle. DO NOT LOOK for shortcuts and substitutes. We hear lot of questions and comments about alternative sweeteners, desserts, bread etc…. remember, the basis of this diet is to eat as much healthy fat as you can, avoid ALL sugars and monitor your protein intake. I’m sure you all know the pyramid below right?! So if you’re just starting this journey, and want to be successful in the first few weeks which are the most difficult, start looking for healthy fats that you can enjoy, forget about anything that reminds you previous food like ice cream, bread, sweets etc… and KEEP IT SIMPLE
Simple yet important — our pyramid
2. Fall in love with GOOD FATS
This is probably the number one most difficult for beginners to embrace. We were all educated for so many years that fat is bad for us. Some of us even have a psychological barrier to consume and enjoy fat. Remember again, consuming good fats is in the base of this diet/ lifestyle. So, how do I start?
If you’re a meat lover, like me, this should be relatively easy, educate yourself about cuts of meat and start cooking them properly. No more just beef tenderloin and chicken breast. Try Liver, Try oxtail, Try bone marrow, try shoulder etc etc etc….you have no idea how much flavor and joy you’re about to discover. Trust me, chicken legs and thighs have so much more flavor than the breast. Try Goose, what an amazing flavor and so much healthy fat.
Remember, fat is not only the white part you see around the cut itself. Fatty cuts have a nice marbling inside that contains all this good.
For those of you that are not huge meat lovers, well, the first tip is — fall in love with meat, really, as simple as that, but, you still have tons of other options. Fish, some of them have beautiful parts for us the ketogenic people to enjoy. Salmon, Tuna, Snapper, Grouper — all have a good amount of fat. Again, eat the whole fish, do not waste the best parts, the skin, the fattier parts, EAT THE ENTIRE THING. Butter — thank god for butter!!! learn how to add butter my friends, not only you’ll uptake your fat consumption, it’s just so freaking good and tasty. Add butter to your coffee, add butter to your sauces, sautee your food with butter, buy and consume Ghee, or simply take the butter out of your fridge and bite right into it!!! Did I say I love butter???
And finally, fats from Fruits and Veggies, this is were most of us feel more comfortable right? and this is perfectly fine — avocado is great, coconut oil is great, almonds are great….and you know the list. Remember, however, those could also be a trap, why? because they also contain more protein and carbs than you need. So do not eat 2 or 3 avocados a day, do not eat a dessert just because it has coconut in it do not eat a bunch of almonds just because almond oil is good for us. Yes, you can try MCT oils and see what it does to you, but here we’re moving to tip # 3:
Fall in love with your fats
3. Stay away from processed food
Since the Keto industry has become more mainstream and we’re no longer hiding our identity, the food industry discovered the potential and started to offer us substitutes right?
The same big brands that told us just a few years ago how much fat is bad for us and shoved tons of sugar into our diet, now suddenly trying to sell us good fats. Don’t get me wrong, I consume some of those products as well, and actually making some amazing Keto friendly subs, but, not everything that says KETO on the packaging is actually good for you. This takes us back to the pyramid and the basics and since we know already that Keto is simple and shouldn’t have 20 ingredients to be Keto, this rule is pretty easy to follow. When you see those subs read the label and ask: Does it have enough fat? where is the fat coming from? what else is in it besides the good fat that I need? as a rule of thumb, if it has more than 5 ingredients…mmm, it is already suspicious, if it has names and signs that you’re not familiar with…mmm, you may want to stay away.
To summerise, I love to use this very simple idea: if it’s not something that you’re grandma would cook for you — stay away!!!
Stay away from processed food!!!
4. Do not count calories
Remember, Keto is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle. If you’re in it just to lose a few pounds then you can probably find easier ways to do so. Yes, you’ll lose weight, especially at the beginning of this journey, but this should not be your ultimate goal. The keto lifestyle has so many other benefits that I’d love to talk about in future posts. If you embrace your old habits from previous diets that you’ve tried in the past and count calories, you’ll probably fail. We do not stick to a “menu” in Keto. we follow a very simple rule — we eat when we’re hungry and we do not eat when we’re not hungry. This may sound a bit strange at the beginning but trust me if you do this right, sooner than later your appetite will go down significantly. You’ll find yourself “forgetting” to eat for hours and sometimes for the entire day. Why??? because you’re no longer operating on glucose fuel, you’re now operating on ketones fuel, your cravings should and will go down and the longer you go the easier it will be. This is when you know you’re doing something right, an amazing reinforcement to your hard work. So, stop counting calories, don’t live by a “menu” and listen to your body.
