I will first start with the disclaimer that I am in no way a ketosis expert. I am new to this lifestlye and will never claim to be an expert. There are opinions back and forth on what is or isn’t healthy. This is simply my journey, what is working for me, and what I have learned & experienced the last 6 weeks.
1. Net carbs vs. Total carbs. When I first began doing keto I was under the impression that I needed to be under 20 carbs a day to be in ketosis. Wrong. A lot of people measure in net carbs, which is where the 20 grams comes from. You need to be under 50 total carbs and around or below 20-30 net carbs in order to stay in ketosis. Everyone’s body is different, therefore you need to find a limit that works best for you for weight loss and maintaining ketosis if you want an exact number. I don’t fool around with net carbs, it’s unnecessary math, when you can just count the total carbs and stay under 50. I am usually well below 35 total carbs a day.
2. Drink plenty of fluids. It’s common knowledge that when you are trying to be healthy and active that drinking plenty of fluids, especially water, is a very important aspect. However, I didn’t really think about the science between the keto diet until I was actually doing it. When you eliminate high carbs and things that retain water- such as bread, you no longer have that water lingering around in your system. Your water is constantly being flushed out, therefore avoiding dehydration is vital. Not to mention that it helps keep you full and I have less cravings. I am constantly drinking water because I am always thirsty now. To switch it up, you can drink unsweetened tea, powerade zero, mio, and propel. I stick to mainly plain water but sometimes you need a little something extra.
3. Consume enough salt. It has been a big misunderstanding to me that salt is bad and that consuming a lot of salt on the keto diet is going to be terrible for me. However, when you really think about it, aren’t we made up of salt and water? As I stated above, we have no carbs to retain our fluids like we did before, therefore when we are constantly drinking, we are also in turn flushing out the potassium in our bodies. You need to compensate for that because having a balance is the key to everything in life, not just dieting. Staying hydrated and consuming plenty of electrolytes (I drink powerade zero or fuji water) also helps with the keto flu.
4. Those gnarly leg cramps. Many a nights I have awoken to the worst cramps in my legs I have ever had. I quickly realized that even though I felt like my foods were pretty salty, I wasn’t sustaining enough to keep the cramps at bay. I have been told that magnesium tablets are going to be the only cure- so I am starting that this week, and I will update on how that goes. I don’t get the cramps every night, thank goodness, but it’s enough of a nuisance that I know something isn’t right and I need the magnesium to supplement what I cannot consume on a daily basis. If you experience these awful muscle spasms in the middle of the night what has worked for me that you probably have at home is: water, pickle juice, and or mustard. Sometimes I chug water, sometimes I get down some yellow mustard, or sometimes I drink pickle juice. Every one of those has instantly relieved my leg pains.
5. Get past the first two weeks. The first week of keto I was high on life. The simple fact that I made it through the first couple of days with little to no carbs I was ecstatic. I had a new sense of determination and that alone made me feel better about myself. I could tell after the first week that I was lighter and feeling better, probably from losing the water weight. However, when that second week rolled around, my desperation for sugar was REAL. It took every fiber of my being not to run (lets be honest, drive) to the nearest cold stone and get a “love it” of the peanut butter ice cream with Reese cups. It didn’t help that it was CNA week and every day was a new treat brought to work- donuts, cookies, pizza, you name it. I can proudly say that I did not fall into temptation- I rejected every offer to cheat and that alone made me so proud of myself. Moral of the story, if you’re going to do this, do it 100 percent. Give yourself that honest shot, get through those initial sugar withdrawals and then go from there. If I can do it, you can!
6. Stay away from aspartame. You mean I can’t have diet coke? No way, jose. I mean, truthfully, you can do whatever you please. However, if you’re wanting to do keto, then you’re probably wanting a healthy change for yourself. Therefore consuming anything with aspartame is not doing yourself any favors. Yes, it’s low carb. However, the long term effects on your body are not good. It increases your cravings & hunger and when you’re already in a vulnerable state of missing your carbs, it’s probably not a good idea to tempt yourself even more. Not to mention that the main point is that it raises your insulin levels. At the end of the day, do what you want to do, but I make sure that anything I consume does not have aspartame! I have been told that sucralose is okay in moderation, as well as erythritol and stevia. Everyone has their opinions on right/wrong, healthy/not healthy. This is what I personally go by.
7. Sugar free does not mean keto. You will see a lot of things advertised as sugar free. Read your labels. A lot of sugar free products, especially candy, have bad artificial sweeteners in them that you’ll want to avoid. Not to mention that there may be zero sugar, but you could still be getting high carbs. Carbs break down into sugar in your body, so therefore it’s not really helping you. Not to mention that if you read the labels, certain sugar free products will tell you that the artificial sweeteners used can cause diarrhea. Who wants that?
8. Consuming enough fat. The biggest mistake that I made in the beginning was eating more protein than fat. I could tell by the pain in my back located at my kidneys that something wasn’t feeling right at the third or fourth week in. I did some more research, asked people I knew who are avid keto people, and came up with this explanation: The premise of the keto diet is that you need to be consuming high fat, moderate protein, and low carb. I knew that going into this, however I didn’t know the importance of it. I was losing weight, so I thought it was okay. Wrong. When you consume little carbs and more protein than fat, your body can turn your protein into sugar, which can cause damage to the kidneys in the long run. You need to consume more fats than protein because the fat (good fact, btw) is what your body burns for energy instead of carbs. Once I started doing that, the pain went away, and I kept going about my merry business. What I’ve done in order to make sure I get enough fat, especially in the morning, is bullet proof coffee. It was hard to get down at first but it has been essential to my weight loss and macros!
9. Trust yourself. As I talked about briefly above, everyone has their own opinions on what is and isn’t healthy. I went back and forth for a few months before I decided that keto is something I wanted to try. I am personally glad I did. I have never seen results like this or been this happy with myself. However, you have to do your own research and trust yourself. Regardless of what someone says- because trust me, I have heard a lot of negative things from people since starting this lifestyle change- I am doing this for me. It’s my body and my decision and I am so far happy with how it’s going. You have to base your life and your health on your own research and mostly, your own experiences and feelings. Keto is not the best option for everyone, I know that, this is just what is currently working for me, and you need to find what will work for you.
a work in progress 