3 Tips to Stay Healthy While Eating Keto
The keto meal plan is essentially a high ‘good’ fat and low-carbohydrate, where grains, sugar, fruits, and starchy foods (like potatoes) which normally comprise most of your meals and snacks are no-nos.
The focus of this meal plan is on high-fat and protein intake–roughly 75% – 80% is fat to be more exact!
The idea is that when you eat mostly fat and low or no carbs, your body will enter a state of “ketosis”where your body metabolism changes and burns fat as an energy source, and therefore stores less fat.
That’s exactly what we want – less fat! Right? Well…yes, kinda and to a point. Ketosis will indeed affect your exercise performance and you need to plan for this ahead of time.
Allow me to explain.
When we restrict carbs and sugars, we limit the ability of our muscle cells to access glucose. Glucose, as we know, is the preferred fuel source our bodies use to function at high intensities (anything longer than 10 seconds).
Without that quick source of energy from sugars and starches, high-intensity activities are harder for our bodies to achieve. Activities that normally require quick sugars to metabolize include lifting weights for more than 5 reps using heavy weights, sprinting or swimming for longer distances, playing highly intensity sports with minimal breaks like soccer or basketball, and high-intensity interval training.
So what do you do when you’re in ketosis? Don’t worry, here are 3 tips to help you improve your fitness while following a ketogenic diet plan.
1) Efforts to enable the body to burn fat. Harmony is important!
2) Pay attention to the food you eat and make sure you eat enough. The ketogenic diet plan has appetite suppressant properties, so you won’t “feel” hungry when your body needs nutrients. Think all foods and rainbows. The more foods you eat and products of different colors, the more you will meet your body’s daily vitamin and mineral needs. Remember, each color in food indicates a different diet.
3) Choose fatty foods like grass-fed meats, fish, avocados, coconut oil and fruits. The fiber added to avocado and coconut will help reduce constipation, which is a very dangerous side effect of the keto diet. Plus, if you’re feeling a little hungry and need something to soothe you, a spoonful of coconut oil will do the trick! If this seems a bit much, try adding it to a smoothie, keto bread, or keto protein bars.
Finally, listen to your body. Building new habits in any way, shape, or form affects your body. Patience and knowledge are very important. You won’t get the best results if you rush the diet and lose weight in the first week. Doing your research by listening to your body’s reactions will lead you to the best results.
Take your time and remember that you are not competing with anyone. Whether you want to lose weight, manage diabetes, or just feel good about yourself, it’s all about health and wellness, and all meal planning and lifestyle changes should be viewed through that lens.
