#seed intake gonna RAMP up

[california-112]

Oooh, a chess episode

[krystiangorak-blog]

Ultimate Simple Keto Starting Guide

The hardest thing to do with anything new, is to start, that is including any kind of diet. There is a lot of information out there… Recipes, guides, videos, suggestions, transformations and many, many more sources of good and not so good information. All of this can be a little daunting, especially if you have never heard of Ketogenic or low carb dieting. I can relate to that myself, as at first I was very hesitant to pull the trigger on starting this lifestyle.

I took a leap of faith and here we are some time later and I’m happy, excited, energized and getting shredded. I want to help you make the same leap but reduce the unknown by giving you a step by step breakdown of what you should eat as well as some tips to get you started. Bookmark/favourite this page, so you can refer back to it as this is a staple for starting Ketogenic diet.

I’m not gonna get into too much detail as I can write 15 separate articles on what Keto is and it’s benefits(link to a video) so let’s keep it simple. Ketogenic diet consists of reducing your carbohydrate intake to minimum(below 35g), ramping up the fats(around 200g) and keeping the protein moderate(around 90g). The idea is when your body doesn’t get enough carbs to fuel its functions, it fully switches to taking energy from fat, turning you into a fat burning machine 24/7. You might say “Krystian, that sounds amazing, how do I get started”. Let me give a list of must have foods on Keto diet as well as some of the ones that I tend to avoid.

Meats:

This is the first section where it flips old fashion low fat diets on their heads. When choosing a meat you want to look for ones that have high percentage of fat.

Best ones include:

All sorts of minced meats(pork, pork&beef, full fat beef, chicken legs)

Fatty Steaks

Pork Chops

Fish(Salmon, Mackerel, halibut a little more rare)

Bacon

Sausages(Companies tend to put sugar in some so be careful)

Meats below aren’t necessarily bad but are very low in fat and high in protein. You can still eat them but you will have to pump much more fat on the side to balance them in your meals

Meats to stay away from:

Chicken Breast

Tuna

Reduced Fat Minced Meats

Dairy:

There is a lot of conversation around dairy, as some people do not react so good to too much of ir and will actually gain weight. The only thing I can say you shouldn’t stay away from it but you should definitely use it as an addition to your meals rather than a main ingredient(moderation is key).

Cheeses(Any kind ranging from normal Gouda all the way to Brie or Camembert) Avoid flavoured cheese.

Heavy Cream

Butter

Mayonnaise

Cream Cheese

Natural Cottage Cheese

Nuts & Seeds:

These are a great source of omega-3, omega-6 fats, minerals and necessary vitamins. All around great keto snacks in moderation and an amazing addition to a salad.

Macadamia Nuts

Hazelnuts

Almonds

Sunflower kernels

Pumpkin seeds

Fats & Oils:

I would say total basic of keto diet is to have a strong foundation and these are exactly that.

Olive Oil

Coconut Oil

Avocado Oil

Macadamia Oil

MCT Oil(Test it first, some people do not react so well to these)

Custom made Fat Bombs

Fruit:

A lot of people will tell you that some specific fruit is ok but I found that they really easily knock me out of ketosis, even in small amounts so I only have a couple VERY specific that I eat

Avocadoes

Olives

Vegetables:

You gotta be careful with these as well… I’m not going to be your grandma and tell you to eat yo’ veggies. I would say anything that grows above the ground you should be safe with but even then I have my safe list which I refer to.

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Spinach

Kale

Tomato(Really watch how much)

Onion(same here)

Green Bell Peppers(aaand here)

Beverages & Drinks:

I like to keep this really simple, but I know some people do need some other flavors in their lives. Here is a list of keto safe drinks:

WATER

Broths

Flavored Water(Sugar free little squidgy flavorers)

Tea

Coffee

Coconut/Almond milks(moderation)

Sauces & Condiments:

I tend to stay away from sauces, as there aren’t that many sugar free here, where I live. Nevertheless there are some I can recommend, but always be on guard of what it says on the back if the label.

Salad Dressings(Choose low carb, fatty ones like ranch or caesar)

Yellow Mustard(Moderation)

No sugar ketchup(Moderation)

Please stay away from sweeteners. They are not necessary… you are trying to get rid of sugar in your diet, not exchange it with something else.

How I prepare my meal(Typical day of eating)

Probably going to be the most useful part for you. You might have the ingredients but what the heck to you do with them? I 100% recommend to KEEP IT SIMPLE, especially at the beginning. You do not need all of those fancy recipes or keto friendly versions of high carb foods. You wanna keep it as simple as possible so you don't spend 5 hours a day in the kitchen.

Before breakfast/Pre morning workout:

Every morning, no matter if I’m going to the gym or not I’m having my “Coffee of the gods”. Some people call it bulletproof, some just call it keto coffee. Basically what we are looking at is:

Black coffee

15g of Butter

3tbsp of Heavy whipping cream

15g Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Coconut Oil

All of those ingredients are blended together in a blender to give you a really nice energy boost you need in the morning. That baby is around 44g of fat, 1g of carbs and 1g of protein. It is an equivalent of having a pre workout supplement, but rather than pumping sugar into your body, you are giving it a healthy portion of fat to function off. This will usually be enough for me for good 3-5 hours.

Breakfast:

Now you will see exactly what I mean by keeping it simple. I will usually have breakfast post workout or just whenever I will feel hungry(on my rest days). This usually consists off:

3 scrambled Eggs

50g of chopped Tomatoes

30g of chopped Onions

30g of grated Gouda Cheese

60g of some source of meat(Usually it is some kind of sausage or bacon)

20-30g of Mayonnaise

This delicious and beautiful breakfast adds up to around 6g of carbs, 56g of fat and 35g of protein. Notice how simple it is! I scramble some eggs, and pretty much just throw the rest of the ingredient on top. Remember to add salt(more on this later)!

Lunch:

There isn’t like a set in stone lunch, I will usually have whatever I crave from fats in moderation. Sometimes I have bread-less sandwich:

2 leafs of Chinese Cabbage

30g of Salami Ham

30g of Sliced Cheese

20g of Mayonnaise

Or I might have some peanut butter(unsweetened) with some nuts or other snack. It really depends on the day. The above sandwich adds up to 1g carbs, 29g of fat and 14g of protein.

Dinner:

I keep it simple with dinner also but I have a little blueprint for making a nutritious dinner. I’ll try to explain it the best I can:

1 Avocado

200g of any Meat mentioned in recommended meats above

100g of some vegetable, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale… you name it

Then if I need to fill macros I’m gonna add whatever will fill them best. I could go Olives, piece of chicken with a bunch of mayo or cheese.

Depending on what you pick and choose, you will end up different macros but I’m always aiming for the highest number to be fat.

Snacks:

Everyone is different but I will generally only snack when I either need to fill my macros after all the meals(mainly fat), when I’m away and I can’t get a meal in or I’m just super hungry. I usually treat my lunch as kind of a snack, I guess that is the reason I snack very rarely. When I do:

50g Sunflower seed kernels

Or

1 Fat Bomb

When eating sunflower kernels we are looking at 26g of fat, 5g of carbs and 10g of protein. My own fat bombs(very simple, I’ll share how to make them soon) have 10g of fat and 1g of protein per bomb.

These right here, are only guidelines… Keep it simple, pick and choose from the list of keto friendly foods and make up some easy meal ideas. You don’t have to be an amazing cook or use all of those fancy Instagram/Pinterest recipes.

Now to finish up this Ultimate Keto Beginner Guide I’m going to share few tips on how to succeed. These are general and will work for everyone if applied correctly.

1. Remember about Electrolytes

This one is really important and was a night and day difference for me. Couple of days into the diet I started feeling lethargic, tired and like I had no energy.Naturally my body, which was still craving carbs, automatically thought that the reason was the lack of carbs but it was something completely different. I wasn’t supplying enough Potassium, Magnesium and Sodium into my system. These are crucial for balancing fluids in your body, helping supplying energy to muscles and regulating heart rhythm. I ran out to get multivitamin tablets and all of the above symptoms went away almost immediately.

2. Fat, fat, fat...

You have to get over the notion that fat makes you fat… IT DOESN’T. It’s carbs/glucose stored in your fat cells that make you bigger. Anyway, the point I’m getting to is don’t be afraid of fat, and supply plenty of it! Look at it this way, your body will now be running primarily off of it so it needs a lot of it. I know it can be hard switching after hearing for so many years that fat is bad and you need a healthy mix of nutrients.

3. Track or not to track

I would suggest tracking for the first 2 months and then trying to not track at all. After couple of months you will know how your body feels when in ketosis and you will be able to carry out your life without tracking. Remember to monitor your ketones, especially when you stop tracking to make sure you are on the right track. If not, go back to tracking for a few days and try going off again. No one expects you to track forever!

4. Stay away from any sugar or sweeteners

This is a rule of thumb. Sugar is bad but many keto-doers will still use artificial sweeteners and will successfully stay in ketosis. For me it is like a bad middle, this means you aren’t freeing yourself from sugar, but rather just settling for a different version of it. I would say stay away from sweeteners, especially when starting out to for sure break the addiction from sugar. You will later find out that you don’t need them at all anymore

5. Hydrate

This is kind of general health tip. 60% percent of our body is made out of water so it makes sense we need plenty of it. Drinking plenty of it will also promote weight loss as first of all you will lose all the excess water stored in your body but also your body will be able to more efficiently transfer nutrients around all organs.

6. Work out

If you are going to use keto as a mean to lose a bunch of unnecessary weight and you aren’t very active, I would suggest starting to work out or just implement some kind of activity into your life. I’m not saying you have to become a bodybuilder or a professional athlete, but just get yourself moving and use the energy you are supplying to your body for more than just maintaining. Again, this doesn’t have to be a heavy weight lifting routine, it could be as simple as taking your dog for a longer walk, riding your bike to work and taking the stairs rather than the elevator.

7. Change your mentality

I see a lot of people making this mistake when starting Keto. They think “I need to cut carbs” or “No carbs”... carbs, carbs, carbs. Even though they just switched to ketogenic diet, they are still thinking in terms of carbohydrates all the time. The thing about it is that your brain doesn’t understand the word “No”, so when you think “No carbs”, your mind and action will naturally gravitate towards thinking about carbs, potentially craving them or making it hard for you to withstand the urge. Rather than thinking of limiting carbs, think of increasing fat intake! This is extremely helpful while shopping early on in the diet. Whenever I walk into a grocery store, I don’t think “Ok, which carbs I’m gonna avoid today”... I’m literally going to be like “Where are the fats at?!”. Switch your mentality, it will help a ton.

8. Chill out

This is another general health tip. When you stress about your job, relationship, your dieting result or anything, your body produces cortisol, which in turn causes it to go into body fat storage mode. That is bad, we don’t want that. Also stress causes you to overeat, lose sleep, have sexual problems among many others. Calm mind and a good diet go hand to hand so get meditating or do something that chills you out.

Here we are, an extensive look at starting a simple(the way it is supposed to be) ketogenic diet. Hopefully my list of foods, super easy recipes, as well as some starting tips will help you on your journey or make it easier to make your first step into the healthy keto world.