Five Things to Know Before Going on the Keto Diet
A beginners guide to the trending high-fat, low-carb diet.
by NATALIA GIVOT ★ MARCH 21, 2019
The keto diet is a specific diet ideal for people who are seriously looking to drop weight fast. The overall goal is to completely remove carbs and sugar from your diet and load up on fats and protein. After a week (give or take), your body goes into what’s known as ketosis. Because there are no carbs for your body to burn off as energy, it burns the fat instead. Sounds like a pretty painless diet, but here are five things every girl should know before considering it.
1. So long, sugar
Because sugar is a big no-no on the keto diet, you’ll have to say goodbye to fruits and desserts. Keto is unlike many other diets where you increase your intake of healthy foods, like fruits. It’s pretty much the opposite. Completely removing fruits and sugars from your diet will be harder than you think, but it’s definitely not impossible.
2. No days off
This is a big catch with the keto diet—you really can’t treat yourself. When you are eating so much fat, adding sugar and carbs on top of that will only result in fast weight gain. In order to stop the ketosis process, you’ll have to slowly re-incorporate those carbs and sugars back into your diet!
3. Feeling icky
Going on a diet that basically consists of meat and thick dairy products may result in some unpleasant side effects here and there depending on the person! An increase in dairy can affect your digestion, skin, energy and overall mood. While eating so many heavy foods may result in feeling heavy yourself, don’t worry, it’s all part of the process!
4. Mission Impossible
Although the dining halls do have plenty of meat and veggies, this diet can be extremely difficult without a kitchen. It definitely requires some creativity. The keto options in the dining hall may get repetitive after a while, so the diet really takes a committed girl who has the time and willingness to invest in grocery shopping.
5. Good-riddance, Gym.
One nice thing about the keto diet is that it does not require an exercise regimen. Not saying that you can’t or shouldn’t workout on this diet, especially if you’re trying to tone up. But all of the actual weight loss is occurring naturally.
More tips & tricks:
If you do end up choosing the keto diet, congrats! Here are some of our tips to help you with your keto lifestyle.
Mix butter or coconut oil into your coffee to up your fat intake.
For a fresher snack, eat some snap peas or broccoli and dip them in a fatty cheese dip or salad dressing, but make sure it’s low in sugar.
If you have a kitchen, make a keto dessert. It can be hard to go so long without a sweet treat, but it just takes a little creativity and effort to fulfill your sweet tooth.
Do your research! There are a lot of foods you may not realize the keto diet prohibits (certain nuts/veggies), so make sure you are doing it right! You don’t want to waste your efforts on minimal results!
Drink water! It’s always important to stay hydrated but especially when your fruit intake is low!
DISCLAIMER: the keto diet is unfortunately not healthy for any Ugirls who have diabetes! Don’t worry though—there are plenty more great diet options out there!
Eating mainly fat, cheese and greasy foods… best diet ever? Read up on keto, and see if it’s the diet for you!