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Ready for the Ketogenic Diet?
- Understand your body is adapting in the first two weeks – You may feel slightly low on energy as your body adapts to using different energy sources. Simply recognize it for what it is (your body is adapting), and know it is only temporary. Ultimately, you will reap the benefits.
- Clear out the cupboard in advance – If you are like me, if it is in the cupboard, then it gets eaten. Clear out the cupboard of anything you will not be eating on the diet (mostly processed carbs) to remove the temptation.
- I strongly recommend buying weighing scales for weighing your food- I do give rough measurements in e.g. tablespoons/cups but this is nowhere near as exact as a measurement in grams, which the software uses to calculate nutrient values. If you want to monitor your nutrients as closely as possible, do purchase weighing scales and start measuring in grams.
- In order to achieve a faster “metabolic switch-over”, some people prefer to do a 2 or 3-day fast. However, experts do not recommend doing this if your nutritional status is compromised, you are weak and/or are in advanced stages of the disease. Intermittent fasting, where the window of time during which food is consumed is gradually restricted between 12 – 16 hours, can be another effective tool in reaching and maintaining nutritional ketosis. A realistic schedule would be to have dinner at 6pm for instance and then not eat anything until 10am the following day. Intermittent fasting is generally easier and more efficient for men whereas it can pose problems for some women, especially if thyroid issues are present.
- Day 1 of the meal plans starts with 38g of carbohydrates, which is enough for some people to become “keto-adapted”, i.e. start using ketone bodies as the main energy source, after a few days (or sometimes weeks). Over a week, you will have reduced to 25g and then further down to 12g at the end of the second week. However, you will see that this is very challenging and needs careful planning.
- You may need to make slight adjustments to the meal plans in this eBook based on your weight, calorie intake and activity level to ensure adequate nutrient intake. Use Keto Calculator in the website below and use Cronometer app to determine your macronutrient levels. Use it as a help to get on track initially if you feel you need it: https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com
