Keto Diet: Steps for Beginners

The ketogenic diet — a high-fat and very low carb eating plan — can be tough to start. After all, it’s likely a radical departure from the way you’re eating now (a typical standard American diet is high in carbohydrates and processed foods). But many people are trying the keto diet, which puts your body in a state of ketosis.That’s what happens when your body’s carb-burning switch flips to a fat-burning one, a change that can influence everything from weight loss to type 2 diabetes — although scientists caution that much more research is needed on the health effects of keto diets in general. (1) How do you make practical preparations in stocking your fridge and preparing mentally for the big change to come? Consider this your step-by-step guide.

1/ Know What Foods You’ll Eat and Avoid on the Ketogenic Diet

In following a keto meal plan, you’ll be severely limiting carbs. Start off with between 20 and 30 grams (g) of carbohydrates per day, says the New York City–based dietitian Kristen Mancinelli, RD, author of The Ketogenic Diet: A Scientifically Proven Approach to Fast, Healthy Weight Loss.Also make sure that you know what foods have mostly carbs, fat, and protein, so you can make the right choices. For instance, it’s not just bread, pasta, chips, cookies, candy, and ice cream that contain carbs. Beans may contain protein, but they’re also very high in carbohydrates. Fruit and veggies also mostly contain carbs. The only foods that don’t contain carbs are meat (protein) and pure fats like butter and olive oil.

2. Examine Your Relationship With Fat

Keto Involves Lots of It!“People are afraid of fat because they’ve been told that it’ll kill them,” says Mancinelli. What is confusing is that research today remains mixed. Some studies suggest that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat (and avoiding unhealthy trans fat) is important for mitigating heart disease risk, while others suggest that total fat and types of fat weren’t associated with cardiovascular problems. Deciding exactly how to eat then becomes confusing. What is helpful, the authors of one study noted, is to remember that food is more than a single nutrient, and it’s the overall quality of the diet that counts. (2) (They do say that high-fat, low-carb diets still need more research to assess their long-term health benefits and risks.)To prepare for a high-fat diet, which can be uncomfortable at first, start making small adjustments to what you eat every day, she suggests, like ordering a burger on lettuce leaves and subbing green veggies for fries.

3. Switch Up Your View of Protein

This Is a Moderate-Protein DietOne of the most common misconceptions about the keto diet is that you can eat as much protein as you’d like. But this is not a diet where you watch carbs only — you also have to keep your protein intake moderate, says Ginger Hultin, RDN, a Seattle-based registered dietitian. Protein can be converted into glucose, and therefore overeating protein can take your body out of ketosis. Think of your ratios as a small portion of meat topped with a generous amount of fat, rather than the other way around.

4. Hone Your Cooking Skills to Make Fresh Fare, as High-Carb Processed Foods Aren’t Okay on KetoLook at a variety of keto

websites and cookbooks for keto-approved recipes you’ll love. Mancinelli recommends finding four to five recipes with foods you know you’ll like. “That way you’re not standing around wondering what to eat, and turn to carbs,” she says.

5. Talk to Your Family About Your Weight Loss Goals on the Diet

Tell them your plan. You may not be able to eat what they’re eating during family mealtimes, so you'll want to prepare them (and yourself) for what your new habits will look like. Because this diet is often done only short term (three to six months), you can assure them that it’s temporary.If you get pushback, announce: “I’ve done my research, I’ve figured out it’s safe, and I really want to try this,” recommends Mancinelli. They don’t have to like what you’re doing, but it does help if they have your back. A 2014 study found that having the support of friends and coworkers helped dieters more successfully lose weight and maintain that loss over a two-year period. (4) It also can’t hurt if everyone knows your goals on a keto diet so they’re less likely to push office treats or suggest splitting a side of fries when you’re out to dinner.

6. Know What Side Effects to Expect

For all the attributes of a ketogenic diet (like weight loss), there’s one big side effect you have to be prepared for: the keto flu.The keto flu is a term that refers to the period after you start the diet when your body is adjusting to burning fat for energy. “Some people have no problem with it and others are miserable,” says Mancinelli.In the first week or 10 days, you may feel extremely lethargic in your limbs. Walking upstairs may feel impossible. You may deal with mental fog. Often, keto causes constipation, or potentially diarrhea, because of a change in fiber intake.