Using ketogenic diet foods promises better sleep, more energy, better focus, mental clarity, healing from serious conditions, and weight loss.
If you find yourself following the hottest trends in health, then you are going to want to know about the ketogenic diet. I have utilized the ketogenic diet for myself and for many of my clients for years. It may be just what you need to reach the next level in your health.
What is the Ketogenic Diet?
I often talk about turning your body into a fat burning machine.
Following the ketogenic diet puts your body into a state of ketosis, essentially turning your body into a fat burning machine.
Your body has two fuel sources, glucose or fat. When your body does not have sugar and carbohydrate intake, it turns to fat for energy. Ketones are produced and that is where we get the name ketosis.
When your body is in the state of nutritional ketosis (not ketoacidosis), your blood sugar and hormones balance out very nicely and your ketone levels increase. This is very safe and allows your body to burn a very efficient fuel source (fat) and you can then activate a higher state of performance and healing.
Reported Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet
- Reduced Inflammation
- Increased Fat Burning
- Superior Mental Clarity
- More Energy
- Vibrant Skin
- Reduced Cravings
- Anti-Aging
- Reduced Risk of Chronic Disease
How to get in a state of ketosis and stay there.
You get into a state of ketosis by eating ketogenic-approved foods (which I will list in a second) and by avoiding foods that take you out of ketosis. I like to use the precision xtra meter to determine when I am in a state of ketosis. When you get the meter, you will need to buy the ketone test strips as well. This will allow you to monitor your state. You want to be between .5 and 5 millimolar range in order to remain in ketosis.
I also want to point out that getting into a state of ketosis does not happen over night. As a matter of fact, it takes between 2-5 weeks to get into a ketogenic state. Slow and steady wins the race and with patience you will have success.
In order to have success you need to make sure you are not doing the things that block ketosis. Avoid these ketogenic pitfalls:
• Too many carbs: Remember carbs turn to sugar, and based on your body you may need a few tweaks. Start with consuming less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. Based on your body you may need to drop below even 25 grams per day.
• Too much protein: When you eat more protein than the body needs it turns to sugar, destroying your ketogeninc efforts. I recommend 50-100 gram per day based on your activity levels.
• Too much sugar: Sugar is hidden in nearly everything. If the concepts of avoiding sugar and sugar substitutes are new to you, please do yourself a favor and read Heal Yourself Cookbook. Your body can’t burn fat when it’s burning sugar, so cut out all sugar sources.
• Not enough fat: Ketosis is all about burning fat for energy. You need to consume a lot of fat daily for the ketogenic diet to work correctly. Fat is your new energy source. Skip “low fat” everything and choose all full-fat products.
How to calculate macros
When we look at the big picture overview of Keto macros we look at it from a percentage basis. From this perspective you want to be around 70% Fats, 20% Protein, and 10% Carbohydrates.
However, we need to look at grams instead of percentages, because that is how food labels are listed.
For carbohydrates you want to be between 20-50 grams of carbohydrates. The big thing here is staying below 50 grams.
For protein its important to make sure you’re getting enough. Otherwise you feel fatigued, you can start losing hair, muscle and essentially have side effects you don’t want to deal with. For protein do .8 grams x your lean body mass. If you don’t have fancy tools to figure out your lean body mass lets go through a mini exercise. So let’s say I’m 180lb’s, but I know I need to lose a few pounds and im lean and healthy around 160lb’s. So therefore my lean body mass would be 160lbs. I would calculate .8 x 160 = 128 grams and this would be my grams of protein I should eat daily.
The fat calculation goes like this based on a hypothetical 2000 calorie diet.
(Ex. 2000 x .7 =1,400 / 9 = 155 grams of fat)
What to eat on a ketogenic diet
Let’s take a look at the foods you should eat when on the ketogenic diet. We will start with the star of the show, which are the healthy fats.
Healthy Fats (Eat in abundance)
| Fats | Macros (grams Per 100grams or 100mls) | ||
| Carbs | Protein | Fat | |
| Coconut Butter | 21 | 6 | 55 |
| Coconut Oil | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Ghee | 0 | 1 | 81 |
| Grass Fed Butter | 1 | 1 | 100 |
| Free Range Chicken Fat | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Beef Tallow | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Avocado | 0.5 | 2 | 21.4 |
| Macadamia Nuts | 13.8 | 7.9 | 75.8 |
| Olive Oil | 0 | 0 | 91.3 |
| Almond Butter | 21.2 | 15.1 | 59.1 |
| Cashew Butter | 27.6 | 17.6 | 49.4 |
Healthy Proteins (Monitor your intake, 50-100g depending on activity level)
| Protein | Macros (grams Per 100grams) | ||
| Carbs | Protein | Fat | |
| Wild Salmon | 0 | 20 | 6 |
| Wild Tuna | 0 | 23 | 5 |
| Wild Snapper | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| Free Range Eggs | 1 | 13 | 10 |
| Free Range Chicken | 0 | 19 | 15 |
| Grass Fed Beef | 0 | 23 | 3 |
| Natural Bacon | 1 | 12 | 45 |
| Natural Sausage | 0 | 18 | 28 |
| Chedder Cheese | 1.3 | 24.9 | 33.1 |
| Cottage Cheese | 3 | 11 | 4 |
| Full Fat Sour Cream | 4 | 2 | 20 |
| Heavy Whipping Cream | 3 | 2 | 37 |
| Full Fat Plain Yogurt | 5 | 3 | 3 |
High Fiber Vegetables (Eat in abundance)
| High Fiber Vegetables | Macros (grams Per 100grams) | ||
| Carbs | Protein | Fat | |
| Arugula | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Asparagus | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Bamboo Shoots | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Beet Greens | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Broccoli | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Brussel Sprouts | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| Cabbage | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Cauliflower | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Celery | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Cucumber | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Eggplant | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Garlic | 33 | 6 | 0 |
| Green Beans | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Jalapenos | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Kale | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| Lettuce | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Mushrooms | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Mustard Greens | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Onions | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Radishes | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Snow Peas | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| Spinach | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Swiss Chard | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Tomatoes | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Turnip Greens | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Watercress | 1 | 2 | 0 |
High Carb Vegetables (Avoid)
You want to avoid these high carb vegetables because they will take you out of a state of ketosis.
| High Carb Vegetables | Macros (grams Per 100grams) | ||
| Carbs | Protein | Fat | |
| Potatoes | 18 | 2 | 0 |
| Peas | 14 | 5 | 0 |
| Corn (non-GMO) | 19 | 3 | 1 |
| Cooked Carrots | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Parsnips | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| Black Beans | 62 | 22 | 1 |
| Yams | 28 | 2 | 0 |
| Lentils | 60 | 26 | 1 |
Jumpstart and maintain Ketosis with MCT’s
Using a MCT oil to kickstart and maintain ketosis is one of the best Keto-ninja tricks out there. It is like a high-octane fuel for your body during ketosis. The reason MCT Oil works so well is because the medium chain triglycerides (or MCT’s) can be metabolized quickly into ketone bodies. The body metabolizes the MCTS’s so quickly because it recognizes them as more of a carb than a fat.
MCT’s have also shown to enhance thermogenesis in the body, thereby promoting fat burning. MCT’s also have fewer calories, which will essentially allow you consume more proteins and carbs, making ketosis easier to maintain. I like to add MCT oil to my coffee. You can also cook with it as well on a low heat.
This is the MCT Oil I use: High Quality MCT’s
I hope you enjoy this comprehensive guide to being in ketosis. If you have any comments or questions, plug it in below or send us an email.
