NutritionPlanz

You have been enjoying the benefits of a low carb diet for a while now,  and now you have started thinking about going keto? 

One of the benefits of going low carb before keto is that the body has more time to gradually adjust to the reduction in carbs and change in primary energy source. This means you are less likely to experience the “keto flu” and other initial adverse reactions such as headaches and fatigue. 

For some people going low carb alone is enough to achieve their weight loss goals and reap all the benefits of a low carb diet. However, some people find they hit a plateau and need to make some changes to get the weight moving again. At this point it is best to first consider revaluating your current macros and calorie intake and then decide if transitioning to keto might be a good option for you. 

With the right information and strategies, you can easily transition from low carb to keto. The ketogenic diet involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with healthy fat and protein. It is the drastic reduction in carbs that puts your body into a metabolic state called “ketosis”. 

• The Standard Keto Diet (SKD) is very low carb, moderate protein and high fat diet. It typically contains 70% fat, 20% protein, and only 10% carbs. 
• There is also a higher protein ketogenic diet: This is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein. The ratio is often 50% fat, 40% protein, and 10% carbs.

• Other variations of the keto diet include Cyclical Keto Diet (CKD) which involves cycling between some higher carb days and some lower carb days and Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): This allows you to add carbs in around workouts.

Only the standard and high protein ketogenic diets have been studied extensively, cyclical, and targeted are used more for athletes and research in this area is growing.

From a nutritional perspective A higher protein ketogenic diet is preferred, this is especially so if one is active. Not all weight loss is good! Failing to meet an adequate protein macro can result in the body loosing lean muscle mass instead of fat, this will result in a slower more sluggish metabolism making ongoing weight loss harder. We want to preserve lean muscle mass and ensure our body is losing fat. 

Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your body uses fat for fuel instead of carbs. It occurs when you significantly reduce your consumption of carbohydrates, limiting your body’s supply of glucose (sugar), which is the main source of energy for the cells.

To achieve ketosis most people, need to limit carb consumption to around 20 to 50 grams per day and fill up on healthy proteins and fats, such as meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and healthy oils.

It is important to note many people achieve weight loss without being in ketosis, furthermore, you can be in ketosis and lose no weight at all, so achieving ketosis is not the only factor involved. The specific level of carbs required to achieve ketosis varies person to person and is also influenced by how active a person is. People that exercise a lot and or are more active can consume more carbs and still be in ketosis. 

 

The below outlines some tips for making this transition easier;

1) Increase Electrolytes & Hydration

Higher insulin levels associated with a higher carb diet trigger your kidneys to hold onto water and sodium. This is one of the reasons why carbs can leave people feeling bloated and heavy. When you eliminate carbs and sugar from your diet, your insulin levels drop, and your kidneys release this stored sodium and water. As water exits your body, you may find yourself getting thirsty. As a result of the drop in carbs your body begins to process electrolytes differently. This is because when insulin levels are low, the kidneys excrete more sodium. Since there is a delicate balance between sodium and other electrolytes in the body, the loss of sodium may disrupt levels of other electrolytes as well. Fortunately, replenishing sodium, magnesium, and potassium may help prevent or greatly diminish negative symptoms and side effects of going keto. To read more about the importance of electrolytes and how to use food to help supplement read my blog article on the importance of balancing electrolytes on a keto diet

2) Choose the lowest carb green leafy vegetables and salads

If you’re on moderate low-carb diet (20-50 grams of net carbs per day), you can relatively freely eat Vegetables with less than 5 grams of net carbs. If you’re on a more strict keto diet with less than grams a day you will need to be careful with some of the vegetables. You should be especially careful with bell peppers or tomatoes – these carbs can quickly exhaust the 20 grams per day limit. Just one medium-sized bell pepper may contain 4-7 grams of digestible carbs. Some keto vegetables options all with less than 5g carbs per 100g include include  Cauliflower – 3 g. Cabbage – 3 g.Avocado – 2 g. Broccoli – 4 g Zucchini – 3 g. Spinach – 1 g. Asparagus – 2 g. Kale – 3 g. Green beans – 4 g. Brussels sprouts– 5 g.

3) Limit purchased Keto low carb snack bars. 

 These can have low nett carbs but high total carbs. They can also have extensive ingredient lists that can cause stalls in weight loss for some people. Where possible bake your own treats or choose thigs with smaller clean ingredient lists. When weight loss is the goal, try to prevent snacking on too many nuts or excessively high fat options. Lean meats and eggs are a great snack as are low carb vegetables with low carb dip or measured amounts of cheese. 

4) Consider intermittent fasting.

After being low carb for a while most people have more stabilized blood glucose levels, and the body will become more efficient at using fat for fuel.  This will often lead to reduced appetite especially in the morning and often sparks a natural progression toward intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting refers to an eating cycle that includes periods of fasting of around 12–36 hours. Many people report improved weight loss with IF and research is growing in this area. Look out for my full article on fasting to read more about this. 

5) Track daily macros. 

When first transitioning to keto It is a good idea to consider tracking your food intake and individual macros either manually or on an app such as my fitness pal or carb manager.  An app can seem overwhelming at first but once you get used to a few basic settings they are very easy to use and convenient, you can save favorite items you’re eating regularly for instant input and most have a scanning function here you can scan in nearly all store bought items including most of your pantry and fridge items with barcodes. Across a day carbs add up quickly and it can be easy to exceed your daily carb allocation whilst your learning, therefore tracking intake is the best way to stay on top of this. 

6) Measuring ketones.

 Is helpful but not essential to measure ketones. Some people report “knowing” when their body is in a state of ketosis. Some indicators of achieving ketosis are increased thirst, metallic taste, heightened energy, mental clarity and concentration and some people also report improved sleep. Measuring blood ketones is the only way to be 100% sure you are achieving ketosis. You can also measure ketones using Urine sticks and breathalysers although these are not proven to be overly reliable. Urine sticks are helpful in the first 1-2 weeks of going keto until our body becomes more efficient at using ketones and we are no longer excreting them in high concentrations in urine. You can read more about measuring ketones in my article on “measuring Ketosis”.