The Keto diet is taking the world by storm because so many people have had success with it. Many people start the diet without taking the time to find out the ins and outs of it. Once you learn the facts about the Keto diet, putting it into practice in your daily life isn’t overly difficult to do. If you have been on the Keto diet for weight loss for a few weeks or months without seeing much success, you may be doing the following things that are hampering your ability to get the success you want.
Not Using the Right Macros for Keto
When you start the Keto diet for weight loss, you need to determine what macros are right for you. There isn’t a universal set of macros that works for everyone. When determining your macros, your height, weight, sex, age, and activity levels are taken into account. There are Keto calculators available you can use to determine exactly what your macros should be in order to have success with the diet.
Not Eating Enough Fat on Keto
For generations, people have been taught that fat is bad for them to eat and that it causes them to grow more fat on their body when they do eat it. This isn’t the case at all. When your body doesn’t have access to carbohydrates, it uses fat as a source of energy. On Keto, you limit your carbohydrate intake dramatically and your body goes into Ketosis where it starts to burn fat to produce energy. Eating healthy fats is important when you’re on the diet is essential. Many Keto lovers eat fatty cuts of meats, avocados, use butter and other sources of fat to provide their body with the nutrients that it needs.
Not Counting Calories on Keto
Many people are under the misconception that they can eat all of the food that they want as long as they stay under a specific carbohydrate count each day. That isn’t the case. If you want to lose weight you have to take in less calories that you burn, even on the Keto diet for weight loss. At first, you shouldn’t monitor your calories because your body is adapting to the new way of eating. After a few weeks of adaptation, you should start to monitor your calorie intake if you are trying to lose weight to ensure that you aren’t sabotaging yourself by eating an excess of calories each day.
Not Drinking Enough Water
Water is crucial in life. Thirst can sometimes be misconstrued by the brain as hunger. If you don’t drink enough water during the Keto diet, you may feel hungry all the time, get headaches due to dehydration and not have the energy levels that you could if you were drinking more. Many Keto dieters choose to add salt alternatives to their water at least once per day to provide their body with the magnesium and sodium that their body isn’t getting as much of on the diet. Foods that are packed with carbohydrates often contain massive amounts of salt, so that you don’t have to supplement it, but adding a few teaspoons to your water once or twice per day can also help you with the side effects that can come with eating a lessened amount of carbohydrates.
Not Reading Keto-Friendly Labels
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they are on the Keto diet is not reading the labels on products that they buy. There are a plethora of prepackaged foods that are marketed as being great for the Keto diet that really aren’t. You should eat as many whole foods as you can but need to read the labels of any prepackaged foods before you consume them to ensure that you know how many carbohydrates are really into them. It’s common for people following Keto to eat less than 20 grams of carbohydrates each day. When you look at a label you need to subtract the grams of insoluble fiber from the grams of carbohydrates to determine how many grams of carbohydrates will really be absorbed by your body. If you are trying to stick to less than 20 grams of total carbs per day, eating a nutrition bar that contains 12 grams of carbs can greatly take away from the amount of food you can eat later in the day.
Eating Too Much Dairy on Keto
When you are on the Keto diet for weight loss, you can eat dairy. The problem with this is that some people are dairy intolerant and don’t realize it. It’s best to minimize the amount of dairy you eat and if you notice that you aren’t losing any weight on the diet, you may want to cut it out altogether for a period of time to see if you notice any changes. When you are on Keto, you often lose water weight at first and then start to lose inches before you actually lose weight on the scale. Notice how your clothes are fitting you and how you feel when you eat dairy and when you don’t to determine if there is a chance you may have a dairy intolerance or if you were eating it in excess.
Eating Too Many Carbs on Keto
Many people have a hard time restricting their carbs because they have become so used to eating them. It’s important to take the time to find out what the carb counts are for any food you choose to eat before actually eating it. Some people are very shocked to find out that bananas are very high in carbs, but strawberries aren’t. Potatoes may be delicious, but they have loads of carbs in them and cauliflower, which is very low in carbohydrates can be substituted for potatoes in many ways so that you can still get the taste and texture you enjoy, without all of the carbohydrates you are supposed to be avoiding on the Keto diet for weight loss.
Having Cheat Days While on Keto
Some people think that they should be able to reward themselves after weeks of sticking to the diet by having a cheat day where they eat whatever they want. The second that your body starts to have sweets, it will start to crave them again. The same thing goes for carbohydrates. Once you have ingested these items, your body will start to retain water, you could get a headache or stomach ache and you will more than likely feel lethargic for days. It’s best to simply stick to the Keto diet weight loss for the long haul rather than having a cheat day every now and then. If there are foods that you simply have to have from time to time, consider eating a bite or two of the foods rather than consuming an entire portion of them or find a Keto friendly alternative that you can make. This keeps you from feeling deprived and betters your chances of being able to stick to the diet.
Not Exercising on Keto
People often assume that they will lose weight with this diet even if they don’t exercise. While you will lose some weight, you won’t lose it as rapidly as you would if you worked out. Working out can also help to build strength in your muscles which can make you feel stronger, look toner and sometimes help to decrease the amount of skin sagging that occurs once you start to lose weight.
Not Having Variety in Your Keto Diet
Being on Keto doesn’t mean that you only eat meat and fat. You need to have variety in your diet so that you can feel satisfied and so that your body can get the nutrients that it needs. You should still eat fruits and vegetables while you are on the diet, but you need to eat ones that are lower in carbohydrates. Asparagus, pickles, berries, cauliflower and broccoli are all great for the Keto diet for weight loss. They can be prepared in many different ways to ensure they are as delicious as they can be.
In order to be successful with the Keto diet for weight loss, you have to take the time to set yourself up for success. Purchase tools that can make the diet easier such as a scale to weigh your food, containers to prepare food a week at a time and even apps that you can use to track your food and water intake and your workouts quickly and easily. You need to do whatever you can to make the lifestyle change easier so that you can stick with it. Many people make the mistake of using Keto as a quick fix when really it should be used as a way to learn more about the way that food affects their body. You can see what foods make you feel energized, which make you feel lethargic and which simply provide you with nutrition.
It’s important to know that seeing results from Keto diet takes time. The changes will be gradual and there will be times when plateaus will happen. During those times you need to remember how far you’ve come, how great you feel and that the next hurdle is achievable if you stick with it.
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