Here are the mistakes a lot of people make when starting a ketogenic diet. This is often why the first results do not live up to expectations!
What you'll read:
1. Not eating enough fat
The Keto diet isn’t just a low-carb diet, it’s a high-fat diet too: 70-75% of the calories you eat should come from healthy fat, 20% from protein, and 5% from carbohydrates. Fat will give you a feeling of fullness: don’t limit yourself to fat, this will allow you to avoid cravings for carbohydrates, and to continue ketogenesis.
2. Eating too much protein
In most diets, the carbohydrate intake is high, so the body does not need additional glucose: this explains the rather slow rate of glycogenesis. In this case, the body consumes glucose and stores excess carbohydrates and proteins as fat. Conversely, the ketogenic diet causes your body to consume healthy fats, and stores excess carbohydrates as glycogen. This will be used for muscle recovery and to help those parts of the body that need carbohydrates.
It is normal for your body to take a little time to adjust when you start the keto diet. Once ketogenesis begins, your body consumes fat as its primary source of energy, and stores excess protein in the form of glycogen. Eating a little too much protein won’t be a problem since it will be almost the only source of glycogen replenishment in your body. At the start of the diet, your body will first consume the excess glucose before attacking the fat.
Fat should be your primary source of energy: you will need to find pure sources of fat that do not include protein – for example butter or certain oils.
3. Eating too many calories
4. not hydrating enough
5. Not getting enough electrolytes
- Switching from carbohydrates to fat as the primary source of energy can cause loss of energy, headache, and nausea.
- You’re dehydrated because the keto diet makes you urinate more frequently.
You can decrease the symptoms by drinking more water and taking electrolyte supplements.