1. Keto is free!

  You don't have to buy anything to start keto or to have great success on keto. No starter kit, no shake, no powder, no meal plan. Nothing is required from start to finish. 

 

2. There are 6 basic food groups in keto.

  a. All Meats, including chicken and fish. 

   b. Eggs (cooked anyway you like them)

   c. Green leafy veggies.

   d. Cheese.

   e. Healthy fats such as Real Butter, coconut oil, avocado oill, olive oil. (not soy!)

   f. Other foods such as ranch dressing can be added to your diet, look at the food label for low carb options. (See my complete Keto foods list here)

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3. Keto is 75% Fat - 20% Protein - 5% Carbohydrate.

  Generally you want to eat less than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day.

To find your personal %'s here is the keto calculator I have used threw out my journey, it's never failed me yet (Keto Buddy Calculator). Save the link you will need to check it after every 10-20 pounds of weight lost.

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4. How do you know how much fat, protein, and carbs you are eating in a day? 

  On the back of every food package the label lists those 3 things are listed.

A perfect keto food would say something like Total Fat 18 grams - Total carbs 0-2 grams - Protein 9 grams. 

  Most foods are not perfect but adding fat or adding protein using a second food item is pretty easy. Example, if you eat a slice of ham and cheese there will be little fat, but it you wrap you ham and cheese and a piece of lettuce and a spoon of mayo the mayo will add fat! Or if you eat buffalo hot wings. You'll get plenty of protein, but little fat, so dip them wings in ranch or blue cheese! (don't buy products that say "lite", they cut the fat!

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5. Within the 1st few days you may experience something commonly called the keto flu.

   a. This is not a flu, it is a simple electrolyte imbalance. When you reduce your carb intake your body will begin to flush out excess water that you have been holding onto. Keto is very anti-inflammatory. When you urinate out the extra water weight your body also lose sodium, potassium, and magnesium. These things are important and without them you could feel light flu-ish symptoms. These things will right themselves rather quickly or you can take in extra salt, like sea salt or pink salt (even it you have high blood pressure, your body Needs sodium!) Potassium can be gotten from meats and Magnesium can be gotten from green leafy veggies. You can also chose to add as supplements like 99mg potassium and 500mg magnesium. 

   b. You may experience sugar withdraw. Not in the same since as a drug, but in a way, it is. Your body has ran off of sugar and carbohydrates all your life. When it starts to run low on your normal fuel source your body will freak out a little bit. Demanding sugar, causing sugar cravings, slowing down and making you feel tired. After one to two weeks your body will get the hang of running on fat and be very happy with you! You will feel wonderful and full of energy. This is when you'll start to go into ketosis. 

The 1st time may take 1 or 2 weeks, but the benefits are almost immediate.   

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6. Don't get fancy! Keep it simple!

You have likely heard about the wonderful "Grass feed, organic, cage free" foods.

While it's true that these things would be better for you and that they are better for the animals, if you can't afford it... Regular beef, eggs, cheese, and real butter will do you just fine. 

Don't need to rush out and buy special flours, sweeteners, and baking goods, unless you already like to bake. Most new keto-ers will buy almond flour and large bags of stevia, but many find that those things end up sitting on the shelf barely touched. Until you learn keto and really decide you need these things, hold off on purchasing them. 

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7. Don't compare your progress to others. 

No two people are the same. Some will drop 20 pounds in 2 weeks and 100 pounds in 6 months while cheating occasionally. Some will lose 10 pounds after being 100% keto for 2 months and only 5 more pounds over the next 2 months. One reason for this is the amount of water weight one is holding. The 1st big burst of weight loss is water weight, with small amounts of fat loss. This is great because excessive fluid/inflammation can be very painful and dangerous. Larger people can expect to see larger drops in weight from fat loss as larger bodies burn threw calories faster/easier. Smaller people near 200 or less will loss slower, they don't have as much water to let go of and they aren't burning calories at the same rate. People who start off large most likely will see their weight loss slow once they are near 200 as well. 

Trust the process, Stick with it, and have faith. It works for 99% if every one, just at different rates. 

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8. Eat when you are hungry and Eat until you are full.

Keto is cool that way! Fats and proteins fill you up and keep you full longer. By now you may have heard of intermittent fasting. Basically you are fasting between meals. The longer you fast between meals the less often you spike your insulin levels. Every time you eat you spike your insulin, eating sugar and carbs spikes it a lot higher! Keeping insulin levels low promotes fat burning and lowers your blood glucose. 

BUT Letting yourself get too hungry is asking for a slip up! It's a lot harder to say no to junk food when you are starving! If you are hungry and not just board... Eat.

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9. Snacking on keto. If you must have just a keto friendly snack make it rare! Or have a keto snack at the end of your meal. Or if you are feeling hungry between your usual meals? Eat a meal! Get full! Even if you are just having keto snacks, instead of a piece of cheese go head and have a full serving of pepperoni's and a couple pieces of cheese(whatever your go to's are), then eat again when you are truly hungry!

 

10. Accidentally or Purposefully Slipped up and Cheated? It's okay, it happens every now and again! We all have moments of weakness. We all have "one of those days". You did not fail! Simply make you next meal Keto friendly and keep going! Keto is very forgiving if you are really trying. Note: a slip up may kick you out of ketosis, in which you may suddenly feel very tired or even hung over the next day. You will have to burn all the sugar and carbs out of your system and get you body back into fat burning mode which could take 24 to 48 hours. Which is why weekly cheats are not recommended on keto, once you do get back into ketosis it will still take a few days for your body to drop the water weight that you will put on from adding sugar and/or carbs back in your diet even in small amounts.

 

11. How do know if you are in ketosis or if you have kicked yourself out. Again every one is different. Personally, when I'm in ketosis, I feel great! No pain, lots of energy, ideas flow more freely, my thought process seems clearer. The scale moves slowly but steadily down. Some people, myself included will have a taste in the mouth or scent to their breath, some said it's like acetone, for more it's a mild metallic taste and somehow my teeth feel dryer. 

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