Summer is right around the corner. Spring Into Ketosis now!
Let's get right down to it .. .. .. FAT IS OK!
Building Keto meals around good fats is essential to staying in ketosis. The less processed they are the better they are for you. For cooking, I recommend using coconut oil, avocado oil, ghee, or salted butter.
Here is a list of good Keto fats:
-Red Meat; grass-fed, organic or pasture-raised
-Poultry
-Fish
-Lamb
-Pork
-Veal
-Ham
-Bacon (Yeah! Bacon!) Just watch the portions on this. Don't overdo it.
-Sausage
-Venison
-Liver
-Eggs
-Butter
-Ghee
-Cream (in coffee, for example)
-Cottage cheese
-Greek yogurt
-Cocoa butter
-Lard
-Full fat cheese (note: the harder the cheese, the fewer the carbs)
-Mayonnaise
-Spreadable cheeses: cream cheese, sour cream, mascarpone, creme fraiche
-Avocado oil
-Coconut oil
-Flaxseed oil
-Macadamia oil
-MCT Oil (Medium Chain Triglycerides)
-Olive oil
-Palm oil
-Sunflower oil
-Fish oil
-Macadamia nuts
-Brazil nuts
-Pecans
-Almonds
-Walnuts
-Hazelnuts
-Cashews
-Sunflower seeds
-Chia seeds
-Pumpkin seeds
-Flaxseeds
-Almond butter and sunflower seed butter are also good BUT avoid those processed with added sugars.
Notice there is no fruit listed. Fruit is mostly carbs (not fat.) To stay truly in ketosis, stick with the fatty fruits like avocados and olives and you'll do well. But you can enjoy berries, lemons, coconuts, and tomatoes also.
Lastly, the leafy greens and green veggies. Eat'm up.
Kale, Swiss chard, spinach, celery, arugula, bok choy are very good on Keto and very good for you. Broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus and mushrooms are also. Eating more of these in the early days of starting Keto can help boost your fiber levels so that you don't become constipated.
Here is a list of bad Keto fats:
-Fried food cooked in oils containing (processed) trans fat (like french fries, fried chicken, etc.)
-Unhealthy vegetable oils; Canola, Corn, Cottonseed, Grape Seed.
-Processed foods; these are often cooked in those unhealthy vegetable oils
-Margarine; this is hydrogenated fat which is a bad Keto fat
-Fast Food meats
In general, you will be eating a lot of saturated fats and monounsaturated fats as a Keto-head. Here's the biggest, baddest take-a-way: Eating fat does not make you fat.
Why?
Well, our daily macros (fat, protein, carbs) intake for a long time likely indicated carbs as the highest % of the three macro-nutrients consumed daily. This meant, for years, we trained our bodies to consume carbs, which turned to sugar and was used by the body to burn for energy. Carbs are glucose and your body is smart. It will store up the excess to burn later. This is why teaching your body that eating carbs to burn for energy is problematic because in brings on excess weight (stores.) In short, eating a high-carb diet triggers a much different metabolic response and your smart body says, "I don't need to burn my own energy stores, because I have plenty coming in."
Changing your daily macros intake by making fats the highest % of the three macro-nutrients will "switch" your smart body to seek out, find and burn fat for energy - especially since you've now indicated to your body - carbs aren't coming in (as much) anymore.
After your body "makes the switch" and begins to consume fat for energy (from your plate) it starts looking for fat in other parts of the body to burn for energy.
The result: weight loss.
Spring Into Ketosis is a short four-part blog series that will hopefully get you to spring into that summer body. In this series, we will explore the ease and benefits of Keto nutrition and how quickly you can get in that swimsuit and be on the lake.
Summer is right around the corner. Spring Into Ketosis now!
Be sure to speak with your Doctor to make sure Keto is ideal for you.