6 Tips to Kickstart Your Ketosis
By founder Melanie Skelton
Are you new to keto? Trying to understand all that is involved in making the keto diet work for you and how to get into ketosis?
Here are six tips to help you get off to a good start.
- Get rid of sugar. Yes, all sugars, including refined sugar, fruit juices, honey, and agave–anything with glucose or fructose. All sugar spikes your insulin, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid for ketosis. Read the ingredient label of each product you use to determine whether they have sugar added and where it is in the ingredient list. The higher it is in the ingredient list, the more sugar there is in the product.
- Know how to calculate your net carbs. The goal is to consume between 20 and 50 grams of net carbs per day. This is pretty important and is strongly connected to sugar. But net carbs will also take starches and fiber into account. Look for the carbohydrates on the label and then the fiber. Subtract the fiber from the carbs to get the net carb count. Some people will also subtract the sugar alcohols, but you want to be careful with this since not all sugar alcohols are created equally. (Pubmed)
- 70% of your keto diet consists of healthy fats. These healthy fats, according to Dr. Mercola, include organic grass-fed butter and ghee, coconut milk, chicken fat, duck fat, coconut oil, MCT oil, avocado oil, and extra virgin olive oil (Fat for Fuel, by Dr. Joseph Mercola). Consuming these healthy fats will help your body produce the ketones that promote the state of ketosis, but will also help you to be more satisfied.
- Moderate your proteins. Proteins and carbs together should make up about 25% of your diet according to Dr. Mercola. He says that, ideally, your protein intake should be one-half gram per pound (or 1 gram per kilogram) of your lean body mass per day.
- Maximize your intermittent fasting. Plan your meals so that you have time during each day when you are not eating. Part of this time is when you are sleeping, but lengthen this time to get the most benefit out of fasting. Eating spikes your insulin, and by fasting you give your body time to increase the ketogenic health benefits. Basically, choose a window of time to eat and nourish your body and a window of time to give it a break.
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Plan for success. When you plan ahead you are more likely to succeed. Take inventory of the tools you have and create or purchase any that will help you stay in ketosis.
- A meal plan to ensure you are not making last-minute decisions
- A digital scale to help you be accurate in your servings
- Meters or kits that measure your ketone and glucose levels to help you know what your body needs
To learn more about the keto diet tune into our upcoming “Everything You Want to Know About Keto Panel” on January 24th at 6:30 p.m. We are gathering a panel of people who have had success with the keto diet so that we can glean from their knowledge. Learn more about this and other store events.