5 Things to Know You Need to Know Before Going on Keto
Consult With Your Doctor
The first thing you need to know before before going on keto, making any lifestyle change, or starting a new diet is that you should consult with your medical professional about whether or not it’s right for you. Your doctor should be familiar with the ins and outs of your bloodwork and pre-existing medical conditions that may or may not impact you in different ways if you choose to go on this low-carbohydrate diet.
You Might Feel Worse Before You Feel Better
The second thing you need to know about going Keto, is that if you haven’t heard of “Keto Flu” then you’re going to want to familiarize yourself with what it means. In short, it’s the negative side effects of your body adjusting to the drastic changes of a standard ketogenic diet. But don’t worry, they should only be short term side effects! The first week or two should be the worst of it. Then your body becomes more adjusted to being in a state of ketosis.
Common side effects of keto flu can look like fatigue, nausea, headaches, mood swings, and muscle aches. Brain fog, bad breath, and waning energy levels are also risk factors. There are various things you can do to potentially help lessen these symptoms—like drinking plenty of water. My personal experience was sadness. Yep, believe it or not I just got sad and lost the will to do anything. I would sit and mope about my failed music career and wondered if anyone cared about me or what I did. Of course like the title of my 2020 EP ‘And This Too Shall Pass’ and it always did. By week 2 I was upbeat as ever.
Many feel the long term health benefits of low carb diets outweigh the temporary ones.
You May Lose a Lot at Once Then Stall
It’s common for many keto dieters to experience the most weight lost at once in the first week or two. After the first couple of weeks, weight loss will likely slow down and you won’t see such a large number of losses on the scale as before. This can discourage a lot of people hoping to lose weight. The best way to go into keto if you’re seeking to lose weight from it is to keep in my slow and steady wins the race. Everyone’s body is different though, you may have the opposite experience and not lose a lot to start but lose more later.
For long-term weight loss, you’re going to want to ensure the dietary changes you make become more of a staple to your everyday life rather than just a temporary change. Fad diets tend to never work long-term so that’s one of the reasons I prefer to call it a keto lifestyle is because it’s something you have to really incorporate into your routine. Find your favorite keto foods, and keep them around for whenever you get hungry.
It’s also very important to remember that on Keto, calories still matter. In the initial couple of days of Keto what you are losing is water weight. Your body retains much less water which is why there is a drastic drop. After that most people lose weight because they are consuming fewer calories. Eating high fat and protein is very satiating which results in people eating a lot less calories and then losing weight. If you stall on Keto for more than 2 weeks all you need to do is calculate your calorie requirements and eat in a calorie deficit or add some physical activity so you can burn some more calories.
You Don’t Need to Spend Tons on Keto
Some websites or ads will encourage you to buy their keto-specific product and insist you’ll need it to get the most out of your diet change. However, you really don’t need anything but what you can already find in a grocery store and what’s already in your kitchen!
Create your own keto meal plan. Find recipes you like online, as you likely know I have plenty of keto-friendly recipes elsewhere on my site, and start making your favorites. Soon you’ll learn which are the easiest or fastest to make depending on your needs, and have keto staples in your cooking repertoire for when you need them. In fact I have 2 new Keto e-books to make your life easier. One is a 3 Ingredient Keto recipe book and the other a 5 ingredient recipe book. I’m also selling them at a discount together in a bundle. So if you’d like to support what I do and get some super easy and delicious Keto recipes, grab a copy.
There are definitely different ways you can tackle keto but there is no single miracle product out there. Just familiarize yourself with low carbohydrate diet healthy foods and create meal plans with food you can get at any grocery store for the most effective way to success. Once you have keto-friendly foods already around the house, it should be much easier!
Is Keto Used for More Than Weight Loss?
The Ketogenic Diet was originally developed by Dr. Russel Wilder at the Mayo Clinic in 1924 intended to be a potential solution to problems with epilepsy. It was a very popular treatment until anticonvulsant medication was invented. It’s still sometimes prescribed as a treatment to prevent symptoms if someone is resistant to medication.
Many claim that it helps with issues related to diabetes because this specific dietary change can lower insulin levels and blood sugar. Others claim it can help in preventing heart disease. However, there are not a lot of studies to verify these claims.
Before putting of your hopes into your keto journey to solve major health issues, once again you’ll want to refer back to our #1 thing you need to know, check in with a medical professional for medical advice to see if they feel this is a good idea for your overall health. The truth is Keto, for a lot of people is a diet they can stick to, which results in weight loss that has an overall improvement on their health and well being. So that doesn’t mean Keto is responsible for fixing all their issues but try it for yourself and see how you feel on it. And as always consult your doctor before starting anything.
Has this article helped you learn more about what to know before you start keto? If you’re looking for more keto tips or recipes to help you along your journey to keto success, be sure to check out my Youtube and Instagram too!
