The ketogenic diet, which many people use today to lose weight, was actually developed to treat people with epilepsy. Because of this, many have succeeded in reducing the manifestations of this "terrible" disease in their children, and some have even completely forgotten about its existence.
But due to the fact that progress does not stop, the ketogenic diet is used very rarely for this purpose. But among lovers of a fit, slim, and well-built body, he became very popular.
After all, it helps to dry out the body, get rid of extra weight and at the same time maintain muscle mass, which not all diets are successful in. Plus, the ketogenic diet works well with exercise, which further increases its effectiveness.
Basic principles of diet
The ketogenic diet for weight loss is based on three basic concepts - protein, ketones and ketosis. Protein - its high presence in the diet prevents the body from drying out muscles, instead taking energy from fat stores, thereby reducing body fat, leading to weight loss.
Ketones are a substitute for carbohydrates, which are our body's energy and are often stored as reserves. From a medical point of view, ketones are the breakdown products of fat. If this process is caused artificially (i. e. by eliminating the use of carbohydrates completely) then harmful substances will start to build up in the body, which in themselves are harmful.
Therefore, it is very important to understand that if you want to lose weight on a ketogenic diet, you must learn to remove this substance artificially from the body. And you can do this in several ways:
- drink lots of fluids (toxins will only be flushed out of the body and flushed out naturally);
- going to sports (during exercise, the body sweats, and together with sweat comes out toxins);
- 1-2 times a week to replenish glycogen stores, that is, eat carbohydrate foods.
Note that the ketogenic diet does not completely exclude carbohydrates from the diet, but reduces them to 30 grams per day. This amount is not sufficient to keep glycogen stores within the normal range. To do this, it is necessary to arrange recovery days. You need to eat as follows - 5 days protein food only, 2 days carbohydrates.
Diet menu
The ketogenic diet, as you have already understood, consists of protein foods. Cut:
- a fish;
- meat;
- egg;
- cheese;
- Cottage cheese;
- milk;
- kefir.
Vegetables are also allowed while maintaining this diet. But it must be remembered that they contain carbohydrates, so you have to consume them too much. You can use the following menu (you can change something, but by indication it should be almost the same).
Breakfast
Usually, most of us eat scrambled eggs in the morning. And since eggs are on the permitted food list, they can be used to make an omelette for breakfast. It is recommended to cook it with a pair of 2 eggs, without adding oil. You can eat an omelette in its pure form, or you can add 1 tomato and chopped vegetables to it.
So, let's count the carbs. Eggs contain approximately 0. 7 grams, tomatoes and herbs each contain 5 grams. In total, it turns out that such a breakfast contains only 11 grams of carbohydrates. Not bad.
Dinner
For lunch, you can cook any meat (100 grams) of your choice (except pork, as this is not a diet product at all). Beef and veal should be preferred. The meat can be boiled, steamed or roasted in an oven without oil. Boiled vegetable stew (100 gram portion) can act as a side dish. You can also add a small slice of cheese (no more than 40 grams), one cucumber and fresh green lettuce to your lunch.
We count the number of carbohydrates. Steamed vegetable stew contains about 7 grams, cucumber - 4 grams. There are no carbohydrates in meat and cheese. The total is only 11 grams.
Dinner
For dinner, instead of meat, you can eat a piece of fish (about 200 grams), add some green salad leaves, cucumber and tomatoes to it. You can also eat one boiled egg. Such dinners are light and will relieve you of heaviness in the stomach.
Let's count the number of carbs in this dinner. Fish - in it, like meat, there are no carbohydrates, eggs about 0. 7 grams, tomatoes 5 grams, fresh cucumber 4 grams, and lettuce 1. 3 grams. Total 12 grams.
And if you count the total carbohydrates eaten, you get 34 grams. It's so small. If, while maintaining your diet, you feel sleepy or notice that you are getting tired quickly, then you will need to increase the carbohydrate intake by about 2 times (up to 60 grams).
Since this diet triggers the production of artificial ketones, which can have a negative impact on health conditions, it is necessary to consult a doctor first. Otherwise, you risk an exacerbation or a new illness as a "bonus. "