The hardest part about following any diet for weight loss is keeping at it consistently. Especially for beginners of the ketogenic diet, you have to rewire your body to get to ketosis to burn through the fat. Here is a collection of the best ketogenic diet for beginners hacks to follow to keep your metabolism at its prime and stay on track with your weight loss efforts.
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via Keto Connect
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Keto Diet Hack 1. Avoid hidden carbs
Don't make the rookie mistake of cutting out only well known bad carbs like refined pastas and white rice, but getting them all back with sneaky, hidden carbs. Find the list of top culprits along with healthier homemade alternatives. (via Mommy Over Work)
Ketogenic Diet Hack 2. Get an accountability partner
Have a partner to either motivate you to succeed (or commiserate with you in the tough times). Going at the keto diet with a friend will help to make the journey easier for all when you can be each other's support network.
Keto Hack 3. Choose keto carbs that are actually tasty
Times will get really tough, especially in the beginning, as you suffer form bad carbs withdrawals. Rather than curling up in the corner and crying over these delicious but empty carbs, make it easy for your body to forget about those bad boys by trying these healthy carbs for weight loss. Seriously, some are so good that they'll make you forget you even liked the refined versions of grains and sugars that were doing so much harm to your body. (via Mommy Over Work)
Ketogenic Hack 4. Combine with another healthy diet
You know how some things are exponentially better when they're together than each on its own, like pb and j or Rachel and Ross? Why not give that a try by following a keto vegetarian diet. Before you dismiss the idea, think about it. You probably didn't think that you would do the keto diet before you started, yet here you are. Read more about combining the two at this site here. (via Ruled Me)
Keto Diet Hack 5. Have a keto diet meal plan
It's hard to make change if you're not invested in it. Get yourself into a routine of eating healthily and taking away temptations that may break you from your diet by planning out your meals. And since I mentioned trying out vegetarian diet with keto above, you can find a free 5-day meal plan here to get two hacks in one. (via Keto Connect)
Keto Hack 5.5: If you're not into meal planning, then at the very least, stick to quick and easy recipes. If cooking becomes a chore, you're going to lose steam real fast for your dieting efforts (and yes, pun totally intended).
Ketogenic Diet Hack 6. Go for simple and easy keto desserts and snacks
For me, it's like when I don't consciously diet, I can not eat and be fine. But once I deliberately decide to do it, then food is on my mind 24/7. In order to reduce the agony, go for some easy keto snacks and desserts that are quick to prep and have on hand to satisfy those psychological hunger pangs. Here's a list of 10 of them that are 5 or fewer ingredients. I made sure they were more than just chocolate and peanut butter so you can have variety in your diet and will stick to it. (via Mommy Over Work)
Keto Hack 7. Try keto diet intermittent fasting
Another trick is to combine your keto diet with intermittent fasting, which is basically cutting down the window of time in which you eat to a short timeframe, like 6-8 hours. Good news is that the time you sleep counts towards your fasting period. (via Domestikaited)
Keto Diet Hack 7.5: If you really, really want to jumpstart your keto diet (which I know you are since you're here), why not try the sample vegetarian keto diet with intermittent fasting?
Before you go off on me, let me explain why you should try this: You want results.
Similar to how you can't do the same exercises over because your body gets used to it and plateaus, your metabolism will get used to the foods you're eating.
If this is too hard to do altogether, try combining these elements just for short stints to give your body enough of a "shock" to fast track your metabolism. Sticking to it for a week at a time makes it quite doable.
So...as I conveniently linked above for you, try out the vegetarian diet plan. The work is all done for you. Plus, there's nothing to lose, except more inches from your waist.
Bonus Ketogenic Hack! Stay one step ahead of ketosis
Your goal is to get your body to ketosis, in which it turns over from glucose to fat as your fuel source. The transition can be rough though, leaving you fatigued, uncomfortable, and downright miserable. Since you'll feel like a mess physically, you might get worried or demotivated to stick to your keto diet.
You don't want that.
Prepare yourself for the symptoms you could be feeling both mentally and physically, and it'll help push through the lows so you can reach the highs.
First, use test strips to figure out if you are even in ketosis.
Second, have electrolytes on hand to replenish the ones being flushed out of your body.
Third, your body may react to these changes with some technical issues in the backend (i.e. constipation or diarrhea). You may need some fiber supplements.
Regardless of whatever symptoms you hit, make sure you drink PLENTY of water.
Keto Diet Hack 8. Most important tip of all: Focus on overall wellness
As much as you want those keto diet weight loss results, don't obsess and get so caught up in the diet that you forget about the other things that are just important to your health and happiness. Getting some exercise, fresh air, relaxing, spending time with people you love will actually help make you happier and more likely to stick to your diet than just tunnel-visioning yourself into it.
The ketogenic diet, like any diet, can be hard for beginners. But with these keto hacks, you're sure to set yourself up to achieve better results than if you go about it without the right purpose. Good luck!
CRAVE MORE? >> All KETO DIET Posts This Way
This is good. I hit a plateau and have been considering fasting to jumpstart. You just helped me confirm it, thanks
Hope that these tips help you overcome the plateau, Monique! Thanks for stopping by!
Omg your baby is absolutely adorable! (From your pic on homepage.) great ideas in this post too. I hadn’t to pin this.
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you found this article helpful! And awesome blog name. I checked it out and love your passion to share wholesome meals with others. Your about me page was so inspirational! Keep up the good work!
See what happens