With summer upon us, we all want to look our best, especially at the beach. As you’re working to get your body beach-ready, you’ll be watching what you eat and working to get the best results you can. The Keto diet is a viable alternative that many have tried with great success, but how does it work? Essentially, the Ketogenic or Keto diet focused on healthy fats and reducing your intake of carbohydrates. In doing so, you’re training your body to use fat as fuel instead of carbs. Here’s what you need to know to get started.
Learn Your Healthy Fats
The good news is that there are a variety of healthy fats. The thing to remember is that when you’re looking at which fats to consume, the rule of thumb is to focus on fat from natural sources like meats and nuts. Supplement those with both monounsaturated fats and saturated fats such as olive oil, butter, or coconut oil.
Enjoy Your Meat
While meat consumption may make you feel like you’re back on the Atkins bandwagon, the Keto diet takes a more sustainable approach. Don’t just think meat, think protein. Of course, you should try to focus on grass-fed, pasture-raised, and organic meats. You should also want to know that while the majority of the meats you’ll eat won’t have added sugar, you’ll want to consume meat in a moderate quantity. Unlike Atkins, ingesting too much protein on a Keto diet isn’t a positive.
Eat Your Veggies
We’ve heard it constantly since we were kids and we preach it to our own. There’s a reason for that – we need to eat our vegetables. In the context of the Keto diet, you’ll want to focus your vegetable intake on those that grow above ground. Skip the root vegetables and focus on the leafy greens.
Drink Your Milk
Dairy isn’t off limits in a Keto diet, rather, much of it is fine. You’ll want the full-fat dairy though, it’s time to skip the skim. Good news for cheese lovers, too – you can have the cheese, but stick to the harder cheeses as they tend to have fewer carbohydrates.
Snack to Feel Satisfied
Watching what you eat can sometimes mean sacrificing tastes and textures we love. With a Keto diet, however, you can snack on nuts and seeds. These nuts and seeds will help provide you with some crunchy, savory textures you may be craving. Even better, you’ll want to snack on the fattier nuts like almonds and macadamia nuts. Beyond nuts, there are other snacks you can make that will help keep your cravings at bay. Explore and experiment with recipes for snacks as well as other foods to supplement the basics of your Keto diet.
Two final tips: hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, and exercise! As with any diet or eating regimen, drink water. A good intake of water will help you achieve your goals and make you feel better. If water’s a bit too bland to have all the time, add a stevia-based flavor or some lemon or lime juice. Your success on the Keto diet will be also be greatly bolstered with an exercise regimen. So, tell us, are you ready to focus on a Keto diet to get yourself beach ready? Remember that being on a diet does not mean you can’t eat out! Try our tips for fine dining while on Keto here.
