Surely you have heard about a mysterious thing called “Keto”.
Well, today we are going to tell you a little better what it is, what it is for, what is its base, how it should be used correctly and we will show you many examples of dishes that we can cook when we are following it. Are you ready? Here we go!
POINT 1: WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT A KETO?
It is very important to emphasize that a Keto is NOT a type of diet. That is to say: it can never be a person’s usual diet.
A KETO (its name comes from the diminutive of Ketogenic = Ketogenic in English) is a tool or strategy that we are going to use for a very limited period of time (from 7 to 14 days) and whose main objective is to make our body get used to it. to get energy from fat and protein. Day 15 (or the 1st post-keto day) is always a day off where we will freely consume whatever we want and that will help us to regain the glycogen reserves that we have emptied during the process.
Our body can get the energy we need basically from glycogen (glucose), from fat (lipids), or from proteins (amino acids that are converted into glucose). Following the “law of least effort” our body will use one source of energy or another depending on how easy it is.
That is to say: if we regularly follow a diet very rich in carbohydrates (especially if they are sugars – CH of rapid absorption) we will have high levels of sugar in the blood that will make our body use them to get energy (in other words: no it will touch neither the fat from the love handles nor the protein). When we do it the other way around (we consume few carbohydrates) our body is forced to draw energy from fat and protein (ie: “we burn love handles” BUT over time we also end up losing muscle mass because proteins are “burned” Hence, it is not advisable to maintain this type of diet for more than 14 days!).
POINT 2: WHAT AMOUNT OF MACRONUTRIENTS WILL I CONSUME DURING KETO?
First of all, we are going to calculate your daily caloric needs and we are going to subtract approximately 300kcal. I say “subtract” because we are always going to do Keto to define (that is, to burn fat): it makes no sense to follow this type of diet if your goal is to hypertrophy (gain muscle mass).
When we have the final number of calories that we have to consume daily to lose weight, we will make approximately 60% of the caloric intake come from fats (healthy, yes! No fear!). 30-35% should be protein and the rest, between 5-10% carbohydrate (this means between 18 and 30 grams of carbohydrate per day for a diet with 5% CH of approximately 1500-3000 kcal). We will remove from our diet all carbohydrates that do not provide us with anything (sugary drinks, sweets, pastries, refined flours) and we will leave only those that provide us with essential vitamins and minerals (lettuce, tomato, asparagus).
The important point for people who train: This means removing sugar from post-workout shakes as well. You can continue taking the protein: just don’t add more carbohydrates.
POINT 3: BENEFITS OF «KETO»
The main benefits are:
- We force our bodies to “burn fat.” Therefore, we will see a significant drop in the% of body fat if we follow it strictly.
- We are going to deflate: By not consuming almost carbohydrates we will force our body to use the glycogen that it has stored in reserve. Each molecule of glycogen is accompanied by 3 molecules of water, so when we use them we will begin to expel this water. Or said less finely: Let’s piss a lot! Of course, the feeling of a smooth belly that you will have after 14 days of Keto is spectacular!
- We teach our body to extract energy from fat: During Keto, we are going to force our body to do one thing it does not want to: “work hard” to use fat as an energy source. If we repeat “keto” periods on a scheduled basis throughout the year, our body will become more and more accustomed to using fat and hopefully, it will end up accumulating less.
- We will NOT starve: The consumption of fats will increase our feeling of satiety, so if you like foods that can be consumed, it will be very easy for you to follow this type of diet.
- The first day after the “Keto” is a day off: Yes, this means exactly what you are thinking: that day eat whatever you want without any remorse (unless you are bodybuilders preparing for a competition where we should schedule the glycogen overcompensation correctly).
