5 Most Common Mistakes Ketoers Make
Following the everyday journey of the keto diet and being part of the ketosis process is not easy, but something that you should be proud of. However, many people, mostly beginners, make crucial mistakes that can completely disbalance the levels of carbs, sugar, and fats in the body.
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The most important task during the keto diet is not to be eating enough fats only, but to reduce the intake sufficiency of protein and carbs. This will only let you maintain ketosis and get into the process properly. When we use too much protein inside our bodies, they react in their own way by forcefully converting amino acids into glucose, starting the process of gluconeogenesis.
As you can see, during the keto diet you must be very careful with food consumption and choice. Protein overconsumption, for instance, is a pure example of one of the most common keto diet beginners' mistakes. Below we will share the most common mistakes of the keto diet for beginners.
1. TOO MUCH PROTEIN
As we just mentioned above, this is a serious issue for most keto diet starters. The rule is simple, your body must produce ketones and to complete this, you must follow a diet moderate in protein but high in fat. The overconsumption of protein will result in overproduction (transformation) in glucose. This process completely opposes the process of ketosis. To avoid this from happening, try to minimize the consumption of chicken, turkey, pork, and beef meals. Eat chicken with the skin on and always try to measure your protein intake.
2. Relying on Urine Ketone Sticks
To check the progress of your keto diet or, more precisely, to see if you are into a state of ketosis you use keto testing strips. These strips are a fast and effective way to tell if you are in ketosis after the very first weeks of your 'keto-adventure'. When the body is into a state of ketosis the kidneys adapt to the process and excrete ketones. However, after a longer period of being in ketosis, you should not use the urine ketone sticks. This is a very common mistake that keto beginners make. When your body is familiar with ketosis it automatically switches to a fat-burning energy system. Then, your body will rely on a specific ketone only -beta-hydroxybutyrate. This ketone is not measured by the urine ketone sticks. This means that they are completely unreliable during the keto diet, of course, with the exception of the first few weeks when the body adapts and gets familiar with the process of ketosis.
3. Over Eating
This is the first and most important rule in basic nutrition- to not eat without control- in order to lose body fat, you need to burn more calories than you consume on daily basis. Also, in order to gain muscle weight, you need to intake more calories than you burn on daily basis.
So, this makes it very simple- overeating and 'cheating' in the diet will ruin your progress in the keto diet. For each keto diet for beginners, the most important rule is to follow the plan. If you have a certain goal, your plan is the track towards your final destination. Do not go over the limits because you might end up lost and ignore the law of energy balance. This means that you won't be even able to enjoy permanent weight loss if you neglect your macronutrient plan. During the keto diet, you must be focused not on eating many times a day (as some nutritionists promote) but to follow your specific plan and, even, use intermittent fasting for even better results. When your body is in a state of ketosis you will feel satisfied and pleasured with your food only if it comes as 2-3 meals per day. While being in a state of ketosis you won't feel hungry or have any kind of digestive issues as long as you stick to the rules.
4. Not Stabilizing Blood Sugar
Those who are familiar with diabetes are also familiar with controlling their blood sugar levels. These blood sugar checks are very important for the keto diet as well. By routine blood sugar checks, you are given access to see how you are going hormonally during the keto diet. On the long run, this is a much better and effective way of evaluating your progress than using keto sticks. When your consumption of low carbs, moderate proteins, and high fats are according to the keto regimen your blood sugar count will go between 70 and 80 grams. As the blood sugar goes down, the ketone production goes up. To maintain a low level of blood sugar you need to focus on cutting out grains. Grains represent the worst trigger of high blood sugar as they contain a high level of glucose. Elimination of grains will significantly improve your well-being during the keto diet.
5. Not Eating Enough Fat
Most people are raised with the thought that eating fat might not have the best result for your body. However, the truth is that controlled eating of healthy fats will never clog your arteries or make you fat. Quite on the contrary, you will have the chance to stop the hunger and overcompensate for all carbohydrates. The keto diet will help you transform healthy fats into useful ketones that will make your body bloom. Do not be afraid of eating the skin that's covering your roasted chicken, enjoy your cream, eat more butter, avocados, and yogurts- they will provide useful benefits during the keto diet.