The ketogenic diet that many people now use to lose weight is actually designed to treat epilepsy patients. Therefore, many were able to reduce the manifestations of this "terrible" disease in children, and some even completely forgot about its existence.
However, ketogenic diets are rarely used for this purpose because progress does not stop there. But it has become very popular among lovers of a fit, slim and pumped body.
After all, it helps to dehydrate the body, get rid of extra pounds and at the same time maintain muscle mass, which is not the case with all diets. In addition, the ketogenic diet works well with exercise and increases its effectiveness.
Basic principles of diet
The ketogenic diet for weight loss is based on three main concepts - protein, ketones and ketosis. High levels of protein in foods prevent the body from drying out muscles, but instead draw energy from fat reserves, thereby reducing body fat, which leads to weight loss.
Ketones are a substitute for carbohydrates, which are our body's energy and are often stored. From a medical point of view, ketones are a product of the breakdown of fats. If this process takes place artificially (ie by completely eliminating the use of carbohydrates), then harmful substances will begin to accumulate in the body, which is dangerous in itself.
Therefore, if you want to lose weight with a ketogenic diet, it is extremely important to understand that you are learning to remove these substances artificially from the body. You can do this in several ways:
- drink plenty of fluids (toxins will simply be eliminated from the body and eliminated naturally);
- exercise (during exercise the body sweats and sweat toxins are released);
- Eat carbohydrate foods 1-2 times a week to replenish glycogen stores.
Note that the ketogenic diet does not completely eliminate carbohydrates from the diet, but reduces it to 30 grams per day. This amount is not enough to keep glycogen stores at normal levels. To do this, so to speak, it is necessary to organize recovery days. You should eat as follows - 5 days only protein food, 2 days carbohydrate.
Diet menu
The ketogenic diet menu, as you already know, consists of protein foods. O:
- fish;
- meat;
- eggs;
- Pendir;
- cottage cheese;
- milk;
- kefir.
Vegetables are also allowed while maintaining this diet. But we must not forget that it contains carbohydrates, so you need to consume them a lot. You can use the menu below (you can change something, but it should be the same according to the indicators).
Breakfast
As a rule, most of us eat omelets in the morning. Since eggs are on the list of allowed foods, they can be used to make an omelet for breakfast. It is recommended to cook with a pair of 2 eggs without adding fat. You can eat the omelette in its pure form or add 1 tomato and chopped herbs.
So count the carbs. Eggs weigh about 0. 7 grams, tomatoes and herbs 5 grams each. In general, such a breakfast turned out to contain only 11 grams of carbohydrates. Not bad.
Lunch
You can cook any meat (100 grams) for lunch (except pork is not a dietary product in any way). Beef and veal should be preferred. Meat can be boiled, steamed or cooked in the oven without fat. Boiled vegetable casserole (100 grams per serving) can act as a side dish. You can add a little cheese (not more than 40 grams), a cucumber and fresh lettuce to your dish.
We calculate the amount of carbohydrates. Steamed vegetable casserole contains about 7 grams, cucumber - 4 grams. Meat and cheese do not contain carbohydrates. It is only 11 grams.
Lunch
Instead of meat, you can eat a piece of fish (about 200 grams), add a couple of green salad leaves, cucumbers and tomatoes. You can also eat boiled eggs. Such a supper is light and will relieve the feeling of heaviness in the stomach.
Let's calculate the amount of carbohydrates in dinner. Fish - as in meat, there are no carbohydrates, one egg is about 0, 7 grams, tomatoes - 5 grams, fresh cucumbers - 4 grams, lettuce - 1, 3 grams. It is only 12 grams.
And if you count the total carbohydrates eaten, you get 34 grams. It is very small. If you feel sleepy while fasting on a diet, or you feel tired quickly, you need to increase the amount of carbohydrates consumed by about 2 times (up to 60 grams).
It is necessary to consult a doctor in advance, as this diet stimulates the production of artificial ketones, which can adversely affect health. Otherwise, you run the risk of exacerbation or new diseases as a "bonus".