The keto diet has experienced an explosion in popularity recently. You’ve probably heard at least one friend or celebrity raving about how effective it is and how tasty the recipes are. That doesn’t answer the question ‘Exactly how do you start keto?’ though. We promise this blog post will!
1. Step #1 Do a Little Research
Don’t let yourself get scared off by that word. This is the most important part of your keto diet, believe it or not.
Eating keto friendly foods is one thing, but knowing what to eat and how much of it is a different matter entirely.
This will make or break your diet. You need to properly calculate your macros, which is your daily caloric intake of fat, carbs, and protein. Fortunately there are many calculators online that you can use.
▶ Also Read: Understanding Macro Diet and How to Manage Macros to Lose Weight
2. Step #2 Start Your Meal Plan
The keto diet doesn’t focus as much on what you can’t eat so much as it does finding alternatives that you can eat.
Sure, there are some things that are off the table (pun intended), but there are plenty of keto-friendly versions you can have instead.
With so many alternatives to what you’re already eating, creating a meal plan won’t be difficult at all. Don’t believe me? Try some keto chocolate chip cookies first. Yes, you read that correctly.
▶ Try these Keto Meal Plan Ideas to help you get started
3. Step #3 Start Your Meal Prepping
Meal planning and meal prepping are like the Gemini twins, you can’t see one without the other.
Meal prepping takes less time and effort than regular cooking throughout the week anyway, so you’d be hard pressed to find a reason not to meal prep.
Not to mention keto can easily be tailored to a busy lifestyle, and people on the go benefit from meal prepping more than most.
▶ Also Read: Keto Meal Prep Ideas
4. Step #4 Prepare for the Keto Flu
The keto flu isn’t an illness but an umbrella term for flu-like symptoms you can experience after starting the keto diet for the first time.
It’s unpleasant but a few days of things like dizziness, insomnia, and trouble concentrating is completely normal. To prevent this you can enhance your metabolic flexibility, which is how easily your body adjusts from one primary energy source to another.
Someone who exercises and eats healthy has a better metabolic flexibility than someone who doesn’t. Staying hydrated, getting plenty of rest, and eating more fat will help reduce the symptoms if you experience them.
▶ Take advantage of our Nutiro Ultimate Guide on How to Meal Plan that gives you the flexibility to enjoy other meal planning options such as keto, paleo, vegan, gluten-free, etc.
