A Basic Guide To The Ketogenic Diet

In 2018 I promised to love myself better; which meant I had to focus all my energy on bettering my spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health. As soon as we have our energies in tune, the universe has a way of bringing what we need right to us. While I had successfully achieved the goals I had set for the aforementioned, I was still struggling with my physical health — especially in terms of maintaining a healthy diet. I had checked everything else off my list, but this was the one task that was still staring me in the face (and the mirror). That’s when I came across the ketogenic diet, which lead me to shed 10 kilograms in two months, and revamp my lifestyle to eat healthier! I confess — i’m a chocoholic. I cannot remember a single period of my life where my side table wasn’t stocked with a chocolate bar or two (or four). Although I’ve never been overweight in the past, two years ago my eating habits went haywire after I graduated. Boom, 10 kg’s gained, and the Unhealthiest Eater Award was bagged by yours truly. It left my overall health and self esteem in absolute shambles. But keto changed everything for me. From shedding all that excess weight, to curing my frequent migraines, keto was the miraculous spell that my body was in dire need of. As for my addiction to chocolate? Luckily keto allows it, as long as it’s 80% cocoa!

Keto is a low carb diet — which means that you eat (considerably) fewer carbohydrates, and a higher proportion of fat. Sounds crazy right? But the ketogenic diet works by taking the natural fats we consume to burn the bodies excess fat.

The Basics

Eat: Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and good fats. All food must be cooked in olive oil, butter, or desi ghee.

Avoid: Sugar, and starchy foods like bread, pasta, rice, beans, and potatoes.

My Diet Plan

Breakfast

1. A glass of water mixed with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
2. Eggs (2-3) boiled, scrambled, or as a cheese omelette with keto approved vegetables.
3. Green Tea with lemon.

Lunch

1. Salad: cucumbers, lettuce, olives, raspberries.
2. 2 Salami slices, spread with full fat cream cheese, a regular slice of cheese and voila! Your very own all protein, carb free ‘salami sandwich.’
3. Green Tea with lemon.

Snack

1. An egg! If you’re not feeling up to it, you can skip it.
2. Almonds.
3. Bullet Proof Coffee: black coffee with a small cube of Butter, mixed and keto approved sweeteners. Brilliant fat burner!
(Alternative option: green tea with lemon)

Dinner

You can have anything and everything. Chicken, beef, or fish, alongside keto approved vegetables! Just make sure it’s all cooked in olive oil. For dessert, reward yourself with a piece of 80% cocoa dark chocolate.

Important note: for people that love desi khana, this means you’re allowed to have dishes like chicken karhai, nihari, lahori machli, and chicken makhni!

Tips:

• The keto diet will not allow you to lose weight if you ‘cheat.’ There’s a science behind it — the diet puts your body into a ketosis stage, which allows your body to burn fat instead of carbohydrate stores. This means if you cheat, your body won’t respond to the diet like it is mean’t to. It must be done strictly for maximum results.

• Initially you may get the ‘keto flu,’ which is some slight dizziness, nausea, possible vomiting, and tiredness. Some people experience this, and some don’t. If it happens to you, there’s no reason to get scared and call off the diet. It’s only a reaction to your body rapidly detoxing itself!

• Drink at least 6 glasses of water a day. 

Visit the link below for more details and recipes!
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb