5 Things You Need to Know Before Starting Keto
Unless you’ve been living under a rock this decade, you will have heard of the keto diet plan and all the amazing benefits of it. Like many, I didn’t give it too much thought until recently when I decided to give it a go. Here are a few things you need to know before starting keto.
I’ll admit, the research I did on this was minimal but I did do some and I asked a friend, who knows a great deal about it, to give me more information. I wasn’t sure if this would be the right diet plan for me but I was willing to give it a shot.
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Before Starting Keto You Need to See What You Can and Can’t Eat
The very first, and most important, thing you need to know is what you can’t eat. Before starting keto this list is crucial because it could make or break you.
Turns out there’s an awful lot of things you can’t eat. Now, if you’re anything like me, I eat anything that isn’t nailed down. I love food. Period. And I eat a lot of food a lot of times throughout the day.
Surprisingly enough, at 5’4″, I weighed in at a relatively healthy weight of 130 when I started the keto diet plan. I wasn’t necessarily looking to lose massive amounts of weight going in. A few pounds maybe around my belly but nothing more.
I do have to add though that by week two of the keto diet I was down 4 lbs and at my ideal weight of 126. I was pretty happy about that.
I wanted to try the keto diet for better health. I’m not getting any younger and I need to take better care of myself. Plain and simple.
So I found a list of things I can’t eat, cried the whole f*cking day, and then proceeded to clean out my kitchen. I donated a lot of food to my cleaning lady and gave the rest away to a friend.
In case you aren’t sure of what you can’t eat on the keto diet plan, here’s a small sampling for you. It’s ok to cry. I did.
- sugar (I’m dying!!)
- french fries (sobbing hysterically)
- bread (bye I love you)
- pasta (please don’t tell my dead Italian mother-she will roll over in her grave)
- anything breaded (bye McDonald’s chicken nuggets)
- bananas and lots of other fruit (this hurts my heart)
- want me to stop now?
If you are thinking about the keto diet and you have any of these things in your kitchen get rid of them. Thank me later.
( I have a surprise for you at the end of this article but don’t peek now…stick with me here)
How to get started on keto
The one thing you really need is 100% committment. You have to know and feel with every ounce of your being that you absolutely want to do this.
I’d also advise doing some research. I’ve been following Dr. Berg a bit. He’s a wealth of knowledge. Check out this super informative video.
He makes it really easy to understand your body, the keto diet plan and so much more. He really is awesome.
But make sure you know what you’re getting into before you get started. You will hit walls, like the ones I’m gonna discuss with you here now.
Can I have a cheat day on the keto diet plan?
That was one of my first questions, to be honest. Can I have a cheat day on keto? Just one?
Well, you can, but you’ll be sorry, depending on what type of food you choose on your cheat day. I went balls to the walls and not only ate a big burger and fries (my mouth had an orgasm by the way) I also had way too many margaritas on that same day.
So how did I feel the next day? You can’t even imagine. I thought I was dying. True story. More on that later.
Dr. Berg talks about cheat days too. Really go check him out. Do yourself a favour.
So let’s get into the 5 things you need to know before you dive into keto.
5 Things You Need to Know Before Starting Keto
1 It’s not easy. At all.
Like any lifestyle change, completely overhauling your kitchen and your diet is a job not for the faint of heart. You are going to miss a lot of your favourite foods. You don’t think you will but trust me, you will.
My third week in I crashed and fell off the keto diet. I had a burger and fries and drank my fool face off. And I paid dearly for it the next day. I had a migraine in the morning and my belly was so terribly sore. It wasn’t pleasant at all.
(but that burger was heaven in mouth)
2 You will be very frustrated. A lot.
Frustrated because you desperately want french fries and you know zucchini fries just aren’t the same. It’s hard and it’s emotionally exhausting. You will reach for something in your fridge that is no longer there and you will get angry and question why you are doing this. A lot.
3 Dinners out aren’t easy either
Every Thursday me and some friends go out to a new restaurant for dinner. They order pasta and burgers and I order salmon and veggies. Yes my meal is hella good too, don’t get me wrong, but I sure as heck would have loved to have sunk my teeth into a juicy greasy burger. True story.
4 Eating healthier is a wee more expensive
But you already knew that right? Like, you aren’t baking with regular $2.99 flour anymore. You need to buy the stupid expensive almond or coconut flour. You’re not using regular sugar but the expensive sweetener stuff. It’s costly to go keto.
5 Figuring out your daily/weekly meal plan is frustrating too
I tried to find some good weekly meal plans for keto on the internet and though there certainly are tons of them, I just couldn’t find one suitable for me. I played around a lot with meals and foods and found myself to be hungry a lot. It took me over two weeks to get it right and I still feel I need more tweaking.
Other things to know before you start the keto diet
First and foremost, know why you want to start it in the first place. What’s your goal? And another thing that’s super important is, are you an emotional eater?
So many of us are. Don’t feel bad.
I eat out of boredom and I think my body is just used to being fed every two hours. Stopping that was really hard. If you are an emotional eater and want to lose weight with keto, you will need to find out why you are an emotional eater and heal those wounds first.
Trust me on that. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for failure (I cringe at that eff word but I’m being honest).
You should also purchase a Glucose Monitor. My friend insisted I do and I’m glad I did. It lets me know how my body reacts to certain foods so I know which ones are good and which ones aren’t.
Before Starting Keto, Prepare Yourself For Failure
You may fall off the wagon. Like I did.
Don’t beat yourself up over it. Change is hard but change of this magnitude is hard af!! You are completely overhauling years and years of terrible eating habits.
It’s not easy and you can’t expect perfection on your first go. If you slip and fall, pick yourself back up and get back on that keto wagon! Remember why you’re doing this. Pick another start day and don’t think you are a failure. You aren’t.
What you are doing is super hard and most people can’t. You can!! You did. You just slipped a little. No biggie!!
I’m not beating myself up for that burger and fries (and all those margaritas!!) but I was back on keto the next day (with a hangover..oy).
You may want to find a support group or a friend to join with you so you can’t keep each other accountable! There is strength in numbers, yes?
Healthy Keto cookies
Here’s the surprise I promised you earlier. So I’ll admit, I’m a junk food junkie. I love chocolate and peanut butter and chocolate and sugar and, and, and… ya. I love junk food.
So by week two I was jonesing for a treat and came across this super amazing website. I follow this girl on Facebook and then with drool running down my chin, I follow a link to her site and save recipes.
But the recipe I’m about to share with you now is by far my favourite mix of chocolate and peanut butter. I really have to discipline myself to not eat the whole batch every time I make them. For real!!!
These aren’t like regular cookies but more like a yummy chocolatey sugar fix without the guilt.
I seriously can’t believe how many yummy keto dessert and treat recipes there are to be found. This makes it so much easier for me now to not fall off the keto diet plan wagon!
Final words on the keto diet plan
Please keep in mind this whole blog is written from my own experience. Every one has a different story to tell. I just choose not to sugar coat (ooph what a bad pun) things. I tell it like it is and how I see it.
Everyone is different. You may go through keto with a breeze and not struggle at all. Kudos if you do!!
As I mentioned earlier, changing anything is hard and takes a lot of committment, hard work, courage and determination. Not many have that or can do it. But you can.
Go easy on yourself if you slip and always always remember why you started in the first place. Because you are worth it and you deserve to be healthy and happy!!
mad love
xo iva xo
