5 Mistakes on keto I wish I knew [2018 tips]

There is something about the new years which gets me into gear. Maybe it is very spiritual,  maybe it is like a fresh start, maybe it is very cliched to you;  but I am more of a planner when it comes to the New Year. Today I am going to discuss some things I wish I knew before I started doing keto last December 2016. Learn the 5 mistakes on keto you shoud not do !

Today there are some things of me I wish I would have changed very early and I wish this would help you to not do them in this year when you are starting with your new year goals.

Now before starting, this is not a post where you would be setting some goals or planning your year or you know some tips to lose 20-30 kilos in a year with keto ! This is not that kind of post but this is a post where I pen down all my feelings I have had in 2017 and writing you a glimpse of what your ketogenic journey would look like and what mistakes you can correct even before making them.

5 mistakes on keto : Number 1 Mistake- Getting overwhelmed.

So it is quite obvious when you know about something new you start digging up information on internet, you start going through all the sites and all the blogs and all the YouTube videos you can find on the Internet and contain all the information in the little head of yours and start Re-analysing over and over till you get tired up and give up on your goals. Something you can relate ? Well, Don’t do it !

This was exactly me when I started Paleo even before starting keto that was somewhere about October 2016 that I started with Paleo and all the information was so confusing on the Internet and all I could do was not knowing how to track my macros and not knowing how to calculate them;  let alone I wasn’t even losing weight with paleo which made it more frustrating.
So my only advice is just to stick to one site that you find very comfortable with, like the information is very concise and the author of it or the speaker or the coach on it is very much easy to understand and makes things simple.

If you would like me to Pen down some really resourceful sites before you even start your ketogenic journey – it is to first go to ketodietapp.com and see their startup guide and make a list of all the things you should be eating and you shouldn’t be eating and keep it as a reference whenever you have to go for grocery shopping or whenever you have to make your meal !

So when you make a list of the do’s and don’ts and you know how it is to eat on a ketogenic diet second thing you must do is go and find the macros calculator either on the same site or go to ruled.me

Ok so when you are done with the macros calculator and counting your macros third thing you must do is get a tracking app like MFP on your mobile phone! Yes now you know how much macros you should be having; now on the app you are going to track how much of the macros you have eaten in a day i.e how much chicken has how much protein/ fat/ carbs etc.

Also a side note if you are not aware how much amount of chicken or how much amount of ghee or butter you are using please get a Kitchen scale and also measuring cups and spoons.

5 mistakes on keto : Number 2 Mistake- Not keeping it simple.

Second biggest mistake I did was to explore all the recipes on the Internet and trying to make them and make my journey even more complicated than it had to be.

Yes this is coming from a food blogger who blogs Indian ketogenic recipes and no I am not a hypocrite ; but frankly telling I got through keto  only by keeping my food very simple in the start. What I want to emphasize is my 4-5 months in the start were only with simple foods where I lost big chunk of my fat and I wish I kept my food even more simpler.

So if you are someone who is starting your journey right now; I suggest you go through some basic recipes; Some recipes that you would be sticking for a long period of time. I mean I love keeping some food items as a staple. Like I make cauliflower rice daily. I just keep grated cauliflower in the fridge and a Roast it in ghee and cumin and have it with any Indian Indian Curry I make and some coconut rotis. So maybe for you making coconut rotis daily is not going to be your thing ! So just stick to something simple like making a dry gravy with full of fats and ghee and/ or sticking to cauliflower rice and some Indian thick gravy you can make. Find what is your staple food as you go on with keto and as you practice making your meals daily.
If you are someone who is not very experienced with cooking or who doesn’t have much time with cooking- I suggest you stick to very simple foods like roasting some chicken in Indian masalas and ghee or making some stir fried veggies with ghee and some protein. Find whatever is suitable for you to make it daily and quickly, keep something that is very much basic for you and simple.

If you need some quick keto recipes , make sure you buy this book from Martina of Ketodietapp.com . Recently, she gifted me this book and this was a life saver !

 

5 mistakes on keto : Mistake 3- Taking exercise lightly.

Third biggest mistake I did was not to take exercise seriously. Yes I lost a big chunk of fat in about 2 to 3 months with just following strict keto and that was without exercise but things kind of got very slow after the first three months.
I was getting physically weak and I wasn’t feeling at all toned where I should have been feeling ater losing 12 to 15 kilos.
Also a related mistake I did with it was to get overwhelmed with all the people exercising and and the kinds of exercise I thought I could do but I couldn’t because of my poor activity level.
So I suggest you to start with something you are very comfortable with; like 1 hour of work or 30 minutes of walking..(Slow paced chronic cardio is not a best exercise you should be doing- always makes you hungry )  and also anxious. Ideal exercises are high intensity interval training that is HIIT and lifting weights which is the most important and effective way to lose weight with keto.

HIIT is what I fell in love with since I started. Now my activity level is quite improved but it wasn’t when I started. I started beginner workouts from Youtube and slowly increased the intensity, and never ever I felt fatigued or hungry after doing HIIT. Also some studies show how HIIT doesn’t lead to intense hunger later compared to chronic long duration cardio. If you want to read more about HIIT and it’s benefits over chronic cardio, make sure you read this study.

Having said that it doesn’t mean that you start doing level 3 HIIT exercises and lifting more weights than you can handle but it means starting beginner level Workouts in that category. What I did was subscribe to a YouTube channel named Fitnessblender and start their beginner workouts. They have them free on the youtube channel , you can choose from their hundreds of videos online.

5 mistakes on keto : Mistake 4 was Overdoing protein.

Fourth mistake I did was over- do protein in the start.
So protein is very important to maintain your muscle mass and the amount you should be eating can be calculated by the macros calculator on the sites which I mentioned above. If you want to gain muscle specifically, go to KETOGAINS.

In the start when you are not fat adapted; ( by the way fat adaptation and ketosis is very much different so make sure that you go through this video to know the difference) So as I was saying before I was fat adapted I used to have huge cravings of having a big meal and Fats wouldn’t satisfy me. I used to have a good amount of fats and still was hungry initially. I thought eating more protein would take away my hunger but in fact I always stalled when I overdid proteins and went 40 to 50 grams above my daily macros level for proteins.
So even if the Hunger initially couldn’t be satisfied by the amount of fats because you are getting fat adapted; it is a process and that will take time so just hang in there and do not over do protein. See when you are getting fat adapted you are not totally dependent on fats but you are still burning sugar for fuel and making all the enzymes you need to break those fats.

What you need to do is get fat adapted and Burn only fat exclusively that won’t make you hungry later. This process needs time, till then fight your hunger and don’t eat too much protein.

Having said that, eating oodles of fat than the daily macros thinking too much fat = more ketones = more fat burned is not true. Calories still count and you end up burning the dietary fat than the stored body fat and that makes you stall again ! Learn more about it here.

5 mistakes on keto : Mistake 5 – Comparing your progress with others and obsessive social media use.

5th mistake is not something I did; but I see many of them messaging me and many of them with whom I interact on our  WhatsApp support group doing it.
It is about comparing your own journey with someone who has lost more pounds/kilos than you in less period of time and then you self -sabotage your progress only by comparing which is really very very stupid.

First thing I would like to point out is do not believe everything you see and also it doesn’t mean if something applies to others it is going to work for you.

You do not know if the person has lost weight by following the proper rules of keto or if she or he lost by severe calorie restriction or if she or he lost by over exercising for two to three times a day. You do not know if the person has lost weight harmlessly.
Also the rate at which your body is going to shed fat depends upon your age, metabolism, hormonal status, sleep quality, gender ( yeah males lose faster than us, sigh !! )) and also your Genetics in some percentage.
So keep doing whatever you are doing and do not compare your progress or your journey with anyone because my dear you are unique  !

Last related mistake I would like to point out is obsessing about the weighing scale. Now I am a preacher over here and not a doer,  but I obsessed about weighing scale in the start. Because as you shred the water weight fast in the initial period you are going to see the weight coming off very fast and then its kinds of slow down. So do not expect the same amount of weight to drop off in the months to come.

Best way to track your progress is by taking full body images and comparing it month after month. Also, go ahead and measure your body parts or track your body fat percentage and see the progress every month by measuring the body fat lost. This is the Body fat composition analysis machine I used and tracked my progress from week 1 till now.

Some additional tips –

1] Having more vegetables and fibre. (Learn why more vegetables on keto )

2] Sleeping for 7+ hours or fixing your irregular sleep. You do not want elevated cortisol to ruin your fat loss rate. See how cortisol affects you. 

3] Not skipping electrolytes. Especially potassium- learn how potassium can indirectly affect fat loss. 

 

So make sure you avoid these mistakes or correct them before starting your ketogenic journey.

HAPPY 2018 TO YOU !

 

 

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