Imagine this: you can eat as many calories as you want, but those calories have to be 75 percent fat, 20 percent protein and five percent carbohydrates. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Well, it's reality.
It's called the ketogenic diet.
What's on the menu, you may ask? Bacon, butter, steak and veggies with as much full-fat ranch or butter as you want. The science behind this diet is real and well-researched. The diet triggers your body to stop using carbohydrates as fuel and switches over to using stored and incoming fats for energy. In fact, the ketogenic diet has been proven to lowerblood sugar, blood pressure, cholesteroland even eliminate epilepsy.
While the weight loss and health benefits blow most diets out of the water, it takes major commitment to stick to it. On the ketogenic diet, there are no cheat days because going over 20 grams of carbs a day is likely to reset your body to burn carbs for energy again. Going back into ketosis takes two to four days as long as you stick to your 20 grams of carbohydrates per day, but the health benefits will be stalled again.
The best way to enter this diet is to do as much research as possible and to find low-carb replacements for your favorite high-carb meals. On the list of restrictions include potatoes, beans, rice, bread and anything made with sugar. If you are the type to eat lots of fruit, this diet is not for you.
Some replacement ideas include jicama fries instead of french fries, pork rinds instead of chips, or bread crumbs and vodka tonic instead of vodka cranberry. The list goes on, and people are constantly working to find new and innovative ways to replace their favorite high-carb meals and snacks. If you are interested in this new way of eating, be it for your health or the challenge, start with finding a community of people to assist you on your journey. Good places to find a community are Facebook and Instagram.