The Ketogenic Diet - Keto For Beginners

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Hi, dolls!

Today, instead of doing another beauty-related blog post, I decided to talk to you about a diet which I have recently started and share my experience with you. Many of you asked me on twitter to share my thoughts on the diet on my blog, therefore I decided to put it all into one post and share all the important information with those of you that are interested and want to find out more about the Keto Diet. 


What is Keto? 
The Ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat epilepsy. While you eat far fewer carbohydrates, you increase your intake of fat. The reduction in carb intake puts your body in a metabolic state called ketosis, where loads of your fat is burned for energy. The Ketogenic diet is pretty simple, as you eat mostly healthy fats which turns to be 75/70% of your daily calories, some protein which is 20% of your daily calories and a very small amount of carbs which is around 5% of your daily calories count. This is the usual breakdown that a lot of Keto beginners follow, but you may have to adjust these numbers to see what works best for you and your body.

What made me start the diet?
For a long time I have been wanting to go on a diet that will actually work for me and at the same time make me enjoy it. None of the diets I've tried before worked - I either gave up too early or cheated to the point I stopped the diet. I read a lot about Keto before going on it and researched it for around 2 months before actually making the decision to start it. I feel like I lacked the motivation to actually start it until one day where I woke up and decided to give it a go. It was pretty random I must say to feel so motivated all of the sudden but the great news is that ever since the day (03/10/19) I have been on it and it's been very successful for me, but will go into more detail about it in a bit. Last year has been very stressful to me and I've gained a lot of weight because I turned to food every time I felt bad or simply because with work and uni life, I basically lived in my car and having to travel so much on a daily basis made me turn to fast foods and takeaways as I had no time to eat any properly cooked meals. This year after graduating I promised myself to find the motivation and finally take care of my body to finally start being happy about it. 

My Experience with Keto
I have to say that so far my experience with Keto has been sooo good! I love this diet because although there are many restrictions with what I can eat, I still get to eat some of the stuff I would normally eat, so it's not too bad! I try and not weight myself as often because for me it's not only to lose weight but it's also to feel good with myself, which I started to do recently. However, in one month, I have lost 1 stone (14 pounds/7kg) which I am very happy with! I'm not a professional and I don't know much about diets, so I'm not sure whether or not losing 1 stone in a whole month is a good result, but for me it is. I struggled a lot in the past to lose any weight, and on my previous diet I only managed to lose 3kgs in one month, so this diet definitely has surprised me positively and these results motivated me to keep going even more. 

How long should you be on Keto for?
Firstly, to start off your diet the right way, it takes around 2-5 days for your body to enter ketosis and for the diet to begin properly. So, although you cut off carbs from your life on day 1 of your diet, it takes around 5 days to enter ketosis as this is usually the amount of days your body keeps the carbs you have previously eaten for. Some people may find that they need a week or longer to enter ketosis as it varies depending on factors such as your age, your metabolism, exercise level and current carb/protein/fat intake. Once you start your diet, there isn't really a time that tells you when to stop it. I read that in some cases people carry it on for 8 weeks and take a break and in other cases people just stay on the diet forever as its proven to benefit your health. I think it all depends on what you would like to gain with the diet, and of course it's important to remember that once coming off the diet, it is very easy to gain back the lost weight if we turn towards carbs too quickly again. 

Most important rule on Keto
Most important rule on the Ketogenic diet is to NOT cheat the diet. Although having a cheat day in other diets is usually okay, cheating in the Keto Diet is impossible. This is because if you intake carbs for one day, your body will store them for longer than you think, therefore you would have to wait another week to go back to ketosis and it's really just a very long process to cheat and get back on. Plus, cheating Keto will definitely make the results worse, so just stick to it once you decide to go on it. I must say at first it was really hard to give up sugar and carbs, but once you get into ketosis, you stop craving it. I always thought what they say about carbs and sugar making you crave it more was total bullcrap but I realised it's totally true. Ever since I cut off carbs and sugar from my diet, I never once in the month craved any of those two. Also, I started to get full on less but I did become more thirsty and find myself drink more water now than ever. I would say, if you really really need to have something close to a cheat-day, turn to Coke Zero or one piece of cheesecake, because both either have zero or very small carbs count that can become your cheat meals but at the same time keep you in the ketosis state and not lose your progress.

What should I eat on Keto?
There are so many Keto-friendly foods out there. 
Here's some of them: 

- Berries
- Avocados
- Olives
- Tea/Coffee without Sugar
- Low-carb veggies 
- Cheese
- Meat and Poultry 
- Fish
- Seafood
- Eggs
- Butter
- Coconut Oil
- Dark Chocolate
- Cocoa Powder
- Olive Oil
- Greek Yoghurt/Natural Yoghurt
- Cottage Cheese
- Cheese
- Nuts and Seeds

My Keto advice to you
Lastly, my advice to those of you that want to try Keto Diet or are already on it but want more information - get an app that tracks what you eat in the day and make sure to be very honest with it. It will count your carbs, protein and fat intake and you will know what you are allowed to eat for the day and in how many portions. I found that to be very helpful for me and it taught me many things such as I can still go and enjoy a Big Mac in McDonald's as long as I eat it without the bun. Who said Keto isn't fun? There are so many fun recipes that you can follow on Keto and find alternatives to your favourite carbs that will make you enjoy the diet and not feel like you just want to end it or cheat. 

Final Thoughts
I honestly really enjoy the diet and I am so happy that I decided to give it ago. Having an app that tells me what I can or can't eat was very helpful to me in the beginning because it counts my carbs intake for the day and I know when to stop and what not to eat to not ruin my diet. I still eat fun things such as Big Macs (without the bun), drink Coke Zero or eat cheesecake (one or two pieces max!) because as long as you control your carb intake you can still be smart and eat good on it as well as lose weight. Lastly, be patient and only go on a diet or carry on with one that makes you happy and never force yourself to go on a diet that you are not ready for! 

I hope that you enjoyed this post, I normally never post about anything other than beauty related stuff but many of you asked me on twitter to talk about the diet on my blog, so I hope I answered some of your questions in here. Please remember that I am not a dietitian or a doctor and I was simply informing you about my experience with the diet, so if there is anything you don't agree with, I simply stated what has worked for me based on my research. Good luck to any of you that are thinking of starting this diet or any other. Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are on the Ketogenic diet and if you are on any diets are the moment! xo

PS. Make sure to follow my blog if you haven't already by simply clicking HERE

Love, Olivia xo

14 comments

  1. Well, I'm on a special diet for Interstitial Cystitis, a chronic & painful condition in which the lining of the bladder is disrupted and everything that the bladder wall is supposed to protect u from (all the toxins in your urine), it stops that protection and in a nutshell, you are in an incredible amount of pain 24/7. Anyways, the IC diet rules out lots of fatty meat, spices, citrus, and yes it is a HORRIBLE diet as far as your weight is concerned bc it's kinda ass backwards, saying that if it's white it is nice, so bread, sugar, white tea, avoiding any red dyes or red food at all is pretty much the basics. Terrible huh? PLUS the disease causes massive swelling of the bladder and I have Endometriosis, which also causes swelling of the belly, both coined with the term "swelly belly". At my last pre op appt, my Dr just looked at my stomach and said well, I can tell you're really sick again....it SUCKS bc post op, I'll lose 20-25 pounds in 1-2 months and it keeps coming off as inflammed tissue goes back to normal. But then those microscopy endometriosis cells divide and divide again and feed off themselves and the Endo starts to take over all over again. No cure for either issue#. If I didn't have such issues, if I wasn't sick, I'd def be doing this diet. Sounds perfect for me...can u eat chicken and fish and beef? I'm good with lots of meat and veggies, but I've heard fruit and even lots of veggies have too much sugar/carbs for the diet...I could let go for a year or so, but not forever, I love my raw fruit and veggies too much to give up forever.
    Love the post, different but still interesting to read about
    Love ya doll!!❤️❤️❤️
    P.S. how many pounds = a stone? Whatever the case I'm super proud of you for sticking with the diet & not cheating!!����

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    1. Many fruits/veggies are not allowed because of their large carbs count but there are many low-carb ones you can turn to, for example berries and most green veggies. You can eat chicken as long as its grilled, all fish and seafood are Keto friendly! Fresh meat and poultry contain no carbs so they're also a go-to on Keto.

      I wish you all the best with your health doll! x

      Ps. 1 stone is 14 pounds

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  2. I need more info. Is it just no carbs and no sugar?

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    1. Hi doll. Yes, on Keto you limit your carbs to 5% of your daily calorie intake, and you want to cut off sugars too.

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  3. I think you losing 14 lbs in a month is terrific. Unfortunately no diet will help my issue. I have malabsorption. So my body doesn't absorb much nutrients from what I eat. And my belly looks like the advertising for feed the children.

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    1. Thank you!! And oh no, that doesn't sound too good. Hoping for better health for you doll! xo

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  4. omg im so proud of you and how come youve come with this diet! well done!! I have never been on one myself but If I ever will consider one this one is on top of my list! good luck hope you carry on as good as you have so far

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    1. Thank you doll! Yes, if you ever need it check it with your doctor but if you're all fine to go on it you will love Keto! xx

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  5. Well done! Super proud of you chica

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  6. Yay thank you for making this!!! - creates_sparkle

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  7. Keto diet is popular and effective method. I really like it. For losing weight Dietary supplements for weight loss also helps a lot

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