What is the ketogenic diet?

At its core the ketogenic diet is a low carb, moderate fat diet that is effective at melting away body fat while preserving muscle.

On a low carb and low fat diet, the body will end up breaking down both bodyfat and muscle for energy.

However, on the ketogenic diet, you body develops a preference to burn body fat instead of muscle.

So this is a great diet if you want to show off your hard earned muscles.

But aren't higher fat diets unhealthy? A high fat diet is only unhealthy if you eat the wrong kinds of fat. As a rule, you wan't to avoid trans fats. On the other hand, monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats are actually healthy sources of fat.

You don't have to shy away from saturated fat either. Intake of saturated fat does not affect your cholesterol profile negatively.

Our cell membranes actually require some saturated fat. Yes, saturated fat does increase your LDL cholesterol but it also increases your HDL along with it. So you don't have to worry about an imbalanced cholesterol profile.

Now that we know that you don't have to afraid of dietary fats, let go over how to start the ketogenic diet.

Starting the ketogenic diet

You will want to switch your body's metabolism to fat burning mode. People who are on high carb diets will be in sugar burning mode so the metabolic switch has to take place before you can begin this diet.

The switch is activated by going on a high fat and low carb diet. To get the metabolic switch activated, you should start eating a high amount of dietary fat.

A high fat and low carb diet forces your body to switch to fat burning mode. I suggest that you get most of your dietary fat from nuts, olive oil, mayo, and dairy.

You will be getting most of your calories from dietary fat. Keeping the fat grams high will also reduce the lethargy that you may experience from the low amount of carbs.

It can take up to 2 weeks to switch. Once you start to feel energetic, you are most likely in fat burning mode.

Once your body is adapted to burning fat, you will want to reduce your fat intake. The reduction of fat will cause a caloric deficit.

At this point, you will want your calories to be low so that you can start losing fat weight. Make sure that your daily fat intake is at least 60 to 70 grams.

Now lets talk about protein requirements. Use this formula to find out your protein intake.

Lean body mass x 1.25

To get your lean body mass, you must know your bodyfat percentage. You can use the accumeasure caliper to get an accurate reading. After you get your percentage, multiply it by your bodyweight and that tells you how much fat you have. Subtract your fat weight from your total body weight to get your lean body mass.

So lets say we have a 200 pound man with 12% bodyfat. His lean mass is 200 -(200 x 0.12), which gives us 176 pounds. So we multiply 176 by 1.25 and this gives us 220. So he must eat 220 grams of protein everyday.

Carbs should be kept low at around 30 grams per day. If you have trouble functioning on 30 grams a day, bump it up to 40 grams.

Carb ups

Once you are in fat burning mode, you will want to carb up for once a week. These carb ups will give you a boost in the gym and will also make dieting easier. You can decide to cheat a little on a carb up day.

General guidelines for carb up day:

Keep protein constant Keep fat intake low Most of your calories will come from carbs

Don't worry about calories on a carb up day. Eat till you are satisfied. Just make sure you don't pig out.

Having one cheat day will not derail your fat loss progress because you are on a low calorie diet most of the week and your carb intake is also low. Just don't go overboard.

Sample ketogenic diet meal plan

High fat phase:

Breakfast:
4 eggs
4 slices of bacon
shredded cheese
berries

Morning snack:
almonds

Lunch:
Low carb tortilla
ground beef patty
guacamole
shredded cheese
salsa
sour cream

Afternoon meal:
Buffalo chicken wings
celery sticks
blue cheese dip

Dinner:
Steak
brocoli
cheese

Post workout shake:
2 scoops of whey protein

Bedtime meal:
Whey protein mixed with Fage yogurt

After you swith to fat burning mode, you will want to lower your fat intake. I have made made a sample meal plan for this phase as well.

Diet phase:

Breakfast:
4 egg whites
4 slices of bacon
berries

Morning snack:
beef jerky

Lunch:
Low carb tortilla
Tuna with mayo
lettuce

Afternoon meal:
lean beef rounds
brocoli

Dinner:
chicken salad(chicken breast, lettuce, olive oil, tomatoes)

Post workout shake:
2 scoops of whey protein

Bedtime meal:
Whey protein mixed with Fage yogurt

Carb up day:

Breakfast:
oat meal
low fat milk
fruit

Morning snack:
sweet potato

Lunch:
whole wheat pasta
chicken breast
vegetables

Afternoon meal:
sweet potato

Dinner:
lean beef
baked potato
vegetables

Post workout shake:
2 scoops of whey protein

Bedtime meal:
Whey protein and oatmeal

The ketogenic diet is very effective in causing fat loss and preserving muscle. Your dieting efforts will pay off. Return from Ketogenic Diet to Six Pack Abs


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