The ketogenic diet, which many people now use to lose weight, was developed to treat people with epilepsy. With this, many managed to reduce the manifestations of this "terrible" disease in their children, and some even completely forget its existence.
But due to the fact that progress does not stop, the ketogenic diet is very rarely used for this purpose. But among lovers of a slim, lean and vigorous body, she has become very popular.
After all, it helps to dry out the body, get rid of extra pounds and at the same time maintain muscle mass, something that not all diets can do. In addition, the ketogenic diet works well with exercise, further increasing its effectiveness.
Basic principles of diet
The ketogenic diet for weight loss is based on three basic concepts - protein, ketone and ketosis. Protein - its high presence in food prevents the body from drying out the muscles, instead it draws energy from fat deposits, thus reducing body fat, which leads to weight loss.
Ketone is a substitute for carbohydrates, which are our body's energy and are often stored in reserve. From a medical point of view, ketones are the products of the breakdown of fats. If this process is caused artificially (that is, completely eliminating the use of carbohydrates), then harmful substances will start to accumulate in the body, which in itself is dangerous.
Therefore, it is extremely important to understand that if you want to lose weight with a ketogenic diet, you must learn to artificially remove these substances from the body. And you can do this in several ways:
- drink plenty of fluids (toxins will simply be eliminated from the body and naturally excreted);
- play sports (during training, the body sweats and, along with sweat, toxins are released);
- 1-2 times a week to replenish glycogen stores, that is, eat foods rich in carbohydrates.
Note that the ketogenic diet does not completely exclude carbohydrates from the diet, but reduces them to 30 grams per day. This amount is not enough to keep glycogen stores in the normal range. For that, it is necessary to organize, so to speak, days of recovery. You need to eat the following - 5 days on protein only, 2 days on carbohydrate.
Diet menu
The ketogenic diet menu consists, as you already understood, of protein foods. This:
- a fish;
- Me at;
- eggs;
- cheese;
- cottage cheese;
- milk;
- kefir.
Vegetables are also allowed, maintaining this diet. But it should be borne in mind that they contain carbohydrates, so you must consume them too much. You can use the following menu (you can change something, but according to the directions it must be the same).
Breakfast
As a rule, most of us eat scrambled eggs in the morning. And since eggs are on the list of allowed foods, they can be used to make an omelet for breakfast. It is recommended to cook it with a pair of 2 eggs, without adding oil. You can eat the pure omelet or add 1 chopped tomato and vegetables.
So, let's count the carbs. Eggs contain approximately 0. 7 grams, tomatoes and herbs contain 5 grams each. In total, it appears that this breakfast contains only 11 grams of carbohydrates. Not bad.
Dinner
For lunch, you can cook any meat (100 grams) of your choice (except pork, as it is not a dietary product). Beef should be preferred. The meat can be boiled, steamed or roasted in the oven without oil. Stewed vegetable stew (100 gram portion) can serve as an accompaniment. You can also add a small piece of cheese (no more than 40 grams), a cucumber and fresh green lettuce to your lunch.
We count the amount of carbohydrates. Steamed vegetable stew contains about 7 grams, cucumber - 4 grams. There are no carbohydrates in meat and cheese. The total is only 11 grams.
Dinner
For dinner, instead of meat, you can eat a piece of fish (about 200 grams), add a couple of green salad leaves, a cucumber and a tomato. You can also eat a boiled egg. This dinner is light and will relieve you from the feeling of heaviness in your stomach.
Let's calculate the amount of carbohydrates for this dinner. Fish - in it, as in meat, there are no carbohydrates, an egg is about 0, 7 grams, a tomato is 5 grams, a fresh cucumber is 4 grams and lettuce is 1, 3 grams. The total is 12 grams.
And if you count the total carbohydrates eaten, you will have 34 grams. This is very small. If, while on a diet, you feel sleepy or notice that you start to tire quickly, you will need to increase the amount of carbohydrates consumed by about 2 times (up to 60 grams).
As this diet causes the artificial production of ketones, which can negatively affect the state of health, it is necessary to consult the doctor in advance. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting exacerbations or new illnesses as a "bonus".