Keto persuaded the world for two main reasons. First- It works. The diet leads to weight and fat loss and reduced cravings. Second –it makes you feel great. People on the diet state they have increased mental functioning and are leaner, happier, and more focused. It all takes daily consistent work though to make sure you don’t fall back into bad habits.
The lack of carbohydrates leads to nutritional ketosis, wherein your body burns fatty acids for energy instead of glucose. When you haven't eaten any sugar and cut out carbs from your diet, your body lowers and stabilizes blood sugar levels and stored fat is being used for energy, respectively. Both of these benefits from the diet also lead to weight loss.
For decades, dietary fat was the worst to consume; however, turns out fat wasn’t the enemy. It was the excess sugar and carbohydrates. The irony is that the consumption of healthy fats is one way to get your lean body back.
Tracking net carbohydrates isn’t total carbs consumed - subtracting dietary fiber taken in will get the daily net carbs. Eating too many carbohydrates may unknowingly take you out of ketosis making you feel tired and sluggish.
Weight loss approach – calories in vs. calories out still makes a big difference. Remaining in a caloric deficit within 200-500range to sustain weight is important. Many people think by drastically reducing their caloric intake they will lose weight faster, but if you drop below the 500 calorie deficit, your metabolism slows down, making it impossible to burn fat.
Just because a keto diet may give you more food choice freedoms than other diets, it doesn’t mean you get to ignore basic nutritional guidelines. You can’t just think about the macro numbers without taking into account how you achieved those numbers. Did you eat enough electrolytes? Drink plenty of water? Did you eat any processed food? All of these other healthy eating habits need to be remembered and followed to achieve success.
Sources: What Is Ketosis, and How Does It Affect Weight Loss?
