10 Awesome Keto Diet Hacks to Melt Body Fat
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If you’re familiar with dieting practices from the 70s and 80s, you’ll know that so-called health “experts” would recommend that zero fat diets were not only essential for weight loss, but that they were also essential for leading a healthy lifestyle. Fat was demonized and was blamed for virtually every health ailment that you could think of. Bad knee? Fat’s to blame. Got the flu? You’ve eaten too much fat. Not landed that promotion at work yet? It’s obviously fat’s fault. Instead, we were told to follow zero-fat diets containing foods created in a lab as opposed to produced naturally. Instead of grass-fed butter we were given margarine which was allegedly a healthy replacement. Decades later, and we now know that margarine is one of the most dangerous and unhealthy ingredients in the world, and that natural, grass-fed butter is very good for us. Fat is not the enemy, fat is our friend, which is why keto diets are now so popular. If you’re on keto, here you’ll find 10 awesome hacks to make the process much easier.
Why fat is not to be feared
As we mentioned in our intro, years ago, fat was blamed for weight gain, heart disease, cancer, strokes, dementia, and any other health issue you could think of. As we’ve made so many advancements when it comes to modern medicine, science, technology, and common sense to be perfectly honest, we now know that not all fat is to be feared. In fact, there are many fat sources out there that are literally essential for optimal health and function. Unhealthy fats are hydrogenated trans fats found in processed junk food, and some forms of saturated fat found in non-natural foods, I.E processed junk once more (see a pattern yet?). Healthy fats however, are typically monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and natural saturated fats. People often assume that all saturated fats are bad, yet coconut oil, which is one of the healthiest ingredients in the world, is literally composed of more than 99% saturated fat. Unhealthy fats increase our LDL cholesterol, which can cause blockages and fatty deposits to be left in our arteries. Healthy fats, however, help to increase good cholesterol levels (HDL cholesterol), they’re beneficial for the heart, they help lower blood pressure, they’re great for the brain, they help fight inflammation, they boost the metabolism, they provide energy, they balance our hormones, and they can even help to assist with weight loss. That’s right, eating fat can help to speed up weight loss, which is more evident than ever, when you look at the keto diet.
Keto diet hacks
Assuming that you know what the ketogenic diet is, it’s important to know how to get the most from the diet. Just to ensure that there’s no confusion, the keto diet is a diet plan in which individuals cut out carbs almost entirely and instead focus on protein and fats as their two primary macronutrients. The keto diet is a low carb, moderate protein, high fat diet which, if done correctly, can yield hugely impressive weight loss results. To ensure that you get more from your diet, here are 15 impressive keto diet hacks to try.
To some, this may not sound like a hack, but rather, a simple example of common sense. Keto diets are low carbs, so of course you should avoid carbs. The keyword here, however, is ‘hidden’. You see, on keto, you can eat foods like sausage, bacon, and eggs for breakfast, and still lose weight. However, in some foods, you will actually find hidden carbs. Sausages for example, can sometimes be bulked out with wheat and rusk, which contain carbs. Carbs can knock you out of ketosis, which can then result in weight gain. You should also avoid sauces and condiments, which often contain sugar, which is rich in carbs. Even if it’s a small drizzle, the carbs still add up. The best thing to do is to read the ingredients of each food you consume. Ideally you want meat that is pretty-much 100% meat, so just be wary of hidden carbs.
Try cauliflower rice
Rice is a very common and popular food in many people’s diets, and with a curry it can’t be beaten. However, the problem with rice if you’re doing keto, is the fact that the rice is packed full of carbohydrates. Carbs are a definite no-no when it comes to keto, so does that mean you can’t have rice? Well, you can’t eat traditional rice, but you can find a suitable replacement. Cauliflower rice has been found to be a fantastic substitute for regular rice, as it has the same texture, can be prepared in a very similar way, it tastes great, and it is virtually carb-free. You can make your own by simply shredding a raw cauliflower, or you can now purchase it in many health and grocery stores. There are heaps of cauliflower rice recipes out there to choose from, so take a look and see what takes your fancy.
Make cauliflower dough pizza
Pizza is one of the greatest things in the entire world. No really, it is. Pizza solves all of life’s troubles, Well, all except matters regarding weight loss. Until now! As you know, pizza is made with a dough, which typically contains refined white flour, water, oil, seasonings, and sugar. It is also topped with a sugary tomato sauce before being finished with cheese and various other toppings. It is therefore, hardly the perfect low carb diet food as it’s loaded full of carbs. Does that mean that you can kiss pizza goodbye on keto? Nope. Again, thanks to good ole cauliflower you can make your very own “dough” with cauliflower, or buy your own, top it with a low-sugar tomato sauce, cheese, veggies, meat, and anything else you can think of, as long as it is low carb. As long as the ingredients are low in carbs, you can go wild. Cauliflower dough pizza when baked, is thin, crispy, delicious, and low in carbs. It’s the perfect food for satisfying your cravings for pizza, without breaking your diet.
Get into the habit of making your own lunch
During the week, most people are busy at work. Usually, they’ll either head into town and find somewhere to eat on their lunch break, or they’ll raid the vending machine, or eat at the café. The problem is that, other than chicken salad, it can be tough to find a low-carb meal. Even if you do find a seemingly low-carb meal, you don’t know what other ingredients the food contains. To make life easier for you, we recommend that you get into the habit of making your own lunch and taking it in with you the following day. You could make salads, you could take cold slices of pre-made cauliflower pizza, low-carb wraps, bun-free burgers, and plenty more besides. When you make your own lunch, you are in control as you know precisely what’s going into it, and you know precisely how many carbs it contains.
Replace regular flour with keto-friendly flours
Because ketogenic diets are so popular, and because, as a whole, we are more tolerant of other people’s dietary requirements, you’ll now find that there are more keto-friendly flours out there than ever before. Believe it or not, but you can bake breads, cakes, muffins, wraps, and other similar items on keto, and still lose weight. This is because you can purchase keto-friendly flours such as almond flour, or coconut flour, which work just as well as regular flour. Using these flours means that you can bake delicious foods when you have the time, and can make your diet healthier and easier to stick to. If you’re looking for inspiration, just hop online and you’ll find plenty of options and ideas.
Eat your veggies
One of the most appealing aspects of the keto diet is the fact that you can enjoy certain foods which, ordinarily, would be off limits on a conventional diet. A bacon, egg, and cheese omelette for breakfast on a regular diet for example, would contain hundreds of calories and far too much fat to start your day off with if you wanted to lose weight. On keto however, you can have your fill. That does NOT mean that you should not eat vegetables. Vegetables are incredibly healthy and good for you, and they are vital on keto. Avoid sweeter veggies like carrots and peas and focus on green leafy veggies as these are low in carbs, high in taste, and high in nutrients. You need to ensure that you’re getting plenty of vitamins and minerals on this diet, so try to get some veggies with each meal.
Buy veggies in bulk
To make your life easier, and slightly cheaper as well, rather than heading to the grocery store every couple of days to buy veggies, instead buy a week’s worth in bulk. For even more savings, buy them when they’re on sale. If you buy them on sale you can wash them, prep them, and store them in the freezer. Frozen vegetables, as long as they are protected from direct contact with the cold air, will retain virtually all of their nutrients and will keep for months. Rather than being pumped full of chemical preservatives, freezing the veggies is basically nature’s way of preserving them. If you buy them in bulk you can stock up so you needn’t worry about running out.
Get enough fat
People that try keto for the first time actually sometimes fail to eat enough fat. Yep, as bizarre as that sounds, people do follow high fat diets and decide against eating fat. Usually it’s because they can’t fathom the fact that eating fat can help them to get lean. The bottom line is that, if you follow keto, you need to make sure that you are getting enough fat on a daily basis. Do not focus on protein, but rather, focus on healthy fat sources. Salmon, avocado, almond butter, nuts, seeds, cream, cheese, oily fish, whole eggs, and fatty red meats are all great sources of good fats, which you will need for energy whilst following the keto diet. If you aren’t willing to eat healthy fats to lose weight, keto isn’t the diet for you unfortunately.
Have keto-friendly treats on the road
If you’re at home, work, or in a routine, after a while, sticking to a keto diet will become a second nature to you. However, for times when you’re on the road, either with work, the family, friends, or for anything else, you need to be prepared. If you’re travelling for a long time and hunger sets in, finding tasty keto-friendly foods can be tricky. If you’re heading abroad on a long flight for example, you’d struggle to find keto-friendly snacks on an airline. Your only real options would be to try to make do with whatever you could find, which would probably consist of a piece of meat or two, and maybe a soggy piece of lettuce, or to just break your diet and knock your body out of ketosis. If you pack yourself some keto-friendly snacks however, you can fight off hunger without breaking your diet. Natural nuts are great for starters, though you could get more adventurous and make things like, chicken salad rollups with lettuce leaves, or mushroom bun burgers.
Stop drinking vile diet sodas
One thing that really grinds our gears, is the number of people that follow keto diets, and bottle after bottle of diet soda. Diet soda is a vile creation that should be banned. It is crammed full of chemicals, including artificial sweeteners which have been linked to cancer, migraine, metabolic syndrome, ADHD, and much more besides, and it generally sucks. What’s more, drinking it could literally slow your weight loss down as the chemicals it contains have been found to suppress the metabolism. If your metabolism is slow, you’ll lose weight slower and you’ll have less energy. To stay hydrated, drink fresh mineral water instead. It is much, much, much better for you, and it will help boost your metabolism in the process.
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