Tasty, rich foods paired with creamy, hearty sauces help you lose weight!It seems absurd at first glance, but a low-carb, high-fat diet is a great way to enjoy eating while losing weight.
Keto diet – a fight against fat in the name of slimness
Fat is a unique flavor enhancer that makes our foods particularly appetizing.After all, how can a dry chicken breast compare to a juicy piece of pork in a cheese sauce?Same thing.
If you eat enough fatty foods, limiting your carbohydrate intake to a minimum, diet nutrition will open up to you in a new light - tasty, juicy and nutritious!
Very soon we will move on to the TOP 10 methods, but for now let's briefly consider the principle of the keto diet - how it works, forcing the body to lose weight, but at the same time eliminating the feeling of hunger and bad mood so typical for dietary restrictions.
The basis of the ketogenic diet is high-fat foods, with an optimal amount of protein and a minimal amount of carbohydrates.The portion of the latter should not exceed 25 g per day (the optimal amount is between 20 and 25 g).
The easiest way to produce energy for our body is glucose, the source of which is carbohydrates of all types (such as an apple with two dozen carbohydrates, as well as buns and sweets).But as soon as the intake of this substance is limited, our system begins to use the ketones produced in the liver as fuel.
Ketosis is triggered, a natural process in the body that usually comes into play when experiencing extreme hunger.For example, if even the smallest piece of food does not appear in the stomach for several days, the body begins to lack glucose (the energy source has dried up), so it recruits ketones to work.
In this way, the keto diet helps you lose weight, not because of hunger, but because of the low intake of carbohydrates at the “transformation workshop”.As soon as the body began to use fats as a source of vital energy, it begins to actively “eat” fats from food, as well as those that “decorate” our sides, stomach and other parts of the body.
Therefore, with a keto diet, it is important to remember the main thing: your diet should contain as many fats as possible - they will lead the body to slimness.Contrary to popular belief (fat makes you gain weight, it is harmful, etc.), do not be afraid of fatty foods, because as part of a low-carbohydrate diet, they will be extremely beneficial for the body.
With a ketogenic diet, you will always feel full, cheerful and in a good mood, because fatty foods perfectly satisfy your hunger for a long time, and the pleasant creamy taste of food does not allow you to feel deprived of delicious dishes.
This is exactly what happens with other diets with a strict restriction on the amount of cheese, for example, or a complete ban on juicy kebab from a piece of fatty pork.
TOP 10 – we eat fat and tasty!
In some cases, the keto diet can be problematic for people who are not used to eating a lot of fatty foods.Therefore, we are talking about 10 ways to eat more natural fats, receiving comprehensive benefits - both the pleasure of eating and effective weight loss.
1. Start with whole foods high in fat
It's time to say goodbye to low-fat or low-fat foods.Empty your refrigerator and kitchen cupboards of dried egg mixes instead of real eggs, artificial cream, and low-fat peanut butter.Now your breakfast, lunch or dinner will be truly delicious!
Get rid of any foods labeled “light” or “diet”: they have no place in your stomach on the keto diet.Replace skimmed milk with the fattest one, enjoy heavy cream of 20% or more, eat cottage cheese with a fat content of 9% and enjoy the delicate, creamy taste of food.
By the way, if you can't find whole milk or yogurt in a nearby store, feel free to buy a low-fat product, because you can increase the fat content yourself.For example, add a few tablespoons of heavy cream or sour cream to a 1% yogurt drink.
Review your entire shopping list.Your goal is to stock your refrigerator with high-fat, whole foods, including avocados and chicken eggs.
When preparing dishes, try to add natural fats to them and do not avoid them out of old habit.Fry eggs in melted butter, eat your favorite high-fat hard cheeses.
In a word, do not deprive yourself of the pleasure of eating tasty and fatty dishes!By the way, you can easily make natural ice cream from cream - just whip it and put it in the freezer.In an hour, your treat will be ready.Use strawberries or apricots as a sweetener - they contain minimal carbohydrates (5 g for half a cup of strawberries and 8 g for 2 large apricots).
From now on, favor fatty meats.Additionally, it is more aromatic, tender and inexpensive, unlike its low-fat counterparts.Include fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines in your diet - they are high in fat, so they will be a great addition to your menu.
2. Cook with added fat
Don't be afraid to pour so much oil into the pan that the bits of food literally swim in it.No longer do you have to steam vegetables or cook dry chicken breasts without a drop of fat in foil.Cook low-carb vegetables, fish, meat or eggs with natural fats.
This will make your food even more appetizing and nutritious.Use only the amount of fat needed to prepare the dish.You can always throw away the leftovers, there is absolutely no point eating them with a spoon.
3. Use different fats - this will diversify the taste of food
Fats can easily change the taste of foods, which is a great way to expand the range of taste sensations for each day of the ketogenic diet.The simplest option is to boil the green beans and season them with a piece of butter to get a pleasant aftertaste.
Do you like it fatter?Then fry the beans in oil and finally drizzle with sesame oil - you will get a wonderful dish.It is not forbidden to sprinkle the beans with a spoon of sesame seeds (this will enhance the taste and add a little more fat, which will help the body lose weight).
Experiments are welcome!Don't be afraid to try new combinations of foods and natural fats to see which foods you like best.Make a healthy intake of several types of fats at once, which can be stored in the refrigerator or kitchen cabinets:
- vegetable oil;
- olive and coconut;
- lard (in any form);
- sesame oil;
- avocado and peanut oil;
- pumpkin seed oil;
- nut oils (macadamia, almond, etc.);
- chicken, duck fat and other types of animal fats.
Use oil everywhere: on a sandwich, in salads, for boiling, simmering or frying foods.
4. Stock up on a list of low-carb recipes
It is not at all difficult as it seems.Write down a dozen simple recipes in a separate notebook so that you don't have to rack your brains every time over what delicious thing to cook for breakfast or dinner.The most important thing is that there are practically no carbohydrates in the dishes.
Here are some first ideas for your dishes:
- Chicken casserole with feta cheese and olives.Only 6g of carbs, and cooking is as easy as shelling pears: mix the ingredients and bake until golden brown, don't forget to coat the chicken with spices and butter.
- Meat cutlets in creamy tomato sauce with side dish of stewed cabbage(with butter, of course).Only 10 g of carbohydrates versus the charming taste of fried schnitzel with fragrant and hearty sauce.
- Keto roast pork pancakes.Only 8 g of carbohydrates and a breathtaking taste delight!Use heavy cream and almond flour to make these pancakes, and don't forget to season the finished dish with melted butter.
- Hamburger with an airy egg bun, fried meat, cheese, vegetables and herbs.This dish will replace any fast food, and will only provide 7g of carbohydrates!By the way, the “bun” itself is very simple to prepare: you just need to beat the yolks and whites separately, then mix into a single mass and bake in the oven.You probably already know how to fry meat.Enjoy your food!
Low-carb recipes will help you eat deliciously and, most importantly, consume plenty of fat, which is so necessary for losing weight on the keto diet.
5. Cover prepared foods with oil, sauce or rich dressing.
Do this with everything you eat.It is not necessary to swallow olive oil with tablespoons, but adding it to a vegetable salad is your sacred duty.Even avocado, known for being a very fatty food, goes well with an oil vinaigrette.
There are countless options for sauces:
- pure vegetable oils mixed with herbs and seasonings;
- cheese and cream sauces, as well as their combinations (tomato, mushroom, etc.);
- melted butter or everyone’s “cursed” mayonnaise.
Always add natural fats to your diet, as this is the basis of the keto diet.
6. Pretty food = fatty food.Decorate your dishes with fatty foods!
For some reason, when we hear the word "fat," our minds draw awkward pictures of an unsightly piece of lard or, even worse, fat on our own bodies.So it's time to think in the opposite direction, because fat sometimes looks great, not to mention tastes!
Find out what you can use to decorate your dishes:
- fatty cheeses;
- avocado slices;
- olives and seeds;
- jerky;
- chopped macadamia nuts;
- roasted sesame, almonds;
- avocado, tomato and herb puree;
- slices of bacon or brisket;
- pine nuts.
These simple foods add variety to the flavor of your food, provide your body with nutrients and, of course, lots of fat!They can be added to almost any dish and are a great support for your keto meal plan.
7. Check snacks: Are they safe to contain fat?
It is best to avoid snacks and various entrees in any diet, but sometimes they are great for curbing hunger, allowing you to feel full until the next meal.If you are hungry, choose fatty snacks.It can be cheese, nuts or hard-boiled chicken eggs.
8. Always keep a stock of cheese in the refrigerator
Because cheese is the best complement to any food.It works great as a snack and can be eaten for breakfast or as a snack.Use cheese as a topping - it works great both as a stand-alone dish (for example, a spicy cheese topping in the form of tightly rolled schnitzel balls) and as an aesthetic touch to the main course (in the form of nuggets).
Prepare amazing creamy cheese desserts and enjoy the taste for breakfast or dinner.Choose any type of fatty cheese with minimal carbohydrate content - this high-calorie product will quickly fill your stomach and leave you satisfied with your meal.
9. Add fat to drinks
Your tea, coffee or hot milk will sparkle with an inimitable taste if it contains a spoonful of aromatic fats.For example, melt butter or coconut oil in a bowl.It will take no more than 30 seconds, but the aftertaste of the drink will delight your taste buds for another 15 minutes.
Heavy cream or thick country sour cream from farm stores goes well with hot drinks.And if you add butter to a glass of warm milk, you can not only lose weight, but also forget about seasonal colds.Such a simple snack will solve two problems at once: quench your thirst and fill your stomach.
While you are carried away by fatty foods and dream of a slim body, do not forget about a reasonable approach to business.After all, an excess of fatty foods in some cases risks giving the opposite result: stopping the process of weight loss or sharply increasing cholesterol levels.
Especially if you drink the drink on a full stomach, providing the body with tons of excess energy.This tool is powerful – use it wisely.
10. Which dessert to choose on a keto diet?
The first tip for all dieters is to skip dessert.But as in the case of snacking, it is sometimes difficult to deprive yourself of the little pleasure that is so lacking when you lose weight.
If you're determined to treat yourself to something delicious, choose recipes that are high in fat and low in sugar, including artificial sweeteners.Unsweetened whipped cream (30% fat or more) with raspberries is an ideal choice for a keto dessert.
You can diversify the gourmet menu with large vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom bombs.These “candies” go well with tea or coffee, invariably cheering up those who are losing weight.By the way, these “bombs” contain only 0.4 g of carbohydrates.Write down the recipe, because they are prepared simply and very quickly!
What you will need:
- 85 g butter (preferably unleavened);
- 0.5 grated coconut (no added sugars);
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cardamom (green);
- 0.5 teaspoon of vanilla extract;
- 0.5 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
How to cook:
- Heat the oil to room temperature.
- Fry the coconut flakes until golden brown.
- Mix the butter, most of the chips, spices and place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
- Once the mixture has hardened slightly, form it into small balls, roll it in the remaining toasted coconut and enjoy!
This dessert can be easily stored in the refrigerator and freezer (the shelf life is the same as the oil you used).
How to improve weight loss effect with keto diet?
Fats make our life tastier, healthier and easier in the truest sense of the word, but moderation is important in everything.At each meal, eat moderate portions, do not overeat.The best advice is to leave the table slightly hungry, because the feeling of fullness comes a little later than at the end of the meal.
If it turns out that you are hungry, this can always be corrected with a small portion of fatty foods, but if you overeat, the diet can be considered a failure.Watch your diet: make sure you consume lots of fats and few carbohydrates.Do not deviate from the designated course, as this is the basis of the keto diet.
If you want to get maximum results, take a look at some helpful tips below.
1. Make onboarding easy.
At the beginning of a carbohydrate-free journey, fatty foods may seem too high in fat to the body - this is normal, so your task is to wait out the "storm".When switching to a new food system, the body and taste buds begin to adapt gradually, you just need to give them a little time (on average 2 to 4 weeks).
During this period, try to eat more neutral fatty foods (for example, avocado, cheese and meat fried in a small amount of oil).A smooth transition to foods higher in fat will relieve you of hunger and allow your body to get used to a new source of energy without unnecessary stress.
Once you achieve balance on the path to addiction, the feeling of hunger after a “light and fat” diet will diminish.From the body's point of view, this indicates that the adaptation has been successful and that access to the transformation of fats as fuel is completely open (there is no longer any supply of glucose accumulated from foods rich in carbohydrates).
2. Watch your appetite
If you have adapted to the keto diet more than perfectly, but your stomach has become too demanding on the volume of food, then it's time to experiment: try reducing the amount of natural fats added to food (at the cooking stage or in the finished dish).
When you are hungry, always choose foods high in fat over foods high in carbohydrates.The latter will ruin your efforts to lose weight.Eat exactly as much food as you need to satisfy your hunger - let your body burn its internal fat stores, not an extra spoonful of butter on your plate.
3. Add more fats to your diet as you lose weight.
As soon as you get the result - the desired number on the scales, for which you gave up carbohydrates, there are no more fat reserves inside the body, which were used day after day as a source of energy.
During this period, it is important to listen to the body, to get on the same wavelength with it in order to learn to read the signals of physical hunger.This is the period when the amount of fatty foods should be gradually increased.Until you “find” balance, that is, the ability to maintain your weight without feeling hungry.
Don't worry, you won't hear your own body and there will be excess fat.During your weight loss process, which will last at least 2 months (depending on your initial weight), you will acquire good communication skills with your stomach.
The body itself will tell you how much food is enough to feel full.To hear this allusion, you just need to keep your appetite under control and resist the temptation to overeat.
4. Eat enough protein foods
Protein foods are responsible for suppressing hunger effectively.If you eat a lot of fatty foods, but still feel hungry, check if enough protein enters the "processing department"?Lack of protein can slow or stop weight loss.
Make sure that your daily diet contains on average 1.5 g of protein per 1 kg of body weight (the amount of protein can reach 1.7 g depending on weight, so the calculation is always individual).If you do fitness or go to the gym to build muscle, you should increase your protein portion a little more.
How much fatty foods can you eat on a keto diet?
The ketogenic nutrition system does not provide strict restrictions on calorie intake, so the key rule is: eat until you are slightly full, choose standard portions (or focus on the volume of a 200 gram glass - eat as much as possible).
Have dinner before 8 p.m. - this will facilitate the work of the whole body.Don't think your stomach will be happy with a meat patty with cheese sauce an hour before bed.Like you, he wants to rest at night and not work at all processing incoming supplies.
Eating well during the day will allow you to calmly survive a 12-hour break without food (evening + night's sleep).As a last resort, eat a piece of cheese or drink a glass of milk with a teaspoon of butter.
This will allow you to sip your hunger and fall asleep satisfied.And remember, even light physical activity like walking will significantly improve your weight loss results.
Eat deliciously and lose weight with pleasure!