Like me, those who understand it love it and practice this lifestyle forever; others dispute that it’s a healthy way of eating, and you need carbs. They even go so far as to say that it’s harmful to your body to not have carbs in your diet! How can cutting carbs — which convert to glucose (sugar) in your bloodstream — be harmful? It’s not; it’s excellent for your health to minimize or cut carbs. Most of your carb intake is derived from consuming pro-inflammatory wheat-based processed and sugar-laden foods. It’s scientifically proven that these foods cause internal inflammation and all kinds of other potential illnesses.
It’s important to know that vegetables also contain carbs as well as fibre, minerals, vitamins etc. Veggies are a big part of the keto diet, and if you consume vegetables you’ll produce a sufficient amount of glucose your brain requires.
We now know that the oft-repeated “your brain only runs on glucose!” is wrong. I’ve mentioned it before, and anyone who’s taken the time to get fat-adapted on a low-carb Primal eating plan intuitively knows that your brain doesn’t need piles of glucose to work, because, well, they’re using their brain to read this sentence.
Mark Sisson www.marksdailyapple.com
It’s hard to sympathize with the naysayers, as the keto diet is nothing but eating naturally (as we are programmed to do), and our primal ancestors had no choice but to do just that! Grains, wheat, pasta, rice, cereals, pizza, and sugary snacks didn’t exist back then, some 2 million years ago. Our ancestors were muscular and lean and could live long lives if they weren’t eaten by predators or fell off cliffs!
The General Misunderstanding.
Newbies love to talk about being in ketosis or impatiently keep asking,“when will I finally reach ketosis?” When you hear those types of comments, you can be sure these folks don’t know what they’re on about!
Let me Explain.
Ketones are a byproduct of the whole process, a protein enzyme pumped into the bloodstream by your liver when you are low on fuel, that’s all. Here is the kicker; the process I refer to is transforming your body to becoming fat-adapted instead of a sugar and carbohydrate burner.
What’s a fat burner as opposed to burning fat?
→ There’s a vast difference, rarely explained correctly.
Burning Fat, or Not?
When they exercise regularly and vigorously on top of it, many believe that they burn away their fat cells and build lean muscle. Not so! Haven’t you ever noticed people exercising hard yet still sporting a belly, big butt, or chubby legs? These folks can be runners, gym fanatics, yoga or zumba fans, tennis players, etc. The list goes on and on.
Professional athletes in these sports, most of the time, appear fit, lean, and muscular. There are different reasons for that, mainly because these pros spend their whole day training, which results in their physical appearance. You’ll notice some top athletes such as Serena Williams and numerous Baseball and Football players being overweight in certain body parts, proving they are not great fat burners.
The bottom line is this; if you regularly exercise hard and long, you are doing two or three things:
1) You are probably mostly in your anaerobic zone, meaning you are burning glucose only and no fat at all.
2) Being anaerobic for long durations causes the body to release cortisol into the bloodstream, our fight or flight, or stress hormone. This hormone functions as an early warning system to alert us about oncoming danger. The overuse of this hormone damages your heart and can, over time, cause heart disease.
Being in a constant anaerobic state releases cortisol for as long as you’re there, but you ignore it. How would you respond if a car were heading for a full-frontal with you — immediately react and get out of the way of danger! During training, you ignore the stress hormone because you simultaneously receive pleasure signals from endorphins released in your brain. And, you just didn’t know about this process. That’s why my slogan is; “less but right is more.”
3) Gluconeogenesis. You’ve probably never heard of it, but this is what happens; if you run out of glucose during exercise, you run out of fuel and can’t carry on. So the body starts the process known as gluconeogenesis, which breaks down muscle tissue and converts it into glucose for you to receive added fuel and continue.
Why do you think marathon runners are so skinny? Just because? Nope, because the long duration of the runs requires more and more glucose, often derived from muscle. That’s not something you want going on with your body!
Real Fat Burning.
Actual fat burning occurs primarily in your aerobic zone, achieved with light exercises like fast-paced walking, slow jogging, and other activities that keep your heart rate below your anaerobic threshold.
The fat burning zone theory seeks to help adherents lose weight by tapping on the body’s fat storage rather than glycogen. They argue that the body burns a greater percentage of fat with lower-intensity exercises than at higher intensities because the body does not require fast energy from glycogen. www.gleneagles.com.sg
You calculate your threshold by using 180 BPM minus your age. That will be your approximate maximum aerobic limit. Another simple way to measure whether you are aerobic or not is to make sure you can still talk and are not out of breath during your exercise.
Fat burning also occurs by overstimulation of your muscles, particularly the fast-twitch muscle, activated during sprinting. Fast-twitch muscle stimulation breaks the muscles down faster and harder, which results in a bigger and leaner muscle re-build. This re-build process further burns fat throughout the day. So you have a double whammy, leaner muscles, and more fat loss!
Sprinting also promotes fat loss and increases your metabolic rate for several days after the workout, a phenomenon known as the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) effect. EPOC — also known as “afterburn” — allows you to continue burning calories long after the workout is over.
https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/sprint-burpees
As with the marathon analogy above, why do you think sprinters are so lean and muscular? Because they are in the gym all day? It’s the sprinting and fast-twitch muscle re-build that results in their powerful bodies.
Why the long explanation about FAT BURNING?
Well, this is the key to your successful keto journey. If you understand this process and understand that you must first become a real fat-burner, then you will love the keto diet or lifestyle and accomplish your weight management goals with ease!
Become an Efficient Fat-Burning Machine and forget about Ketosis!
The transformation period to becoming a fat-burner is around four weeks. Suddenly, it sets in if you consume the right healthy, natural, unprocessed, and sugar-free foods. At that point, water retention recedes and weight starts to drop off.
The 5 Main Reasons Why People Fail with the Keto Diet:
1. Lack of Discipline
Surprisingly, I’ve witnessed an astounding amount of lack of discipline when it comes to people and their food. It’s not hard to stick with the wonderful natural and healthy meat, seafood, fish, vegetables, and healthy fats, which are the basis of the keto diet.
So dipping in and out is a common mistake and only leads to frustartion, and giving up.
2. Immediate Gratification
The human need for immediate gratification is real and a real problem. Meaning, you may want to achieve weight loss but want it now!
People want results immediately, or at least within a week; otherwise, they believe it’s just not working “for them,” and then the lack of discipline kicks in and back to the poor eating habits they go.
3. Patience
Patience is a virtue, they say! Yet, the lack of patience is surprising. Patience is close to immediate gratification but different.
Understanding you must be patient with your body to adapt and adjust is vital. Just think about all the years you’ve been feeding it sugary, carb-loaded, and processed foods. It takes time for the body to change and thus for results to appear. Be patient.
4. Education
Educating yourself about how the “keto fat-burning diet” works is essential. Subscribe to a few leading blogs in the field, read what the experts are saying, and learn.
Start here:
Don’t listen to random naysayers who know nothing about the subject; immerse yourself in long-standing expert blogs, read and understand.
5. Believing
Believing is an important part and will play a significant role in your success. If you doubt and don’t fully believe, how can you succeed?
And that’s why you must educate yourself first, then be disciplined, have patience, and don’t expect immediate gratification. If you follow these rules, you will succeed, not fail, like so many do!
In a Nutshell.
- The keto diet is about becoming fat adapted first.
- Understand how the body works and that the sugar and carb-laden processed foods have been harming your body for years.
- Be aware of the correct and efficient way to exercise to maximize your fat burn and lean-muscle build.
- Think nature and natural foods. What can go wrong if you follow a natural diet?
- Avoid the uneducated naysayers and people telling you you can’t survive without carbs, and that sugar is fine.
- Take note of the 5 main reasons people fail when going keto, and promise yourself not to make these mistakes.
I can guarantee from my 6 years of being 100% keto with no cheat days, it works, and you will succeed if you follow this advice. It’s really that simple!
Thanks for reading.
Rob
