The Best Way to Start Keto: Tips for Beginners

Keto is the most popular and misunderstood diet right now. While everyone loves the idea of eating fewer carbs and more fat, it can be tricky sticking to the diet in a safe way. Since keto was originally created by doctors and tailored to each individual it can be hard to find out exactly how to start. That’s why you need guidance and a few tips to find out the best way to start keto. 

The best way to start keto is to come up with an individualized plan based on reaching ketosis fast with minimal side effects. Everyone is different and to keep up with the keto diet every person has to calculate carbs and choose food wisely.

Luckily, so many people are trying keto that you can learn from other’s mistakes and prepare for keto before you begin. The benefit of choosing your keto plan wisely means that you’ll be starting keto the right way. 

Even though you’re a beginner, you can fight cravings and get into ketosis faster by following these tips. Get ready to learn how to reach ketosis without the extra pain and stay there by eating the right foods.

How do I get started on keto?

To get started on keto you first need to determine the type of food needed for the diet.  Before you start, prepare your mind and your fridge for the keto diet. This way you can determine the number of calories, macro, and micronutrients you need to dive in on day one.

Easing yourself into the diet will make it easy for you to get to ketosis. But, of course, you’ll need to find out how to reach ketosis and how to calculate if you are in ketosis. Once you reach ketosis you’ll want to stay there, so it’s important to understand food. This will help you learn how many carbs you can consume per day.

1. Know what you can eat unlimited amounts of on keto

The keto diet allows you to eat a large number of different kinds of food. The diet is less about an unlimited amount of certain food and more about the amount of protein, fat, and carbs you take in each day. 

So if you can find foods that are low in carbs you can eat a much larger amount of them. At the same time, you’ll need to limit foods with carbs to only a few throughout the day.

While there’s no official list of foods that are allowed based on the specifications of the diet we know what kind of foods you should eat and what to avoid. Keto is about eating a high amount of healthy fats, some protein, and low carbs. This means you can have what feels like an unlimited amount of foods that are low in net carbs. 

Net carbs are the carbohydrates that are absorbed by the body. It doesn’t include fiber because you absorb fiber and use it as fuel. To calculate your net carbs subtract the amount of fiber from the total amount of carbs.

Example of foods that are low in net carbs:

• Beef
• Lamb
• Salmon
• Cod
• Hemp Protein
• Hemp Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Pumpkin
• Cauliflower
• Seaweed
• Shirataki Noodles
• Bone Broth
• Spices
• Stevia 
• Monk Fruit Extract
• Water
• Coffee 
• Tea

These foods are often called “zero carb foods” and can be thought of as an unlimited food list. The problem with this way of thinking is that food still contains calories. Keep in mind, if you are trying to lose weight the only way to do that is by creating a caloric deficit. 

It’s important before you do anything, you go over the rules of keto and know what you can and cannot eat on the diet. Know what the purpose of keto is and how it works. 

Understanding what food you can eat the most will help you while you are detoxing and transitioning into your diet, so start with stocking up on those. That way when you are hungry or having a craving, you’re reaching for the right thing.

2. Determine the foods you will eat

Even though the list isn’t official, like Whole 30, there are some common dos and don’ts on keto. But at the end of the day you know yourself better than anyone. You’ll have to choose from the foods you can eat, which ones you will include in your diet.

Some best practices when determining the food to eat on keto are:

• Make sure you are prepared for the cravings you have. 
• Come up with substitutes to get you through the meals you’ll be giving up. 
• Know how your particular allergies and diet restrictions might change the keto diet for you. 

If you’re vegan or allergic to certain fats and proteins you’ll want to find substitutes that won’t take you out of ketosis. While in other diets lentils and beans are great for vegetarians and vegans, they aren’t allowed on the keto diet. This is where high protein options like hemp hearts are beneficial and really come in handy. 

 

 

3. Determine how many carbs you can eat

Since the keto diet is all about avoiding carbs, you’ll need to find out exactly what you can take in to go into ketosis. As a general rule, while on keto you should only consume between 15g and 30g of net carbs per day. If you stay under 30g of carbs it helps you continue to produce ketones. 

Ketones are what your body makes for energy when you don’t have carbs to burn, it’s the key to ketosis. To reach ketosis your carbs need to make up less than 5% of the energy you take in. In other words between 5 to 10% of your diet, with the rest being fat and protein.

Don’t let keto carb cravings ruin you. Calculate how many carbs you can have by testing your carb limit or using a carb calculator.  If you know how many carbs you can have, you’ll be able to plan your diet better.

Once you determine how many carbs you think your body can take, you can test if you’ve calculated the right amount by finding out if you’re in ketosis (we’ll talk about exactly how to know you’re in ketosis a little later).

4. Read up on healthy fats

Keto revolves around fat, but not all fat is created equal. You’ll still want to avoid saturated fats and trans fats. This is your chance to really determine your stance on the health of coconut oil. 

Now isn’t the time to fill yourself with butter. It is, however, a great opportunity to find a love of healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, fats like avocado and hemp oil. Healthy omega fatty acids have health benefits that will do more than help you lose weight. 

While for a long time you’ve been told to stay away from fat for your heart and weight, you should know that healthy fats actually help with your heart health. The omega fatty acids in hemp, for example, contain essential fatty acids that are needed for your body to function. 

Including hemp oil in your diet ensures you get the essential fatty acids you can only get from food. There’s no way to get all the omega-3’s you need without eating fat. If you choose wisely and incorporate hemp you get double the benefit, as it also has the perfect ratio of omega 6 to omega 3’s.

 

 

5. Choose quick and easy whole food options

You don’t have to spend hours on a whole food meal. But, if you thought you could microwave up a high fat tv dinner think again. On the keto diet, you need to stay away from highly processed foods as well. 

While frozen vegetables may be an option be sure to exclude high-carb veggies as well. Instead of processed food choose fresh foods that require little preparation, so you’re less likely to hit up a drive through.

Always check our recipe ideas for options that aren’t too hard to make. All you need is the right ingredients and even beginner keto dieters can enjoy keto-friendly hemp heart cauliflower rice and overnight hemp oats. 

6. Find foods that are quick pick-me-ups for a nutritional boost

If you are finding yourself having trouble getting with calories or fat and protein intake, look for healthy ways to incorporate more nutrition into your diet. Try hummingbars in place of quick processed snacks. Instead of added sugar, you’ll get a whole food protein bar packed with nutrition.

Humming hemp hummingbars make quick high protein snacks on the go. Hemp protein bars are a better option than most protein bars. Unlike other bars on the market they don’t only contain protein, but omega fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. They are the pick-me-up you need if you’re craving something sweet on keto. 

 

 

In fact, hemp protein and hemp oil are the best ways to give yourself a nutritional boost. You may have heard of keto dieters putting coconut oil in their coffee to increase fat intake. Our hemp’d up coffee is a healthier take on coconut oil or butter coffee that will get you more nutrition than vitamins and omega fatty supplements.

If you are looking for a protein shake or smoothie try hemp protein. Hemp protein makes delicious shakes while giving you a whole food protein source for a shake without processed additives.

7. Share your weight loss goals

Nothing helps with reaching your goals like joining a community. The humming hemp team loves hearing about all of your diet journeys. 

Sharing is a great way to keep yourself on track and find others who are similar to you and understand what you’re going through. Better yet, you may find someone completely different and they’ll give you a whole new perspective and motivation to keep going. 

To top it all off you may get new ideas to make great food. Be sure to share your stories with @humminghemp on Instagram using the hashtag #humminghemp. Especially if you’ve got a great recipe! 

8. Know what symptoms might occur and how to deal with them 

When starting keto you may have some issues. Within the first 10 days, some people can feel hungry all the time, sluggish, have mental fog, constipation, or diarrhea. There’s even a term for those first hard days, it’s called keto flu.

You’re planning this diet out ahead of time, so stay positive and prepare your body for detox. If you’re prepared you can combat anything that comes your way. Since you know these side effects are a possibility before you start keto, choose a time when you’re ready for anything.

Take these steps to help you with the transition: 

• Warm-up with mild activities before you start a new strenuous exercise routine during your diet. 
• Slowly change your fiber intake, so there is not a huge shock on your digestive system once you start keto.
• Wean out added sugars over time, so you won’t feel so bad once you go cold turkey. 
• Start with high-energy keto breakfasts even before you officially begin keto, so you can combat mental fog and lethargy in the morning.
• Prepare your body by drinking more water.

All of these steps will help you avoid cravings and feeling miserable as you ease into keto. It may even help you go into ketosis faster when you finally get started.  

 

 

What is the quickest way to ketosis?

The quickest way to ketosis is through preparing your body with healthy fats, exercising, and even a short fast. 

Remember how we talked about deciding how you feel about coconut oil? Well, coconut oil can help you get into ketosis faster. 

It contains MCTs that your body can absorb easily and sends the fat straight to the liver turning them into ketones or energy. Coconut oil also helps simply because it’s a healthy fat. Increasing healthy fat also helps you go into ketosis faster. Hemp oil anyone?

In fact, all the preparation you’ve been doing like increasing your fiber, water intake, and reducing carbs have already gotten you started. Even exercising ahead of time helps deplete the glycogen in the body and without carbs will help you go into ketosis faster. This is one reason why working out at the beginning of your diet can cause fatigue. So preparing for the keto flu was also preparing you to reach ketosis in the quickest way possible.

The fastest way to go into ketosis honestly, is to fast. People can actually go into ketosis between meals, so short fasts are the idea, not to starve yourself. This method was used in hospitals under supervision to get patients into ketosis faster. Fasting is tricky and you should talk to your doctor about it. 

How do I know if I’m in ketosis?

The best way to know if you’re in ketosis is to take a test. Ketone test strips are available online. They test urine, breath, and blood. 

Knowing if you are in ketosis is key to tracking your progress and making adjustments when necessary. You don’t want to put in all the work and then guess on whether or not you are in ketosis. 

Knowing if you are in ketosis will also help you determine how many carbs you can consume. Each person is different, so you can take in more or less than the next person to help you with your carb cravings especially during that first 10 day period. 

Summary: The best way to start keto

The best way to start keto is for a beginner is to plan on your carb intake, the type of food you’ll eat, and how you’ll calculate ketosis. If you’re trying keto, you are on a diet, so it all revolves around food. 

Know what kind of food you can eat and how many calories and carbs you can take. When you determine the food you will eat it will help you come up with the perfect keto meal plan and keep your diet on track.

Keto may start with a lot of calculations, but if you follow tips to help you prepare for the keto flu you’ll go into ketosis faster. The right plan will help you determine if you are in ketosis and how to stay in ketosis longer. 

Remember that healthy fats like hemp oil, and high protein snacks like hummingbars are beneficial on the keto diet. After all, keto revolves around fat and that will help you achieve overall health and ketosis.  

Now that you know what to do to get started, get ready to share those weight loss goals with us to keep yourself on track. Let us know which hemp products you’re using to prepare for your keto diet. Be sure to find everything you need online today or in a store near you.