Keto Mistakes
The ketogenic (keto) diet seems to be the next big craze in health. You probably have heard many people talk about it and all the wonders it can do. However, what is it and what are the keto mistakes to avoid?
Quite simply, the keto diet is a low carb, high-fat diet. By eating this way, you put your body in a state known as ketosis where you become much more efficient at using fat as your main source of energy.[1]healthline – The Ketogenic Diet: A Detailed Beginner’s Guide to Keto
In addition, your body’s produces ketones (hence the name keto diet) which provide energy to your brain.
Overall, you end up reducing your blood sugar levels and can experience many other positive health effects.
Unfortunately, many people don’t understand how to properly implement the keto diet and end up doing more harm than good.
Check out the top 10 keto mistakes you should avoid to help you hit the ground running!
10. You Aren’t Drinking Enough Water
When thinking about keto dieting, you probably are mostly focused on the food aspect. However, this can be a big mistake in the keto diet!
In fact, more so than many other diets, you need to make sure that you stay properly hydrated.
In fact, according to Alyssa Tucci, RDN and nutrition manager at Virtual Health Partners in NYC
“The drastic decrease in carbohydrate intake on the ketogenic diet can cause shifts in your fluid and electrolyte balance. Carbs are stored along with water in the body, so as these stores are depleted, that water is lost along with them.”[2]Everyday Health – 8 Common Keto Mistakes That Beginners Make, and How to Avoid Them
Therefore, it is very important that you are drinking enough fluids throughout the day. A simple rule of thumb you can use to make sure that you are getting enough water is to drink at least half of your body weight in ounces every day.
For example, if you are 180 pounds, you should be drinking 90 oz or about 2.7 liters of water daily.
You can even take a large water bottle like this one and carry it around with you during the day so you don’t forget how much you have drunk.
9. You Are Eating Too Much Protein
It might sound crazy when you say to replace carbs with fat, but you can actually eat too much protein on a keto diet. In fact, this is a very common mistake.
This is due to the process called gluconeogenesis where the body will convert protein and fat into glucose when there isn’t enough carbs.
This is a natural process in your body; however, since in most other diets, you are getting carbs, gluconeogenesis occurs much more slowly.
This is not to say that glucose is a bad thing. In fact, your blood cells need it to survive. However, gluconeogenesis converts and stores the extra protein as glycogen in case your body needs extra energy. The keto diet then relies primary only fat as your main source of energy.
However, when you are converting over to a ketogenic diet and are eating too much protein at the same time, you can slow the process to ketosis because your body will rely heavily on the store glycogen, instead of fat, for energy.[3]Ketologic – The 10 Most Common Mistakes on the Keto Diet
Now that we have sufficiently scared you from eating protein on the keto diet, that doesn’t mean you should include protein in your diet. Just don’t rely solely on fatty meats to get your protein. Rather, try also eating fats, such as healthy oils, that don’t have protein.
8. You Are Eating More Carbs Then You Realize
First thing that you probably thought when starting the keto diet was that doesn’t sound too hard to cut out carbs, just don’t eat pasta, bread, and pizza!
While this is a good place to start; however, you might not realize that there are a lot of foods that are high in carbs.
Some of the foods that you might be surprised to find out that are filled with carbs include:
- Milk
- Raisins
- Brown Rice
- Quinoa
- Buckwheat
- Oats
- Bananas
- Beets
- Oranges
- Kidney Beans
- Chickpeas
- Apples
- Grapefruit
- Mangos
- Dates
- Adzuki Beans
- Flour Tortilla
- Pears
- Corn
- White Potatoes
- Whole Wheat Pasta
- Sweet Potatoes
- Yogurt
- Agave Nectar
- Lentils
- Black Beans
- Honey
- Blueberries
- Maple Syrup
- Peas[4]Health – The 6 Biggest Keto Diet Mistakes
While a lot of these foods are good for you and can be packed with healthy nutrients, that doesn’t mean that they work with the keto diet.
Therefore, it is very important to monitor what you are eating, otherwise, you might quickly find yourself going out of ketosis!
7. You’re Eating The Wrong Fats
Not all fats are created equal!
Just because the keto diet says you should be using fat as your main source of energy, that doesn’t mean you can just eat any type of fats.
So what types of fats should you be avoiding?
Make sure to avoid processed fats! If you consume too much processed fats such as seed oils you increase the risk of high cholesterol, cancer, and heart disease.
Therefore, it is important to focus on eating healthy fats such as:
- Avocados
- Whole eggs
- Fatty fish (such as salmon, trout, mackerel, herring, sardines)
- Nuts
- Chia seeds[5]Keto Bootstrap – 10 Common Keto Mistakes People Make on the Ketogenic Diet
6. You’re Not Getting Enough Vitamins and Minerals
One of the biggest mistakes people make in the keto diet is not getting enough vitamins and minerals. They tend to think that fat is all they need.
However, this lack can lead to a whole bunch of health issues such as weight gain, depression, fatigue, dry skin, and poor recovery.
In order to successful do the keto diet you need to make sure that you are not only eating fat, but that you are also eating nutrient dense food such as:
- Sardines
- Spinach
- Liver
- Eggs
- Red Bell Peppers
- Broccoli
- Shrimp
- Mushrooms
- Wild Salmon
- Arugula
- Grass-fed Beef[6]Perfect Keto – Top 13 Common Keto Mistakes And How To Fix Them
If you are still having trouble getting all your macro and micro nutrients try out these Keto Multivitamins.
5. You Are Not Eating Enough Fat
The purpose of the keto diet is to get your body fat adapted. This means that your body uses fat rather than carbs as its source of energy.
Naturally, this requires to you eat quite a bit of fat. However, for many people the amount of fat that you need to eat can be hard to figure out.
A good rule of thumb to follow with how much fat you should be eating is:
- 60-75% of your food should be fat
- 15-30% of your food should be protein
- 5-10% of your food should be carbs[7]Aaptiv – Avoid These 6 Mistakes When Starting the Ketogenic Diet
4. You’re Not Planning Ahead
One of the biggest difficulties that causes people to fail with any diet and especially keto is that you don’t properly plan your meals ahead of time.
When it comes to snack time or you are just hungry, you might be tempted to reach for an easy quick meal. Unfortunately, many of these quick foods will quickly get you out of ketosis.[8]Reader’s Digest – 13 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About the Keto Diet
Therefore, each week it is important that you plan out your meals ahead of time. This will allow you to understand how much fat and carbs you are consuming.
3. You’re Too Obsessed With the Scale
Moving to the keto diet is a massive change. It converts your body to a fat burning machine, thus shedding the fat on your body.
However, one of the biggest problems people have with the keto diet is that they expect the fat to come off their bodies overnight. They might weigh themselves daily or even hourly! Unfortunately, this is not how weight loss works.[9]ThriveStrive – 9 Common Keto Mistakes to Avoid
Doing this will only discourage you and make you quit the keto diet early.
If you truly want to see success from the keto diet you need to stick with it for the long term.
Therefore, if you truly want to experience success, don’t look at the scale constantly. Rather, we suggest only checking your weight once a week.
2. You’re Not Getting Enough Electrolytes
As we stated previously in #10 one of the biggest problems people experience on the keto diet is not drinking enough water.
In addition to not drinking enough water, people also tend to not get enough electrolytes.
Electrolytes help our body properly hydrate and a properly hydrated body is much more efficient at burning fat.[10]Dr Jockers – The 10 Biggest Ketogenic Diet Mistakes
If you are finding that you are not getting enough electrolytes in your diet, consider adding some electrolyte powder to your water.
If you prefer to get it from more natural sources, consider eating more:
- Bone broth
- Celery
- Cucumbers
- Sea vegetables
- Leafy Greens
1. You “Need” to Fast
For many people, dieting and fasting are almost synonymous.
In addition, the keto diet says that you should eat less carbs. What easier way is there to do that than by not eating at all?
However, that is not the case!
In fact, according to well documented scientific research, fasting, especially for more than 2 days can have some negative health effects such as lean tissue loss and permanent reduction in resting metabolism.[11]virta – Top 5 Nutritional Ketosis Mistakes—And How to Fix Them
It is much better to follow the keto diet and maintain a steady diet. Not only will you not experience the wild swings between not eating and eating, but you will also experience much more even levels of energy throughout the day.
Not to mention the fact that eating and not starving yourself is much more enjoyable!
Some Parting Words
The keto diet like any diet is not a magic pill.
You need to be diligent and work out along with it in order to live a healthy life style.
Hopefully, after learning about some of the pitfalls many people experience going through the keto diet, your experience will be much easier.
The keto diet is truly a great way to live a healthier lifestyle, burn more fat, and feel more energized.
Good luck!
If you would like to learn more about nutrition, check out The Ultimate Marathon Nutrition Guide.
References