Delicious, rich dishes combined with rich, creamy sauces will help you lose weight!It may seem absurd at first, but a low-carb, high-fat diet is a great way to both enjoy eating and lose weight.
Keto diet - the fight against obesity for slimness
Fats are unique flavor enhancers that make our dishes especially delicious.After all, how can a dry chicken breast compare to a juicy piece of pork with cheese sauce?Same thing.
If you eat enough fats, keeping carbohydrates to a minimum, the diet will open up a new side for you - tasty, juicy and nutritious!
We will soon 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 that are so typical with dietary restrictions.
The basis of the ketogenic diet is foods with a high fat content, an optimal amount of protein and a minimum amount of carbohydrates.The latter should not exceed 25 g per day (the optimal amount is between 20 and 25 g).
The easiest way to generate energy for our body is glucose, the source of which is carbohydrates (like an apple contains two dozen carbohydrates, as well as bread and candy).But as soon as the supply of this substance is limited, our system begins to use ketones, produced in the liver, as fuel.
Ketosis is triggered, a natural process in the body that usually occurs when there is excessive 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 (energy source is depleted), so it mobilizes ketones to work.
In this way, the keto diet helps you lose weight not because of hunger but because of the low amount of carbohydrates supplied to the “processing factory”.As soon as the body switches to using fat as a source of energy for life, it begins to actively "eat" fats from food, as well as those that "decorate" the sides, stomach and other parts of the body.
So, on the keto diet it is important to remember: your diet should contain as many fats as possible - they will make the body slim.Contrary to stereotypes (fat makes you fat, is harmful, etc.), don't be afraid of fatty foods, because as part of a low-carb diet, it will be extremely beneficial for the body.
On a ketogenic diet, you will always feel full, cheerful and in a great mood, because fatty foods satisfy your hunger perfectly and for a long time, and the pleasant creamy taste of food does not make you feel deprived of delicious dishes.
This is exactly what happens with other diets, such as strict restrictions on the amount of cheese or a complete ban on juicy kebabs from a fatty piece of pork.
TOP 10 – we eat fat and delicious!
In some cases, the keto diet can cause problems for people who are not used to eating a lot of fatty foods.So, we are talking about 10 ways to eat more natural fats, get comprehensive benefits - both creating a feeling of enjoyment when eating and losing weight effectively.
1. Start with whole, high-fat foods
It's time to say goodbye to low-fat or low-fat foods.Clear your refrigerator and kitchen cabinets of dry egg mixes instead of real eggs, artificial cream, and low-fat peanut butter.Now your breakfast, lunch or dinner will be truly delicious!
Eliminate any foods labeled “light” or “diet”—they have no place in your stomach on the keto diet.Replace skim milk with the creamiest, indulge in heavy cream of 20% or more, eat cottage cheese with a fat content of 9% and enjoy the delicate creamy taste of the dish.
By the way, if you can't find whole milk or yogurt at your local store, feel free to buy the low-fat product as you can increase the fat content yourself.For example, add a few tablespoons of heavy cream or sour cream to 1% drinking yogurt.
Review your entire shopping list.Your goal is to stock your refrigerator with high-fat whole foods, including avocados and eggs.
When preparing dishes, try to add natural fats to them and not avoid them according to old habits.Fry eggs in melted butter, eat your favorite hard high-fat cheese.
In short, don't deny yourself the joy of eating delicious and fatty foods!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 delicacy 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, prioritize fatty meats.In addition, it is more fragrant, softer and less expensive, unlike its low-fat counterparts.Include fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines in your diet - they are rich in fat so they make a great addition to your menu.
2. Cooking adds fat
Don't be afraid to pour so much oil into the pan that pieces of food are literally swimming in it.No more need to steam vegetables or grill dry chicken breasts without a drop of fat in the foil.Cook low-carb vegetables, fish, meat or eggs with natural fats.
This will make your dish more delicious and nutritious.Use only enough fat to prepare the dish.You can always throw away leftovers - there is absolutely no point in eating them with a spoon.
3. Use different types of fat - this will diversify the flavor of the dish
Fats can easily change the taste of food, and this is a great way to expand the range of taste sensations for each day of the ketogenic diet.The simplest way is to boil green beans and season with a piece of butter for a pleasant aftertaste.
Do you like it fatter?Then fry the beans in oil, and finally sprinkle with sesame oil - you will get a wonderful dish.It is not forbidden to sprinkle a spoonful of sesame seeds on the beans (this will enhance the taste and add a little fat, helping the body lose weight).
Experiments are welcome!Don't be afraid to try new food combinations and natural fats to see which you like best.Provides many types of healthy fats at once, can be stored in the refrigerator or kitchen cabinet:
- vegetable oil;
- olives and coconuts;
- lard (in any form);
- sesame oil;
- avocado and peanut oils;
- pumpkin seed oil;
- nut oils (macadamia, almond, etc.);
- Chicken fat, duck fat and other animal fats.
Use oil everywhere - on sandwiches, in salads, when boiling, stewing or frying food.
4. Stock up on a list of low-carb recipes
It's not as difficult as it seems.Write down dozens of simple recipes in a separate notebook so you don't have to worry every time about cooking something delicious 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 stew with feta cheese and olives.There are only 6 grams of carbohydrates, and cooking is as easy as peeling the pear - mix the ingredients and bake until golden brown, not forgetting to coat the chicken with spices and butter.
- Cutlet in tomato cream sauce served with stewed cabbage(with butter of course).Only 10 g of carbohydrates contrast with the seductive taste of fried cutlets with a rich aromatic sauce.
- Keto Pancakes with Grilled Pork.Only 8g of carbohydrates and the flavor is incredibly fun!Use heavy cream and almond flour to prepare these pancakes and don't forget to season the finished dish with melted butter.
- Hamburger stuffed with eggs, fried meat, cheese, vegetables and herbs.This dish will replace any fast food and only yields 7 g of carbohydrates!By the way, the “bread” itself is very easy to prepare: just beat the yolks and whites separately, then mix into a single mass and bake in the oven.Surely you already know how to fry meat.Bon Appétit!
Low-carb recipes will help you eat well and most importantly consume more fat, which is essential for weight loss on the keto diet.
5. Coat prepared foods with oil, sauce or rich dressing.
Do this with everything you eat.It is not necessary to devour olive oil with a spoon, but adding it to a vegetable salad is your sacred duty.Even avocado, known to be a very fatty food, goes well with oily sauces.
There are countless options for sauces:
- pure vegetable oil mixed with herbs and spices;
- cheese and cream sauces, as well as their combinations (tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.);
- Melted butter or everyone's “cursed” mayonnaise.
Always add natural fats to your food as this is the foundation of the keto diet.
6. Beautiful food = fatty food.Garnish your dishes with fatty foods!
For some reason, when we hear the word “fat,” our minds draw awkward images of an unsightly piece of lard or, even worse, the fat on our own bodies.So now is the time to turn your thoughts in the opposite direction, because fat sometimes looks very nice, not to mention the taste!
See what you can use to decorate your dishes:
- fatty cheese;
- avocado slices;
- olives and nuts;
- jerking;
- Chopped macadamia nuts;
- roasted sesame, almonds;
- puree avocado, tomatoes and herbs;
- slices of bacon or brisket;
- pine nuts.
These simple foods add flavor to your dishes, provide your body with nutrients and of course, lots of fat!They can be added to almost any dish and are a great aid to your keto meal plan.
7. Check snacks - do they definitely contain fat?
Snacks and various appetizers are best avoided on any diet, but sometimes they are good for curbing hunger, helping you feel full until your next meal.If you feel hungry, choose high-fat snacks.It could be cheese, nuts or boiled eggs.
8. Always reserve some cheese in the refrigerator
Because cheese is the best addition 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 as a stand-alone dish (for example, a spicy cheese topping in the form of tightly rolled cutlets) and as an aesthetic touch to a main course (in sprinkles).
Prepare a wonderful creamy dessert made from cheese and enjoy the flavors for breakfast or dinner.Choose any fatty cheese with a minimal carbohydrate content - this high-calorie product will quickly fill your stomach, making you feel satisfied with your meal.
9. Add fat to drinks
Your tea, coffee or hot milk will sparkle with an inimitable flavor if it contains a spoonful of fragrant fat.For example, melt some butter or coconut oil in a bowl.It will take no more than 30 seconds, but the aftertaste of the drink will please 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 hot milk, you can not only lose weight, but also forget about seasonal colds.Such a simple snack will solve two problems at once: quench thirst and fill the stomach.
While you are fascinated by fatty dishes 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 leading to the opposite result - stopping the process of losing weight or sharply increasing cholesterol levels.
Especially if you drink the drink on a full stomach, it will provide the body with a lot of excess energy.This tool is powerful - use it wisely.
10. Which dessert to choose on the keto diet?
The first tip for any diet is to skip dessert.However, just like with snacking, sometimes it's hard to deny the little joys you're missing when losing 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 menu of those with a sweet tooth with fat bombs with vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom.These “sweets” go well with tea or coffee, always lifting the mood of people who are losing weight.By the way, such "bombs" contain only 0.4 g of carbohydrates.Take note of the recipe because they are simple to prepare and very quick!
What you will need:
- 85 g butter (preferably unleavened);
- 0.5 grated coconut (no sugar added);
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cardamom (green);
- 0.5 teaspoon vanilla extract;
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
How to cook:
- Warm the oil to room temperature.
- Fry shredded coconut until golden brown.
- Mix butter, most of the chips, seasonings and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Once the mixture has hardened slightly, form into small balls, roll in the remaining toasted coconut and enjoy!
This dessert can be conveniently stored in both the refrigerator and freezer (the shelf life is equal to the oil you used).
How to improve the weight loss effectiveness of the keto diet?
Fats make our lives tastier, healthier and easier in the truest sense of the word, but moderation is key in everything.At each meal, you should eat a moderate portion, do not eat too much.The best advice is to leave the table a little hungry, because the feeling of fullness comes a little later than at the end of the meal.
If you feel hungry, this can always be remedied with a small portion of fatty food, but if you eat too much, the diet can be considered a failure.Watch your diet: make sure it's high in fat and low in carbohydrates.Do not deviate from the prescribed route because this is the foundation of the keto diet.
If you want to achieve maximum results, check out some helpful tips below.
1. Make getting acquainted easy.
At the beginning of the journey without carbohydrates, fatty foods risk making the body seem too rich in fat - 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 2-4 weeks).
During this period, try to eat more foods with triglycerides (e.g. butter, cheese and meat fried in small amounts of oil).A smooth transition to higher-fat foods will help reduce your hunger and allow your body to get used to the new source of energy without unnecessary stress.
Once you achieve balance on the road to addiction, the feeling of hunger after a “light fat” diet will decrease.From the body's point of view, this suggests that the adaptation was successful and the access to fat processing as fuel is completely open (there is no longer an accumulated supply of glucose from carbohydrate foods).
2. Monitor your appetite
If you are more than perfectly adapted to the keto diet, but your stomach is excessively demanding in terms of food intake, 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 hungry, still choose foods high in fat instead of carbs.The latter will reduce your weight loss efforts to nothing.Eat exactly the amount of food you need to satisfy your hunger - let your body burn its internal fat stores, not an extra spoonful of butter from your plate.
3. Add more fat to your diet when you lose weight.
As soon as you achieve the result - the desired number on the scale where you have given up carbohydrates, the body no longer has any stored fat, which is used daily as a source of energy.
During this period, it is important to listen to the body, tuning in to its wavelength to learn to read the signals of physical hunger.This is the stage when you need to gradually increase the amount of fatty foods.Until you “find” balance, that is, the ability to maintain weight without feeling hungry.
Don't worry that you may not listen to your own body and will have excess fat.During the weight loss process, which will take at least 2 months (depending on the initial weight), you will acquire good communication skills with your stomach.
Your body will tell you how much food is enough to keep it satisfied.To get the hint, all you need to do is control your cravings and resist the temptation to overeat.
4. Eat enough protein-rich foods
Protein-rich foods effectively suppress hunger.If you eat a lot of fatty foods and still feel hungry, check to see if there is enough protein in the "processing department"?Protein deficiency can slow or stop weight loss.
Make sure that your daily diet contains an average of 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 exercise or go to the gym to get lean muscles, you should increase your protein intake a bit.
How many fatty foods can you eat on the keto diet?
The ketogenic nutrition system does not give strict restrictions on calorie intake, so the main rule is: eat until you are slightly full, choosing standard portions (or focus on the volume of a glass of 200 grams - eat as much as you like).
Eat dinner before 8 pm - this will make it easier for the whole body to function.Don't think your stomach will be satisfied with a piece of meat in cheese sauce an hour before bed.Like you, he wants to rest at night and doesn't handle incoming supplies at all.
Eating well during the day will help you calmly survive 12 hours of rest without eating (evening + night sleep).The last resort is to eat a piece of cheese or drink a glass of milk with a small spoon of butter.
This will allow you to quench your hunger and fall asleep feeling full.And remember, even light physical activity like walking will significantly enhance your weight loss results.
Eat well and lose weight in a fun way!