5 Ways to Stick to a Ketogenic Diet
Primal Edge Health participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs and therefore, may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. This comes at no additional cost to you, and all the prices and availability are accurate at the time of publishing.
A keto diet can be an excellent tool to use on your health journey, follow our top 5 ways to stick to a ketogenic diet and they will help guide you to success.
Everyday presents an opportunity to make a new choice; you can come closer or further from your optimal state of health in every moment.
Table of Contents (click to view)
How to stick to a ketogenic diet
Set Realistic Goals
It takes time for our bad habits to catch up with us and it can take years for our weight to slowly climb up before we are ready to do anything about it. You have to keep this in perspective when you set personal goals. Forget about the short-term magical fat loss and instant gratification. Aim for long-term success. You want to be in better health 10 years from now, not just 30 days.
Nothing is worse than setting ourselves up for failure from the get go. It may take a few months to dial in an approach and build a solid foundation before you are completely comfortable with the new dietary approach.
You may want to use our printable packet for tracking macros and progress. It will teach you how to properly set macros and help to clearly track your food intake and fat loss. Be sure to celebrate your non-scale victories along the way too, there is so much more to the picture of health than just a number on the scale.
You might also like:
- Keto: Easier Than You Think
- Stop Overcomplicating Keto: Fat loss is simple and easy to maintain
- Avoid Keto for Fat Loss Pitfalls: Don’t Waste Money, Time, and Energy on a Ketogenic Diet
- Keto Macros Made Easy
Prioritize Animal Based Nutrition
Meats, fish, seafood, and eggs… these are the foods to focus on.
Always choose steaks over cakes, cookies and other ketofied foods. Keto snickersbars aren’t necessarily healthy for your even if they are made with keto ingredients.
Build your meals around animal proteins and fats. These are the most nutritious and easily digested foods on the planet and will give us the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids we need to live.
There are no essential plant-based compounds. If you like veggies and digest them well, enjoy them as you like but don’t feel like you have to force them in.
You might also like:
- The Veggie Myth: You don’t need vegetables on a keto diet
- I was Wrong About the Vegetables & Plant Foods
Be Inspired and Prepared
A ketogenic is not boring! There are hundreds of delicious recipes in our cookbooks, all made with simple, from-scratch, unprocessed ingredients.
Set 2-3 go-to breakfasts and dinners you can enjoy regularly all week long. Learn what you like and keep those meals on repeat for easy, regular meal prep. Save left overs for lunch.
Knowing how to order keto foods when you eat out makes the restaurant scene a breeze to navigate. If you prefer to cook meals at home (I do!) bulk prepping vegetables, slow-cooking meats, and making a fatty sauce once a week are great simple meal prep strategies for batching food. Moments get tough when you are hungry but there isn’t anything ready to go except for a jar of nut butter and a stash of cookies in the back of your pantry that you still haven’t gotten rid of. When you meal plan and bulk prep, you know exactly what to eat and when to eat it. The plan is already set, you just have to stick to it.
You might also like:
Have A Willingness to Change – leave your old self behind
Begin with your shopping habits. Skirt the store and pick up groceries from the outer areas first. Head straight to the meat, deli and dairy counters, swing through the fresh produce, and then think if there’s anything you need from the spice section. You can completely skip the cookie, cracker, cereal, and soda aisles. Keep these out of sight and out of mind.
You may experience unexpected things on keto but embrace the process and take it as an opportunity to learn more about yourself and your triggers (usually related to stress and sleep cycles).
Do Your Best & Learn from Your Mistakes
Focus on progress, not perfection.
Learn your macros and stay close to them but also be realistic. You won’t always be able to measure everything and control all the ingredients but you can always do your best.
If you’re at a party or holiday dinner, fill up on the protein and low-carb veggies. Enjoy the moments shared with friends and family, focus on the relationships there rather than the food.
If you ever “fall off the wagon”, binge or “cheat”, learn from the experience. Why did you make these choices? What was the result? Was it worth it? And then get back on track.
Some days will be harder than others but stick to your goals, keep perspective, and forgive yourself when you “mess up”. There’s a new dawn ahead, you can start a new moment right now.
You might also like:
A ketogenic diet is a tool to support our health, not something to cause additional stress or confusion. Starting a new diet is like turning over a new leaf. You will be reforming your life, your daily routine, and habits. You will learn new things about yourself, nutrition, and what it means to be alive.
It takes the body some time to adapt to a new way of eating. Make sure you support yourself with the right macros, electrolytes, and lots of self-love.
What are your tips? What is one thing that you can recommend to others? You never know who will read your comment, share your #1 way to stay on track – it might be the perfect solution for someone else.
Hi, do you have Keto meat free diets.
No we don’t – animal foods are essential for human health!