What is Keto? What is LCHF?

What is keto? What is LCHF? How are they different from each other? What is ketosis? These are all questions we all had when we first started. These are all natural questions you will want answered prior to embarking on this new way of life.

What is Keto?

What is keto? The ketogenic diet is a low carbohydrate way of eating that changes your body from using carbohydrates as its main fuel source to using fat. In addition to being low carbohydrate, the ketogenic diet is also moderate in protein and high in fat. Keto is about getting your body to use ketones for fuel instead of glucose.

What about LCHF? What is LCHF?

Low carb healthy fat (LCHF) is the overarching term, which includes the ketogenic diet where carbohydrates are more limited. As a general rule, the macronutrient ratio for a ketogenic diet would be 5% of your diet from carbohydrates, 15%-25% from protein and 70%-80% from fat. This varies depending on your goals, individual health conditions and activity level.

Our goal with this blog is to provide practical information and our experiences. We won’t be going in depth into the science of keto and have provided some resources below if you are interested in investigating the science further.

What is Ketosis?

When you restrict your carbohydrates and increase the fat in your diet, over time your body will move into the state of ketosis. Being in ketosis will switch your main fuel source from glucose to ketones, which is fat-burning mode!

These are some of the awesome benefits we personally have experienced from being in ketosis –

• Fat loss
• Dramatic decrease in hunger
• Improved sleep
• Increased energy
• Improvement in mental clarity
• Elimination of joint pain
• No more snoring
• Less headaches
• Improvement in blood sugar readings
• Improved blood pressure
• More balanced emotional state
• Regulation of menstrual cycles

Still want more information to your question what is Keto? Check out this video from Dr Eric Westman a renowned doctor treating obesity and diabetes patients with a low carbohydrate diet in his practice. Source: Low Carb Down Under

How did we lose 90kgs?

When we first started out with a ketogenic way of eating in July 2016, our main focus was to keep our total carbohydrates to less than 20 grams per day and increase our fat. We use the cronometer app to track our meals and keep the ratios to approximately 5% carbohydrate, 15% protein and 80% fat.

In the first few months we did not include any sweeteners or low carb substitutes and we found this really helpful to completely reset our eating habits.

After about one month we became fat-adapted and we naturally decreased what we were eating as our hunger decreased. We started to intermittently fast, by not eating until lunchtime and eating only 1 or 2 meals per day.

When intermittent fasting we do not feel any negative side-effects as our bodies are accessing our stored body fat to fuel our body.

Now that Dan is in maintenance mode she has noticed an increase in her hunger levels due to having less stored body fat. She usually eats 2 – 3 meals a day now and has increased her carbohydrates to include more berries and vegetables.

This way of eating has become the new ‘normal’ for us now and we feel so great! As we are in this for the long-term we do occasionally eat food that would not be considered ‘keto-friendly’, however this is always a conscious decision we make with no guilt. Check out our ‘When in Rome..’ post for more information on our philosophy.

So, what does all this actually mean? Well a typical day following a ketogenic way of eating may include eggs, bacon and avocado for breakfast, a salad with chicken and a creamy dressing for lunch and a steak with garlic butter and greens for dinner – doesn’t sound too hard right?

Remember everyone is their own unique snowflake and what you will eat on a ketogenic diet may be different to other people and that is okay. Your personal macronutrient ratio may be dependant on any medical conditions you may have, if you need to lose weight and your level of activity.

Ready to get started and need some guidance with your meal planning? Click here for some great keto meal plans.

Resources

Looking for more details around what is keto? Here are some other great websites that provide more detail on the science behind the ketogenic diet if you would like to research further –

Diet Doctor

Healthful Pursuit

2 Keto Dudes

Now that we have answered your question what is keto? What now? Check out our Beginner’s guide series that includes Grocery tips, Keto food list and Kitchen must haves.

Medical disclaimer: We are not doctors or medical professionals and any advice provided is from our own personal experience and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Disclosure: The above post may contain affiliate links. We may earn a small commission from purchases made through these links, at no additional cost to you. Everything we recommend on our website are products we use and love. Thank you for supporting Have Butter will Travel and allowing us to share our low carb experiences with you.