When you say you’re trying to reach ketosis, it almost sounds as if you’re searching for nirvana, or trying to find your zen. In a way, you kind of are. Ketosis is your body’s fat burning happy place, where instead of using glucose from your blood sugar as energy, it uses your fat storage as the main source of energy. As it burns fat, you lose weight. That sounds pretty zen, doesn’t it?
Read on to learn more about how it works, and how you can help your body safely and effectively enter ketosis.
What Is Ketosis?
Ketosis is the process of using the body’s fat storage as a source of energy instead of your body’s main source of energy, a simple sugar called glucose. Glucose comes from the carbohydrates we eat—think grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables—and it’s easy energy. Your body wants to run efficiently, which means taking the path of least resistance. That’s why its first choice for energy is glucose. So in order to reach ketosis and start burning fat in place of glucose, you have to minimize your carbohydrate intake, thus limiting the availability of glucose.
During ketosis, your liver breaks down fat stores and converts them into ketones. Ketones are a type of acid that is deposited through urination. It’s important that your meal plan encourages ketosis by keeping glucose levels down in the body and providing your body with the fats needed for energy.
How To Reach Ketosis
After your body uses up its glucose store and turns to fat for energy, you have reached ketosis. To get there, you have to eliminate carbohydrates from your diet, which essentially cuts off your body’s glucose supply. When do you reach ketosis? The time it takes is different for everyone. It can take anywhere from two to seven days depending on how much glucose is in your system initially, your activity level, and your body type.
A keto diet consists of mostly fats and proteins, with a few “good carbs” thrown in. Here’s how your calorie count should break down:
Fats = 70%
Protein = 25%
Carbohydrates (Good Carbs) = 5%
You can use our Ultimate Keto Grocery List to get ideas of what foods to buy to help you achieve these percentages.
5 Fast Ways To Get Into Ketosis
If you want to learn how to put yourself in ketosis, here are a few tips to get you there more quickly:
- Increase Physical Activity: The more energy your body uses, the more fuel it needs. We use food to fuel our bodies, but when you’re moving more, and feeding it less of the “easy fuel” in the form of carbohydrates, it will be forced into ketosis more quickly.
- Increase Healthy Fat Intake: An increase in healthy fats, like those found in avocados, coconut oil, and olive oil can help your body deal with the loss of carbohydrates and get it used to using fat as fuel.
- Significantly Reduce Carbohydrate Intake: Your body can’t use fuel it doesn’t have. By eliminating (or significantly reducing) your carbohydrate intake, you will force your body to get fuel elsewhere.
- Try Intermittent Fasting: There are a lot of different ways to accomplish intermittent fasting, but they all revolve around eating during certain times of the day. For example, you may choose to eat all of your meals between the hours of 11 am and 7 pm. This allows your body plenty of time to use up energy sources and enter ketosis during the other 16 hours of the day. Whereas if you’re constantly feeding your body, it has a harder time reaching ketosis.
- Be Prepared with Snacks: When you’re out and about, you might be tempted to break your keto diet in the name of hunger. Be prepared by always having keto-friendly snacks on hand at home, and on the go. Unsalted almonds and walnuts, string cheese, or natural almond butter all make great snacks.
The “Keto Flu”
A lot of people who start a keto diet for the first time may experience what is commonly referred to as the “keto flu.” Keto flu symptoms may include nausea, ketosis fatigue (feeling more tired or weak than normal), muscle cramps, headache, constipation, diarrhea, irritability, dizziness, sugar cravings, and sleepy ketosis (difficulty falling asleep). You’re putting your body through a big change as you retrain it to use a different energy source, so it’s no surprise it reacts adversely. The good news is that most people only experience symptoms for three to five days, and there are ways you can minimize their effect.
How To Manage The Keto Flu
If you are feeling any of the adverse symptoms of ketosis, also known as keto vertigo, keto diet dizzy, keto flu dizzy, or just keto flu, you may want to try using more salt to boost your sodium levels, drinking more water (but not too much so that it dilutes the benefits of your sodium intake), weaning yourself off of carbs slowly, and eating more non-starchy vegetables. You may also want to consider using the Xyngular 8-Day Jumpstart as a way of preparing for keto. It can help you start with a clean slate, so you minimize any keto flu symptoms you might otherwise experience.
Switching to a keto diet is not dangerous, but it IS a big change for your body. Pay close attention to how you feel throughout the process. And give yourself some time to fully adjust before deciding whether it’s the right plan for you.
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Preparing Yourself For Ketosis
If you’re trying ketosis for the first time, we recommend starting at the beginning. Our Basics of Keto guide will help you understand how to best get started. We also recommend using the Xyngular 8-Day Jumpstart to help prep your body and get it ready to shed the excess weight. It helps mitigate the side effects of going into ketosis because your body will already be prepped for it. Whether you do the Jumpstart or not, you’ll want to use our Ultimate Keto Grocery List to help you navigate the aisles as you shop for your new diet plan.
If you’re using one of the Xyngular systems, you’ll have access to a meal plan that will help prepare you for ketosis with a daily breakdown of your meals. You won’t have to worry about how much you need to limit your carbs or increase your fats, because it’s already laid out for you. As long as you stick to the plan, you should reach ketosis and start burning fat as fuel for your body!
Because this new way of eating will likely be a major change, and may come with side effects, you may want to choose to start it on a week where you have fewer obligations. Talk to your close family and friends, and tell them what you’re doing, and what you hope to accomplish. They can be a great source of support, especially in the beginning when it is hard to stick with the change. And finally, increase your salt and water intake to help mitigate any potential initial side effects. We recommend at least 64 ounces of water a day. Consider drinking more than that if you live an active lifestyle.
The key to losing weight with a keto plan is to give it time—and FOLLOW the plan. Your system provides you with all the nutrients and benefits you need to lose weight effectively and healthily.
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When Do You Reach Ketosis?
If you’re still wondering how to reach ketosis, or are unsure whether you’ve reached ketosis or not, you can purchase keto strips at your local pharmacy. These strips measure the amount of ketones your body has produced and will tell you whether you’re in ketosis or not. If you don’t get there right away, don’t fret. Remember, everyone reaches ketosis at different times. If you and a friend are on the plan together, you may notice that you react differently as well. You may feel more tired for the first part of the plan while your friend may have more energy. It’s all a personal journey.
If you don’t want to purchase test strips, here are a few other signs you might be in ketosis:
- Bad breath
- Weight loss
- Decreased appetite
- Increased focus
- Increased energy
Enjoy The Benefits of Ketosis
As we’ve said before, ketosis is a great way to shed pounds. As your body turns to fat stores instead of glucose stores for energy, you’ll burn fat faster. The key with ketosis is starting right and sticking to the plan. Your Xyngular 8-Day Jumpstart system has already laid out the groundwork for you, and all you have to do is follow along.
Sticking with the plan doesn’t mean you can’t cheat every now and then. While indulging in carbs will spike your blood sugar and kick you out of ketosis temporarily, you will return to ketosis once your glucose is depleted again. Having frequent cheat days or meals isn’t recommended, but if you don’t want to miss out on a special occasion, or have a craving you just can’t kick, don’t beat yourself up if you give in a little. Keeping yourself on track the majority of the time is what counts.
Making big changes can be hard, but remember your “why” and stick to your healthy changes. You’ll see the changes pay off as you benefit from the weight loss and healthier lifestyle the keto diet brings.
Use Xyngular 8-Day Jumpstart To Prepare You For Ketosis
When you’re starting a Xyngular keto plan, we recommend you begin with the Xyngular 8-Day Jumpstart. This program is designed to help reset your body’s metabolism and other functions so you begin with a clean slate, ready to enter ketosis. Best of all, it will bring you rapid results in just eight short days.*
What is the Xyngular 8-Day Jumpstart, and how can it help you? The short answer is it’s some of our best products that work together to help you see results fast. Best of all, once you finish the 8-Day Jumpstart, your body is prepped and ready to begin a ketosis diet plan. That’s right, it helps mitigate some of the initial bumps a lot of people feel when they begin a keto diet for weight loss. By side-stepping some of the pitfalls, you’ll be able to more easily reach your goals.
Contact your Xyngular Distributor to find out more about how our products can support your healthy lifestyle, or log in to your Xyngular account and get the Xyngular 8-Day Jumpstart today!
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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
*Lose up to 15 pounds in 8 days. Lose an additional 1-2 pounds or more each week following the 8-day jump start. Results are not guaranteed and can vary.
