Ketogenic diet

Ketogenic diet

Everything you need to know about the Ketogenic diet

Before I start, let me just tell you a little bit about myself, My name is Andy Griffiths, I’m an Online Personal Trainer based in the United Kingdom. I come from a military background where I spent five and a half years in the Royal Welsh Infantry, I’ve been to places such as Afghan, Canada, Cyprus and Kenya. In the Army, I was an All Arms Physical Training Instructor, so it was my job to make sure the Battalion was peak level ready for operations. I left the Army and continued to pursue my passion for health and fitness, I’ve done numerous seminars, YouTube and Facebook videos helping educate as many people as possible and debugging any myths out there. I give everyday busy people simplistic strategies to help transform their body composition and life. I make sure people get the results they have always wanted yet struggled to achieve. I do this by reducing stress levels, optimising hormones, improving biomechanics (movement patterns), building lean muscle tissue and changing lifestyle habits whilst making the journey fun and maintainable. 

So, let me start by saying that there is no one diet that is perfect for everyone, everyone is different and we need to have a diet that we can stick to, optimises health markers and encourages good habits, replacing meals with so-called healthy shakes is not a diet that encourages good habits and its not one that I would recommend. 

The type of diet I will be talking about today is a Ketogenic diet.

What is a ketogenic diet? 

A ketogenic diet is where you reduce your carbs (carbohydrates) to the point where your body stops using glucose/sugar (the break down of carbohydrates) as its main fuel source. 

Normally, the carbohydrates in food are converted into glucose, which is then used to power the body and brain by circulating through the bloodstream and providing energy to cells. However, if the body is in ketosis, the liver converts fats into fatty acids and ketone bodies to be used for the same purpose, your body is now utilising the fat from your diet and your body as energy. Amazing yes!?

Now…… you might say that reducing one of your bodies macronutrients (carbs/fats and protein) could result in you having some big problems, however this is simply not the case. Our bodies are capable of reforming the amino acids from protein into glucose, so if you are eating enough food, even if the calories are mostly from fats or proteins, you can still satisfy the glucose needs of the brain, blood cells and maintain blood glucose at a normal level.

Let's get a little bit scientific, when you eat carbohydrates, your body will release a hormone called insulin. When you eat and digest food, your blood sugar naturally rises, due to the increase of glucose/sugar in the blood. Insulin is secreted by the pancreas (which sits just behind your stomach) to regulate the amount of glucose in the blood. That glucose is then either stored in your muscles (as glycogen) or as fat. The more carbs you digest the more likely you are to store this energy as fat, also if you have low muscle mass, you are also more likely to store this energy as fat, this is why resistance training (lifting weights) is important and recommended!

The problem we have is far too many people base their diets around eating carbs (bread, pasta, potato etc), if this makes up the majority of your diet there will be far too much sugar in the blood, your body will secret far too much insulin and you will then start to gain far too much body fat. Saying all that, I would still recommend having carbohydrates such as green veg and fruit in your diet, green veg is extremely nutrient-dense and has a very low glycemic index. Generally, carbs are not the enemy, it's just the sheer quantity of carbs that is the problem, and once your body gets a taste of that sweet, sweet glucose/sugar it just wants more and more. The main reason people feel up and down all day is that their blood sugar goes up when they eat carbs and they feel great, but then drops so fast they start to crash around 1 pm and they still have 4 hours still in work, that's when the vending machine starts looking like their best friend.

Some studies also suggest that insulin blocks a hormone called leptin (appetite hormone) at the brain, this makes it harder for you to feel full. This is why people can easily consume 800 calories of pasta, but if you're tried to eat 800 calories worth of lean steak, you probably are not going to get very far.

OK, so don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that drastically reducing your carbohydrates to the point that your body then starts breaking down ketones (the breakdown of fat), is hard work, and maybe even unrealistic, but you don’t have to be in ketosis to lose fat. If you start eating more healthy fats, protein and reducing your carbohydrates then the health benefits are amazing, you might not be “in ketosis” (let's say fat-burning mode) but you will still feel great. Think about it, you take away bread, pasta, potatoes, what will you be left with? You are now left with some seriously nutrient-dense foods to make the bulk of your diet. You have fish, and we all know the benefits of fish and having plenty of omega 3 in your diet. You then have foods such as avocado, steak, eggs, coconut oil, chicken etc. To be honest, if it runs, swims, blinks or even grows, then you can’t go far wrong.

So if we take out carbs, that means we have taken out chocolate, sweets, most processed foods and foods containing a large amount of gluten. It doesn’t take a nutritionist to work out that’s a good thing. With doing this you’re reducing your chances of obesity and all the negative health issues that they come from that.

Here are just some of the benefits of a ketogenic-type diet:

• Increase in HDL Cholesterol

• Mood stabilisation

• Reduce inflammation and heart disease risk

• Increased energy (after two weeks)

• Decrease in stiffness and joint pain

• Fat loss

• Improved digestion and gut health 

• A drop in triglycerides

Calories in vs calories out, is that not the bigger picture?

Okay so we do need to take the First Law of Thermodynamics into consideration, but from a health point of view this should not be the main focus as it will inevitably lead you to reduce your calories more and more until your cells start to de-regulate, this is if you have the will power to go against human instincts, whereby the body WILL want energy when starving. If you instead focus on healthy, nourishing and wholesome food, it is then much easier to maintain a diet, and isn’t the main goal to be healthy, happy and feel awesome?

As much as being in a slight calorie deficit is needed, the focus should not be on that, the focus should be on feeling awesome! When on a diet you should always ask yourself:

(1) “How does this diet make me feel from day to day?” 

(2) “Do I get angry easily?”

(3) “What’s my skin been like since I started eating this way?”

(4) “What’s my sex drive like?”

If the answer isn’t…….. (1) AWESOME!, (2) WHAT’S THEIR TO BE ANGRY ABOUT?, (3) LIKE A BABIES BOTTOM, (4) THROUGH THE ROOF!!……. Then maybe that chosen diet is not for you. If I take my clients, for example, I can only really get consistently good results if they’re mentally and emotionally in the right place.

The big question is…….. “Is this a long term sustainable diet?” The answers i “yes” like I said it doesn't have to be so strict that you’re always in ketosis, but if you’re reducing your carbohydrates and eating clean food, you’re going to feel amazing. Maybe not straight away, if you’re used to eating plenty of carbs, but once you’ve passed the transition phase (about two weeks) you should start to feel a lot better, awesome in fact.

This is a great diet that works with most people, especially if they have hormonal issues. Not every diet is for everyone and maybe this one isn’t for you, however, I do recommend that everyone bases 90% of their diet around single ingredient foods, remember if it’s packed, you put it back!

Try this diet out for one month and see how you feel, you have nothing to lose excepts maybe a couple of pounds.

Banded Push-Ups

Banded Push-Ups

Banded Push-Ups, for when you want to look technical AF.

The biggest restriction with Push-Up is the inability to progress in loading (adding weight to the movement as you get stronger).

The benefit of banded Push-Ups is deloading at the bottom of the movement, where resistance is at a minimum due to less stretch through a band. The bottom position is often the most stressful portion of the exercise, which is why deloading it is great for shoulder health. The strongest portion of the movement is at the top, accommodating the most resistance, therefor keeping great resistance through the full range of motion.

Correctly utilising bands like this can help keep constant tension through the full range of motion, help increase metabolic stress (PUMP) and of course let everyone else in the gym know that you have an amazing imagination.

Time

Time

Let’s talk about time.

Time can be your best friend or your worst enemy. 

When it comes to fat loss, muscle building, strength and endurance, I think we can all agree that time is needed to help you reach your goals.

Now, I would be lying if I said that I was training everyday and eating clean all the time.

However, what I do have is a good base of acceptable nutrition and an active lifestyle.

With me having this base in place, it stops me from going backwards, I’m not necessarily pushing forward all the time, but I don’t do going backwards.

Let me tell you about my base, this is not what I recommend as optimal, its just the minimum I’ll do on any given week, you need to have a minimum of what you will allow yourself to get away with!:

Water 1.5 Ltr (at least)

Protein intake at least 1.5 gram per 1 kg of body weight, but I always nail this and some

Two muscle developing sessions per week (at least)

If you have something like this in place it allows you to only have good weeks and great weeks and even on your worst weeks you’ll still be on track.

Build muscle and drop fat at the same time

Build muscle and drop fat at the same time

You want to build muscle and drop fat at the same time??

You must watch this video.........

"What diet do you recommend for fat loss? Should I go low carb?"

What diet do you recommend for fat loss?

Q&A

"What diet do you recommend for fat loss? Should I go low carb?"

KEY POINTS

- The best diet is the diet you can maintain long term
- Calories are more important than carbohydrate intake
- Reducing your carbohydrates can be a very effective way of putting you in a slight caloric deficit
- Very low carbohydrate diets are not ideal for muscle building or high performance training
- I'm all for reduced carbohydrate diets for fat loss, they can be very effective and sustainable
- I'll say it again "The best diet is the diet you can maintain long term"

Weight loss vs fat loss

Weight loss vs fat loss

Now this post will be long, but if you bear with it then you’ll be all the wiser at the end.

I feel like this is a topic where people generally fail to get it right, and getting this right is one of the keys to sustainable results.

Let me explain why, you see WEIGHT loss is simple, you just need to look at one simple variable……the calories. The First Law of Thermodynamics (energy balance), basically states that in a closed system, energy can neither be created or destroyed, only transformed or transferred (calories in vs calories out). So, if you want to gain weight you eat more (increase the energy input) and if you want to lose weight then you do the opposite (reduce the energy input)….. simple.

There are very few other factors to take into consideration.

Now that’s cleared up, lets talk about FAT loss.

Fat loss is what is says on the tin, you’re trying to burn fat, not muscle tissue, not water, you’re primarily targeting the fat.

You still need to address The first Law of Thermodynamics , but you have also need to retain muscle tissue. Now, the main way you do this is by stimulating the muscle by putting plenty of mechanical tension through the full range of motion (lifting heavy weights and no half squatting). Making sure the calories don’t go too low, because if they do your body will be forced to breakdown muscle to be used as energy. Then we have to look at protein intake (protein helps build and recover muscle), so you need plenty in order to preserve muscle tissue.

So, why is fat loss the key to sustainable results?

When you do it the healthy and right way you’ll feel better, look better, have more energy and you’ll have a good amount of muscle with a low amount of fat AKA shredded. The more muscle tissue you have the faster your metabolic rate, therefore, the easier it will be to retain your results.

Now, I spent about 45 minutes looking for a decent picture for this post, but I couldn’t find anything. So here is a picture of a pea with a smile…..