9 Common Keto Mistakes to Avoid

We know that starting a keto diet isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Everyone is bound to make a mistake or two. There are common keto mistakes that can happen when you’re getting started.

It takes preparation, research, shopping, and a mindset shift, to completely change your lifestyle. Your body is making an internal change that takes time and the way you go about your life is going to change, too.

You won’t be eating out as often. You’ll have to make sure you fill up before leaving home or pack snacks to take along. Even your walk through the grocery store will be different – you should find that you mostly avoid all of the center aisles of the store and shop from the outer ring. Your shopping list should mostly comprise of FRESH ingredients: dairy, meat, eggs, vegetables, and some fruit. Pantry staples should be things like olive or coconut oil, broth,

There are hundreds of post every day across the multitude of Keto Facebook groups from people that are asking why they’re not losing weight, why they’re not seeing results, why their results are not as good as so-and-so’s, etc.

It could be because they made some simple, yet common, mistakes that many people make when they are on a ketogenic diet.

It’s OK, this is a process that requires a lot of learning and a lot of dedication. The important thing to do is to really learn from your mistakes and understand how you can avoid them going forward.

 

Common Keto Mistakes

Below is going to be common mistakes that people make on a keto diet. There will also be some tips on how to avoid making these mistakes so you don’t make them when you start your journey.

Or, if you’ve already started your journey, you can learn how to not continue making these mistakes so that you can start seeing the results you want.

 

Being Afraid of Fats

We’ve been conditioned our whole lives to believe that fat is bad. You know that food pyramid that had the little tiny top section for fats? Yeah well, it turns out they were wrong about that. And, with this diet, you need to eat fat to lose fat.

Some people may see that once they’ve calculated their macros they are really intimidated by the massive amount.

On this diet, you may have to consume a large amount of fat to help your body reach the goal you’ve set for yourself.

About 75% of the food you eat needs to come from fats. That’s a high percentage of your food content and may come as a shock to you, but to be successful with this diet, this is how things need to be.

Don’t be afraid of the amount of fat you have to eat. Understand that this diet is only going to help you in the end so if you follow everything how it is presented to you, you’ll have almost no problems. Your body will retrain itself to run on fat instead of carbs and sugar, and then you’ll be able to enjoy all of the benefits of being fat adapted.

 

Eating the Wrong Fats

 

To go along with the last mistake, you need to make sure you’re eating the right fats.

Don’t just assume that since your meeting your daily fats requirement that it means you’re eating the right kind of fats. There is such a thing as good fats and bad fats.

The bad fats that people may struggle with are the processed fats. This can be found in processed vegetable oils. So, because of this, cooking with these oils is a no no.

Fats that you want to be consuming are the saturated fats, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and naturally occurring trans fats.

Getting these types of fats are fairly easy when you’re looking to avoid all of the processed trans fats.

These good fats can be found in butter, eggs, avocados, walnuts, and fish oils. There are plenty of other sources for these fats, but those are just a few examples.

Adds those to your meals and you’ll see that you’re hitting your fats requirement while staying with the good fats.

 

Eating Too Much Protein

 

To some of you, this may not seem like such a bad thing. We’ve been conditioned to believe that most of our diet should comprise of protein. You aren’t allowed many carbs so a way to supplement that is through protein.

However, having too much protein is going to have negative effects on your body during a keto diet.

Your body only needs so much protein, anything more than that and it starts to get converted into fat. We are trying to eliminate fat so anything that adds fat to your body is a negative.

Avoiding this is pretty simple. All you need to do is focus on your macros. Stay with your macros and you won’t have to worry about having anything in excess. You will only have exactly what you need.

 

Using Keto as a “Quick Fix”

Some people may try to use the keto diet as a quick fix.

In the first week or two, it might seem like a quick fix, too. The body drops water weight and the pounds seem to just melt off. Then the first plateau hits.

Ketogenic diets are not a quick fix. It is a lifestyle change.

You may see some changes relatively quick, but that doesn’t mean you can jump right into your old eating habits like before and expect to see those changes stick around. Bad habits die hard and you might see yourself falling into old routines.

There are going to be times where you can slip away from the keto diet for a little bit, but getting back to it can sometimes be harder and will take hard work.

It won’t be easy and it won’t be quick. But if you stick with it and work at it you will see results.

 

Obsessing Over the Scale

 

Checking your weight multiple times a day or even on a daily basis is going to make you get in your own head and things will start to slowly go downhill from there.

I know you’re excited to see the pounds melt off and want to check up on your progress regularly. But the thing is, there’s a physical change happening in your body that will cause plateaus, drops in weight, and even a few small weight gains.

If you’re following the lifestyle properly and staying away from sugars (this means sugar by all of its names) and carbs, and hitting your macros everyday, then the weight will come off.

It took time to put the weight on, and it’s going to take time to make it come off, too. Checking your weight too often is just going to discourage you.

Instead, consider setting a weigh in time on your calendar. Make it weekly or every two weeks. Then don’t weigh yourself in between that time frame. You now have something to look forward to and can really celebrate the number on the scale.

Or, skip weigh ins altogether and measure yourself. Use a tape measure like in the photo above (here’s a great one on Amazon for only $3.50) or use a roll of yarn and cut a piece off each time you measure your waist and hang it on the wall. If you follow keto properly then you should see the pieces of yarn get shorter over time, and it will give you motivation every time you see them hanging there.

 

 

Not Enough Water

 

During a keto diet, your body is going to lose a lot of fluids, so it’s important to stay as hydrated as possible. For some reason people seem to forget about this a lot.

You’re losing a lot of fluids and electrolytes that can easily be put back into your body through water.

When you aren’t staying hydrated, your body is going to store as much fat as possible. Again, this is the opposite of what we want to happen.

Staying hydrated also means that your organs are going to be working the way they should. Your body will be working like a well-oiled machine.

Some of you may not be used to drinking water constantly throughout the day, but it’s something that has to be done. The recommended amount of water is about a gallon a day. Yes, this sounds like a lot, but a few sips here and there throughout the day will make this task a lot more doable.

 

Not Enough Sleep

 

The process of getting into ketosis, when your body starts using fat as its energy source, can cause you to lose a little bit of sleep. You need to do what you can to get the proper amount of sleep that you need.

Everyone needs sleep and getting the right amount can go a long way. Relaxing at the end of your day, drinking a glass of water, or taking a cold shower, can all help aid your sleep cycle.

Not getting the right amount of sleep will prevent your body from functioning as well as it should.

If you’re able to get a good nights rest, your body will be better equipped to handle the changes it’s starting to go through with the keto diet.

 

Not Mixing Meals Up

Seriously, mix up your meal plan each week! With a keto diet, since you are restricted with your carb intake, you may think that you are restricted with the number of recipes you can have as well.

Because of this, some people tend to eat the same things all the time.

If you only like certain foods then I can understand this. However, when you start mixing things up, you’ll find that the diet is much more enjoyable.

Having a different meal all the time will keep your morale up and allow you to go further with the diet.

You should always keep your taste buds guessing so some of your favorite foods don’t start to become bland if you continue to eat regularly. Nothing is worse than constantly eating your favorite meal, then actually getting sick of it because you’ve had so often.

Try new vegetables! It is so important to eat your veggies on this lifestyle – that’s where most of your carbs should come from. Try new ones you’ve never had, or try recipes that cook them different ways.

 

Comparing Yourself to Others

This mistake may be the one thing that holds people back more than the others. Simply because it is all mental.

People love comparing themselves to others. It’s just a part of human nature. Everyone does it.

When it comes to the keto diet, you cannot compare yourself to others. That is just signing your own death sentence. You need to focus on yourself and nobody else.

Everyone’s body is going to react differently to the diet. This means that people are going to experience different weight loss at different rates than you as well.

If anything, when you see somebody’s weight loss and it’s greater than yours, all you should do is congratulate them and keep encouraging them. Understand that your weight loss is happening and you will reach your goal eventually.

 

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