Here’s an F-Bomb for you

No no no, I’m not talking about my favorite four-letter word. I’m talking about FAT. As of late it seems like there is more and more confusion and misinformation about the keto diet and fat. When people hear you are eating keto, they automatically think loads of butter, bacon, cheese etc. Don’t get me wrong, I love my fair share of all those things, but that’s not what keto is about. You don’t eat unlimited quantities of fat, and you shouldn’t either. Sure, keto is a low carb high fat diet, but that is in comparison to a standard diet.

Here’s the low-down on keto and fat. When you are first starting out on your keto journey, you will eat an excess of fat. You’re eating this high amount of HEALTHY fat, mind you, to train your body how to use it for energy AKA ketosis. Your body has to learn how to convert fat to ketones, and though not entirely necessary, eating a higher amount of fat will help your body do this much faster. Once you are fat adapted and regularly in ketosis, your body is trained to efficiently use fat for energy/ketones so you no longer need to eat fat in excess. Your body will now start to use the fat your body has stored for energy, thus resulting in fat loss. If you continue to consume fat in excess through consumption, your body will be using the dietary fat to convert to ketones and not what you already have on your body, which is entirely counter productive. Again, if you are consuming excess dietary fat, your body will have no reason to use the stored fat you already have!

Now this doesn’t mean to NOT eat fat! You still need to consume at minimum 50g of fat per day. And what is also important to note is to make sure you are consuming your protein macro goal. This is necessary to avoid muscle loss! Remember, the key phrase with keto is: carbs are a limit (do not go over your carb macros), protein is goal (make sure you are hitting your goal daily), and fat is a leaver (used to control hunger and satiation). If you’re finding yourself frequently hungry, up your fat. If you’re full, don’t force yourself to eat what isn’t necessary.