When you eat less carbohydrates, your body needs an alternative source of energy to break down protein proteins in the muscles. By eating enough protein, you can prevent muscle breakdown and shift your body to fat burning.
This is the whole point of the ketogenic diet. It creates the illusion of hunger for the body, even though you are actually getting enough energy from protein and fat. This diet triggers ketosis, in which the body breaks down fat primarily as an energy source.
There is no definite answer to the question of which diet is the most effective for burning fat. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of the ketogenic diet.
Cons of the ketogenic diet
The main disadvantage of the ketogenic diet is that it severely limits nutrition. You'll have to cut out all carbohydrates, including vegetables and fruits, for ketosis to start quickly and last.
The disadvantages include the appearance of bad breath, due to the rich amount of protein in the diet.
Advantages of the keto diet
On a ketogenic diet, you consume your usual amount of calories (or slightly less), so you don't go hungry. Once ketosis kicks in, you can diversify your diet with fibrous vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and asparagus.
Furthermore, intense exercise is easier on the keto diet because the body already has a store of fat to break down. This is very useful when preparing for a competition.
In the end, the ketogenic diet produces results much faster than any other weight loss item.
Sample menu of the ketogenic diet
Before moving on to the example menu of the day, let's determine what you can and cannot eat on the keto diet:
- You can: meat, fish, cheese, eggs, oils, very low carbohydrate protein products;
- Don't: Sugar, grains, processed foods, fruits and vegetables, dairy (due to lactose).
So now an example of a daily ketogenic diet:
Breakfast
- Bacon, eggs
- Late breakfast
- Cheddar cheese, ham
Dinner
- Salmon, avocado (or chicken with mayonnaise)
Before training
- Whey Protein, Creatine, BCAAs, Glutamine
After practice
- Whey Protein, Creatine, BCAAs, Glutamine
Dinner
- Steak, spinach with olive oil
Monday dinner
- Hard-boiled eggs, turkey breast (or casein protein)