(Food blogger) Aaron Day - Easy keto meal prep : simplify your keto diet with 8 weekly meal plans & over 60 low-carb recipes!

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Whether youre an experienced keto follower or completely new to the diet, there are some basic facts about the diet that will be useful to understand before you begin your meal prep journey.

Understanding how the keto diet works, and how it can benefit your body, is essential to achieving long-term success on the diet. If youre already on the keto diet, its likely you know that sugar and carbs are highly restricted, while fat and protein are both essential for success. But why are carbs and sugar bad? For most people, their bodies are dependent on glucose as a primary source of energy. Glucose (commonly known as blood sugar) is produced by the body from the sugars and carbohydrates that we consume. When we consume high levels of carbohydrates, our bodies convert those carbs to energy, but that energy is short-lived and increased levels of glucose can elevate our blood sugar levels. These surges in glucose also trigger our bodies to produce insulin. While insulin has many complex roles within the bodys biochemistry, its primary functions are to control the spikes in blood sugar that come with consuming carbs and sugar, and also to tell the body to store any of that leftover energy as fat. When insulin levels are elevated over long stretches of time, the body can eventually become desensitized to it, which ultimately can lead to greater health complications.

On a keto diet, you starve your body of glucose by strictly limiting the amount of carbohydrates you consume, which means the body is forced to turn to another energy source, which is fat. By strictly limiting carbohydrates, your body is forced to flip a switch and begin processing both stored body fat and consumed dietary fats for energy, rather than carbohydrates. This process of burning fat for fuel is known as ketosis, and a side effect of this state is that your body produces molecules called ketones. For diabetics, ketones must be carefully monitored to ensure they dont enter ketoacidosis, a state where their ketones and blood sugar levels are dangerously elevated. If you consume the proper ratios of macronutrients each day, however, you can achieve a safe state of ketosis and your body will begin to burn fat for energy. Your energy levels will be more sustained and steady, and without the peak and crash cycle that comes from following a high-carbohydrate diet.

Successful keto eating is centered around carefully managing a ratio of macronutrients that includes fats, protein, and carbohydrates. While a typical high-carb diet has a ratio of about 25% of calories from fat, 30% from protein, and 55% from carbohydrates, the keto diet has a ratio of about 70% of calories from fat, 25% from protein, and 510% from carbohydrates. This high consumption of healthy dietary fats helps your body adapt and utilize stored body fat for fuel, while drastically cutting your carbohydrate consumption to the point where the body enters ketosis.

A note Of Caution

Its strongly recommended that you consult with your healthcare provider before starting a ketogenic diet. If you suffer from certain health conditions, such as coronary artery disease or type 2 diabetes, the ketogenic diet may not be the best long-term strategy for improving your health. Diabetics, in particular, can be prone to ketoacidosis, which is not the same thing as ketosis and is a potentially dangerous medical condition. Please be sure to consult with your healthcare provider to monitor your insulin levels and ensure that the keto diet is the right choice for your health.

Understanding the Essential Macros

There are three essential macronutrients that you need to monitor as youre following a keto diet: fat, carbohydrates, and protein. Each macro has a different level of importance in achieving ketosis, and each plays a different role in the process.