How to Follow The Ketogenic Diet for Bodybuilding

Step-by-step Instructions

Here is what you need to do...
Step 1

The ketogenic diet was originally made up for people who sought to drastically lower their body-fat in a short period of time. This is done by neglecting carbohydrates to an extreme extent, and replacing those carbs with an excess of fats, which leaves most ketogenic dieters at a lack of usable explosive energy, especially at the beginning of the diet when the body is attempting to adjust to the major change of losing carbs. For bodybuilders, the ketogenic diet needs to be supplemented with proper nutrition in order to support an energy-heavy lifestyle. That is what this tip is for. Read on, fellow friends, and learn the ropes of ketogenic dieting for bodybuilders.

Step 2

First of all, you need to start your ketogenic diet slowly. This diet will start by sapping you of your normal energy reserves, and it can leave you feeling like a plug taken out of the socket. It normally takes about 3 weeks for your body to adjust to the change of very low carbs, and after that you'll notice that you don't hardly notice a wink of a difference anymore.

Step 3

What do I mean by very low carbs? Well, for the ketogenic diet to be successful, you have to virtually eliminate every little bit of carbohydrates from your diet. Carbs are known for serving as immediate energy; however, those carbs that don't get used up right away sift through the systems of the body and become excess fat. Ketogenic diets seek to get rid of all the accrued body fat by replacing carbs with, believe it or not, fats.

Step 4

Make sure to ingest a high amount of fats. The fats you eat, such as those from avocados, red meats, butter, and oils are going to sustain the huge bulk of your usable energy. Contrary to popular belief, these fats are actually healthy for your body, and will promote a skinnier bodytype than you would ever have with a high-carb diet. Seems backwards, I know; but this is the magic of the ketogenic diet.

Step 5

You damn sure better be eating a ton of protein. While protein won't give you energy, it will be more necessary than ever in order to sustain muscle growth and body-health. So, as you're eating fats throughout the day, eat protein with more vigor. Good protein sources are chicken, eggs, red meats, fish, and peanuts.

Step 6

Altogether, the ketogenic diet will give a bodybuilder the chance to be extremely lean. It also has the potential to reduce muscle mass, so make sure that you approach your diet with the insight that protein is your very, very, very, VERY best friend; and that fats will become your main source of go-power. Furthermore, make sure that you're definitely powering down as much food as possible. With this diet, you can eat to your heart's content and, in theory (and almost always in practice), you will not suffer from acquiring any additional and unwanted body fat.

Special Attention

Difficulties people often experience or parts that need special attention to do it right.

Like I said, the first few weeks of this diet are absolutely the hardest; you'll feel drained of all your energy, and your strength reserves will disappear. After those weeks though, you'll notice that your energy and strength come right back. And in order to keep everything in place as best as possible, I try to get at least one Muscletech protein shake per day, preferably at breakfast. This shake helps me stay awake and alert during the hardest and most energy-deficient part of the ketogenic diet: the beginning.

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Funny or interesting story about this topic...

My mom was actually the first person who introduced me to the ketogenic diet. She got really into it for a number of years, and she lost a ton of weight doing it. People always told her she was crazy to think that eating an excess amount of fat would provide weight-loss benefits, but she went ahead and did it anyway. The results: perfect. She didn't do any bodybuilding though, so she never had to consider the muscle-aspect of the diet, which actually made it a lot easier on her. Happy mom is always a good thing, am I right?

When did you first do this & how did you get started?

I did ketogenic dieting for bodybuilding for a very short time during my sophomore year of college. This diet actually worked very, very well for my photoshoots, but it was a lot of deliberate effort for me to keep up. If you want to be lean and mean, and not eat a ton of carbs, the ketogenic diet is for you. If you are able to eat whatever you want and stay skinny enough to satisfy yourself (which is essentially my case) then the ketogenic diet may pan out to be more work than it's worth. I guess you'll never know until you try- so give it a shot and figure out for yourself how well ketogenic dieting works.
Happy lifting,
J

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