by Leanne Vogel
A menstrual cycle results from hormonal changes between the ovaries and the pituitary gland (located in the brain). A typical cycle is between 24 and 35 days.
ESTROGEN matures an egg before ovulation. This is why you see an estrogen increase just before ovulation. Additionally, it matures the uterine lining that is shed when a period takes place, which is why the level increases again in the luteal phase.
Signs of excess estrogen: bloating, decreased sex drive, mood swings, headaches, acne, PMS
Signs of decreased estrogen: painful intercourse, depression, hot flashes, mood swings, irregular periods, increased instances of UTIs
PROGESTERONE works to balance out the effects of estrogen during the maturation of the uterine lining in the luteal phase. This is why it increases during the estrogen increase.
Signs of excess progesterone: bloating, decreased sex drive, swelling and tenderness of the breasts in the luteal phase
Signs of decreased progesterone: low sex drive, thyroid dysfunction (primarily hypothyroidism), weight gain, irregular menstrual cycle
Changing Your Macros with Your Cycle
The following macro adjustments assume that your period lasts for five days, you ovulate on the fourteenth day of your cycle, and your full menstrual cycle is 28 days. If your body is different, you will need to adjust the following to suit your pattern.
CYCLE DAYS 1 TO 5
During your period, your body may respond best to a higher protein intake.
CYCLE DAYS 6 TO 11
The first day after your period until two days before ovulation. This is when women are most responsive to the ketogenic diet, able to eat severely low-carb or no-carb with boundless energy.
CYCLE DAYS 12 TO 16*
Two days before ovulation, ovulation itself, and two days after ovulation. A woman’s body still responds well to eating low-carb during this phase, but you may benefit from a boost in glutathione, specifically in the evening. Food sources of glutathione include apples, avocados, broccoli, garlic, grapefruit, oranges, parsley, and tomatoes.
You could also benefit from maintaining your usual keto macros for breakfast and lunch and then increasing your carbohydrate intake after 5 p.m., preferably with fruit. Do this each evening during these days of your cycle.
CYCLE DAYS 17 TO 28*
The third day following ovulation through the day before you get your period. Your body will likely begin to crave carbohydrates as you approach the end of your cycle.
You could benefit from maintaining your usual keto macros for breakfast and lunch and then increasing your carbohydrate intake after 5 p.m., preferably with starchy vegetables like cassava, plantains, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Do this each evening during these days of your cycle.
*Don’t worry too much about whether you register ketones during this phase. The amount of carbohydrates you consume is so minimal that you’ll be back to burning fat in the morning, and you will feel much better through the remainder of your cycle.
Menopause
Women who are currently experiencing menopause or are post-menopausal can typically follow standard 80/15/5 ketogenic ratios.
2.
4 STEPS
TO KET
SUCCESS
Regardless of what brought you here or what your goals are, you can achieve a ketogenic state. The process goes like this:
1. SET YOUR MACROS AND EAT GOOD FOOD.
2. GET YOUR BODY INTO KETOSIS.
3. BECOME FAT-ADAPTED.
4. FIGURE OUT WHICH FOODS MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD AND HELP YOU HIT YOUR GOALS.
Let me break down each of these steps into bite-sized pieces for you.
STEP
1
SET YOUR MACROS
The way I see it, there are two ways of looking at macronutrient consumption:
• PERCENTAGE INTAKE: You would say, “My macronutrient consumption today was 73 percent fat, 15 percent protein, and 12 percent carbs.” This approach is great when you’re just getting started and you’re trying to understand how the components relate to one another.
• GRAM INTAKE: You would say, “My macronutrient consumption today was 150 grams of fat, 70 grams of protein, and 55 grams of carbs.” This approach is best once you have determined the exact ratios of macronutrients that work best for you. Then it’s just a matter of hitting the target number of grams of each macronutrient every day.
The two approaches convey the same information; they just come from different viewpoints.
A good place to start is 75 to 80 percent fat, 15 percent protein, and 5 to 10 percent carbohydrate. In The Keto Diet (ketodietbook.com), I call this the Classic Keto Fat Fueled Profile. For more macro options, flip back to pages 22 to 25.
Maybe you’re wondering WHICH FOODS TO EAT in order to hit these macros? I thought you’d never ask!
The health-promoting foods in the following lists are classic parts of a whole food–based ketogenic lifestyle. Where quality is a concern for a specific item, I’ve listed what to look for directly after the name of the item or at the top of the list.
Some people react to perfectly healthful foods in the form of inflammation, allergy symptoms, and/or a reduction in ketones. This isn’t to say the food is bad for keto, but rather unhelpful for the individual. So, in this list, I’ve marked some of the potentially problematic food items that may be standing in the way of your living a fully healthy life. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with these foods, but if you’re having issues on your keto diet and think that food items could be a culprit, here’s where to look.
VEGETABLES
Alfalfa
Artichoke hearts
Arugula
Asparagus
Bok choy
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Capers
Cauliflower
Celeriac
Celery, organic
Chard
Chives
Collards
Cucumbers, organic
Daikon
Eggplant
Endive/Escarole
Fennel
Garlic
Ginger
Jicama
Kale
Kimchi
Kohlrabi
Lettuce, organic
Mushrooms
Okra
Olives
Onions
Peppers, sweet and hot
Radishes
Rhubarb
Sauerkraut
Shallots
Spinach, organic
Swiss chard
Tomatoes
Turnips
Water chestnuts
Zucchini, non-GMO
MEAT
All animal-based proteins are safe. Opt for grass-fed/pasture-raised when possible.
Bacon
Beef muscle meat and organ meat
Chicken muscle meat and organ meat
Cold cuts
Lamb muscle meat
Pork muscle meat
Turkey muscle meat and organ meat
Wild game muscle meat and organ meat
LOW-FRUCTOSE FRUIT
Avocados
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cranberries
Grapefruit
Lemons
Limes
Raspberries
Strawberries
FATS
Avocado oil
Cacao/Cocoa butter
Chicken fat (schmaltz), free-range
Chocolate, unsweetened
Coconut
Coconut oil
Duck fat, free-range
Goose fat, free-range
Hazelnut oil
Lard, pasture-raised
Macadamia nut oil
MCT oil
MCT oil powder
Olive oil
DAIRY
Opt for high-fat, grass-fed/pasture-raised when possible.
Butter
Cheese
Cottage cheese
Cream cheese
Ghee
Heavy whipping cream
Milk
Sour cream
Whey
Yogurt
SEAFOOD
Opt for low-mercury fish as often as possible.
Anchovies
Mackerel
Oysters
Salmon, wild-caught
Sardines
Scallops
EGGS
Chicken eggs
Duck eggs
NUTS AND SEEDS
Including nut and seed butters and flours.
Almonds
Brazil nuts
Cashews
Chia seeds
Flax seeds
Hazelnuts
Hemp seeds
Macadamia nuts
Pecans
Pili nuts
Pine nuts
Pistachios
Poppy seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Sesame seeds
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts
EXTRAS
Apple cider vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Bone broth
Coconut aminos
Coconut butter
Coconut vinegar
Collagen peptides
Gelatin
Hot sauce
Ketchup, unsweetened
Mayonnaise, made with avocado oil
Mustard
Nutritional yeast
Salad dressings, unsweetened
Salsa
Vanilla extract, alcohol-free
SWEET-ENERS
Erythritol
Monk fruit
Stevia
Xylitol
ALCOHOL
Brandy
Champagne
Gin
Red wine, dry farmed
Tequila
Vodka
Whiskey
White wine, dry farmed
HERBS AND SPICES
Basil
Bay leaves
Black pepper
Cardamom
Carob powder
Cayenne pepper
Chili powder
Chipotle powder
Cinnamon
Cocoa powder
Cumin
Curry powder
Dill
Fennel seed
Garlic powder
Ginger powder
Mint
Mustard seed
Nutmeg
Onion powder
Oregano
Paprika
Parsley
Rosemary
Sage
Taco seasoning
Thyme
Turmeric powder
BEVERAGES
Coconut water
Green tea
Herbal tea
Kombucha
Water kefir
IS ALCOHOL ACTUALLY OKAY?
Alcohols like brandy, champagne, gin, dry-farmed white or red wine, tequila, vodka, and whiskey are pretty safe to have on a ketogenic diet; just understand that if you’re struggling with health imbalances, drinking alcohol is not going to help the situation. However, if you are out with friends, at a function, or need a stiff drink, these are the best alcohols to opt for! Just know that your ketone levels will dip a bit before returning to normal. And alcohol is best avoided during the first couple of weeks of eating a ketogenic diet.
STEP
2
GET YOUR BODY INTO KETOSIS
Following a ketogenic eating style using the macros outlined in Step 1 will eventually put you into a state of ketosis. When you’re in a state of ketosis, your body breaks down your body fat, using it as energy and developing ketones that are released into your bloodstream. Being “in ketosis” is a normal metabolic state that you achieve either by fasting or with the support of a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carb eating style.
The process of getting into a ketogenic state, where you’re generating ketones, can take anywhere from two weeks to a couple of months. How slow or fast your body gets there is dependent on many factors, but the most common is the state of your metabolism when you start.
STEP
3
BECOME FAT-ADAPTED
One of the goals of the ketogenic eating style is to become “fat-adapted.” Being fat-adapted means that your body is primed for functioning optimally on very little glucose. This is where the healing happens.
When you first enter ketosis, the fat you will be using for energy will be in limited supply. The reason is that breaking down fat requires different enzymes than the ones needed to break down glucose, and your body won’t have had sufficient time to produce many fat-converting enzymes.
Up until now, your body has focused on breaking down excess glucose rather than breaking down fats, so when you get started on a ketogenic lifestyle, your body needs a bit of time to “catch up” and build a store of fat-converting enzymes. This is one of the main reasons why many people feel tired when they begin altering their eating habits.
Once the fat-focused enzymes have built up, your cells miraculously change their preferred way of acquiring energy, and you become fully fat-adapted. The process of becoming fully fat-adapted can take anywhere from a month to a couple of months.
Once you’ve become fat-adapted, fatty acids and their substrates, ketone bodies, become your body’s preferred fuel, and this is when all kinds of good things begin to happen. Your hormone levels balance out, levels of glycogen (the form in which glucose is stored in the liver and muscles) are depleted, your body carries around less water, and your energy is restored to normal levels. I strongly recommend that you stick with a keto plan for at least 30 days, and sometimes even longer, to allow your body ample time to become fully fat-adapted.
STEP
4
FIGURE OUT WHICH FOODS MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD
When I first started eating keto, I had it in my head that there were good and bad foods. You know: eat a lot of coconut and avocado, but don’t eat fruit or starches of any kind, and stay far, far, far away from sugar.
Although there are foods that will benefit you far more than others when you follow a ketogenic diet, approaching keto—or any eating style, for that matter—with the “good versus bad” mentality will likely end in binges, going off plan, and feeling miserable about yourself.
So, what should you do instead? I go by one keto motto with almost everything I choose to eat. (I say “almost” only because I do indulge in a little popcorn here and there because I’m human, and popcorn is essential on epic movie nights.) Here’s the motto:
I eat whole food, try to stay away from the artificial stuff, and if it’s hard to pronounce, it’s probably not best.
In keto, there’s less debate about good versus bad than there is debate about what’s whole versus not-so-whole. (Think “unprocessed versus processed.”) There’s also a focus on asking yourself, “How does my body feel with that certain food?”
For example, let’s chat about dairy. I can’t do dairy. I just cannot. Whenever I eat it, I get horrible acne, painful periods, constipation, diarrhea, brain fog—bad symptoms of a food that doesn’t agree with me. Dairy is keto, for sure. But it doesn’t work for me.
Next up, sweeteners. My opinion on keto-safe sweeteners has changed over time, and it continues to evolve. When I first started keto, I was metabolically damaged, which means I couldn’t handle much sweetness without experiencing cravings, glucose spikes, and sleepiness. Now, five-plus years later, I can sweeten recipes with whole-food sweeteners like overripe banana, applesauce, or Medjool dates without seeing any effect on my ketones. Erythritol, xylitol, allulose, and stevia are all considered safe in keto. They likely won’t spike your blood sugar as drastically as white sugar would (although some individuals experience some blood sugar spiking), and they’re great options if you’re metabolically damaged, you want a treat, and your body isn’t responding well to whole-food sweeteners like fruit.
Nuts and seeds are other foods that work with a ketogenic lifestyle in some cases. Some people respond well to them; others do not.
So you see, there are keto foods that even many keto people can’t eat. And we can adjust our eating styles to better support our bodies with the foods that make us feel our best, even if those foods aren’t completely “keto.” When you eat the best foods for your body, inflammation goes down, healing ramps up, and you’re better able to stay in a ketogenic state.
Filling your life with the right foods will fuel you with energy, positivity, and rockin’ good times. The wrong foods will give you headaches, bloating, cramps, and irritability.
Now, you might be thinking, “How the heck am I supposed to know which foods work well for me and which do not?” Let me tell you a particularly effective approach.
Food Journaling
Using a food journal is a great way to track the foods you eat and how you feel after eating them. I’ve provided a journal template that will help you make sense of the subtle cues your body sends you. You’ll learn to listen to your body, understand yourself, and get healthy with every winning decision you make!
Here’s how it works:
1
Photocopy the template and fill in your answers, writing notes on your phone, or creating your own template in a paper journal.
2
Take 15 minutes each day to record what you ate and how you felt before and after eating your meals.
3