Tips to follow when Banting

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF BEGINNER BANTING

Don’t fear fat – This is central to Banting, or Keto. Saturated and monounsaturated fats are NOT bad for you. When you’re cutting out carbs and craving like a mofo, small amounts at a time help make you feel full and can stop you from overeating. So long as you are sticking to the Green List, and avoiding the red list, a little fat as needed is perfectly fine (and healthy).
Eat enough vegetables – Yes – Vegetables should make up the bulk of your diet, which means you’ve got to eat them with every meal. Green vegetables are the best because they are generally lower in carbs and higher in nutrients (nutrient dense). Have a look through all of the different vegetables on the Green List, and make sure that you have enough variety in your diet.
Snacking is a lie – When you’re in fat burning mode , there is little need to snack. It is commonly taught that you need to snack in order to maintain your blood sugar. That’s a lie. And the best part of all is that while you’re in fat burning mode, you won’t want or need to snack.
Re-educate yourself –
Watch out for carbs disguised as proteins. Eating foods that are perceived to be proteins, like legumes, baked beans, peanuts and quinoa, will undermine your attempts to stay in fat burning mode. Remember, vegetables with high protein content can often be high in carbs too. And eating more protein with more carbs won’t help you. Pay attention to which lists you are allowed to eat from and in which phase. For more info on this, download the Banting Lists.
Don’t over- or under-eat – New Revolutionaries get nervous about the idea of not snacking and tend to go overboard at mealtimes to overcompensate. Don’t worry about this. It takes practice and you will soon improve your aim. But remember, never force food down your throat. When you are full, stop eating! If you don’t feel like eating a meal, skip it. Anyone who tells you you need to eat more fat to lose weight, has misunderstood the biology. You need to eat fewer carbs. End of story. After that, your next priority is eating less food in general, which is much easier to do when you’re not hungry all time. And, the removal of carbs, along with the (only when required) increase in fat is the most effective way of managing hunger. It must be said that those are severely overweight will benefit from reducing their fat intake too, but we would only advise you to do this once you have stopped craving the carbs.
Don’t eat too much protein – We cannot stress this enough. Keto is NOT high-protein. Follow a low-carb, healthy fat (Keto) diet and not a high protein diet.
Be alert! – Many ostensibly ‘healthy’ products and ready-made meals are laced with carbs (thickeners, caking agents, binding agents and more, are usually carb laden). Before you buy something, check the label. If the carb content is higher than 5g per 100g or the label lists anything on the Very Red list, don’t buy it. The best way to shop is to aim to buy foods that don’t have labels (it gets tough, but it is a great ideal to strive toward).
Avoid too many fruits and nuts – Although we allow for various quantities of fruit, it is full of natural fructose (the substance that makes it sweet). Fructose is perceived to be a ‘good sugar’ but sugar is sugar regardless of its perceived ‘goodness’. While natural sugar is far preferable to refined sugar, its consumption needs to be strictly controlled. Of all the fruits, berries are best, but even berries need to be restricted in some cases. For limits, check out the different quantities on the Keto Food Lists and how they correlate with the phases. Nuts are lower in carbs and great snack foods, but you must not go overboard. Nuts may cause weight gain in some individuals. That’s why we’ve also limited them during Transformation, the weight loss phase. Macadamias are best as they are loaded with healthy fat and almonds are packed with fibre and goodness. Always choose raw nuts in preference to commercially roasted nuts (which are actually deep fried – unless they are specified as ‘dry-roasted’).
Control your dairy. – Although dairy is nutrient dense, it does contain lactose, which is a sugar, which can be a stumbling block for most people. When you hit fat burning mode (rapid weight-loss), you should cut down on dairy to a quarter cup per day. Generally, higher fat dairy is lower in lactose, and the grading looks like this: From most to least lactose – low-fat milk, full cream milk, double thick yoghurt, fresh cream, butter, clarified butter. Butter for the win.
Be strong! – Setting goals correctly and putting structures in place to achieve them. Even the best archer in the world can’t hit the target if she can’t see it.

THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT!

Watch what you drink. We’re faced with a dilemma here. We’re trying to promote health and overall well-being so promoting booze is not in our interest as alcohol is highly toxic. Dry wines, most spirits, low energy beers and a few other drinks are safe BUT that is only from a carb perspective. Alcopops, normal beer, any spirit mixer or cocktail will halt any weight loss you’re experiencing. It’s easy for us to promote low-carb alcoholic beverages but one needs to remember that a low-carb 5% vol. beer is still 5% toxic.

Alcohol is also really good at draining motivation, lowering inhibitions, impairing driving ability and and and… So we leave drinking up to you. Consider the Eleventh Commandment our “drinking disclaimer”.