Is Watermelon Keto Friendly?
A ketogenic approach to nutrition uses a percentage of high fat, medium protein and low carbohydrate combinations to formulate a workable meal plan. The keto diet is designed to help people who want to reach a healthy weight push past their plateaus and reach the weight-loss goals they’ve set. Continuing the diet can also help you maintain your weight once your goal is reached.
There are so many foods that don’t work with the keto diet, though, that you must be extra vigilant about what you put in your body. Fruit lovers may initially find commitment to this diet daunting. While watermelon isn’t forbidden, you must be careful about how you include it. Here are 10 practices you should make a part of your regular routine if you want to incorporate watermelon into your ketogenic diet.
1. Watch Carb Percentages
The main challenge with eating watermelon on the keto diet is that it (like most fruits) gets most of its calories from carbohydrates. You should strive to keep your daily carb intake between 5-10% of your total calories. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, this translates into approximately 40 grams of carbs for a 2000-calorie diet.
The good news is that, if watermelon is your favorite fruit, you don’t have to eliminate it. You do, however, want to control your portion sizes. A medium wedge of watermelon contains about 21 grams of carbohydrates, which accounts for half your daily allowance. Eating a smaller amount can satisfy your craving for it and ensure that it doesn’t derail your diet.
2. Understand Keto Flu
When you first start your keto diet, you may notice a lot of symptoms that mimic the flu. Common experiences include nausea, fatigue, muscle cramps, insomnia, lack of concentration and headaches. Most experts agree that there are many possible reasons you feel this way. First, any major change in your diet is likely to produce a withdrawal effect. You could also be dehydrated if you are focused on eating the right things rather than making sure you drink enough water. Sodium intake also gets diminished in the early stages of the diet.
Watermelon adds carbs to your diet, but it also is a great source of water. It can be delicious with a small dash of salt, which helps to resolve your sodium problem. If you focus your carb count on foods like watermelon that have other benefits such as helping you stay hydrated, you can lessen the symptoms of the keto flu and get past it more quickly.
3. Look for Benefits
The main benefit most people notice is weight loss. You are basically retraining your body on how to use the fuel resources it has available to it. Instead of relying on glucose from the carbohydrates that comprise the average diet for energy, the keto diet redirects your body to use energy stored in ketones. The typical result is faster, more consistent weight loss, particularly within the first few weeks.
When you are craving an extra serving of watermelon, it may be helpful to keep other benefits of the keto diet in mind. Controlling your carb intake helps keep blood sugar levels under control. This is helpful for diabetics, as it may give them more blood sugar stability. It also helps you avoid the afternoon slump that results from a crash after your blood sugar has spiked. This positive change can motivate you to control the amount of watermelon you consume.
4. Pay Attention to Your Body
Every person’s body is different, so don’t get discouraged if you are not experiencing the same results as your friend or relative who is making the same changes. Another common result of adopting the keto diet is an increased awareness of how your body feels after you eat certain foods. Pay attention to these cues; there’s a lot of good information there.
Choosing watermelon as one of your main sources of carbs can help you adjust your diet to work better for you. It naturally increases your water intake. It is also a good source of fiber, which can trigger fullness cues and make you less prone to overeating.
5. Schedule Prep Work
A practical challenge with the keto diet is that it requires a lot of planning. The right combination of fat, protein and carbs doesn’t just happen on accident. You must carve out extra time in your schedule to plan, shop and prepare your meals.
Watermelon is not a fruit you can just pick up and bite into. At the very least, it needs to be cut and sliced before you can consume it, and then you must figure out how to store the rest of the melon so that it doesn’t go to waste before you can eat it all. Buying watermelon in small containers of pre-sliced portions is a convenient way to prepare for your week.
6. Fight Keto Breath
When you routinely consume a diet that is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, it affects the way your breath smells. Once you have reached ketosis, you may notice that your breath takes on an acetone smell. Health professionals commonly refer to this as keto breath.
Rather than compulsively chewing multiple sticks of gum throughout the day, you can incorporate watermelon to offset the smell. A bite or two of melon can refresh your breath and hydrate you so that your body doesn’t give off such a strong odor.
7. Use Food as Fuel
A benefit of the keto diet is that your body learns to recognize various energy sources. It doesn’t just rely on a heavy carb intake to get you through the day. Over time, it balances your energy level.
Right before you work out, however, you may want a little boost. Even a small portion of watermelon, eaten about 30 minutes before you exercise, can provide a bump in energy to help you get the most out of your workout.
8. Save Money
Learning to meal prep for your keto diet is a lifestyle change in and of itself. Your grocery bill may grow considerably in the first few months as you figure out what works for you. You may also encounter a lot of frustrating food waste when you buy more of a food category than you can eat before it expires.
This is where prepackaged foods can actually help. Although that container of watermelon slices technically costs more per serving than a whole watermelon would, you are more likely to be able to finish the whole container within a week. Even if you are buying convenience foods, you may still save more money because it reduces the amount of food you have to throw away uneaten.
9. Research Restaurants
Going out to eat can be problematic on the keto diet. There are probably few, if any, restaurants in your area that cater to the confines of the diet. Even if a meal on the menu consists of foods that are mostly high fat, they may be covered in sauces or prepared in a way that is not keto-friendly.
To avoid stress while you are out, look at the restaurant’s website ahead of time to weigh your options. Look for items that are specifically marked as keto-friendly. A place with a great salad bar is likely to have a lot of food that you can eat, including simple proteins and watermelon. Another way to stay on your diet is to call ahead and ask how foods are prepared or if guests are allowed to request specific changes.
10. Commit to the Lifestyle
The decision to adopt a ketogenic diet is not something you should take lightly. It’s a bad idea to yo-yo between high-carb and keto diets. Once you have decided to make the change to a keto focus, it’s important to stay committed to that choice in order to reap the most benefits and avoid unpleasant side effects.
Making major changes in your diet is always an adjustment, not just in practice but in mentality. Incorporating the foods, you love is a big part of helping you keep this commitment. Knowing that you don’t have to completely give up watermelon or other acceptable carbs provides a way to embrace the keto lifestyle on a long-term basis.
There are many ways that you can benefit from a ketogenic diet but making the switch to a diet that is high in fat and very low in carbs poses a serious challenge for even the most diligent meal planner. Giving yourself a little more time for proper planning, especially in the beginning, can help you get a strong start and avoid preparation fatigue.
While you may have to say goodbye to many delicious foods, knowing that you can incorporate certain fruits such as watermelon into your dietary selections can motivate you to stick to this new lifestyle change. Watermelon can also help you address issues of dehydration, and it can be just the energy boost you need before a strenuous workout. As long as you watch your portion sizes, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy watermelon on a regular basis even if you are on a keto diet.
