Weight loss is hard at any age, and in particular, weight loss for women maybe even more challenging. Women go through many changes throughout the years, such as graduating from college, getting married, having children, and forming new careers. Going through so many life changes can cause one’s weight to fluctuate. For women who are looking for an effective way to lose weight, find mental clarity, reduce inflammation, and experience other benefits, going on the keto diet may be an excellent solution. To find out if the ketogenic diet is a good fit, read the Body Reboot book and check out some of our dos and don’ts for women below: 

Do go on a low carb diet such as keto 

Perfect Keto recommends going on a low carb diet such as keto because your body will burn fat as opposed to glucose. Furthermore, by reducing the amount of sugar you have in your body, you may also feel health improvements. For example, some women experience fewer PCOS and fertility issues after going on the keto diet. 

Start keto and you’ll switch your body from running on carbs (and using glucose for energy) to running on fat (and your muffin top reserves).

What this means as a female is you get to:

Use your fat stores to your advantage. When your body becomes fat-adapted it will recognize fat cells as a fuel source, meaning you can eat fewer calories while letting your body work off your fat stores for energy.

Improve insulin sensitivity. By reducing the amount of sugar (and insulin) in your bloodstream, you may naturally resolve PCOS, fertility and insulin resistance issues preventing your weight loss.

Restore your hormones. Carbs and excess sugar in your diet have serious effects on your hormonal balance. Reset your hormones with keto and you’ll start to see the scale budge in your favor.

Do get enough sleep 

Are you getting enough rest? VeryWell Fit reveals that sleep has everything to do with how your body functions, which is why it’s imperative to take care of yourself and make sure you’re getting enough sleep. 

It's easier to function on less sleep when you’re young. If you have small children in your house, you may not even have a choice. But if you are trying to lose weight in your 20s and 30s, sleep matters. Researchers have found that we make better food choices when we are well rested. So if you are finding it hard to stay away from the junk food, try to add sleep to lose weight more effectively.

Do eat a lot of veggies 

You can never eat too many vegetables, and according to Woman’s Day, you should eat non-starchy veggies such as asparagus and kale. It just so happens that most non-starchy veggies are also very low in carbs!

Fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables such as asparagus, kale, artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, and eggplant. Then divide the remainder of the plate in half and fill each quarter with a serving of lean protein and fiber-rich complex carbs.

Do believe in yourself 

As you continue to make positive decisions regarding your health, make sure you’re believing in yourself as VeryWell Fit reminds us.  

It doesn’t sound like a hard-core strategy, but whether or not you believe that you can lose weight can play a significant role in whether or not you actually do. Ariane points out that it plays a role in weight maintenance as well. “Whether people keep the weight off once they lose it depends in large part on their attitude and thinking,” she says. “If someone thinks that arriving at your goal weight is the end of your effort then the changes won't last. Also, someone who continues to view themselves as fat or unworthy will act accordingly and undo the progress that was created.”

Do keep a food journal 

Keeping a food journal is a fantastic way of monitoring what you’re eating and how you feel about food. Women’s Health provides an example as to why keeping a food journal may greatly help you achieve your weight loss goals.  

You know that recording what you consume is a good way to keep your weight in check, but Brittany Hicks, who dropped 110 pounds in college, didn't only write down what she ate—she also wrote down why she was eating it. “I realized I'd been using food to cope with stress,” she says. “Just noticing that helped me do it less.” Make sure you're not making these food journal mistakes so you can reap the rewards of eating and jotting, too.

Don’t focus on your hunger 

Even though you may not experience as much hunger on the keto diet as you typically would on a standard American diet, Shape offers some appropriate advice on how not to focus on feeling hungry: 

Some women have a hard time losing weight because of . To them, being hungry is bad—something to be avoided at all costs—so they carry snacks with them and eat when they don't need to, Alpert explains. Others eat because they're stressed out or bored. While you never want to get to the point of being ravenous (that's when bingeing is likely to happen), a hunger pang, a craving, or the fact that it's 3:00 p.m. should not send you racing for the vending machine or obsessing about the energy bar in your purse. Ideally, you should put off eating until your stomach is growling and it's difficult to concentrate, Alpert says.

When you feel the urge to eat, use the HALT method, Bazilian suggests. Ask yourself, Am I really hungry? Or am I angry or anxious, lonely or bored, or tired? If you're still not certain, try the apple test. “If you're truly hungry, an apple should seem delicious; if it doesn't, something else is going on,” says Robin Frutchey, a behavioral therapist at Johns Hopkins University Weight Management Center. In that case, give yourself a pep talk instead of a snack. “If hunger isn't the problem, food isn't the solution,” Beck Busis says. “There are a lot of other ways to deal with boredom or anxiety—like going for a walk, hitting the gym, or texting a friend—and those things have zero negative consequences.”

Don’t think of it just as a diet

After you go on the keto diet (or even before), it’s essential to get into the mindset that this new diet you’re on shouldn’t be short term. Dieting should be something you should practice long term. “Dieting” should entail making healthy changes now and in the future and not just in the present. Shape discusses this more in-depth below: 

“Thinking of a diet as something you're on and suffering through only for the short term doesn't work,” Beck Busis says. To shed weight and keep it off, you need to make permanent changes to the way you eat. It's OK to indulge occasionally, of course, but if you cut calories temporarily and then revert to your old way of eating, you'll gain back the weight quicker than you can say yo-yo.

Use it to lose it.

Research shows that one of the best predictors of long-term weight loss is how many pounds you drop in the first month, says John Apolzan, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Ingestive Behavior Lab at Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center. It makes sense: Immediate results are motivating. For that reason, nutritionists often suggest being stricter for the first two weeks of your new eating strategy to build momentum. Cut out added sugar and alcohol and avoid unrefined carbs. “After that, ease small amounts of those foods back into your diet for a plan you can live with for the long term,” says Wendy Bazilian, R.D.N., a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist in San Diego and a coauthor of The SuperFoodsRx Diet. “Figure out how you can reincorporate them in a way that's healthy and maintainable,” adds Brooke Alpert, R.D.N., a nutritionist and a coauthor of The Sugar Detox. “Establish , such as setting a maximum number of drinks you'll have a week or limiting pizza to one slice.” Schedule one weekly indulgence to look forward to, and give yourself one spontaneous splurge to use whenever you really want it, Bazilian suggests.

Don’t forget to exercise 

Exercise is another essential thing to do to stay healthy, and Livestrong explains why that’s the case:  

If you want to lose weight fast, you'll need to get moving. Cardiovascular exercise helps you torch more calories. A 125-pound person, for example, burns about 600 calories in an hourlong high-impact step class or about 200 calories in 30 minutes of jogging. These calories burnt help you create a calorie deficit so you can lose more weight.

Experiment to find a few forms of aerobic exercise you like — whether that's a jogging session on the treadmill, a trendy cycling class or a ballet-inspired dance workout — to prevent boredom as you burn calories. If you're older, exercise is all the more important to counteract the weight-gaining effects of your hormones.

And while the weight room can be intimidating for women, pumping iron is key to getting a toned and fit physique. Don't worry, lifting heavy weights won't make you bulky — you just don't have the testosterone to build the size of a man. Lifting will improve your posture, make your arms, core and lower body more shapely and boost your metabolism by building muscle. Resistance training also helps you hold onto muscle that you naturally lose as you age.

Schedule two or three workouts each week, choosing exercises that challenge your entire body each time. If you're not sure how to start, consult a trainer at your gym. A professional can help you find your way around the weight room and choose challenging weights that will give you the best results.

Remember to hydrate

As you go on the keto diet and work hard to achieve your goals, Woman’s Day says to remember to drink enough water. Especially if you’re on the keto diet, you’re going to have fewer fluids in your system. Make sure you have enough water to keep you hydrated and feeling like your best self.  

Whether you choose still or sparkling water, drinking more of it can help you eat less. Research shows that drinking water can help you lose weight by helping you burn more calories and reducing your appetite when consumed before meals. For a flavor kick, spike yours with fruits and herbs like grapefruit and thyme, strawberry and basil, or blackberry and tarragon.

Read more about how the Body Reboot book can help women dedicate themselves to a diet that can transform their life. For a limited time, you can get a free copy of our book by helping us cover shipping. Visit this page to get a free copy.

Sources: VeryWell Fit, Shape, Woman’s Day, Livestrong, Women’s Health, Perfect Keto