Embarking on a weight loss journey is never easy. With all the diets available out there, it is difficult to find your way around. However, there is a very important aspect that must never be forgotten when approaching a path like this: the possibility to have a custom-made food plan.
Each body is unique and responds differently to any variation in the diet. In this article we want to talk about KetoCycle, an app that offers a custom-made program based on the ketogenic diet, to help you achieve a healthy weight. Let’s find out together what it is, how it works and if it is worth having it.
What is KetoCycle?
KetoCycle is an app which can be used both online or by downloading it from the Google Play Store or the Apple Store; after analyzing some personal data, it prepares an eating plan based on the famous ketogenic diet to help you lose weight more easily.
Following a ketogenic diet may not be easy, because many foods, particularly those containing large percentages of carbohydrates, should be avoided or drastically reduced. The result could be a diet some might find repetitive, and which, over time, could kill your motivation and make you give up on your weight loss journey.
KetoCyle, on the other hand, follows you every day, with custom suggestions for each meal. But that’s not all, as it also includes recipes and a lot of handy, easy to follow diet-related information.
In addition to a personalized food plan, KetoCycle can provide a custom-made training program, perfect for your well-being and to maximize the benefits of this diet. The app also has some extra features, such as creating a shopping list based on your weekly diet plan, a manual and other interesting features.
How does KetoCycle work?
To get your personalized KetoCycle plan, you need to enter some basic, personal information: your gender and your level of knowledge of the ketogenic diet (three levels available, from beginner to expert). At this point you will be offered some general information on the benefits of the diet, that you simply have to accept. From here on you will have to enter precise data regarding your diet and your health:
● how much time can you devote to cooking each day;
● which types of meat or fish you want to include in your diet or, alternatively, a vegan / vegetarian option;
● what other foods you’re willing to include in your diet (dairy, dried fruit, seafood, etc…);
● how long you exercise for each week;
● how many kilos you would like to lose;
● any health conditions you may suffer from;
● basic data on your body (age, height, current weight and desired weight).
The site then calculates a hypothetical result based on your desired weight goal, by displaying a small graph and some useful statistics regarding your journey ahead. Finally, it suggests to purchase a personalized diet plan, with different subscription options. Other services are also offered, to help you get a full health plan, including training or a special dessert recipe book, but these are, of course, optional.
Your personal diet
After subscribing, you will receive (sometimes it may take a while to arrive) a link to your email address, so that you can access the program directly from your computer, but if you want, you can access it immediately via the app.
The diet is structured according to a maximum of calories per day, divided into five meals:
- breakfast
- morning snack
- lunch
- afternoon snack
- dinner.
For each meal, you’ll be shown a particular recipe or food, together with a lot of photos. Each recipe includes the preparation time, calories, main nutritional values, ingredients and, of course, the full preparation process, together with a color photo.
If your don’t like that food, you can replace it by clicking on “replace recipe” on the website or “change meal” on the phone app. The mobile app allows you to mark each recipe as “done”, to keep track of the recipes already tested and the calories consumed.
All recipes are in pure keto style, therefore based on certain allowed ingredients, rich in fats, with a normal protein content and a very low carbohydrate content. Perhaps some snacks might seem a little eccentric to prepare, but those who choose a diet like this must be willing to be open minded, in order to achieve their goals.
Many recipes, on the other hand, are definitely interesting, and offer a keto reinterpretation of some traditional dishes. For example, the keto savory muffins with almond and flax seed flour, in addition to the classic ingredients like eggs, butter and yeast. Or the keto meatballs with spices and soy sauce.
The menus are always different and take into account the food choices made at the beginning of the process. So, if you stated that you do not wish to consume milk, you will not be shown any recipes with this ingredient. Likewise, vegetarians and vegans will get a diet based on their preferences.
The shopping list
This is one of the most useful features of the mobile app, because it allows you to plan your shopping well in advance, by selecting all the foods you need to follow this diet for an entire week. After you select the time range for the shopping list, you can use the app while you are at the supermarket, to keep track of the food purchase.
Keto-friendly foods, i.e. those compatible with a diet like this, are numerous and quite varied. In fact, you will be able to eat:
- all types of meat;
- all types of fish and sea food;
- eggs;
- dairy and cheese;
- green leaf vegetables (excluding those rich in starch, like potatoes and corn)
- nuts;
- extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, butter;
- all spices.
Preparing the kitchen
The app also provides some useful suggestions to make your kitchen versatile and practical when preparing the many keto meals. You will find these suggestions in the manual in the app, but we can already tell you that you will have to equip yourself with at least a food scale and a food processor, which you can also use for all the other meals for your family, if you don’t already have one.
Another very interesting suggestion is to buy a spiral vegetable cutter, a manual or an electric one, to transform vegetables into a keto version of the classic noodles: a nice and healthy idea for every occasion.
Personal data and exercise
Even if the personalized training plan is not free, the app offers some helpful tips to help you keep track of your fitness. First of all, you can set a step tracker with a daily goal, while another tracker allows you to monitor your daily water intake, so that you can make sure you drink at least two liters a day, something that is easy to forget, but which is essential when following a ketogenic diet.
There is also a section on your weight, with an indication of your current weight and a convenient graph to monitor your progress. Finally, you can record the calories you consume during the day, according to your body parameters. A very useful and comprehensive section.
Where can you download the app?
KetoCycle is available for both Android devices on the Google Play Store and for Apple devices on the App Store. Both versions can be downloaded for free, and you just need to enter the login details previously received via email, to access the app and start your personalized journey.
How much does it cost?
Basically there are three KetoCycle subscription plans you can choose from. A 3, 6 or 12 month plan. The prices vary depending on whether you can can get Keto Cycle at a nice discount or not. Prices go as low as €1,75 per week if you go to their special discount page.
What do you get?
Each subscription plan includes the following:
✓ Personalized ketogenic food plan.
✓ Tasty and easy to prepare recipes.
✓ Simple ingredients available in any store.
✓ A complete beginners guide to the ketogenic diet.
✓ Shopping list with all the foods to buy for the whole week.
✓ 24/7 access to a nutritionist (to be paid separately).
✓ Personalized training plan on three levels (beginner, advanced and expert) to be combined with the diet without the need for equipment and with short and more intense workouts, from 15 to 45 minutes (to be paid separately).
✓ Extra discount when purchasing 36 months worth of diet.
✓ Ketogenic dessert cookbook created by professional dietitians, with cakes, cupcakes, brownies and bars (to be paid separately).
Why use KetoCycle?
Given the benefits offered by the KetoCycle plan and the convenience of its app with all the information you need to follow the ketogenic diet in the best way, you could reach your weight goal more easily and quickly.
And indeed a pre-prepared meal plan that helps you plan your meals, exercise, track the calories, as well as your water intake and weight, is a great way to maintain and improve your diet and fitness, especially if you have a goal in mind.
Of course, just like in every other weight loss program, it is difficult to achieve excellent results with diet alone. As the plan itself suggests, combining good nutrition with physical activity is the best way to get your body back in shape and achieve better results, especially if you follow a generally healthy lifestyle: no smoking, no alcohol, good stress management and a good amount of sleep.
Opinions and online reviews
KetoCycle has received a lot of feedback online, thanks to its custom-made food plan and its effectiveness. Many reviews can be read directly on the Apple Store and the Google Play Store.
The negative reviews that you might find online are about the fact that your Keto Cycle subscription gets automatically renewed if you forget to cancel it. Therefore, remember that if you do not want to carry on with the subscription you purchased, you will have to cancel it. Don’t get mad at the app for that!
Many happy users have been able to make the best of this diet, personalizing it further to come up with creative, delicious dishes, by using the suggested ingredients. If you go on the website, you will find reviews and videos of users who have tried it. We tried it, and we can confirm that you can definitely achieve your goals, as long as you’re willing to commit and cook!
What you should know about the ketogenic diet
In the KetoCycle app you will find that handy beginner’s manual we previously mentioned. In addition to practical information on the diet, it provides the basics to fully understand the ketogenic diet, its history and its main characteristics. It is a very useful addition to the service you subscribe to, because it gives you the opportunity to better understand this special diet, and everything you should know before you decide to be on it.
The keto diet, or ketogenic diet, is a well-known and appreciated diet, thanks to the various benefits it brings. This nutritional strategy aims to dramatically reduce your carbohydrate intake by prompting the body to use ketone bodies, or ketones, as its primary energy source. When your body learns to do this, it is said go into a “state of ketosis”. When you start this diet, the body goes into ketosis after a few days, and begins a process that, among the other benefits, stimulates weight loss by burning the accumulated fat.
Origins
The ketogenic diet dates back to the early 1920s, when Dr. Russell Wilder of the Mayo Clinic developed a dietary protocol for the treatment of epilepsy. Over the years, it emerged that such a diet was effective in the treatment of obesity and type II diabetes.
Structure
It is a rather “trivial” diet, that favors the intake of fat and a correct, balanced amount of protein, while reducing the intake of carbohydrates. Positive effects of this diet are the taste, which comes from the use of fat to improve the taste of food, and the sense of fullness as a consequence of the fat digestion. This typically leads to lower calorie intake throughout the day. The daily intake of the main macro nutrients during the keto diet is as follows:
- 65-75% fat
- max 20% protein
- up to 5% carbs
Water is also essential in a keto diet, especially at the beginning of it, and for several reasons. The main one is that the reduction of processed foods will cause a drastic decrease in sodium intake, which tends to retain water inside the body, so during the diet there will be a higher urination. Second, less carbohydrates cause lower insulin levels, which in turn allow the kidneys to get rid of excess sodium through urine.
Benefits
In addition to fewer cases of epylepsy especially in childhood, the ketogenic diet also causes a series of beneficial effects to the body:
● Easier weight loss, especially in cases of obesity and for those suffering from metabolic diseases.
● Reduction of blood pressure.
● Improved cholesterol levels.
● Improved brain performance.
● Lower levels of blood sugar and insulin resistance.
● Lower levels of triglycerides.
Initial side effects and contraindication
You know, starting a diet is never easy, and this applies to the ketogenic diet and the Keto Cycle food plan too. In this case, it’s not because we have to give up the foods we like the most, but for the real side effects that we can experience.
In addition to a possible “withdrawal” from carbohydrates, the body must learn to use the ketone bodies for energy, instead of the very tasty, quick glucose. This can therefore lead to a period of general moodiness, but also to a generalized weakness (called keto flu), which can often discourage and worry those who are on this diet.
To allow the body to get used to this new way of producing energy, we advise you to favor the intake of some foods, in particular:
- avocado, peanuts, green leafy vegetables, salmon, white yogurt, mushrooms, rich in potassium;
- peanuts, dark chocolate, artichokes, spinach, fish, rich in magnesium.
Constipation can also be one of the side effects of this diet, as we have said, mainly due to the fact that the digestive system has to adapt to new regime. To overcome the problem, you can follow these tips:
- drink a lot of water;
- eat a lot of fiber;
- exercise to help your bowel activity.
Contraindication
As with any diet you decide to undertake, facing a weight loss journey should always be done after seeking the advice of your doctor. Only a professional can determine if any conditions you suffer from may not be compatible with KetoCycle.
Also, it is not advisable for pregnant women to follow this diet, as well as adolescents in the stage of puberty, type I diabetics and those suffering from liver or kidney diseases.
What science thinks about the keto diet
Although the ketogenic diet has long been considered a valid therapy to better support certain diseases, its dietary plan has always been criticized by doctors and nutritionists. While some specialists are very likely to prescribe it for both weight loss and health problems, others tend to recommend it only for short periods, preferring other diets.
The studies may be conflicting, but it seems that limiting this diet to maximum 12 months is the correct way to avoid any problems.
Our final thoughts on KetoCycle
A meal plan like that of KetoCycle is certainly very useful to familiarize with the ketogenic diet, and adjust to eating different meals with specific ingredients. On the other hand, it is advisable to combine the diet with a healthy lifestyle, in order to get the best results without stressing your body too much.
The KetoCycle app proves to be very useful for those who want to try the famous ketogenic diet. Our final rating for KetoCycle is a 8.5/10.
