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Typically Meat-Heavy Keto Diet Is Going Vegetarian

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – By now, you've probably heart of the ketogenic, or "keto," diet.

It's a very restrictive regimen of low carb, high fat foods with some similarities to the Atkin's diet.

But what if you don't eat meat? Now, a plant-based keto is catching on.

That's right, keto is going vegetarian.

Typically, when we think of the wildly popular diet, we think heavy on the protein and animal fats, making it appealing to meat eaters.

Registered dietician Nicolette Pace says the strict combination of "low carb, high fat, high protein" will force the body into a state of ketosis, meaning it burns fat instead of carbohydrates for energy. The end result: You can lose more weight, faster.

"Enter the ketotarian diet, which is now a refangled version of the ketogenic diet," Pace said. "Avocados, olive oils, nuts and olives… are your fat choices in ketotarian."

Off the menu, besides meat, are starchy vegetables, grains, high sugar fruits, beans and lentils.

"You better like tofu, you better like amaranth and you better like quinoa," said Pace. "It's difficult to follow a regular diet in the first place. Now what we're going to do is put more boxes around ourselves."

Pace says while you will see results, the ketotarian diet is not for the faint of heart.

"Look at your motives, like why? Are you trying to lose some weight, do you have a tremendous amount of weight to lose?" she said. "If it's because you feel like you're going to be healthy... I've got to say, it's hard enough planning a regular diet."

The biggest challenge on a fully vegetarian keto diet is getting enough protein, so experts say you might want to consider incorporating fish.

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