How To Use Keto For Weight Loss
Try doing a ketogenic diet for at least 2 months in conjunction with TRE.
Heres why:
2 months is enough time that your body can kind of adapt to using fat for energy, instead of just carbs. In other words, youll be fat-adapted, which makes your metabolism more flexible.
Once youre fat-adapted, fasting gets easier.
It also helps if you do a ketogenic diet for a week or so right before any longer fasts you do in the future.
Your brain needs ketones when you fast for more than a day or so. So getting your ketones up in advance naturally makes the transition into fasting a lot smoother.
Water Fasting Health Benefits
According to several research findings, water fasting could offer a number of health benefits. For instance, it may decrease your risks of some chronic illnesses and stimulate the process of autophagy. Autophagy is a process in which your body cells clean out damaged or unnecessary parts . Studies have shown that it could help to protect your body from heart and Alzheimers diseases . According to other research, it could prevent the accumulation of damaged parts of your bodys cells and in this way prevent the development of cancer cells . This process could also prolong your life expectancy . All these studies were conducted on animals however, so this question still lacks results from human studies.
According to the research, a prolonged water fast could also lower your blood pressure . Medical supervision is mandatory in this case. There is no similar evidence concerning the link between short-term fasting and blood pressure.
Keep in mind that you can get the majority of health benefits by simply sticking to short-term fasting. Long-term ones can be dangerous for your health and life.
Why I Chose To Try Time
The definition of intermittent fasting is pretty basic. Its really just a period of eating, followed by a period of not eating, says Krista Varady, PhD, an associate professor in the department of kinesiology and nutrition at the University of Illinois in Chicago. For over a decade, Dr. Varady has researched the effects of intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is kind of an umbrella term, but there are three major types of intermittent fasting. Theres alternate-day fasting, which means that you would eat fewer than 500 calories every other day and eat however many calories you want on the remaining days of the week. Theres also whats called the 5:2 approach to intermittent fasting, which means you would eat fewer than 500 calories for two days per week and however many you want on the other days. And then theres whats called time-restricted eating, which means you can eat within a certain window of time each day, like between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., says Varady.
Given that I was becoming more active through exercise, I wasnt sure that taking in only 500 calories a day would be the best idea for maintaining my energy levels. With that in mind, I decided to try time-restricted eating instead.
RELATED: Is Intermittent Fasting Safe for People With Diabetes?
Don’t Miss: What Prayers To Say While Fasting
Cut Way Back On Carbs
Start by eliminating foods high in carbs: sweets, bread, pasta, fruit, and similar foods. Going low carb can significantly speed up weight loss, for several reasons.
First, according to high-quality research, very-low-carb diets also known as keto diets reduce hunger.8This allows you to eat less and lose weight quickly without deliberately restricting calories and without feeling hungry or deprived.9
Several studies have shown that low-carb eating is more effective than other diets for losing fat quickly.10
This impressive fat loss may be partly due to the drop in insulin levels that occur during keto eating. When insulin levels are low, your body is primed to burn rather than store fat.11
Finally, some research suggests that continuing to eat low carb to maintain your new weight may help keep your metabolic rate up, increasing the likelihood that youll keep the weight off.12
How many carbs should you eat to lose weight quickly? Sticking to 20 or fewer grams of net carbs per day may produce the fastest results.13
But instead of counting every carb, you can simply choose foods from our ketogenic diet foods list below and avoid any foods that arent on it.
Note: Be sure to read our tips to avoid or minimize symptoms of the keto flubefore going low carb.
Lose Weight Super Fast
It’s possible to lose weight super fast. Severe calorie restriction, altering your macronutrient intake and increasing your level of physical activity can all help you slim down. These practices, though, may not all be healthy.
Slimming down is hard, but keeping the weight off can be particularly challenging if you do it quickly. Harvard Medical School recommends losing weight gradually for lasting results. To stay safe, try to lose no more than one to two pounds per week.
If you slim down rapidly, you’re not just likely to gain that lost weight back again there are actually serious health issues that can occur when you lose weight super fast. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, issues associated with rapid weight loss include:
- Gastrointestinal problems, including nausea, diarrhea and constipation
- Gallstones
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Reduced bone density
Rapid weight loss is usually accomplished through calorie restriction or substantial increases in physical activity. Some people use a combination of the two. However, calorie restriction is more likely to produce rapid weight loss, when compared to exercise.
Read more:13 Everyday Activities That Burn More Than 200 Calories
Read Also: How Do You Do Water Fasting
Health & Wellnesswhat Is The Omad Diet Learn How The One
That being said, exercise before you eat because people get hungry about half an hour after they finish working out and may find it too hard to stick to their plan if they cant eat anything at all afterwards, Varady noted.
If youre on the 16:8 plan, exercise before or during your eating window. If youre doing alternate day fasting and are exercising on your 500-calorie day, save food for after your exercise session.
Chow Down In Sync With Your Circadian Clock
This is not the first research to show that the timing of meals can make a difference to our waistlines. As we’ve reported, a study several years back found that dieters who ate their main meal of the day before 3 p.m. lost about 5 pounds more than people who ate a dinner meal late in the evening.
And as scientists learn more, it’s clear that our bodies are timekeeping machines. Not only do we have a master clock in our brains, but there are also clocks in all the organs of our body from the pancreas to the stomach and liver.
Daylight is a main cue to reset our master clock each day, but it’s the first bite of food we take in the morning that may be an important cue to reset other clocks in our organs.
“When the timing of meals does not match with the sleep-wake cycle well, there’s a disconnect between the different clocks that we have in basically all the cells of our body,” Frank Scheer, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told us several years back.
“When the clocks in our body are out of sync,” our bodies don’t work as efficiently, and this may lead us to store more fat, explains Panda. “And over a long period of time, that can lead to Type 2 diabetes, obesity and increased risk for heart diseases,” Panda says.
Recommended Reading: What To Eat To Lose Weight Intermittent Fasting
So Is Intermittent Fasting As Good As It Sounds
I was very curious about this, so I asked the opinion of metabolic expert Dr. Deborah Wexler, Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Diabetes Center and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Here is what she told me. “There is evidence to suggest that the circadian rhythm fasting approach, where meals are restricted to an eight to 10-hour period of the daytime, is effective,” she confirmed, though generally she recommends that people “use an eating approach that works for them and is sustainable to them.”
So, heres the deal. There is some good scientific evidence suggesting that circadian rhythm fasting, when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle, can be a particularly effective approach to weight loss, especially for people at risk for diabetes.
Getting A Good Nights Sleep
Numerous studies have shown that getting less than 56 hours of sleep per night is associated with increased incidence of
Research suggests that insufficient or poor-quality sleep slows down the process in which the body converts calories to energy, called metabolism. When metabolism is less effective, the body may store unused energy as fat. In addition, poor sleep can increase the production of insulin and cortisol , which also prompt fat storage.
How long someone sleeps also affects the regulation of the appetite-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin sends signals of fullness to the brain.
Also Check: Why Should I Do Intermittent Fasting
How To Stick To A Water Fast
There are no special guides about how to fast properly. Most dieters drink approximately 2-3 liters of water per day during their fasting. Some people may feel dizzy and experience fatigue. For this reason, it is better to avoid driving, physical activity and operating heavy machinery. Some dieters drink only water, others allow themselves herbal teas, lemon water and other beverages.
It is important to break the fast correctly. It is crucial to re-introduce food into your meal plan carefully and gradually. Dont eat a big meal immediately after the end of your diet. It is better to start with small and healthy meals or smoothies, the things that will affect your digestive system more gently. Increase your portion size throughout the day. After you get used to food again, you can safely go back to your normal diet. This post-fast period can take 1-3 days. In order to avoid gastrointestinal distress when breaking a water fast your menu during the post-fast period should include the following foods:
-
Apple Cider Vinegar And Lemon
Although apple cider vinegar itself wont help boost your digestion, it can reintroduce acid back into your gut. The same goes for a citric acid found in lemon, which besides that can promote the production of gastric juices. The fiber from lemon, when ingested can act as a prebiotic. Consumption of apple cider vinegar with lemon juice and warm water can help your gut prepare for the following food digestion.
-
Soup, Bone Broth, Or Kefir
-
Probiotic Foods
Whole Foods And The Gut
Whole foods are loaded with fibers that are sometimes lost during processing or refinement. Fiber is essential for a healthy gut because aside from its traditional roughage reputation, it also feeds the healthy bacteria in your gut, providing a whole host of other benefits.
They also provide a lot of variety, which the gut loves. The more variety, the better. So, even though you might fall in love with certain recipes, its important to mix up the kinds of whole foods you eat to maintain a healthy gut. Aim for 30 different whole foods each week. Its easier than you think!
Also Check: Does Fasting Help With Depression
Choose Your Best Protocol
Krystal began her intermittent fasting journey about a year ago, and she experimented with various protocols until she found the right protocol.
I alternate what kind of fasting I do. Sometimes I stick with a traditional 16:8 fasting period, other times I will do a longer time frame, she says. My longest fast was five days.
Though five days might seem a bit overwhelming to a beginner, Krystal urges readers to find whats best for them. For her journey, Krystal admits, I read a lot about the health benefits of fasting, plus with following a ketogenic diet fasting came naturally as my hunger levels decreased.
Prevent The Loss Of Lean Body Mass
First of all, there’s no way to do a 100% “pure” water fast without losing muscle.
But if you’re willing to eat a tiny amount of protein during your water fast, then it’s actually possible to completely prevent any loss of muscle mass.
You see, according to research, all you need is around 0.6 grams of protein per pound of your “ideal body weight”.
If you’re willing to eat that small amount of protein , you can fully prevent any loss your muscle mass WITHOUT slowing down fat loss.
This modern way of fasting has actually been proven to be a lot safer than water fasting in over 10,000 of medically-supervised cases.
And the best part?
When done right, muscle sparing fasting won’t slow down the incredibly fast fat burn water fasting can deliver.
When done right, muscle sparing fasting can actually offer higher fat burn rates than water fasting alone ever could.
(If you’re interested, you can get more details in my science-backed guide to muscle sparing fasting.
Don’t Miss: Is Intermittent Fasting Good For High Blood Pressure
What To Eat With Fasting
Ive found most people who have trouble with their weight do better eating a lower amount of carbs. Im not saying you have to cut them out completely but you should focus on lowering them to boost weight loss. People who are naturally athletic and have more trouble putting on weight do better with lower fats and higher carbs and protein.
You should calculate your BMR to give you a ballpark picture of how many calories your body burns in a day. Then you should keep your calories under that number. You dont have to count your calories for the rest of your life but you should do so for at least for a little while so you can figure out what you should be eating in a day.
Focus on eating real whole foods. Higher protein diets have also been found to be beneficial for weight loss. Avoid starchy, sugary, and carb-rich foods especially those from refined grains and flour. Lastly, make sure youre avoiding bad vegetable oils that could also promote weight gain.
Should you exercise during fasting?
When it comes to exercise youll drop more poundage by working out along with your fasting . I prefer to do cardio in the mornings when Im fasting for an extra fat burn . Then doing a strength training workout later in the day can help to tone up and burn stubborn fat from your body.
Can you lose a pound a day fasting?
Will you lose weight if you fast for 24 hours?
The Last Word
What Is The Optimal Term Of Your Water Fasting
And what about the optimal term of your water fasting? Yes, many people have practiced the 30-day fast weight loss approach, drinking only water and avoiding food at all. Some dieters start with a 5-14-day water fasting to prepare their bodies for this stress. Others stick to this diet for 22 and even 40 days at once everything depends on their goals. Technically, this is possible. Some people even claim that when the body doesnt have to spend energy for digestion, they have more energy for other things. Many of them claim even being able to continue their normal life go to work and have regular training sessions.
Your body can deal with only-water-diet-plan for a month, but it is extremely dangerous. Everything depends on your overall health, possible medical conditions and the amount of body fat you have. As it was mentioned above, this dietary pattern is not for everyone. If your aim is only to lose weight quickly, it also has one major minus. In the majority of cases, after such crazy and over-restrictive diets, people tend to regain their weight. And that is in addition to all the risks for your health, listed above.
However, there are short-term water fasts that arent dangerous for your body. Because of all the risks, health professionals dont recommend fasting for a period longer than 1-3 days. Remember that it is dangerous to stick to this dietary pattern for a longer period without medical supervision.
Also Check: When You Are Fasting Can You Drink Water
Intermittent Fasting: How It Can Help You Lose Weight And Even Save Money
My experience with fasting revealed some surprising benefits, including fewer potentially risky trips to the grocery store.
Is it time to eat yet?
By now you’ve probably heard of intermittent fasting, arguably the hottest health trend of the last couple years. It’s been heralded as not only a foolproof weight-loss method, but also a potential cure for things like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, poor sleep, insulin resistance, even cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. A 2019 study in The New England Journal of Medicine links fasting to “increased stress resistance, increased longevity and a decreased incidence of diseases, including cancer and obesity.”
Want to learn more? And maybe try it yourself? Here’s everything you need to know about intermittent fasting , including some of my own experiences with it.
Get the CNET Health and Wellness newsletter
Editors’ note: You should always consult with a doctor before making changes to your diet or eating behaviors.
Read more: The health risks of intermittent fasting: It’s not for everyone
Intermittent Fasting Can Help Weight Loss
IF makes intuitive sense. The food we eat is broken down by enzymes in our gut and eventually ends up as molecules in our bloodstream. Carbohydrates, particularly sugars and refined grains , are quickly broken down into sugar, which our cells use for energy. If our cells dont use it all, we store it in our fat cells as, well, fat. But sugar can only enter our cells with insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin brings sugar into the fat cells and keeps it there.
Between meals, as long as we dont snack, our insulin levels will go down and our fat cells can then release their stored sugar, to be used as energy. We lose weight if we let our insulin levels go down. The entire idea of IF is to allow the insulin levels to go down far enough and for long enough that we burn off our fat.
Don’t Miss: How To Intermittent Fasting For Beginners
