Combining Intermittent Fasting And Ketosis
One of the most frequently asked questions I get – after how can I do so many things in a single day – has to do with combining intermittent fasting and ketosis. Can you do it and whether or not it’s any good? Read this article and you’ll find out. When it comes to nutrition, then the majority of people are on a quest towards finding that one diet or secret hack that would allow them to get everything their hearts desire – delicious meals, bulletproof health, excellent body composition, abundant energy, elevated mood and greater satiety. In order to get them all, you would think you have to sell your soul to the devil. Which brings me to the nutritional strategies of intermittent fasting (IF) and the ketogenic diet (KETO). Both of them have gained a lot of rep in the health and fitness community – some of it is very good, some not so much. IF and keto contradict almost everything that’s recommended by the general public in regards to nutrition. Despite that, there are millions of people getting amazing results from it. However, there are others who can’t seem to make it work. After having coached many clients on how to combine intermittent fasting and low carb eating, I came to the conclusion that it’s indeed a very challenging and difficult ‘nutritionus[i]. The reason why most people fail is that they don’t have the slightest clue of what they’re doing. To mitigate that, I’m going to explain to you how it all works. In a society full of calories, ‘fasting’ has become the F-word that’s associated with images of starvation, obesity, anorexia, asceticism, and horror all at the same time. This is the result of contemporary eating habits based on snacking, refined carbohydrates and low fat bacon (yummm!). What intermittent fasting really refe Continue reading >>
Fat Burning Hacks! - Combining Intermittent Fasting With A Ketogenic Diet
We talked last time about intermittent fasting and what that means. So how can we combine fasting and a ketogenic diet to maximise fat loss, Increase energy and make you feel great? First what is a ketogenic diet? A ketogenic diet is effectively a very low-carb diet, usually below 50 grams of carbs per day. Your body will look for an alternative energy system because there is a shortage of stored glycogen (carbs) . If you are in ketosis, it means that your body is burning fat and producing ketones. Ketones do not burn fat, but indicate that your body is in fat-burning mode. Ketones can also make you feel good and some studies have show that your brain works really well on their energy supply. Our bodies run on 9 kcal/fat gram & 4 kcal/carb gram. So if we can get our bodies to run on fats more efficiently it's like running on jet fuel! You'll feel great, train harder and will be leaner. Break your fast with a small amount of protein (i.e a piece of chicken) no fats no carbs. When you break your fast your body is very sensitive to what you eat and you will absorb it quickly. You only want a small increase in your blood sugar with your first intake. About 30-60 mins later have your proper meal of protein and fats - NO CARBS. Then 4-5 hours later have another protein and fats meal. NO CARBS. What this can effectively do is keep your body in a ketogenic state for longer after you break your fast and encourages your body to run on fats for longer. After several decades of running on a heavy carb fuelled energy system this method can take a bit of getting used to. So planning your food and having the meals prepped and ready will make all the difference. Wishing you all to run on jet fuel - See you next time! Helping you to get in the best possible shape with simple practical s Continue reading >>
January Water Fast: What I Ate After Fasting And How Much Did I Gain?
It’s been just about 50 hours since I ended my 12 day January Water Fast. (my fast ended on Saturday morning, right now it’s Monday morning) I’ve actually learned so much about my body and my eating habits in such a short period of time that it’s astonishing. First of all – I sincerely love food and even more so love to cook. My kitchen is my happy place and I’m totes happy to be cooking/eating again. However, Eating 3 meals on Saturday was just way too much food. When you complete a water fast the most important aspect to ensure you don’t regain the weight you lost, is to not return to the same eating style you had before your fast (if you weren’t eating healthily) Ray & I are eating low-carb/high-fat in order to maintain our ketogenic state (i.e. fat burning machine. While many people say that you need to end a water fast with soft foods, we took a less traveled path of eating real food. And it was a huge success. Between Ray & I we were on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to digestion — for some it moves a little fast and some it moves a little slow (at the request of my hubby I won’t get into specifics but I’m sure you get my drift) We didn’t feel sick or nauseated – only overfull since undoubtedly our stomaches shrunk in 12 day w/o eating – so any quantity of food would make us feel extra full. And we consciously realized that going forward we need to adjust the way we fill our plates, eating less quantity overall. A secret to keep your portions under control is to use smaller plates – the plates in all of these pictures aren’t full size they are large salad plates. Saturday – 25 g net carbs 9 am Breakfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs, Canadian Bacon, Asparagus, Raw Butter & Sauerkraut – 3g net carbs 1 pm Lunch: cottage cheese, olive Continue reading >>
Does Intermittent Fasting Induce Ketosis?
So I searched around for a while but couldn't find a definitive answer (maybe there isn't one), does intermittent fasting induce ketosis? I usually IF overnight until lunch-time. I've read that sleep often induces ketosis. Am I in ketosis at the end of that fast? Continue reading >>
Intermittent Fasting On A Keto Diet
Intermittent Fasting, or “IF”, is a relatively new craze that is used as a supplement to your diet. It revolves around the timing of your food intake, and can have some benefits in the long run. There are quite a few people misinformed on fasting, so we’ll clear that up and explain how intermittent fasting can be useful. On your ketogenic journey, it’s important to know that your success is not only dictated by eating enough fat and protein and restricting carbs. When you eat, how often you eat, and how much you eat have a substantial impact on your health and function as well. If your results have plateaued or you are thinking of starting a ketogenic diet, this article will provide you with a way to lose more fat and improve energy levels called intermittent fasting. If you need to learn how to calculate your macros, visit our Keto Calculator. Fasting isn’t required to lose weight on a ketogenic diet. If it doesn’t work for you, then do not force yourself to fast. Restricting yourself unrealistically is pointless – it’s not worth it if it makes you unhappy. There are 2 basic terms we need to understand here first: feeding and fasting. Your body is in a feeding state when you are eating your food, and you are in a fasting state when you are between your meals. The Approach Skipped meals. This is when you skip over a meal to induce extra time of fasting. Usually people choose breakfast, but others prefer to skip lunch. Eating windows. Usually this condenses your entire macronutrient intake between a 4 and 7 hour window. The rest of the time you are in a fasting state. 24-48 hour cleanse. This is where you go into extended fasting periods, and do not eat for 1-2 days. I don’t recommend that you go straight for a 1-2 day fast, but begin by restricting you Continue reading >>
The Ultimate Alpha’s Guide To Intermittent Fasting
When I first heard about intermittent fasting, just because the phrase included the word “fasting” – my immediate reaction was to dismiss it. I’ll be honest – I’m not a big fan of fasting in general. I feel like the majority of fasts are either too heavily influenced by religious beliefs with no regard to health benefits or hazards, or are too esoteric and “woo-woo” and bear very little connection to real science behind them. Religious or spiritual fasts are often aimed at achieving a specific state of mind (with no regard to what this does to your body). They restrict the wrong kind of foods (most partial religious fasts restrict animal fats and protein, while being very lenient with simple carbs) or restrict too much for too long (which also deprives your body of important minerals and nutrients and leads to the breakdown of healthy tissue in an attempt to survive). In terms of non-spiritual dietary fasting – there is just not enough consistency among different protocols. Some allow liquids (usually water, but a few offer other exotic options, such as various juices, etc.) and some do not. Some only exclude a specific class of food and some restrict all of them. Some may seem like an attempt to improve health, but utilize some esoteric concepts behind them, like “cleansing” (which, I despise because of all the misinformation surrounding it). And a large number of fasts are just poorly designed dietary fads, relying too heavily on the “novelty factor” and marketability. But as I explored scientific evidence behind intermittent fasting and experimented trying to see what works best, I have made some interesting discoveries and my attitude started changing. While personally I still would not advocate long- or even medium-term fasting (at least n Continue reading >>
Keep Yourself In Ketosis
When talking about a Grain Brain lifestyle, and the very similar ketogenic diet, it’s frequently mentioned that we are aiming to keep our bodies in ketosis. However, if you’re new to my work, it may be that you’re not exactly sure what ketosis is, or why we should be worrying about getting our body into this state. Allow me to explain. Ketones are a special type of fat that can stimulate the pathways that enhance the growth of new neural networks in the brain. A ketogenic diet is one that is high in fats, and this diet has been a tool of researchers for years, used notably in a 2005 study on Parkinson’s patients finding an improvement in symptoms after just 28 days. The improvements were on par with those made possible via medication and brain surgery. Other research has shown the ketogenic diet to be remarkably effective in treating some forms of epilepsy, and even brain tumors. Ketones do more than just that though. They increase glutathione, a powerful, brain-protective antioxidant. Ketones facilitate the production of mitochondria, one of the most important actors in the coordinated production that is the human body. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Our bodies are said to enter ketosis at the point when blood sugar levels are low and liver glycogen are no longer available to produce glucose as a fuel for cellular energy production. At this point, not only is the body doing the natural thing, and burning off fat, it’s also powering up the brain with a super efficient fuel. We can jump start ourselves into ketosis with a brief fast, allowing our body to quickly burn through the carbs that are in our system, and turn to fat for fuel. A ketogenic diet is one that derives around 80% or more of of its calories from fat, and the rest from carbs and prote Continue reading >>
9 Powerful Benefits Of Fasting
Getting Better By Binge Eating Once a Day If you haven’t heard of intermittent fasting yet, I’m sure you’ll hear about it relatively soon. It is a rapidly growing trend that is only gaining more and more steam. Intermittent fasting has numerous health benefits that shouldn’t be overlooked. They will make you look at this trend and rethink the term fasting. When you hear the term fasting, what do you usually think of? You probably think of the worst part which is not eating. If you are a food lover it can be hard to think of yourself as not eating anything at all. Before you ride off the fasting trend before trying it, really look into the health benefits that it brings to the table. Go out and find a friend that has tried some kind of fasting in the past and ask them how they felt after it. More than likely they will tell you how great they felt after doing it. Even then, they may not realize how many benefits the fasting they had on their body. 1. Increases Lifespan Fasting can have a great effect on autophagy. This is a process by which a cell recycles itself to make sure that it can function the best it can by getting rid of anything that isn’t working properly. When you have cells that are constantly restoring themselves to have optimal performance, it is going to have anti-aging effects. Cells age just like we do, so when your cells are able to refresh themselves, you are greatly slowing down the aging process both in your physical appearance and internally. 2. Increases Body’s Resistance to Stress A lot of us suffer from stress at one point or the other. Some way more than others. What causes this stress? There are a lot of different reasons that stress can be linked to. With fasting, you will be improving your body’s resistance to stress. Stress is Continue reading >>
My Four Day Fasting Results
The results are in! Here are the results of my ketosis experiment. This post will detail my four-day fast ketosis kickoff period. So… if you think I’m going nuts and wondering why the hell I would fast, well, one, I can assure you I’m not and two, I suggest you read my highly informational article on why I am choosing to fast. Truth-be-told, I’ve tracked body composition, lab work, ketone levels and other important data, so I could become more knowledgeable about them. Some of the questions I had were: Does fasting lead to massive lean tissue losses? Does it destroy your metabolism? Is it unbearable? Does it sap your energy? The good news is that all of these pressing questions and much more are answered in this life-changing article. Okay…caught you! I bet you didn’t read the linked article about fasting, did you? Well, it’s okay; I’ll touch on it really quick. Well, this fast is NOT a water-fast. Honestly, I can name a few reasons, why you should not commit to a water-fast, but I won’t get into them right now. But, what I will get into is the types of fasts that I am practicing regularly and why. So, my fast is similar to what Valter Longo, a renowned researcher, deems to be the “better” than water-fasts in so many ways. According to Longo, the preferential diet is the “fasting-mimicking diet.” In fact, much of his research heavily focuses on reaping all of the benefits (and sometimes more) of a water-fast, while minimizing many of the “negatives” commonly associated with these types of fasts. Even more exciting is that a lot of Longo’s, official “fasting-mimicking diet” involves fat, as a macronutrient, with only about 40% of the total calories of other “diets.” This type of diet is amazing because it resembles the Mediterranea Continue reading >>
How To Get Into Ketosis In 24 Hours (one Day!)
How To Get Into Ketosis In 24 Hours If you want to know how to get into ketosis in 24 hours then follow these five simple steps… But first… Why are you really doing “keto”? I ask this question because I get a GAZZILION emails and messages across social media platforms from people wanting to get into ketosis fast. I get it… You want to lose 20 pounds in 10 days for a wedding… You want to get rid of that baby weight before your high school reunion. Trust me, I’ve heard it all… When I first got into keto, I wanted to lose weight as well so I understand. But, I didn’t have a reason to rush… Heck, I didn’t expect to lose weight as fast as I did but it happened that way. From my coaching cleints to Keto Hybrid members… There’s always a few of them in a rush to lose weight so fast that they’re driving themselves insane…lol… I’m talking “Scale Stalking” multiple times a day and in turn, driving me crazy. I’m only joking about the “driving me crazy” part. I love helping others reach their goals… It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside… I digress… But remember this… Every “Body” is different. We all have metabolic damage to some degree… Some worst that others. Some people I work with can adapt quickly while others take months to keto adapt. If you’re stressing yourself out, watching the scale day in and day out, you can spike your glucose causing you to stall. So No Stress! The five steps below are a quick way to get into ketosis “Only”. There’s a difference between being in ketosis and being keto adapted. How To Get Into Ketosis In One Day What you’re going to do is a 24 hour(ish) fast to deplete your glycogen stores quickly as possible. When you wake up in the morning, you’re already in mild ketosis from fasti Continue reading >>
Intermittent Fasting And Weight Loss
Intermittent Fasting For Beginners! Intermittent fasting or IF is a pattern or schedule of eating. It’s not a diet, meaning it doesn’t change what you eat, just when you eat. Intermittent fasting can help with fat loss along with many other benefits which we’ll cover in a moment. Interestingly, many people will eat the same amount of calories and still reap the benefits. It’s a great way to get lean and retain muscle mass. How Does Intermittent Fasting Cause Fat Loss? When it comes to digestion, the body has 2 states. They are the: Absorptive State (Fed State) – the period in which your body is digesting and absorbing food. It starts when you begin eating and continues for about 4 hours as you digest and absorb everything you just ate. Post-absorptive State (Fasting State) – the period in which your body isn’t processing a meal (digestive tract is empty) and energy comes from the breakdown of your body’s reserves. Once your body has entered the fasting state, the body begins to use its available stores to provide energy, especially glucose for the brain. The first reserve of glucose is the liver’s stores of glycogen which will maintain blood sugar levels for about 4 hours. After these 4 hours (about 8 hours after the last meal), fatty acid oxidation (fat burning) generates the energy needed for the brain and body. The longer the fasting state lasts, the longer the fat burning continues (source). This is why it is beneficial to hold fasts daily for as long as possible. Benefits of Intermittent Fasting Accelerated fat burn during fasting period – once the body depletes the liver’s glycogen stores, it taps into the glycogen stored in your muscles and then breaks down fat. The more time away from food, the more time you break down stored fat for energy Continue reading >>
Juice Fasting For Ketosis
Ketosis — when your body burns primarily fat for fuels — requires a very low dietary carbohydrate intake. A juice fast requires you to consume practically nothing but carbohydrates. A ketogenic diet, such as Atkins or other forms of low-carbohydrate diets, remains completely incompatible with any juice-based diet. If you wish to lose fat, you must select one or the other. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any dietary program. Video of the Day Your body can run on several types of fuel: amino acids, sugar and fat. When your body burns primarily fat, or free-floating fatty acids called ketones, you are in dietary ketosis. To achieve this, you must severely restrict your intake of all non-fibrous carbohydrates. Exercise will allow you to further deplete your glycogen reserves; over time, your body will shift from running on sugar to running primarily on ketones. Sugar and Ketosis If you consume sugar while in ketosis, you will shift back into burning glycogen or sugar. It will take time to achieve ketosis again. The volume of carbohydrates that you consume will have the most bearing on this; however, consuming carbohydrates and fat together is even worse. This is because your body will generate a great deal of insulin in response and you will continue to run on glycogen while your body stores the fat you just ate. While juice contains no fat, it usually contains fructose. The juice may be predominantly fructose, depending on its type. Fructose is ordinarily a good energy source, largely due to its limited ability to cause a large spike in insulin levels; however, it is far less than ideal if you wish to remain in ketosis. Unlike many other types of sugars, fructose is broken down primarily in the liver. While your body is metabolizing fructose, your a Continue reading >>
7 Tips To Get Into Ketosis
Ketosis is a normal metabolic process that provides several health benefits. During ketosis, your body converts fat into compounds known as ketones and begins using them as its main source of energy. Studies have found that diets that promote ketosis are highly beneficial for weight loss, due in part to their appetite-suppressing effects (1, 2). Emerging research suggests that ketosis may also be helpful for type 2 diabetes and neurological disorders, among other conditions (3, 4). That being said, achieving a state of ketosis can take some work and planning. It's not just as simple as cutting carbs. Here are 7 effective tips to get into ketosis. Eating a very low-carb diet is by far the most important factor in achieving ketosis. Normally, your cells use glucose, or sugar, as their main source of fuel. However, most of your cells can also use other fuel sources. This includes fatty acids, as well as ketones, which are also known as ketone bodies. Your body stores glucose in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen. When carb intake is very low, glycogen stores are reduced and levels of the hormone insulin decline. This allows fatty acids to be released from fat stores in your body. Your liver converts some of these fatty acids into the ketone bodies acetone, acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate. These ketones can be used as fuel by portions of the brain (5, 6). The level of carb restriction needed to induce ketosis is somewhat individualized. Some people need to limit net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) to 20 grams per day, while others can achieve ketosis while eating twice this amount or more. For this reason, the Atkins diet specifies that carbs be restricted to 20 or fewer grams per day for two weeks to guarantee that ketosis is achieved. After this point, s Continue reading >>
Dr. Osborn: How Does Intermittent Fasting Affect The Ketogenic Diet?
“Let’s talk intermittent fasting for a second and then discuss the interplay between both of these entities. Intermittent fasting, a variation of Ori Hofmekler’s Warrior Diet, popularized more than 20 years ago (despite claims that it is actually “new science”), is founded on once or twice daily feedings punctuated by long periods of fasting (18 hours daily or thereabouts). This is thought to emulate our primitive eating habits that were sporadic, and in short bursts, as dictated by the food supply. If we killed, we ate. Else we fasted. It is speculated, by virtue of such patterned, intermittent feedings, unlike the grazing style of modern man, that disease incidence was lower and that absent infection, human life expectancy would have exceeded that of today. Why? This likely has to do with lowered insulin signaling because let’s face it, diseases of modern man are the result of metabolic dysregulation due to overconsumption of carbohydrates, the resultant insulin resistance and heightened bodily inflammation: accelerants of the aging process. So there certainly is merit to this philosophy, at least as an isolated dietary modality. Personally, I have an issue combining intermittent fasting with a ketogenic diet. Why? Metabolic slowdown. Sure, one can make the case for the on switching of tumor suppressor genes in the fasted state, however, I am equally as concerned about the potential loss of muscle mass when these two modalities are combined. It is very difficult to maintain muscle on an intermittent fasting regimen to begin with, because the fasted state (particularly in the context of depleted glycogen stores) induces muscle catabolism for gluconeogenesis. Yes, ketones have anti-catabolic effects, however they tend to be overridden by bodily demands, one Continue reading >>
Keto + Intermittent Fasting: The Ultimate Fat Loss Program
Summer is just around the corner, and that means it’s time to end the bulking season and enter full on fat loss mode. It’s a task that’s not always easy or all that enjoyable, but the results are certainly worth it come beach season. There’s a ton of information out there on how to get shredded, but none quite like what we’ve developed here. Previously we’ve covered one of the newest and most effective eating protocols around in Intermittent Fasting. And while that can be great for weight loss, when it’s combined with a ketogenic diet, the two will get you shredded like never before. What is Keto? The ketogenic diet, a.k.a. “keto”, is an extremely low carb diet that places a premium on fat intake (as much as 75-90%!) along with a moderate protein intake. There have been a number of keto diets circulating around the fitness industry in recent years as the diet has grown in popularity, but to “standard” ketogenic diet consists of the following macronutrient breakdown: 75% Fat 20% Protein 5% Carbohydrate The benefit of substantially reducing carbohydrate intake forces your body to enter ketosis - a metabolic process stimulated when carbohydrates are severely restricted. This essentially “shifts” your body from a glucose fueled machine, to a fat fueled one that generates ketones. Ketones are synthesized when a person doesn’t consume ample carbohydrates to provide the body with adequate glucose (sugar) to run the required metabolic processes. Upon entering a ketogenic state, the body becomes significantly more efficient in utilizing stored fat for energy. Some may worry that such a drastic reduction in carbs may affect neurological function, as the brain runs on glucose, but don’t worry, a metabolic process called gluconeogenesis can synthesize Continue reading >>
