If you have started the keto diet, you may have heard people talk about intermittent fasting. This is a great way to kick start ketosis and to lose extra weight. The keto diet is all about reducing your carbohydrate intake to less than 30 grams per day and increasing your consumption of high-quality fatty meats. In essence, you are transitioning your body from getting energy from the glucose that comes from carbs to getting its energy from ketones in fat.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting is a very popular trend for health conscious people who want to lose weight. In addition, intermittent fasting complements the keto diet well because it eliminates the glucose reserves in your system and forces your body to burn the fat. When your body burns fat, it uses the ketones for energy. This can give your metabolism a boost as well.
Basically, intermittent fasting is a method of eating that alternates between fasting and eating for specific time periods.
There are a number of different ways to do intermittent fasting, and different people prefer different styles. Here are six popular ways to fast:
- 16/8 Method: With this method, you will eat during an 8-hour window and fast the remaining 16 hours in a 24-hour period.
- 5/2 Method: For the 5/2 method, you will severely reduce your caloric intake for two days a week and eat normally the other five.
- 24-hour fast once or twice a week: You will fast one or two 24-hour periods each week.
- Fast every other day: You can either completely fast every other day or restrict your caloric intake every other day.
- Fast in the daytime, eat a large meal at night: You can eat small amounts of fruits and vegetables during the day, but limit yourself to one large meal in the evening. (I would avoid this one if you are prone to getting heartburn in the evenings!)
- Meal skipping: Skip meals whenever you aren’t hungry or can do without.
For more information on any of these intermittent fasting plans, check out this link.
How Does Intermittent Fasting Complement the Keto Diet?
Intermittent fasting complements the keto diet because it helps to jumpstart ketosis. When you are on the keto diet, your daily intake of carbs should be lower than 30 grams.
This reduces the glucose that your body wants to use to make energy so that the body breaks down stored fats and uses the ketones for energy.
When you fast, it depletes your body of its glucose reserves, which pushes it into ketosis more quickly.
The important thing to remember is that you can eat a lot of delicious foods while you are on the keto diet, and you should eat them during the eating windows that you set throughout the day or week.
Intermittent fasting is choosing specific times that you will fast or drastically reduce your caloric intake, and you should eat keto-friendly foods during the times that you eat.
How Does Intermittent Fasting While on the Keto Diet Lead to Weight Loss?
When you use keto with intermittent fasting, you can achieve weight loss more quickly than on the keto diet alone. You are still consuming everything that your body needs, but you are doing it at certain times of the day. Here are a few ways that intermittent fasting while on the keto diet leads to weight loss.
It Helps to Get Your Body Into Ketosis:
As mentioned above, intermittent fasting helps to use up any glucose reserves in your body so that it gets into ketosis faster. When your body is in ketosis, it will use ketones from fat for energy. This helps you lose weight because the fat is actually being turned into fuel for your body.
You Will Reduce Extra Snacking:
Even if all of your snacks are keto-friendly, it is easy to eat more than you realize if you snack throughout the day. Unless you keep a food journal, it is hard to remember every single thing you eat. When you are fasting, you don’t have to think about it because you aren’t eating anything.
Fasting Boosts Your Metabolism:
Fasting helps to increase your hormone levels, which can boost your metabolism. When you boost your metabolism, your body burns more calories during the day, even when you are resting. Check out more information on how to boost your metabolism.
The bottom line is that intermittent fasting is a perfect complement to the keto diet because it helps your body get into ketosis more quickly. In addition, it makes it easier to keep track of exactly what you are eating, especially when you set definite times to eat. It helps you lose more weight more quickly because it boosts your metabolism and reprograms your body to burn fat instead of glucose.
Is the Keto Diet a Diet?
The simple answer is yes, but it is a diet by definition. A diet is simply the foods that a person consumes. In this case, it is keto-friendly foods. Often people think that diet and weight loss are synonymous, but they are two different things.
There are people who embrace the keto diet, but maintain their weight. The keto diet is designed to transition how your body gets its energy from glucose to stored fats.
Losing weight requires boosting your metabolism through diet or exercise and reducing your caloric intake.
When you start keto with intermittent fasting, you will increase your ability to lose weight. The keto diet provides the framework for your weight loss goals by helping you to reduce carbs and other foods that bring glucose into your body and replace it with healthy fats and proteins.
Intermittent fasting helps to accelerate it because you can go into ketosis more quickly and, by nature, you will reduce the amount of calories that you consume.
There are additional health benefits that come with intermittent fasting and keto, which will help you lose additional weight while participating.
The keto with intermittent fasting can be the perfect match for you to eat healthy and lose the weight you want to lose.
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂