Let’s talk about a ketogenic diet, or as you may know it “The Keto Diet”.
Following a keto diet meal plan can improve a multitude of health problems while also helping you lose weight.
It’s becoming increasingly popular and I want to tell you why this is no fad diet.
Learn how Anne lost 21 lbs in just 4 weeks on the Keto Diet
The Keto Diet and intermittent fasting are the Atkins and 5/2 of our generation.
That’s to say, these two diets have seen extreme popularity and
the hype around the pair of them has informed (and misinformed) the way
that we diet in the 21st century.
With a huge combined reach and cult status in certain areas of the health and fitness world, they’re hard to ignore.
Studies have shown following a keto diet meal plan can improve and
slow a number of health problems such as diabetes, dementia, heart
disease problems and even cancer growth. (1, 2, 3, 4).
However, how do they work together?
What can we expect from pairing the Keto Diet with intermittent fasting (IF)?
The NEW keto system to shed belly fat and boost your health
Today we’re going to provide all the answers you’re looking for
when it comes to effective dieting in the 21st century, as well as how
these two landmark diets play together.
Stick with us if you’re looking to make the most of your Keto Diet
and incorporate intermittent fasting, improve your performance, and
follow the scientific approach to dieting – with no marketing spin!
Table of Contents
What Is The Keto Diet?
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Types of Intermittent Fasting
Why Intermittent Fasting? What’s The Fuss?
Why Everyone Needs Intermittent Fasting In Their Lives
Intermittent Fasting and Keto
Stage 1: Week 1 (Days 1-5)
Stage 2: Week 2 (Days 6-12)
Stage 2: Week 3 (Days 13-19)
Full Snack List
Final Thoughts
What Is The Keto Diet?
Keep calm and eat bacon!” It’s my new favorite “Keep Calm” meme.
You’re probably wondering what bacon has to do with the equation,
and why the hell it’s being mentioned in a book about diets, fasting and
weight loss.
Try the 28-Day Keto Challenge for a noticeably slimmer body
So what’s the story?
Two words – ketogenic diet!
A ketogenic diet, AKA a Keto Diet, is essentially a really
low-carb but high in fat diet, in which your body is forced into
producing more ketones in the liver.
It’s these ketones that are used for energy.
Two 41-year-old mom’s try the Keto Diet with shocking results
The chances are you’ve at least heard of the Keto Diet, or perhaps
you’ve heard it mentioned under one of its other guises, for example, a
low-carb diet, a low-carb high-fat diet, or simply the latter’s acronym
the LCHF diet.
Firstly, before we get into the ins and outs of how the Keto Diet
works, it’s important to understand the reason why most people put on
weight in the first place is because of carbs – carbs are evil, protein
and fat are not!
When you eat anything with a high carb content, your body immediately reacts and produces glucose and insulin.
Because glucose is essentially the easiest molecule that your body
can convert into energy, it’s considered to be the primary energy
source, but even with its “primary” status, it doesn’t necessarily mean
it’s the best source of fuel.
The insulin that’s secreted into your body is produced to help
process the glucose in the bloodstream and deliver it to where it needs
to go around your body.
When your body uses glucose as the number one source of energy, it also means that your fats aren’t needed.
What happens to these fats?
It’d be nice to think that they just disappear into nothingness because they’re useless, but unfortunately not.
Instead the fat is stored around your body, and in a nutshell, this is what causes you to gain fat and weight.
On a high-carb diet, which the majority of Americans consume, the body will rely on glucose as its primary fuel.
Unfortunately, this type of diet accounts for a huge part of an
average American’s diet, which is mostly made up of refined carbs.
The average American adult man consumes around 296 grams of carbs
in a day with the average American woman consuming around 224 grams, so
it’s no wonder that 39.6% of adults over the age of 20 in the US are
considered to be clinically obese (Wang et al, 2008).
But when you reduce your carb intake, something magical happens –
your body is induced into a fat-burning state called ketosis, but what
is this?
In simple terms, ketosis is a natural bodily process that your
body will initiate to help you survive when your food intake is lower
than normal.
Throughout this state, your body produces ketones, which are created when fats are broken down in your liver.
Getting your body into the metabolic state of ketosis is the end goal when following a well-maintained ketogenic diet.
Instead of achieving ketosis through starvation of calories, you’re essentially doing it through starvation of carbs.
You’ve got to give credit where credit is due – your body is
awesome, as it’s incredibly adaptive when it comes to what you put
inside it.
When you take away those carbs and consume more fat, it then
starts to burn those ketones as its main fuel source as opposed to
burning glucose (Maalouf and Rho, 2009).
And when your body reaches its optimal ketone levels, you’ll begin
to reap a plethora of health benefits, which includes fat loss and
other physical and mental performance benefits.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Unlike traditional dieting, fasting is relatively easy and unambiguous.
People have always done this and you’ve probably done it too,
albeit unconsciously when you skip either breakfast or dinner when
you’re too busy or running late.
If we go back to our caveman ancestors, it’s clear that this way
of living has been done for thousands of years, as they would often be
in a state of fasting while they hunted their next meal.
After the period of the hunter-gatherers, agriculture came, which was quickly followed by civilization.
But even still, there were times in which food was scarce or the
seasons abruptly changed, and fasting was still very much present.
During that time all people, from the nobles to the peasants,
stored grains and cured meats in preparation for the harsh winters.
Then, because of the lack of irrigation systems, there was also
famine due to the lack of rain, and as a result, people were forced to
fast to make their stored goods last as long as possible.
With civilization came religions, many of which included a period
of fasting to show their devotion to whichever God or Gods they believed
in.
For example, Hindus refer to fasting as “Vaasa”, which they
strictly observe throughout special festivals to demonstrate their
penance or to honor their Gods.
Islam is very similar with the Ramadan celebrations when it’s forbidden to eat and drink during certain times of the day.
Fasting is even evident in Catholicism in the six-week lead up to Easter during Lent.
Many people mistake intermittent fasting as a type of diet, which it isn’t.
It’s better explained as a dieting pattern or making that conscious choice to miss certain meals.
When you purposefully make the choice to fast then feast with
intermittent fasting, you usually consume all your calories during a set
window.
There are a few different types of intermittent fasting, and
sometimes you’ve got to play around with it to see what works for you
because like dieting, it’s not one size fits all!
Types Of Intermittent Fasting
1. The 16/8 Protocol
The numbers say it all.
You fast for 16 hours and then consume your daily calories within a set 8-hour window.
Most people choose simple hours to eat, such as from noon to 8 PM;
this way your fasting state is through the night while you sleep and
you skip breakfast, which when you think about it, it isn’t that hard,
especially since breakfast is typically on the go for most people these
days.
Other people, who are slightly stricter with their fasting, may choose to eat during a shorter window of time, say 6 or 4 hours.
2. The 5:2 Diet (The Fast Diet)
This way of fasting involves eating as normal for 5 out of 7 days of the week consecutively.
On the other two remaining days, you drastically restrict your
calories to around 500 a day if you’re a woman and 600 if you’re a man.
3. The 24-Hour Protocol
With the 24-hour protocol, you simply skip two meals in a day and take a break from eating for 24 hours.
For example, if you eat on a normal schedule and finish dinner at
around 7.30 PM, you wouldn’t eat again until 7.30 PM the next day.
So basically, you’d eat your regular three meals a day, and then
from time to time choose a day that suits you to skip both breakfast and
lunch the following day.
If you can’t do an entire day’s fast, that’s fine; try doing it
for 18 hours, and build your way up gradually until you can manage a
full 24 hours.
How many times you do this in a week is entirely up to you.
That’s the awesome thing about it!
You pick days that fit in with your life and current situation.
4. Alternate Day Fasting
As the name suggests, alternate-day fasting requires you to fast every other day.
You can either fast completely on your fast days and only consume
water, black tea and coffee or you can severely restrict your calories
to around 500.
If you’re a newbie, I think doing a full fast every other day is
quite extreme, so start off by slashing your daily calorie intake and
work your way towards a full day fast every other day.
Personally, I don’t think this is a sustainable form of fasting,
as it will require you going to bed hungry a number of times of week;
however, it is an excellent way to kick start that fat-burning process
again if you hit a weight-loss plateau.
5. The Warrior Diet – Day Fasting
This diet involves fasting all day and feasting during the night within a 4-hour window.
Popularized by the celebrity fitness coach, Ori Hofmekler, this
type of diet also emphasizes eating healthier unprocessed food choices.
Therefore, when following a ketogenic diet and doing the Warrior
Diet, you’ll have to be a little stricter and cut out any kind of food
that is processed, which sadly includes bacon.
Why Intermittent Fasting? What’s The Fuss?
One of my answers to people who ask “Why do you fast? Are you religious?” is “Because it can work for your goals!”
It’s a no-brainer that restricting your calories plays an integral role in weight loss.
But here’s the thing – when you fast, you’re making this caloric
restriction a walk in the park, especially if you use your sleeping
period as a time to fast.
When done correctly, a healthy person can experience consistent weight loss.
Here are some other reasons why intermittent fasting is the way forward!
Why Everyone Needs Intermittent Fasting In Their Lives
We’re all crazy busy.
Really, is there anyone out there that has time to prepare X amount of meals to eat every 3 hours?
If you are one of these people, I take my hat off to you.
When you fast, you only really need to think about the food that you’re going to consume in your eating window.
Let’s face it – we’re all so busy and life often gets in the way,
so only having to think about what you’re going to eat in a shorter
amount of time is one less decision you’re going to have to make on a
daily basis.
Eating fewer meals in a window instead of those birdfeed-like ones
throughout the day will also mean you can sit back and enjoy bigger
portioned meals.
You won’t have to worry about hunger because you’ll have eaten enough and you’ll feel satiated.
And, guess what?
You’ll still have eaten fewer calories than normal.
At the end of the day, IF doesn’t need that much time to prepare.
It’ll also probably cost you less.
Instead of having to buy food and prepare six individual meals every day, you only need to make two.
Rather than having to stop whatever it is you’re doing six times throughout the day, you’ll only need to do it twice.
And if you’re like me, who hates any type of housework (I’m sure
my better half would vouch for this), you’ll only need to wash the
dishes twice in a day…you get what I’m saying – IF is more convenient
and cheaper!
There are also the health benefits of IF that can’t be overlooked.
It promotes growth hormone secretion and insulin sensitivity, two essential things for fat loss and muscle gain.
So imagine the results when combining IF with a ketogenic diet?
As well as weight loss, IF can help improve your brain health.
I for sure have become way more alert, and I’m able to concentrate
much better than before, which is something that I’ve always struggled
with while following different ways of eating, mostly because I spent
the majority of my time feeling hungry and thinking about food while
trying to stifle the sounds of my rumbling gut.
Better focus is one thing, but like a ketogenic diet, IF also
helps positively counteract serious cognitive conditions such as
Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s.
Intermittent Fasting – A Summary:
It’s convenient
Saves money
Promotes growth hormone secretion
Improves insulin sensitivity
Speeds up weight loss
Improves muscle gain and definition
Improves focus and concentration
Counteracts cognitive diseases
Intermittent Fasting And Keto
When you eat fat and protein, your body is forced to adapt to operate on fat for its fuel as opposed to carbs.
Restricting carbs and glucose will help your body convert its fat
into ketones, and use them as its primary source of fuel – this process
is known as ‘ketosis’, and there are two ways in which your body can
enter this state.
The first way is by eating to induce it (i.e. following a keto
diet and eating foods low in carbs and high in natural healthy fats) and
fasting.
Therefore, it’s safe to assume that when you put the two together, it makes a formidable combination for easier weight loss.
When fasting, your body enters a state what is often referred to as a ‘fast period’.
During this time, it doesn’t have any source of glucose energy
available, and as a result, your liver starts breaking down its fat into
ketones; therefore, fasting alone can trigger ketosis.
A lot of experts in the industry recommend fasting for a short
period of time (24-36 hours) before starting a keto diet, as it often
speeds up the transition, pushing your body into the highly metabolic
state of ketosis.
And, when you fast intermittently while your body is in ketosis, you can help maintain this state.
Personally, I love fasting, mostly because it’s so simple.
I wake up, skip breakfast and then train while still in a fasted state.
If you’ve ever visited my home or shadowed me at work, you’ll soon
realize that my life is pretty hectic, even crazy, so doing this is
just one less decision I have to make.
Keto and IF work really well together for a few reasons, however,
the primary one is that following a strict keto eating plan can be quite
challenging to start with, so every time you do eat, there’s a slim
chance you might get it wrong and inadvertently consume foods that
aren’t deemed keto-friendly, and as a result, you’re knocked out of
ketosis.
Also, newbies following a keto diet are also often tempted to
overeat; one because the food is so damn delicious and two, many people
that start a keto eating plan have previously struggled with issues such
as portion control, which basically means it’s one less chance that we
could screw it all up.
This way of eating isn’t one-size-fits-all.
At the end of the day, it’s you who has to decide what works and what doesn’t work.
Just skipping breakfast alone will most likely not be enough for
you to become keto-adapted (when your body runs on ketones) alone
because your body will still have enough stored glucose left from your
carb-filled previous meals.
If you want to use fasting to enter the state of ketosis, you’ll
need to fast for a longer period of time until all your glucose stores
have been depleted.
If you want to use intermittent fasting to help kickstart ketosis,
it will have to be combined with an extremely low-carb ketogenic diet
to deplete those stored carbs.
What’s my point? Trust me, I do have one!
The moral of the story here is that it’s important for you to try
different strategies to get into ketosis and figure out which one is
going to work for you and more importantly fit into your lifestyle.
Stage 1: Week 1 (Days 1-5)
If you’re still unsure about how to eat, what to eat or what to
avoid, don’t worry you’re not alone! There is a little-known diet system
called The 28-Day Keto Challenge which will teach you everything you
need to know and guide you through your first month. Getting that in
check will increase your metabolism and allow you to shed weight and
shed it fast.
Women who have followed The 28-Day Keto Challenge reported losing
up to 21 pounds and 2-4 inches from their waist in just a matter of 4
weeks—the methods in The 28-Day Keto Challenge are all backed by
science.
Check out this video on The 28-Day Keto Challenge now to learn
more about how to follow the diet—and lose weight and improve your life
in 28 days.
Follow the recipes for each day and feel free to mix-and-match your favorites if you don’t like a certain meal.
Add a couple of snacks to each day, depending on how hungry you feel and how many calories you should be consuming.
If you’re unsure about how much food you should be consuming, read
our keto calories guide and calculate how many calories you should be
consuming each day based on your weight loss goals.
Each recipe has the number of servings as well as the number of
calories so you’ll be able to calculate how much you should be eating
each day.
Pick your preferred style of fasting and allocate the meals into it so that it works for you.
For example, if you were using 16/8 fasting (8:00 PM to 12:00 PM Fasted)
Example Day
6:00 AM – Wake up, coffee/tea with no sugar or milk.
12:00 PM – Meal 1
2:00 PM – Snack
4:00 PM – Meal 2
6:00 PM – Snack
8:00 PM – Meal 3
Day 1
Meal 1 – Keto Egg Muffins — Delicious Quick & Easy Breakfast Recipe
Meal 2 – Stuffed Bacon Burgers
Meal 3 – Goat Cheese Frittata with Spinach
Snack – Pesto Crackers
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 2
Meal 1 – Scrambled Eggs with Cheese
Meal 2 – Simple Lunch Salad with Tuna
Meal 3 – Stir-Fried Beef with Orange
Snack – Keto Lava Cake
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 3
Meal 1 – Herbed Eggs
Meal 2 – Chicken & Mushroom Soup
Meal 3 – Chicken & Bacon Sausage Stir Fry
Snack – Mexican Fudge
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 4
Meal 1 – Ham & Eggs with Cheddar & Chives
Meal 2 – Greek Frittata
Meal 3 – Salmon with Avocado & Lime
Snack – Spiced Almonds
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 5
Meal 1 – Blender Pancakes
Meal 2 – Garlic Cauliflower
Meal 3 – Cheats Pasta with Cheesy Tomato Sauce
Snack – Strawberry Shake
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Stage 2: Week 2 (Days 6-12)
Congratulations! You’ve made it through Stage 1’s first 5 days.
You’ll find that the recipes for the next 2 weeks are perhaps a little more balanced in the macros.
Have fun with it.
Follow the recipes as is or mix and match, if you like.
Make the ones you like again and skip the ones you don’t.
Day 6
Meal 1 – Mini Crust Less Quiches
Meal 2 – Ham & Cheddar Wraps
Meal 3 – Chicken Quesadilla
Snack – Vanilla Ice Cream
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 7
Meal 1 – Chocolate and Peanut Butter Muffins
Meal 2 – BLT (Bacon Lettuce & Tomato) Wrap with Avocado
Meal 3 – Shrimp & Mushroom with Cheat Noodles
Snack – Baked Parsnip Chips
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 8
Meal 1 – Pizza Omelet with pepperoni and mozzarella
Meal 2 – Chicken & Bacon Salad
Meal 3 – Spicy Lime Steak
Snack – Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 9
Meal 1 – Breakfast Smoothie
Meal 2 – Tuna Avocado Salad
Meal 3 – Butter Burger
Snack – Kale Chips
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 10
Meal 1 – Sausage and Egg with Cheese
Meal 2 – Chicken & Broccoli Casserole with Cheddar topping
Meal 3 – Fish Fillet with Avocado Sauce
Snack – Protein Shake
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 11
Meal 1 – Fat Coffee
Meal 2 – Chicken and Cheat Noodle Soup
Meal 3 – Cheesy Pork Bake
Snack – Salted Almond and Coconut Bark
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 12
Meal 1 – Keto Porridge
Meal 2 – Asian Beef and Coleslaw
Meal 3 – Deep Dish Pizza Quiche
Snack – Chocolate Cheesecake with Coconut
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Stage 2: Week 3 (Days 13-19)
OK, so now you should be getting a good hang of it and I am sure,
if you followed the diet to a ’T’, you would have seen results by now.
So, let’s hope this keeps you motivated, and to try the recipes we have for you on week 3.
Day 13
Meal 1 – Fruity Crème Fraiche
Meal 2 – Beef Patties with Creamy Mustard Sauce
Meal 3 – Sticky Sesame Beef
Snack – Raspberry Lemon Popsicles
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 14
Meal 1 – Beef and Pumpkin Hash
Meal 2 – Cheddar Pancakes
Meal 3 – Southwest Steak Sizzler
Snack – Jalapeno Popper Balls
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 15
Meal 1 – Spiced Pumpkin Waffles
Meal 2 – Chicken and Mushroom Soup
Meal 3 – Wagon Wheel Sausage Pie
Snack – Maple Pecan Bars
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 16
Meal 1 – All day Breakfast
Meal 2 – Cucumber with Tuna Boats
Meal 3 – Steak and Eggs with Seared Tomatoes
Snack – Corndog Muffins
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 17
Meal 1 – Whipped Coconut Cream with Fresh Berries
Meal 2 – Sausage Frittata
Meal 3 – Omelet with Pesto and Feta Cheese
Snack – Buckeye Cookies
Calculate your daily calorie intake requirement and add more snacks as required.
Day 18
Meal one – Chai Spice Mug Cake
Meal a pair of – Zucchini Hash Browns
Meal three – Ham and Asparagus Bake
Snack – Microwave Brownies
Calculate your daily calorie intake demand and add a lot of snacks PRN.
Day 19
Meal one – Creamy occasional Shake
Meal a pair of – Spicy Bacon and Brussels
Meal three – Sweet & Spicy Chicken with Shrimp
Snack – spread Cookies
Calculate your daily calorie intake demand and add a lot of snacks PRN.
Full Snack List
Pesto batty
Keto volcanic rock Cake
Mexican Fudge
Spiced Almonds
Strawberry Shake
Vanilla frozen dessert
Baked Parsnip Chips
Chocolate spread Balls
Kale Chips
Protein Shake
Salted Almond and Coconut Bark
Chocolate Cheesecake with Coconut
Raspberry Lemon Popsicles
Jalapeno Popper Balls
Maple Pecan Bars
Corndog Muffins
Buckeye Cookies
Microwave Brownies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Snickerdoodles
Final Thoughts
Here’s the thing… a keto diet combined with IF will assist you kick your ass into gear.
It’s not a diet (I truly hate this word, except for argument’s
sake I’ll keep on with what it’s said out there within the huge
dangerous world); instead, it’s a lot of of a way of life, a property
one that’s straightforward to stay to.
Adhering to Associate in Nursing intermittent fast ketogenic diet,
if followed properly, will assist you accomplish your weight loss
goals.
What’s a lot of, it conjointly comes with extra-added health
advantages, like control glucose levels and serving to to forestall some
serious diseases like sure varieties of cancers and Alzheimer’s.
It’s in no way as restrictive as several alternative diets out there.
And if you are doing your analysis, you’ll presently discover that
it’s been around for years in contrast to several of those alternative
passing diet trends.
What’s a lot of, and by chance for USA, it can even embody a
formidable style of delicious and nutrient foods which will enable you
to stay below your web carb limits.
You may or might not be shocked to be told that since I’ve
incorporated intermittent fast into my daily consumption habits I’ve
managed to not solely drop weight however conjointly increase my muscle
mass similarly.
I’ve conjointly managed to extend my explosiveness once it
involves coaching, and some months back I even set a private best for
running, that given my age and my previous sporting achievements after I
was younger is pretty damn wonderful if I say thus myself!
I still total on a daily basis, in the main as a result of i
really like it, however I’ve conjointly been able to block on my
coaching time and still maintain my results.
In alternative words, I’m a hell of plenty stronger than I once
was, I’m conjointly throw, and I’m rather more explosive despite
progressing to the gymnasium the maximum amount and consumption less.
More significantly, I’ve conjointly been able to disembarrass
myself of that pre-diabetic label that was looming over Pine Tree State.
Ready To begin Your Keto Diet?
If you’re still unsure regarding a way to eat, what to eat or what
to avoid, don’t worry you’re not alone! there's a little-known diet
system known as The 28-Day Keto Challenge which can teach you everything
you wish to grasp and guide you thru your initial month. obtaining that
under control can increase your metabolism and permit you to shed
weight and shed it quick.
Women United Nations agency have followed The 28-Day Keto
Challenge reported losing up to twenty one pounds and 2-4 inches from
their waist in barely a matter of four weeks—the ways within the 28-Day
Keto Challenge ar all backed by science
Check out this video on The twenty eight-Day Keto Challenge
currently to be told a lot of regarding a way to follow the diet—and
slim and improve your life in 28 days.