Both the ketogenic–low carbohydrate diet–and intermittent fasting have been shown to balance glucose levels in the bloodstream, improve insulin sensitivity, quell food cravings and make workouts more effective.
All of these are essential if your goal is to achieve sustainable weight loss and an overall healthier lifestyle.
Combine the two and you can lose some serious weight in a short period of time.
And the best part?
You can actually keep it off!
Because both diets have similar benefits, combining them is a new approach that has increased in popularity over the past few years.
Below are some essential facts about using this diet combination as an effective weight loss tool.
Advantages of Intermittent Fasting While Following the Keto Diet
1. Achieving Ketosis at a Faster Rate
Low carb diets are designed to force your body to burn stored fat as its primary source of fuel. With a typical diet, carbohydrates are burned first, followed by protein, and then fat as the final source of fuel.
However, because most people consume far more carbohydrates than are necessary, the excess calories are stored as fat and weight loss is difficult to achieve.
The keto diet is essentially a fast from starch and sugar, and is made up primarily of foods containing healthy fats and foods that are pure protein. This creates a reaction in the body that is similar to what happens when you do a traditional fast and abstain from eating any type of food.
When your body begins burning stored fat as its primary fuel source, this state is called ketosis, hence the diet’s name.
If you begin intermittent fasting when you are already restricting carbohydrates, your body reaches ketosis at a quicker rate. Therefore, adding the fasting window helps you with the initial phase of your diet, which is usually the most difficult for anyone.
2. Better Vitamin and Mineral Absorption
In one study, protein and carbohydrates were more efficiently absorbed in individuals who completed a cardio workout after fasting, as opposed to those who consumed a carbohydrate rich breakfast prior to working out. This research indicates that fasting can assist your body to more efficiently absorb nutrients from your post-exercise meals, as well as improve your general health and boost lean muscle mass growth.
3. Stable Blood Sugar Levels
Stable blood sugar levels are vital to the success of any diet. This is because when glucose levels plummet, it leads to intense hunger, which almost always results in binge eating. Stable blood sugar levels help eliminate headaches, lack of focus, poor memory, and brain fog as well. Interestingly, these are common complaints among those who follow high carbohydrate diets, as opposed to diets that are rich in fat and protein.
Discover how this metabolic fasting trick can help you achieve daily weight loss!
4. Accelerated Weight Loss
The ketogenic eating plan has long been a favorite among dieters who struggle with weight loss plateaus, and there are various reasons why this is the case.
For example, on a low-carb diet you are obviously burning fat as your main source of fuel. However, your metabolism must work harder to process fat than carbohydrates.
Therefore, your metabolism is essentially “tricked” into working at a faster rate when carbs are limited. In addition, combining intermittent fasting and the keto diet creates a very small time frame for eating. This lets your body use your current meal as fuel, rather than storing any of your calories as fat.
5. Promotes Natural Detoxification
Both the keto diet and intermittent fasting trigger something referred to as autophagy. The latter is simply the technical term for a natural bodily function called “self-eating.” Although at first this may sound a bit frightening, autophagy is merely your body’s normal detoxification process, during which it eliminates contaminants and replaces them with newly formed, healthy cells.
Autophagy always occurs during fasting periods or when your carbohydrate intake is low. This process is accelerated when you combine both methods, and in certain cases may lower your risk for type II diabetes and heart disease.
6. Satisfaction
The primary reason for the failure of virtually any diet is the fact that you simply become too hungry and feel too deprived to continue following the meal plan. If you are like most people, you have probably tried overpriced diet programs, during which you are expected to get through an afternoon of work on a few tablespoons of pasta and a small protein shake.
Naturally, a few hours after lunch you are “starving,” and probably head to the snack machine for something to get you through until supper. Fortunately, satisfaction is not an issue on the keto-intermittent fasting diet, as weight loss is accomplished without you ever feeling deprived or famished.
This is because a diet high in healthy fats is much more satisfying than a diet high in sugar, flour, and other types of starch. This is why unnecessary snacking and the intake of extra calories is almost never a problem when you follow the keto diet with intermittent fasting.
7. Neurological Health and Mental Clarity
Ketosis and fasting are healthy for the human brain. When the ketogenic diet is followed, sometime within the first 30 days your body stops depending on glucose. This is because it is using stored fat for energy instead, and this state of ketosis is associated with enhanced mental clarity.
For this reason, certain experts believe that intermittent fasting improves a broad range of neuro-degenerative conditions, including stroke, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. After conducting a study on animals, researchers at the National Institute on Aging, found that cyclical fasting helps neurons in the brain to resist degeneration and dysfunction.
Various Intermittent Fasting Methods
There is no right or wrong intermittent fasting method. Rather, you must simply try several different options until you find a fasting window that works for you. As a general rule, you should fast for at least 12 hours, but no longer than 36 hours at a time.
4 Steps To Losing 21 Pounds In 21 Days With Intermittent Fasting
tep 1: First, Focus On Food Quality And Not Food Quantity
While others are trying to suppress their appetite, YOU are going to be satisfying your appetite, nourishing your body, and cleaning out the toxicity.
I always say, instead of suppressing your appetite, SATISFY your appetite. Too many people trying to lose weight are focusing on points, calories, and the scale.
This obviously isn’t working, because if it was, I wouldn’t have to write this article.
100% of the clients who needed to lose over 50 pounds and who weighed 200 pounds or more had hormonal problems that prevented them from losing weight or burning fat.
High cortisol, excess estrogen, low growth hormone, low thyroid, low testosterone, insulin resistance, and many others are likely making weight loss impossible.
The solution? Focus on NOURISHING your body with high quality foods, macronutrients, and hormone-healing meals.
HAVE ACCESS TO THE HEALTHIEST, BALANCED, KETOGENIC MEALS ON THE PLANET WITH THE 3-WEEK KETOGENIC DIET
Counting calories is not only awful, it usually doesn’t work. And if it does, the weight always comes back. Most of the time, even more stubborn than ever before.
Step 2: Get To Know And Balance Your Macronutrients
Most people they just to through some protein and vegetables together and that’s all you need to lose weight.
While you probably lose weight on a protein/veggie diet, you’ll end up slowing down your metabolism AND you won’t last very long eating a boring, un-enjoyable diet.
You NEED carbs and fat to lose fat and boost your metabolism.
The trick lies in knowing which carbs and fats to include in your daily eating and which ones to exclude (most of the time) from your eating.
The best strategy for meal-balancing or macro-balancing I teach in my 3-Week Ketogenic Diet, begins with simplicity. When you keep your meals simple, you’re more likely to stick to it.
Most of the time I suggest a balanced approach to your macronutrients: carbs, proteins, and fats. However, if you’re starting from scratch I have my clients start with a Ketogenic Diet, with a focus on more fat, medium protein, and low-carb.
This form of macro-balancing stabilizes insulin and leptin, the two most important hormones for fat loss. The other thing the ketogenic diet does is switches your body from burning sugar to fat.
THE 3-WEEK KETOGENIC DIET WILL HELP YOU BURN FAT, INSTEAD OF SUGAR
Step 3: Heal Your Digestive System, Detox Your Liver, and Boost Your Thyroid
Most “experts” ignore the most important part of losing weight and burning fat:
- Without a healthy digestive system
- A toxic liver
- A sluggish thyroid
Optimal digestion and assimilation of food and nutrients is vital for healthy weight loss. The hormones of the digestive tract are responsible for appetite control, food digestion, nutrient absorption, and toxin removal.
Your digestive system is strongly related to your nervous system, which influence your endocrine system (hormones). If you treat your stomach like a garbage disposal for low-quality foods, your hormones will repay you with weight gain.
Overconsumption of inflammatory foods can lead to leaky guy syndrome, IBS, chronic diarrhea, ulcerative colitis, and more food intolerances. An inflamed “gut” makes it nearly impossible to have a flat stomach or engage the muscles consisting of your “core.”
Optimal health and weight loss are not possible without a healthy liver. The liver is the major detoxification organ and also filters most hormones. It is responsible for 75% of T3 conversion (thyroid hormone) and provides energy in the form of glycogen. It also filters excess estrogen.
When the liver is overburdened by excess stress hormones, alcohol, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, HFCS/sugar, and an overall poor quality diet, the 2 phases of detoxification are inhibited.
The thyroid gland produces three hormones: Thyroxine (T4), Triiodothyronine (T3) and Calcitonin. T4 and T3 are what most people think of as “thyroid hormones.” These hormones play a significant role in your metabolism and in energy regulation in the body. Thyroid hormones act on almost every kind of cell in your body to increase cellular activity or metabolism. If there is too much or too little thyroid hormone, the metabolism of your entire body is impacted.
Because the thyroid hormones T3 and T4 control cellular metabolism throughout the body, when there is not enough of them for any reason, this metabolic function slows and becomes impaired.
Since the thyroid gland regulates metabolism, there is a strong correlation between thyroid disease and weight. Weight gain is more severe in people with hypothyroidism due to an excess accumulation of salt and water; weight loss is common in people who have hyperthyroidism.
4. Cut carbs from your diet
Carb restriction is a very effective way to lose fat, but carb-cycling is even more effective and sustainable.
This is supported by numerous studies. When people cut carbs, their appetite goes down and they lose weight.
Over 20 randomized controlled trials have now shown that low-carb diets lead to 2-3 times more weight loss than low-fat diets.
This is true even when the low-carb groups are allowed to eat as much as they want, while the low-fat groups are calorie restricted and hungry.
Low-carb diets also lead to quick reductions in water weight, which gives people near instant results. A major difference on the scale is often seen within a few days.
There are also studies comparing low-carb and low-fat diets, showing that low-carb diets specifically target the fat in the belly, and around the organs and liver.
What this means is that a particularly high proportion of the fat lost on a low-carb diet is the dangerous and disease promoting abdominal fat.
Just avoiding the refined carbs (white breads, pastas, etc) should be sufficient, especially if you keep your protein high.
However, if you need to lose weight fast, then consider dropping your carbs down to 50 grams per day. This will put your body into ketosis, killing your appetite and making your body start burning primarily fats for fuel.
Of course, low-carb diets have many other health benefits besides just weight loss. They can have life-saving effects in type 2 diabetics, for example.
Bottom Line: Studies have shown that low-carb diets are particularly effective at getting rid of the fat in the belly area, around the organs and in the liver.
WARNING: Many problems can arise if you restrict carbs for too long, especially if you are over 40 and have a dieting past. The solution is to follow a carb-cyling, macro-balancing approach.
This way, you can avoid over-restriction, which leads to a lowered, damaged metabolism. Not to mention, avoiding carbs can get tricky in family, social, and life situations. You don’t have to avoid carbs like the plague.
Thousands of my students have commented on how much they LOVE how they can still eat carbs (even bread) and are still seeing amazing fat loss results. You can see what I mean HERE.
How Much Can You Use Using A Keto Fast
Using this method, you can expect to lose 3-9 pounds in the first week, then you’ll be able to see consistent weight loss every week, depending on how much weight you need to lose.
Technically, you’re eating “low-carb,” but that doesn’t mean you’re avoiding carbs. It just means you’re avoiding inflammatory carbs, cutting back on carbs to lower insulin, and revving up your fat-burning metabolism to burn stored fat.
This healthy, metabolism-focused approach to dieting will not only leave your feeling positive, energetic, motivated, and healthy, but there are other “hidden” benefits, like:
- Lowered blood sugar
- Lowered trigylcerides
- Increased good cholesterol
- Decreased bad cholesterol
- Lowered blood pressure
- Improved insulin sensitivity
- Lowered cortisol levels
Start Your Ketogenic Diet Journey The Right Way
The right way is the HEALTH-focused way.
The way that focuses on your hormones and metabolism, like the ketogenic diet.
If this article hit home for you, the 3-Week Ketogenic Diet really is the best place to start your weight loss journey.
My clients lose an average of 10-21 pounds in 21 days and absolutely love the program! But even better than the weight loss is the feedback we get from our clients about how the program has taught them how to change their eating habits and find a diet that truly works for them in the long-term.
I have almost 2,000 clients in our private support group going through the Ketogenic Diet together, and every day they are sharing experiences, results, motivation, and lots of recipes!
Any change can be a challenge, and dietary changes can be particularly tricky. It can be helpful to identify your motivation. Why are you making this change? Do you want to lose weight? Have more energy? Sleep better? Recover from a chronic disease?
I think one of the biggest motivations I have is encouraging people to get off the carb wagon and become fat-burners. They have more energy. They’re able to switch between fuel sources. They tend to become less inflamed, lose a little weight, along with all the other myriad of symptoms that can be improved like GI health, sleeping better or just having more energy
I want to get these people pushing towards three months of a dietary change and say, ‘Hey, if you don’t like it, you can go back to the way you used to [eat].’ Most people feel enough difference, they don’t go completely back. They might fall off the wagon, but they generally will say, ‘I don’t want to feel like that,’ and get back on it …
A lot of people ride that food roller coaster. They get the sugar high. They get the crash. The sugar high, they crash. That’s what most people are on. If we get them off of that, that can do dramatic things for health. It certainly just makes them feel better.
If you are 200+ pounds and ready to make a HUGE and PERMANENT change in your life, this is the ONLY place you should start. The program was designed in a way that it can be completed in multiple rounds if you have more weight to lose.
The strategies that I teach will help you make the necessary changes in your diet, fitness, and lifestyle and more importantly, help you maintain an enjoyable, sustainable, and flexible way of eating.
Watch the free video presentation to see how real people are getting real results in just 3 short weeks!
