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The Power of Intermittent Fasting & Keto Combined

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Mohd Addli Bin Mohd Ramli
The Power of Intermittent Fasting & Keto Combined

By now, the benefits of intermittent fasting and adhering to a keto diet should be evident. What you might not have pieced together is the connection between the two. When you’re in ketosis, that process of breaking down fatty acids to produce ketones for fuel is actually what the body does to keep itself going when you’re fasting. What does it mean to combine the two, and why bother blending these lifestyles and ways of eating?


Fasting for one to two days has a significant effect when eating a traditional carb-centric diet. After the initial phase of burning glucose

(that is, carbohydrates) for energy, your body naturally switches to burning fat as fuel.


You see where I’m going here, right? If it takes twenty-four to forty-eight hours for your body to switch to burning fat for fuel, imagine the effects of combining intermittent fasting with keto. Maintaining a constant state of ketosis means your body is already burning fat for fuel. This means the longer you spend in a state of fasting, the longer you’re burning fat. Intermittent fasting combined with keto makes fasting’s weight-loss effects more efficient, often resulting in more weight loss than traditional diets. The prolonged time between your last and first meals of the day means extra fat-burning capabilities for your body.


Ketosis is often used in bodybuilding because it’s a safe way to shed fat without losing muscle. Weight loss is good only when it’s the right weight, and we all need muscle mass to stay healthy.


How Does It Work?


Switching to the keto diet is a huge lifestyle change. For that reason, it’s best to ease into the intermittent fasting aspect of this program. Let your body adjust to a new way of eating, get adapted to burning fat for fuel, and deal with any possible side effects (remember keto flu is a possibility) before incorporating intermittent fasting into your eating routine, or in this case, your extended period of not eating. Notice that intermittent fasting is not introduced until Week 2 of the 4-Week Plan.


During the phase-in period, you’ll want to take note of eating times. Even before you incorporate the intermittent-fasting component of the plan, your last meal of the day should be no later than 6 p.m. This will ease you into fasting and help you avoid snacking. One of the effects of keto is that it trains your body— and, let’s face it, your brain—to eat only when you’re hungry. As time goes by, cravings cease. We often confuse cravings with hunger, when really cravings are learned behavior, whereas hunger is a physiological call to refuel our energy reserves.


Timing Your Fasting Period


How you decide to incorporate your intermittent-fasting time is a bit flexible. Do you tend to dive into the water headfirst, or do you dip your toes in first? Knowing that about your personality will help you determine which schedule is better for you. In talking with my editor while writing this book, I learned that what was appealing to me was not to her.


I don’t like feeling in a rut, and breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day, so for me, having an alternate schedule that allows me to eat breakfast and abstain from dinner just about every other day, and to do the reverse on the other days (fasting through breakfast and eating dinner), is preferable. My editor, Marisa, prefers consistency, something I imagine a lot of people might want as well—to go on auto-pilot and fast at the same time every day. I can see how one or the other would fit into certain lifestyles and mindsets, and that’s why there are two schedules to choose from. They allow you to customize the Intermittent Keto Plan to fit best with your lifestyle.


BEFORE YOU GET STARTED


Looking at the big picture is key to long-term success in any situation. This holds especially true for major diet and lifestyle changes. Intermittent keto throws everything you thought you knew about how to eat, what to eat, and when to eat it out the window. It’s not a leap-without-looking kind of decision, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with what to expect, how to handle potential challenges, and how to reorganize your life in a way that enables you to achieve your goals before starting out.


Define Your Goals


Why did you decide to try intermittent keto? Is it for health reasons? Weight loss? Are you looking just to feel better and increase your energy levels? Is this meant to be a short-term detox or are you looking to make long-term lifestyle changes? How do you plan to keep track of your macronutrients? Do you plan to test for ketones to ensure you’ve reached a state of ketosis? Are you vegetarian or vegan?


All are important questions to consider before getting started so you can stay focused on achieving your goal. Research suggests that intermittent fasting can have profound long-term benefits. The verdict is still out on the benefits of any potential risks of implementing a keto diet permanently. The rigidity of the plan also dictates the length of time people adhere to it.


The way you currently eat is also a big consideration when you undertake keto, and you should understand how big a change or challenge that might pose. Keto is a fat-focused diet macronutrient-wise, but protein plays an important role. Too little protein can cause muscle loss during ketosis. Too much can kick you out of ketosis. It’s a balance, and while keto is not a high-protein diet, the default protein is often meat because the plant-based protein alternatives typically touted are too high in carbs compared with their ratio of fiber and protein, specifically beans, including tofu (which is made from soybeans).


This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to stay vegetarian on keto, especially if you’re an ovo-Lacto vegetarian (okay with eating eggs and dairy). Nonmeat protein sources that are not legumes include eggs, nuts and seeds, and cheese. The recipes in this book are geared toward an omnivorous diet. Meat plays a role in many of the recipes. You’ll need to customize your meal plan, supplementing it with recipes from outside sources. The rest of the information included in this book will be extremely helpful, and this applies to vegans, too. If you want to give intermittent keto a try with a vegan diet, it is not impossible, but it will require even more careful planning to make sure you don’t kick yourself out of ketosis by choosing protein sources too high in carbs. Many of the recipes in this book will need adjusting for your dietary needs, as well.


Testing for ketosis can be done in three ways: urine test strips; a blood ketone test (with a meter similar to the kind used to test blood glucose levels); and a breath test (different from keto breath, which is discussed separately). Urine tests are considered the least effective, but they are the least expensive, with blood meters considered the most accurate. They are also, as you might’ve guessed, the costliest.


The real question is do you need to test for ketones? If your goal is to lose weight, and the pounds are dropping, plus you feel good (well-rested and energetic) after the initial few weeks, testing for ketosis might be a moot point. The more important consideration when it comes to counting numbers is monitoring what you’re eating.







 

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