Keto with Intermittent Fasting

Byfoodcoach

Are you wondering if you can start both the keto diet and intermittent fasting plan simultaneously for optimum results? If yes then you have come to the right place. 

In the contemporary world where everyone has become more and more health conscious in hopes of optimizing their health, diet plans and eating practices like the ketogenic diet, circadian rhythm fasting, and intermittent fasting have also come under the spotlight. 

Ideally, cutting back on carbohydrates to lose excess weight is referred to as the ketogenic diet or keto diet for short. 

Intermittent fasting on the other hand is a simple dietary practice that helps you distribute your eating and fasting patterns at separate intervals. 

While both the Keto diet and intermittent fasting diet plan are exceptional ways of not only shedding a couple of extra pounds but also enhancing your overall health, they are quite different when it comes to meal planning. 

Since both diet plans are highly beneficial, combining both the keto diet and intermittent fasting can be a great way of achieving your desired health-related goals, right?

The shortest answer to this mystery is maybe. If done correctly, combining both intermittent fasting and a ketogenic diet can help you rapidly lose excess weight. 

If you are someone who is looking for ways to combine the keto diet and intermittent fasting but does not know where to begin, look no further. 

Here is a comprehensive guide to combining keto with intermittent fasting to help smoothly sail throughout your weight loss journey.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting can be regarded as a methodical and structured approach to planning out your eating habits. 

Essentially, intermittent fasting is a simple dietary practice or nutrition plan that helps you distribute your eating and fasting practices into separate intervals. 

There are several intermittent fasting schedules that can be based on different intervals for example if you are looking for intermittent fasting schedules that can be practiced on a daily basis then 16/8, 20/4 (warrior diet), 14/10, and 12/12 might be some great options for you. 

But if you are looking for intermittent fasting schedules that can be distributed on the basis of different days of the week then the 5:2 intermittent fasting plan or alternate-day intermittent fasting might be the best for you.

 It is important to note that intermittent fasting is a restrictive dietary practice that promotes you to indulge in a calorie deficit yet, nutritionally balanced meal plan.

What is Keto Diet?

Keto or the Ketogenic Diet is a diet plan that incorporates food materials rich in fats, lower in terms of carbohydrates, and adequate in terms of proteins. 

So, ideally in a Ketogenic Diet, instead of gaining energy from carbohydrates and getting energy from fats and proteins. 

In simpler terms, a ketogenic diet promotes one to cut back on their consumption of carb-rich foods such as milk, pasta, white bread, or sweetened beverages as they are easily digested by the body. 

Based on studies, during a ketogenic diet, the body relies on the ketones that are produced in the liver in the form of stored fats. 

As your daily intake of carbs is less than 50 grams, the body begins to run out of quick fuel or energy (blood sugar) and begins to break down the fats and proteins, eventually leading to weight loss. 

This process of breakdown of fats and proteins in conjunction with weight loss is called ketosis and can take up to 3 to 4 days to reach. 

It is also important to note that the Ketogenic Diet is only meant for facilitating weight loss and should not be preferred as a purist of healthy eating habits.

How Does the Keto Diet Work?

Learn about the Keto Diet in Detail with Keto Diet for Beginners Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR6TnC1RY_8

The ketogenic diet or keto diet is a great and highly effective way of shedding a couple of extra pounds without feeling extremely fatigued and tired.

Ideally, when losing excess weight you need to determine how to effectively utilize stored fat cells called glycogen as a means of fueling your body instead of sugar fuel (glucose). 

Insulin contributes greatly to determine whether your body will utilize stored fats or sugars as a means of fuel and energy. 

If your insulin levels spike upon consuming foods that are rich in sugars and carbs your body will begin to use sugars as an immediate source of energy. 

However, by consuming foods that lack in terms of carbs and calories your body will being to utilize the stored fats in the cells called glycogens as a source of fuel. 

Hence the main goal of practicing the ketogenic diet is to burn all the glycogen stored in the fat cells until they are completely depleted and to utilize fats and proteins as a source of energy. 

This in turn leads to the production of ketones in the body, a compound that only occurs when the body begins to convert fat cells into fuel. 

The body later reaches the point of ketosis, where the sole and primary source of energy is fats, eventually leading to exponential weight loss. 

However, how sooner or later your body reaches the point of ketosis is based on variables like food ingestion, types of foods, methods of fasting, and eating windows.

Keto Diet: How to Start?

The ketogenic diet works by eliminating carbs and sugars from your diet as well as prolonging the intervals between your meal plans. 

It is important to note that in dietary practices like the Ketogenic diet, what you eat matters more than what you don’t. 

Before jumping on to the basic guidelines of starting your ketogenic diet the right way, it is best to ensure that you read the labels of any processed foods you purchase to avoid adverse effects. 

Hence it is best to follow the recommended guidelines to achieve optimum weight loss results:

Low Carbs:

In order to achieve optimum results, it is important to eliminate all carbohydrates from your meal plan. 

This means eliminating foods that contain high content of sugar like honey, agave, date sugar, or brown sugar. 

Instead, you can indulge in sugar alcohol substitutes for common sugars to sweeten up your daily recipes. 

Fruits except for berries like raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries in smaller amounts are to be avoided. 

Grains in the form of flour, bread, dough, and pasta should also be avoided. Instead, you can enjoy an effective alternative like almond flour. 

To imitate starches like the beloved potatoes or rice you can instead use cauliflower in your recipes.

Make sure to first indulge in about 6 to 7 cups of fresh low-carb vegetables to meet the requirements of a nutritionally balanced diet. 

Moderate Proteins:

Moderate proteins are a great way of striking the right balance between a calorie deficit and a nutritionally balanced diet. 

 Based on your body size and workout regime you can consume about 3 to 8 ounces of proteins in a day. 

It is best to avoid consuming whey protein powders with added sugars during your ketogenic diet.

Furthermore, it is best to avoid indulging in lean proteins or low-fat proteins, as proteins with higher levels of fats will help with your insulin levels. 

Here is a list of proteins you can consume during your ketogenic diet:

  • Meats
  • Fish
  • Sea Foods
  • Cheese 
  • Chicken 
  • Eggs
  • Nuts or different kinds of nut butter (without Added sugars)

Higher Fats:

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb but higher-fat diet plan to help regulate your insulin levels. 

While proteins are already high in terms of fat content you can further add other forms of fats to achieve better results. 

You can use butter and olive oil to cook your food or you can also add butter to saute your vegetables to help extract all the healthy nutrients from your fresh veggies. 

You can also you avocados, olives or olive oil, and even coconut oil to prepare meals during your ketogenic diet. 

It is best to avoid soy oil, corn oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and cottonseed oil during the ketogenic diet as these fats are GMO and can cause inflammation in the body.

Why should you Combine Keto with Intermittent Fasting?

The ketogenic diet is more than just indulging in a low-carb and high-calorie diet plan, in fact, it also depends significantly on your daily habits, workout sessions, and eating as well as fasting intervals. 

Intermittent fasting is a versatile meal-planning practice that can be practiced based on your personal needs and requirements. 

Indulging in less frequent meals can be a great way of amplifying your weight loss process during keto. 

This is where intermittent fasting can become of great help, as this nutritional practice is an efficient way of distributing your eating and fasting patterns. 

Combining both keto and intermittent fasting can help lower your insulin levels to normal, further amplifying your weight loss process. 

Furthermore, combining the keto diet with an intermittent fasting plan can also help accelerate and prolong your ketosis process, helping you lose weight by utilizing fat cells as fuel to energize the body. 

Keto with Intermittent Fasting: How to Begin?

The basic rule of thumb when combining intermittent fasting with the ketogenic diet is to sustain and prolong the feeling of hunger to reach the ketosis process. 

Hence it is best to indulge in a scrumptious meal only when you have an irresistible feeling of hunger. 

If you are someone who wants to combine the two famous dietary practices to enjoy the best of both worlds, look no further. 

Here are simple tips and tricks you can follow to effectively combine keto with intermittent fasting:

  • Make sure you only eat when you have an irresistible urge to eat, in fact, it is best to prolong your fast if you feel like you can push through it
  • In case you feel faint, fatigued, tired, agitated, or irritated during your fast, you can enjoy some water, vitamins, or unsweetened beverages like tea and coffee. 
  • The most comfortable way to prolong the ketosis process is by skipping your breakfast completely and instead, you can enjoy a mug of delicious coffee with butter or MCT oil which help produce ketones in the body and enhance your cognitive function
  • Another factor to make sure of is the practice of frequent snacking. Even if they are small portions of snacks that are low calorie it is best to refrain from them to active optimum results. 
  •  Make sure you add foods that are rich in fats to help you feel fuller for prolonged periods of time. 
  • Lastly, it is recommended to fast for about 18 hours throughout the day to reach the ketosis stage of fasting. 
  • Ideally, you can fast consume foods or meals between a 12 pm noon to 6 pm evening eating window