WHAT IS KETO?
Keto is a diet plan that excludes carbohydrates. Those who practice this type of diet, deliberately eliminate an entire classification of food.
The premise behind it is to avoid sugars in the body. Carbohydrates once processed in the body turn into glucose. Our body uses glucose for a source of fuel. If we don’t put carbohydrates in our body, we won’t have a high glucose level.
If we don’t have sugar for fuel, our body starts making something that’s called, ketones. These ketones act as a switch to trigger the body to use its own fat storage for fuel instead of sugar.
The keto diet focuses around ketones and the process by which it stands. Those who practice keto pride themselves in cooking meals entirely made up of high-protein and high-fat, specifically avoiding the need of carbohydrates.
My personal opinion on the matter is that this type of diet can become very dangerous over time because our muscles need carbohydrates. If we plan to maintain muscle mass while doing keto, that might not be easy to achieve.
There are many who like the keto diet, I’m just not one of them. My personal feelings on the matter is that if you start to eliminate entire food groups, this way of eating won’t be sustainable long-term.
If you want a short-term fix for weight loss, keto might be something you want to try. But for me, I’d far rather have a sustainable long-term weight loss plan so I don’t gain it all back later.
If you deprive yourself of certain food groups long enough, eventually you will crave it. You may not crave it this year, but maybe next year, or the year after that. Or maybe it’ll be 10, 20, or 30 years down the road.
It’s human nature to want what we can’t have. When diets focus on this, they fail. That’s why all diets fail. I personally do intermittent fasting which is not a diet, but rather a sustainable way of eating.
I’d much rather prefer that type of ketogenic diet, and eat any kind of food I want and get the same results as the keto diet. Why wouldn’t I?
But that’s just my opinion. Others have different opinions and I respect that. There have been many people who have been successful on keto.
I just prefer a different way other than eliminating entire food groups.
CAN YOU DO BOTH IF AND KETO?
Many people have combined intermittent fasting with keto and are very successful with keeping weight off and maintaining it for the long-term.
There are many websites and YouTube channels that focus on this combination. Doctors, as well as laypeople, are combining the two forms of eating with great results.
It’s not for everyone though. I just wanted to stress this. If you are someone who loves a variety of different foods, then you don’t want to start cutting out bread and other carbohydrates from your diet. It might not be for you.
I have personal experience with weight loss doing just intermittent fasting and eating whatever I want. I eat OMAD, that means one meal a day, and I can eat whatever I want and still maintain my weight loss.
I lost 50 pounds during menopause doing intermittent fasting, and now I’m in a maintenance mode eating one meal a day. It’s easy. It’s simple. And to me, it’s more satisfying than eliminating carbohydrates from my diet.
I get the same results as those who do the IF/Keto diet combination. I just wanted to point out that you can get the same results too. Some people think that the only way is to combine both, but in my opinion, that’s not necessary unless you want to do it that way.
IS EITHER ONE BETTER THAN THE OTHER?
Yes, in my opinion. I believe intermittent fasting is far better than keto, but that’s just me. Perhaps other people think differently and I can appreciate that and respect their opinion.
Should we cut down our carb intake on a regular basis? I agree with the fact that we shouldn’t have all those carbs society pushes on us like donuts, cookies, and chips all the time. I get that, but I still think carbs are important especially for your muscles.
Keto can be quite effective depending on the reason you’re doing it. If you have health issues like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue, you may benefit from keto in ways that you wouldn’t with intermittent fasting.
Really, it just depends on the person. I don’t want to put down any diet plan because they all work. I just want to point out that whatever you choose to do to lose weight, must be sustainable in the long term.
If it’s not, don’t do it.
DOES KETO WORK LONG TERM?
I would tend to say no. However, there are thousands of people who would disagree. For them, it has worked long-term, end of story.
But for others, it may not work long-term.
My reasoning behind it is that if you start eliminating entire food groups from your diet, you will eventually go back to it. When you go back to it you will gain all your weight back and then some. That’s called a yo-yo diet.
To avoid a yo-yo diet, you must allow yourself to eat any kind of food you want. The moment you start restricting, human nature is to revolt and do it anyway. So, allow yourself anything you want, but create a caloric deficit so you still lose weight.
For me, that means an intermittent fasting program. I do OMAD every day and I eat anything I want. If I start restricting myself, I will go back to the old way of eating and start gaining weight again.
So, I stay away from keto.
You may be completely different than me, and that’s okay. We’re all different, and that difference is what makes this world unique. We need to embrace that. We need to respect that. We need to understand what works for one person may not work for another.
WHY DO KETO WITH IF?
The reason people do keto and intermittent fasting at the same time is because you get a double whammy. You will lose weight faster by combining the two.
That’s great if you have a wedding coming up, or some special occasion that you need to lose the weight fast. But for me, I believe slow and steady wins the race.
It took you a long time to gain the weight, so it’s only natural that it will take you a long time to lose it. When we take our time with weight loss, we have a greater chance of sticking with the program.
We also have less loose skin hanging around after we lose weight. Rapid weight loss causes extreme skin hanging and sagging. With intermittent fasting, because it’s a slow steady loss, your body adjusts easier.
I would not recommend combining intermittent fasting with keto, simply because it’s not as sustainable as intermittent fasting all by itself.
The sudden decrease in BMI is also the number one cause of hair loss on a ketogenic diet. It’s far better to gradually reduce your BMI. When you suddenly reduce it your hair will fall out in clumps.
You can combat that by making sure that you consume enough calories and vitamins and minerals every day, but the risk for malnutrition is higher when combining both types of eating programs.
BENEFITS OF IF AND KETO
Despite how you feel about combining intermittent fasting and keto, the benefits are the same as any ketogenic diet. As long as the method by which you choose to achieve ketosis is long term, you will reap the rewards.
Those rewards come in the way of health. The benefits of ketosis will show up in your skin. It will reduce acne, eczema, and many other skin ailments.
I used to suffer from terrible eyelid eczema, but not anymore. Since achieving ketosis on a regular basis I have not had one bout of eczema.
Ketosis also benefits the heart. It reduces heart disease, high blood pressure, normalizes blood sugar, and lowers cholesterol. It benefits those with diabetes and prevents it as well. It also prevents Alzheimer’s.
Ketosis benefits your cells as well. It promotes cell regeneration through autophagy and increases the human growth hormone. It acts as a fountain of youth, by restoring wrinkles and giving you a healthy glow.
There are so many benefits to achieving ketosis that it’s hard to mention them all. Every body is different and reacts differently while in ketosis, but generally speaking the majority experience the same health benefits according to Harvard studies. I’ll link the study below.
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For further information, go to the Hungry Old Lady Youtube channel by clicking on the video at the end. I hope you enjoyed this article and consider living an intermittent fasting lifestyle.
