If you’ve been doing keto for longer than about 6 months, do you do the same thing every day? Same macros? Same foods? Eating at the same time most days?
There are a lot of benefits to mixing things up
If you’re killing it right now, fat is dropping off, you love your keto plan and you’re feeling amazing… RETREAT! I don’t want to be responsible for killing your jam! But even if you’re rockin' it, read on! You may need this for the future. Info below is based on a mixture of keto doctors and nutrition experts. As always… you do YOU
Why not do the same thing, every day, forever?
Your body is really good at regulating itself based on what you’re doing. This is why the ‘calories in/calories out’ model is flawed; once the body catches on, it will lower its metabolism to match the energy you’re giving it (the exception is intermittent fasting... more on that to come). Now with keto we get an advantage of low blood sugar/insulin and that helps immensely. But if you've been doing the exact same thing for quite some time, and you're stalled... consider some ways you can mix up your keto plan and keep your body on it’s toes!
Calorie Cycling
Note I said ‘calorie cycling’ and not ‘carb cycling.’ Calorie cycling is when you mix in higher calorie days with lower calorie days though out the week. [Watch my video on Calorie Cycling in more detail in Guide 7]
Tip:
Make this work to your advantage! Maybe you want lower calories Monday to Thursday and higher calories Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Got an upcoming function? You get the idea
Intermittent Fasting – Add it in or change it up
Already doing 16:8 daily? Add an OMAD (one meal a day) once a week. Already doing OMAD pretty regularly? Add a 36 or 48 hour fast once a month. Maybe you want to OMAD on Mondays because you’re super busy on Mondays, but Tuesday you have the day off and want to enjoy 2 meals? Literally the world is your oyster here. When my husband goes out of town I ALWAYS do extended fasts... no cooking, woo hoo! Lol [Fasting does not lower your metabolism. Lots of info on intermittent fasting in Guide 6, as well as many videos in Guide 7]
Tip:
Work in intermittent fasting/fasting into YOUR schedule and not the other way around.
Been doing the same macros forever?
When we start keto we’re 70% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbs. Once you are fat adapted (approximately 4 – 6 weeks of consistent keto) I like to advise people to keep up with these macros until you notice no change in inches (I don’t care what the scales says.. the scale measures ‘weight’, not fat loss) for at least 3 weeks. If no change in inches for 3 weeks, time to ‘tweak the macros.’
Tip:
Many people do really well doing ‘higher protein keto’ (not recommended when you first start). This means increasing your protein g’s and lowering your fat g’s (still keep your carbs at 5%). The % is up to you, but my advice is to make the change gradually, giving each change 7 days before deciding to change it again. If you’re diabetic, metabolically challenged or insulin resistant, it’s a good idea to monitor your blood sugar to be sure the higher protein g’s do not spike your blood sugar. If it does, go back to higher fat/lower protein. Not to fret, it just means you’re not metabolically flexible enough to do this yet.
Coffee with Leta
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Leta
~ Intentionally Bare
❗️ Health information given here is based on public research and is not meant to take the place of your doctor’s advice. Always do your own research before trying something new.
