Keto Beginners' Guide To Fasting

Since it helps burn stored glycogen faster, fasting has become a popular option in the ketogenic diet community. It means getting the body to ketosis quicker. Getting into ketosis faster is the best news, especially if someone is experiencing symptoms of keto flu or in the keto-adaptation phase. The physiological benefit is the most important as it plays a significant role in calorie restriction without starving yourself.

Fasting benefits are increasing in popularity fast. These benefits are all the majority of us look for – improving gut microbiome, lowering inflammation, improving body shape, and losing stubborn fat. However, not every fasting is easy for everyone – some are tough, such as abstaining from food for long periods. Here are the seven different types of fasting designed for your personality and lifestyle.

1Alternate-Day Fasting

Alternate-day fasting, commonly known as ADF, is what the name says it is. With this fasting technique, you usually eat one day and fast the next whole day. According to professionals, with this technique, you can apply one of either two approaches – decide to eat a small portion of a meal (not more than 25% of regular meal intake) or completely ignore meals and take water only on fasting days. With this eating meal technique, meal intake should be equal to about 500 calories. Also, you should not include starches or sugar in your meals.

Fasting-mimicking is the second fasting option, which suggests the technique can bolster up heart health and aid in weight loss. The first fasting option is considered to be among the intense approaches to fasting and may be hard for some people. If you opt to eat absolutely nothing during your fasting, then it is wise to begin by restricting your fasting days to a maximum of two days a week.

2Fat Fasting

Fat fasting is another type, which is an outstanding alternative for those looking to start getting into ketosis faster or already in ketosis. If you find yourself not losing weight (weight-loss plateau), then this option is excellent for you. This type recommends to do fasting for about two to four days and never allow yourself to go beyond the 4th day. If you see yourself eating a spoonful of cocoa butter and avocados for four days, then this fasting technique is for you.

With this fasting technique, a person is supposed to get 80-90 percent of their calorie intake from fat for only two to four days. A few dieters will cap calorie intake to 1000–1200 calories a day. Some prefer breaking this number to 200–250 calories per meal or foods for the whole day. With this technique, there is no fasting and eating needed so long as you stick strictly to fats. To most people, this option may sound less painful than going without food, but it may also be challenging.

3The Warrior Diet

Warrior diet is another excellent route to get caloric restriction. An ex-member of the Israeli force, Ori Hofmekler, is the man behind this warrior diet that's designed to imitate the food of the early warriors. Ancient warriors have kept their waistline slim and minds sharp by eating very little during the day and big meals at night.

Therefore, if you are following the keto diet, you should focus on keto snacks and low-carb vegetables during the daytime and consume a sizeable main meal at nighttime. Because, with the ketogenic diet, small bites are allowed before nightfall, this method may be easy to many than dry fasting. However, avoid overeating during the night, which will undoubtedly cause indigestion and stomach upsets.

424-Hour Fast

Full 24-hour fasting is another fasting type that one may decide to use. Just as its name implies, you fast for the whole day and allow yourself to consume water only. Some choose to add non-caloric drinks, such as tea and coffee. Well, this is not a bad thing; it is all your choice. The period for this fasting technique is all up to you to determine.

For example, you can decide to begin your fasting period (24-hour fasting) after Tuesday night dinner, fast the whole 24 hours, and enjoy Wednesday night dinners. The idea behind this fasting technique is avoiding calorie intake for an entire 24 hours. The method is an effective way to be in ketosis faster; however, it can be challenging for many. Therefore, if you are a beginner, it would be wise to kick off with a more reasonable 12 to 16 hours of fasting so that you can build a tolerance.

5The 5:2 Diet

This diet type is another technique that is the same as the alternate-day and the 24-hour fasting types. However, it is a bit easier because it demands to fast two times a week only. It also requires sticking to veggies, protein, and healthy fats to avoid carb cravings or a dramatic drop in blood sugar.

With the fast diet or 5:2 diet plan, you are supposed to eat your regular meals for five days a week. After this, you completely fast for the next two days or limit your calories to about 500–600 a day. The fasting time or period is up to you; for example, you can decide to dive into a full 48-hour fast or two 24-hour fasting periods. If this sounds a bit extreme for you, you may opt to consume meals with low calories during your fasting periods. Do not exceed the amount to more than 500 calories a day.

6Fast Within A Daily Window

There are other eating windows one can experiment with, just like the 16/8 method. The chances are that you are already doing this for some reason because you are fasting every day between breakfast and dinner the next day. For example, if you eat breakfast at 9 AM and evening meals at 6 PM, then you ate within a "9-hour" window. For this reason, it requires you to fast for the remaining 15 hours.

You may decide to give the 16/8 method a try, which means eating all your meals between 10 AM and 6 PM. Another great example is the 18/6 method. With the 18/6 approach, you are supposed to increase your fasting window to 18 hours, which means eating meals between 12 noon to 6 PM. This window can be a good start if you want to get serious about fasting but not ready to go the whole day without eating. For this reason, this is a method that is easy to adapt to your lifestyle and schedule.

7Skip A Meal

If you have never experimented with intermittent fasting in the past, then this is the most comfortable place to begin. The definition of intermittent fasting is going for long hours without food. The most popular option is the 16/8 time frame. The method demands to fast for 16 hours and eating for 8 hours.

Some can achieve similar benefits by merely skipping dinner or breakfast. As such, try skipping a meal and see if you can work towards the 16/8 fasting method. You may begin to feel the amazing transformation.

There is no doubt that fasting is an excellent way to lose extra weight faster, lower blood sugar, get into the ketosis state, and lower insulin levels. However, you can still enjoy the benefits of fasting even when you do not have the extra fat to shed. Remember that they offer other benefits, such as immunity- and brain-boosting benefits, and comes with very few side effects. Furthermore, it is a great way to curb your calorie intake if you are likely to overeat.

Some find that they are more physically successful using the fasting technique compared to calorie restriction. If you're a beginner to any fasting technique, it is wise to start it off by skipping one meal. If it feels comfortable, you can try out the 16/8 method. From there, you can then move to any of the seven fasting methods mentioned above.