If you are thinking about intermittent fasting, or how to start it, or need some tips, keep reading. The goal of intermittent fasting is to change the pattern of eating by shifting from running the body on glucose (carbohydrates) to ketones (fat). But you can have transitional symptoms (keto flu) if you have certain nutrient deficiencies.
We will be discussing these four keys:
- How to Start Intermittent Fasting and how to keep going
- Remedies for Transitional Symptoms: Sea Salt, Potassium, Magnesium, and B Vitamins
- Speed the burning of fat with MCT Oil
- Go Keto
How to do Intermittent Fasting:
Start with 16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating with no snacks – work up to it gradually
Push the first meal forward each day making it to OMAD (one meal a day)
Don’t eat when you’re not hungry
I’m going to show you how to do intermittent fasting the correct way. So picture a circle. The top represents 12:00 noon, at 90 degrees to the right is 6:00 p.m. and at 180 degrees is 12:00 midnight and at 270 degrees is 6:00 in the morning. The goal of Intermittent Fasting is to change the pattern of eating. So you are shifting your body from running your body on glucose to running your body on ketones.
Transitional Symptoms:
Fatigue, Headaches, Nausea, Dizziness, Rash, Dehydration, Uric Acid (Gout), Hair Loss
Remedies for Transitional Symptoms:
Sea Salt, Potassium, Magnesium, B Vitamins (Non-fortified Nutritional Yeast)
In this transition, you can have like transitional symptoms, which can be from deficiencies of nutrients. The most common supplements that people take to supply the missing nutrients that usually been missing would by salt.
Why? When you are running your body on fat fuel instead of glucose you are going to dump a lot of water because carbs retain fluid so you cut the carbs you can cut a lot of fluid.
With the loss of fluid comes a loss of potassium, magnesium, and other electrolytes. So it’s very important to add back in the salt’s; sea salt, potassium, magnesium, electrolyte, vegetables. I’m not going to cover exactly what to eat. Here is a link for what to eat.
So these supplements are important to make the transition very smooth. So many people are deficient in potassium, magnesium, the B vitamins, so everything is magnified when they go into ketosis.
B vitamins are very important in the metabolism of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Nutritional Yeast is a good source of B vitamins. Get the one that’s non-fortified that way you don’t have to deal with all this synthetic B vitamins at that are out there.
Some of the symptoms that you may experience in this transition: fatigue, headaches, nausea, dizziness, rash, dehydration, and also uric acid symptoms.
You may have a little touch of gout because uric acid in your body has another function as an antioxidant. Your body is raising certain antioxidants to actually help counter the oxidation part of the healing process.
These transitional symptoms are temporary, it’s not an issue in the long run. I will give you some help on how to resolve it. You may even lose some hair if you’re deficient in B vitamins.
Vitamin B2 for example is needed to metabolize fats. So if you’re actually eating more fat you’re going to need more vitamin B2, and you will also need more B1.
So to avoid all of these transitional symptoms you should take Sea Salt, Potassium, Magnesium, B Vitamins (Non-fortified Nutritional Yeast), you should not experience any of the following: Fatigue, Headaches, Nausea, Dizziness, Rash, Dehydration, Uric Acid (Gout), Hair Loss.
Now if you want to speed up the fat burning, you can get some MCT oil.
Let’s say you get up at 6 in the morning, and you drink coffee. You can add some MCT oil to it. The MCT oil will convert to ketones and help speed up the burning of fat.If you want to speed things up you can get some MCT oil that will convert into ketones, which means you’ll feel like you’re in full ketosis.
You will not be in full ketosis, you’re in a transitional phase. If you are 2 or 3 days in your like 40% in ketosis but not 100%. So that’s why you might have fatigue.
To make this easier on you, you could be taking MCT oil. This will build-up the ketones so you will have not just energy, but that fat will allow you to have the energy to go longer into the fasting.
Intermittent Fasting
Most people eat at 8:00 am, 12 noon and 6:00 pm, and have snacks in between. What we want to do is start with a 16 hour fast and eat for 8 hours. But do it gradually, so it is easier. Start with 3 meals no snacks. Then move to 2 meals no snacks.
So here is an example of you eating a 16/8: at 10:00 am for your first meal and then 6:00 pm for your second meal. That is 8 hours. That is your eating window. If you need to eat something in that window you can, but try to hold off till that second meal. Then from 6:00 pm till 10:00 am is the fasting period. Which is 16 hours.
Each day try to push that starting meal forward. So instead of 10:00 am, try to make it 11:00 am. The rule is: you don’t eat unless you are hungry. You want to go longer and longer till eventually there is no breakfast. You will just have your lunch as your first meal. You can still have your bacon and eggs, just have it for lunch!
At first this will seem hard. You will be hungry. Your body will adjust and the hunger will diminish with time. You will get to the 12:00 time.
When I started this it was hard! But I adjusted pushed through the hunger and several years later, I don’t get hungry till 1:00 to 2:00 pm.
Some people have a blood sugar problem. They are a diabetic or pre-diabetic. They may find when they do this their blood sugars are higher in the morning. I wanted to mention that the blood sugar usually spikes in the morning when they wake-up. They have what is called insulin resistance.
Also there is a hormone cortisol, a stress hormone that spikes between 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning. Cortisol is spiking to mobilize glucose for the flight or fight mechanism that your body needs the sugar for. It also suppresses insulin. This is a temporary situation. It would be very prudent to exercise during this time to burn the sugar off and burn it up.
It is very advantages to exercise in the fasting period. You will see even more benefits than if you were exercising after a meal.
Getting back to the uric acid. Citrate counters uric acid. A great sour of citrate is in lemon juice. 1 to 2 ounces or a ½ lemon squeezed in water and drink it down.
You could even add Apple Cider Vinegar that will help your blood sugars. The citrate will counter uric acid, and will also help people who are prone to kidney stones.
It’s rare but if your prone to kidney stones then the citrate will be very important.
Then we have our first meal 12:00 noon and then our second meal at 6:00 pm. We have a 6 hour eating window and an 18 hour fasting period. That is when you start to notice serious benefits with cognitive function, less inflammation, and a lot more weight loss.
If the person has insulin resistance they usually have fatigue after they eat. The fuel is not going into the cell, so they’ll eat and they’re not satisfied and because you eat in general there is going to be a spike in insulin and pre-diabetics or diabetics, have more insulin than other people.
That insulin is going to make them tired after they eat because their insulin is spiking. So they’re going to feel like taking a nap. But as they do intermittent fasting for a longer and longer periods of time this tiredness will go away. They will start absorbing nutrients in the cell.
They won’t get tired anymore so it’s very therapeutic. You see as they switch from using glucose for energy which requires insulin to move into the cell, they are burning ketones for energy which does not require insulin to move into the cell.
And then you have the 20 and 4. So 20 hours of fasting and a 4 hour eating window. So you would have your first meal at 2:00 pm and then your second meal at 6:00 pm. This will give you even more benefits.
OMAD- One Meal A Day!
There are a lot of people that are in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s that have a slow metabolism and they need to lose a lot more weight and that’s why I recommend the OMAD or one meal a day. That would be like 23 and 1.
So the best time to eat is later in the day. Even later than 6:00 pm because when you start eating between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm, you are going to be eating in a time when your body is more parasympathetic. That’s part of the nervous system that’s responsible for relaxation and digestion. You will get better digestion.
This could be why people like to snack later at night. I would recommend if you’re doing 2 meals do a meal around 3:00 pm and then do a snack around 8:00 pm. That snack could be pistachios as you’re sitting in front of the TV so it’s kind of like a meal and a half.
Start pushing meal forward and forward and forward to the point where you will have just one meal somewhere between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm and that way if you are satisfied and if you’re at one meal a day for weight loss is going to be so much faster.
If you have a lot of weight to lose why not jump to 1 meal a day. Lose all the weight as quick as possible. Realize the amount food you are going to eat in that one meal, though is not going to necessarily be the same calories as 3 meals because it’s just too much food.
But the nutritional requirements are a lot less when you are doing intermittent fasting because your body gets really conservative and it starts recycling nutrients and proteins, so you are not having to worry about trying to get the same amount of calories.
And if you have blood sugar problems remember it’s not a bad idea to add a little apple cider vinegar maybe a teaspoon or tablespoon in a glass of water in the evening and you’re going to find your blood sugars will be actually pretty good through the entire night and especially in the morning.
How to break a fast
When starting to eat again do this gently. The longer you have been fasting the more gentle you should be.
Don’t eat too large of a meal after fasting or you could give yourself a stomach ache. While this may be uncomfortable, it is often a mistake that people will not make again.
Who should not fast
Before starting any diet, please check with your health care provider to see if it is right for you.
You should not fast if you are:
- Pregnant- you are growing a child and need the nutrition
- Breastfeeding- you need feeding a child and need the nutrition
- Underweight- check your BMI and make sure it is not under 18.5
- Have an eating disorder
Check with a doctor:
- If you have diabetes type 1 or type 2
- If you are taking prescription medication
- If you have gout or high uric acid
- If you have a serious medical condition such as: heart disease, liver disease, or kidney disease
Why do Keto and Intermittent Fasting
Every time there is food in front of you is an opportunity to do it wrong! You have the foods that you are used to eating can knock you out of ketosis. There is also the temptation to overeat. Eating Keto can be really challenging!
By skipping a meal or two, you are removing the chance to screw up and get some carbs.
You might be thinking, “I am losing weight because I’m skipping 1/3rd of my meals or more for the day, and removing an entire macronutrient.” You’re right.
You probably won’t become keto-adapted just by skipping breakfast every day. You will still have a store of carbs from lunch and dinner the day before.
To get into ketosis (burning fat for energy), the fast needs to be long enough or you need to severely restrict carbs from your meals to deplete your reserves of glucose.
Moral of the Story:
- Start with small steps.
- Know what to expect as you transition
- Start taking some supplements for the symptoms you have
- Super charge the fat lose with Keto
- By skipping a meal or two and/or minimizing carbs, you’re more likely to lose weight
If you want to know more about the Keto Diet, then read my other articles for tips and tricks on the Keto Diet. You can do it!