Ketosis and your metabolism are connected in many ways. When people talk about weight issues, many refer to their metabolism as a problem. If you have a slow metabolism, it’s well known that it can be easier to gain weight. Those with fast metabolisms can generally keep weight off easier.
In this article, you’ll not only learn how to get into a state of ketosis but also what ketosis is and how it affects your health and weight.
What Is Ketosis?
Ketosis is what happens when your body decides to burn stored fat cells for energy, instead of carbohydrates like it normally does.
The main goal of ketosis is to limit the amount of carbohydrates you consume. This is so your body has no choice but to burn fat that has been stored for who knows how long. However, there’s more that goes into ketosis than simply reducing carbohydrates.
Here are 5 foolproof tips to get your body into ketosis.
1. Reduce Your Carb Consumption
One of the first things you can do when getting into ketosis is reduce the quantity of carbs you eat. Ketosis will only start to happen in the body when 20-50 net carbs are consumed. This number will depend on your weight and other health factors.
Cutting your carbs cold turkey, rather than limiting them day-by-day, helps your body go into ketosis quicker. Carbs such as rice, potatoes, bread, pasta, etc. should be limited as much as possible. You can find many low-carb alternatives for these ingredients such as cauliflower and zucchini.
Instead of pasta, you can use zucchini noodles. Instead of rice, you can make cauliflower rice. Instead of mashed potatoes, you can also make cauliflower mash. There are endless ways to get creative!
You can track your carbohydrate intake with a food diary app until you get the hang of this new way of eating.
2. Practice Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting will help your body burn off more carbs than it normally would. It kicks off getting your body in a ketogenic state, and more importantly, keeps it in that state for a longer period of time.
WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING?
Intermittent fasting is the practice of having long periods of fasting between your daily eating times.
Most of us naturally fast every night while we sleep. Extending this fast a couple hours later into the morning (compared to when you would normally eat breakfast), or even skipping breakfast completely, is the most common form of intermittent fasting.
Another important aspect of intermittent fasting is finishing your last meal by a specific time of the day. Eight pm, at the latest, is a popular time to stop eating. If your eating period is from noon to 8 pm, you are fasting for 16 hours every single day, which makes a big difference.
HEALTH + WEIGHT LOSS BENEFITS OF FASTING
Fasting is one of the oldest medicines we know of. The simple act of fasting for longer periods (under supervision) can even reverse and cure some illnesses.
So, we know that fasting for longer periods each day will help to burn off more calories and use up our body’s stored glucose. What else can it to? The answer is - lots!
During your fasting hours, your body will have the time and energy to flush out toxins that it normally wouldn’t be able to. The fewer toxins in your body, the more efficiently your metabolism works.
The results from intermittent fasting don’t happen immediately. On average, it takes 2-3 days of intermittent fasting for the body to use up all the stored glucose. After that, ketosis begins to kick in.
3. Make Coconut Oil A Staple
Coconut oil is one of the best foods to help get your body into the ketosis state. This is due to the MCTs (medium-chain triglycerides) that it contains.
Once you consume some coconut oil, the MCTs are immediately used by the liver. The liver will use them for easy energy and it will also convert the MCTs into ketones.
The MCTs in coconut oil also makes it great to add to your pre-workout meals. Even adding coconut oil to a smoothie will give you a good energy boost for the workout.
The nice thing about consuming MCTs in the form of natural coconut oil (rather than extracted from somewhere else), is that you get all the benefits of coconut oil itself. This includes all the antioxidants and healthy fatty acids that coconut oil is full of.
HOW MUCH COCONUT OIL SHOULD I CONSUME?
The recommended dosage of daily coconut oil consumption is one teaspoon a day. After a few days of this, you can increase your intake to 2, or even 3 teaspoons a day.
Read on here for 52+1 other uses of coconut oil.
4. Move Your Body More
The more you move your body, the more glycogen will be burned off. Since ketosis doesn’t kick in until all the stored glycogen is completely burned, moving your body is a great way to get this stored glycogen gone.
Any type of movement will burn energy, so you can do whatever form of exercise you like best. Whether it’s walking, running, or lifting at the gym, everything helps.
Of course, the more intense your exercise, the quicker the ketosis will kick in. For those who aren’t in a rush for it to happen, a few walks add up. They will still help the ketosis kick in quicker than it normally would.
5. Pay Attention To Your Protein Intake
Protein is something that many people are confused about in the ketosis community. You might think that there isn’t such a thing as too much protein, but there is.
Every time your body breaks down the protein you consume, new amino acids are created. These are extremely beneficial for repairing damaged muscle and helps with overall health too.
However, when those amino acids are being created, some carbs are leftover. These carbs then get converted to glucose in the body. This is the exact thing that people getting into ketosis are trying to avoid.
So, yes, please eat protein! But not too much. The ideal amount of protein is 0.55 to 0.77 grams per pound of lean body mass.
You can calculate how many grams of protein your body might need by multiplying your goal body weight by 0.55 to 0.77 (grams). Therefore, if your goal weight is 150 pounds, your protein intake would ideally be between 82 and 115 grams a day.
Conclusion
If you even do just one out of the five tips to get into ketosis from this list, you’re sure to quicken the process. We hope this article inspired you to get into ketosis, and our goal is that it will help you transition as well.
No matter what reason you’re doing it for, going into the state of ketosis is extremely beneficial for many individuals.
Written by: Alice Webster from Alice's Kitchen
