Hey all, I am 27M/120KG/182cm and I have been looking into IF and what dieet to eat while doing this. I try to limit to eating twice a day and try and focus on more protein diets, however while tracking my calories I also notice I still eat quite some carbs (100-150g)… I can cut in this, but I am wondering, do I need to? Are there any guidelines in this?
Weight loss can be thought of as a pyramid
The foundation of the pyramid is reduced calorie intake. If your body need 2,000 calories to maintain your current weight, then an intake of 1,500 calories per day will cause your body to look elsewhere for the calories. Body fat provides the most efficient source of calories to burn, so your body enters ketosis (metabolic fat burning state).
Ultimately, IF is about maximizing the time your body spends in ketosis as the longer your body is in ketosis, the more body fat you will burn. As soon as you break your fast by eating, then ketosis stops as your body produces insulin to break down the food you have eaten.
A keto style diet focused on protein and fat will return your body to ketosis more quickly when compared to a high carb meal because carb consumption spikes a relatively higher amount of insulin production than protein. You can’t reach a state of ketosis with a high level of insulin in your body, so reducing carb intake will help your body burn fat more quickly.
Adding exercise like high intensity interval training is just another large building block of the pyramid.
Fundamentally, you can lose weight by just restricting calorie intake. IF is a more efficient way to lose weight while keto diets add yet another layer of efficiency. Exercise (specifically HIIT) is the icing on the cake for weight loss.