Have specifically been doing 20:4/OMAD/ADF for last 2 months, and love it. I finished a 72-hr fast and remembered I have a bunch of ketosis urine straps in the cupboard just sitting around, so I used one – and my ketones were through the roof (8.0+). Yes, I know they’re not super precise. Still verifies I am in ketosis at some level.
I decided I want to keep the ketosis going for the extra weight loss, but break the fast – so, I am trying keto for the first time in my life, and combining with IF 16:8. Keto seems so complicated. I also am vegetarian so that makes it even more complicated.
So far it’s gone well. I have a ton of cheese and eggs and pickles and peanuts in my kitchen, all things I love anyways. I’m not really aiming for any specific carb (net carb?) but I keep staying low enough to keep the strips turning some color each time I test, thus staying in ketosis.
I only intend on doing this until I fall out of ketosis, either on purpose or by accident. Then I will happily go back to OMAD. I do plan on doing 48+ hr fasts weekly going forward, so I’ll probably do like I did this time and go keto for a while to maintain ketosis once the fast ends. Then back to OMAD after breaking keto. Rinse and repeat.
I feel like I’m the last person on the planet to have tried keto, so I would love to hear all the good advice and tips from everyone. Especially if you also are plant-based at any level.
Thanks, all!
I find the Keto diet to be horrible and sad. I don’t do it yet I remain loosely in ketosis (even eating carbs) as I have done 20:4 for many months now and am fat adapted.
Being metabolically flexible allows your body to go back to a “nutritionally ketogenic state” the morning after a large evening meal. I don’t eat super high carb and my homemade snacks don’t contain refned sugar but I do eat fruit, oat cookies, and the odd meal with black rice. I test with a blood ketone meter and they sit between 0.8 and 3.0 when I test throughout the day.
I also exercise fasted every morning (testing after strenuous exercise will lower ketone levels tho)
Also the urine strips are very unreliable as you may be in ketosis but because your body is USING the ketones it will show up as low/absent in your urine. This especially applies if you test after exercise.
I should also add that, as a woman with thyroid issues, a low low carb diet like the keto diet is very unadvisable long term but if you don’t fall in this category then it may be great for you. Personally have lost a lot of body fat eating the way I do.