Achieving Ketosis Without Keto Diet
The keto diet is known for providing a wide range of benefits. Everything from weight loss to lowering fasting blood sugar to reduced inflammation to better performance and endurance exercise.
To get these benefits, you have to eat in a way that’s low in carbohydrates, has enough protein to meet your needs, and is high in fat.
While I do think that the keto diet is an amazing tool for so many people, especially if you struggle with cravings and regulating your appetite, and if you have excess weight to lose, I do recognize that it might not be suitable for everyone.
The good news is there are some ways to harness the benefits without having to restrict carbohydrates so heavily. And here are There are three ways to do that.
Skip breakfast
Number one, skip breakfast. The reason for most of the benefits of the keto diet doesn’t come down to the specific foods you eat per se, but rather the state that they shift your body into.
As humans, we have two main energy systems. We can use glucose, which comes from carbohydrates being broken down, and we can use ketones, which come from fat being broken down.
Our bodies will always choose glucose first when it’s available because it is a quicker energy source.
However, only a limited amount of carbohydrates can be stored for later use. So when these stores run out, our body switches to burning fat for energy instead.
This is both the fat that we eat and our stored body fat, of which even someone who is very lean still has hundreds of thousands of calories worth of energy stored.
But anyway, all of this is to say that most of the benefits of the keto diet come from the state that it puts you in, which is ketosis. So anytime we restrict carbohydrates in our diet, our body will start shifting into ketosis.
But even without actively trying to restrict carbohydrates, our bodies will do this naturally overnight while we sleep. Because, of course, when we sleep, we’re not eating anything, including carbs.
Pretty much everyone will be producing some level of ketones when they wake up in the morning. And by skipping breakfast or at least pushing it back a couple of hours, we can take advantage of already starting to get into this state.
Now, at the beginning, this might not be easy because our circadian clocks, they know what time we eat every day, and they release hormones around these times that can make us hungry.
So if you’re someone who typically eats breakfast every single day, the first couple of days, probably the first three to four, actually, you’re going to have to really push through.
After this, your internal clock will start to adjust and it’ll become easier. And I just want to note that just because you’re experiencing hunger does not mean you’re actually hungry.
By skipping breakfast, you can take advantage of your overnight fast, and ketone production can ramp up quicker, leading to a lot of the same benefits of the keto diet it, including clearer thinking and improved insulin sensitivity over time.
Morning walk
Number two, take a morning walk. This tip can be combined with the first one or used on its own.
By getting your muscles moving in the morning before you’ve eaten, you can continue to deplete your body’s stored carbohydrates and increase ketone production further.
And it really is as simple as that. Just take a quick 15-minute walk or longer if you have the time, then either Do tip one, which is to skip breakfast or eat your breakfast after.
I recommend walking specifically over other forms of cardio, such as running and cycling, just because it’s low intensity.
As soon as your exercise intensity reaches a certain threshold, your body will need glucose to fuel it.
If you haven’t eaten, it’s going to make this glucose internally, which is counterproductive to our goal of getting into ketosis.
ketone dial
Number three is to take a ketone dial. This is a the form of ketones that you ingest, and it is the most effective form of ketones available on the market. Other forms are not as effective in raising ketones.
They aren’t as long lasting, and they’re definitely not worth the crazy price. Now, ketone dial comes in liquid form, and ingesting it allows you to get the benefits of ketosis almost immediately.
You can even get these benefits when you combine it with carbohydrates. And this is particularly appealing healing for athletes.
Cyclists in the Tour de France have started to use this strategy, where they combine carbohydrates with exogenous ketones in dial form to take advantage of both fuel sources at once.
But even if you’re not an athlete, supplement Supplementing ketones comes with a lot of benefits. They can help to control your appetite better.
They can make intermittent fasting and skipping breakfast easier. They can boost mental clarity and focus, and more.