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Making sense of Keto and intermittent fasting
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Posted on Nov 04 2019
I’ve spoken candidly on how the whole premise of a diet is to simply manage your food intake. No matter how many times you’ve been led to believe you’re “hacking” your body, the real secret is discipline and consistency. Bulletproof coffee or apple cider vinegar isn’t going to save your behind from your expanding waistline if you fail to understand the principle of calories in/calories out in conjunction with daily movement.
Q: So, let me get this straight. There really are no benefits to doing keto or intermittent fasting?
A: There’s evidence to suggest there are potential health benefits from both paradigms. But as far as improvements in body composition, there’s no superior diet. From my understanding, the positive results are specific to the sedentary, and obese/overweight population. For this reason, it is not a magic bullet by any stretch of the imagination.
I’m not saying they don’t work. Regardless of what you choose to do, fat loss can occur because they both share a common theme with every other dietary practice. It should be noted that both disciplines are not optimal for lean body mass, which is critically important.
I will say one of the big reasons the ketogenic diet works very well for people who struggle with fat loss is because it’s generally effective at suppressing appetite. And as we all know, the hardest part about losing weight is dealing with hunger.
Q: I’m in the process of losing weight. And I’m wondering, should I drop the weight first, and then tone? Or do it at the same time?
A: Dropping down to a reasonable body fat should always come first because fat loss is much faster than muscle gain. Although, untrained individuals have a large capacity for concurrent muscle gain and body fat reduction they don’t have to resort to such isolating means. In other words, as long as there’s a form of progression and you’re eating a sensible diet, keep getting after it. It won’t take long for you to see visible, meaningful changes.
So, on the chance you’re a newbie, it behooves you to not fall off the wagon because your body is highly receptive. Once that luxury is gone, it’s gone. Take advantage of it.
