Ketogenic Eating

The fat fast is a technique brought by Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution – used by people who are metabolically resistant and have trouble with their induction. Let me first say that fat fasting should be used in 2 situations and 2 situations only:

• Breaking through a 2 week or longer plateau.
• Inducing yourself into ketosis quicker, whether you are just starting keto or you had a cheat day.

If you’re the type of person that loses weight easily and you  are NOT hitting a plateau, then fat fasting should NOT be used. It can be potentially dangerous for someone that is not metabolically resistant, or for someone that is not on a plateau.

You should not fat fast consistently. Like I said, it is only for people starting a ketogenic diet and want to be inducted into ketosis faster, or for people that are on a long (2 weeks or more) plateau.

Understanding the Fat Fast

The lack of carbohydrates and protein will allow your body to depreciate your glycogen stores quicker, also allowing your body to go after the fat stores, like we want it to, to use as fuel.

Fat fasting will force the body to undergo lipolysis, so that it burns up fat that is stored in the body.

Lipolysis is a process involved in the breakdown of fats, converting triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids. The longer you fast, the more of these free fatty acids will be released.

Why is this important? Well fatty acids are used by the liver to create small amounts of ketone bodies, and used as fuel.

Lipolysis cannot happen if there is a significant amount of glucose coming in, but since 80% – 90% of what you will be eating are fats, you don’t need to worry about excess protein or carbs converting into glucose.

What the Fat Fast Is

So, what exactly is a fat fast? It’s eating between 1000 and 1200 calories a day, where between 80% and 90% of your calories come from fat, and fat alone. You break these 1000-1200 calories into 4 or 5 meals a day, eating in blocks of 200-250 calories per meal.

It is normally done for 2-4 days, but is never recommended to go for more than 5 days. Going longer than this will start to put your body in a real “starvation mode” and your muscle mass will be metabolized as energy – the exact opposite of what you want.

Hungry? You most likely will be at first, but once your body starts adapting to the way you are eating, you will notice a drop in your hunger. This is because you will be eating your meals in frequent intervals with high amounts of fat, which increases satiety levels.

If you’re doing a fat fast, I recommend doing a 3 day fast. This normally drops about 5-8 pounds of body fat and water weight. When you enter back into a normal diet, expect to put back 2-3 pounds of that weight.

What to Eat

So let’s get to it. What should you be eating? Well that’s up to you. There’s not all that much choice you have, as you have to keep the calories relatively low and the fat very high. Here are some options for single meals:

• 1 Oz. Macadamia Nuts
• Macadamia Nut Butter with 2 Oz. Cream Cheese
• 1 Oz. Chicken with 2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
• 2 Egg Yolks with 1 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
• 1 Cup Coffee with ¼ Cup Heavy Cream
• 4 Slices bacon (be careful with this, as it dwindles under 80% calories from fat)
• ¼ Cup Heavy Cream whipped with Da Vinci Flavored Syrup
• 2 Oz. Sour Cream with ½ Cup Cucumber
• ½ Serving of Sugar-free Jell-O with ½ Cup Whipped Cream

Feel free to mix meat in there, but be careful about the amount of meat you actually eat. As most of it will have a good amount of protein, you want to be sparing. Chicken, Tuna, Turkey, Bacon, Prosciutto, etc. will be a nice addition to get a bit of protein in your system.

Making It Easy

If you’re unlike me and just love cream cheese, then you can snack on a full 8 Oz. block of cream cheese for the day along with a cup of coffee with 2½ Tbsp. coconut oil in the morning.

A block of cream cheese with a bulletproof coffee is one of the best ways to do a fat fast, as it is:

1020 Calories

97g fat (86% calories from fat for the day)

8g Carbs (3% calories from carbs for the day)

16g Protein (6% calories from protein for the day)

Easy – one of the most important factors.

Drawbacks

The drawbacks are more of a personal note from me. I just want to be sure to reiterate that a fat fast can be potentially dangerous if you are not at a weight stall. Again, ONLY do a fat fast if you are looking to be induced into ketosis faster, or if you are at a long-term weight loss plateau of 2 weeks or longer.  And ONLY after your Health Professional’s Advice and Recommendations!!