If you’ve recently started the keto diet, or you’re thinking about trying it, then probably the first thing you’re wondering is how long it will take you to lose weight following this regime.
You may have heard of some of the amazing benefits of following this diet, with some claiming to lose up to eight pounds in a week.
If you want to find out more about the diet, and how you could benefit, keep reading below, as we take a detailed look at the keto diet including how long it will take you to lose weight?
What Is The Ketogenic Diet?
Before we get into weight loss, first let’s take a look at how the ketogenic diet works.
It’s unconventional to other diets because it doesn’t actually matter as much about how many calories you consume.
Instead, the focus is placed entirely on your carbohydrate intake.
In order to follow the ketogenic diet properly, you need to limit your carb intake to 20 grams of net carbs (or lower) per day.
This means completely cutting out processed sugar, as well as some fruits which contain natural sugars.
Bread, pasta, potatoes, and many grains are also high in carbs, so you’ll need to make sure to give these up too.
If you successfully limit your carb intake to 20 grams or under each day, your body will eventually reach a metabolic state where it uses fat as its main source of fuel instead of carbohydrates. This is where the process of ketosis takes place.
Ketosis happens when the ketone levels in your blood are increased, they should be in a range of around 0.5-3 mg.
Your body will no longer have enough sugar to burn, so it will begin to target the natural fats in your body, this is how the weight loss process happens.
Regularly, the body would use the glycogen stores found in your liver as its main source of energy, this is how the body prefers to function.
After you enter ketosis, however, it will have no other option than to start burning fat.
The keto diet eliminates carbs, and instead encourages you to eat plenty of fats and protein.
Because you will be eating lots of fat in your diet, this will prevent you from feeling hungry, thereby suppressing your appetite.
The ketogenic diet is not like others in the sense that you cannot have ‘cheat’ days where you consume all of your favorite carb filled foods.
If you consume over 20 grams of net carbs a day, your body will exit its state of ketosis, and it will take you a while to get back in again, thereby stalling your weight loss.
When Will I Begin To See Weight Loss In Ketosis?
During the first week of your keto regime, your body will expel a significant amount of water weight that you’ve been carrying.
This is because the glycogen that comes from carbohydrates is bound with water, containing around 3 grams per 1 gram of glycogen.
The ketogenic diet effectively flushes this water out, and most people see a fairly drastic loss of water weight.
Some people will lose around 1 pound, whereas others will lose up to 10, or more.
It typically works that the heavier you are when you start the ketogenic diet, the more water weight you are likely to lose.
After your body has properly metabolized to the diet, and it has become completely fat adapted, you should see a consistent loss of about 1 – 2 pounds per week.
The ketogenic diet is an excellent way to train your body to begin burning fat as its main source of fuel.
What Are The Benefits Of The Ketogenic Diet?
There are so many different benefits when you begin following the keto diet that aren’t just limited to weight loss, we’ve compiled a list of some of these below.
Can Protect Against Cancer
Because insulin stores sugar as fuel, the ketogenic diet will allow you to burn through this fuel incredibly quickly.
As a result, your body will in turn make less insulin.
Decreased levels of insulin in the body can actually help protect against certain kinds of cancer, or even slow down the growth of cancer cells.
Acne
The keto diet can actually help to clear up your skin if you suffer from acne.
This is because the sugar found in carbohydrates has been linked to bad skin.
Following the ketogenic diet can help to prevent these acne breakouts.
Diabetes
It is well known that those who are diabetic have to limit their sugar intake.
Low carb diets in general can help to prevent the onset of diabetes in the first place.
This is because they keep your blood sugar at a lower level.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
If you’re a female who is following the ketogenic diet, it may be beneficial for your reproductive organs.
This is because the ketogenic diet lowers the amount of insulin in your body, something which can cause the ovaries to become larger than they should.
Following a ketogenic diet may actually help to treat this condition along with lifestyle alterations such as weight loss and exercise.
Final Thoughts
The ketogenic diet can cause quite a drastic weight loss during the first week, this is because the body will shed all of the water weight that you’ve been carrying around.
After your body has reached a stable state of ketosis, it will begin to run on fat as its main source of fuel instead of carbohydrates.
You should see a steady decrease in your weight of about 1-2 pounds per week after it has acclimatized.
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