Cyclical Ketogenic Diet for Fat Loss

You’ve begun your journey towards becoming a leaner, healthier individual. You’ve been on every diet imaginable (usually of the low fat variety) & lost weight, only to regain it all & then some. At this point, someone suggests you try the “ketogenic” diet. You visit ketonationcoach.com subscribe to the newsletter and receive a free baseline diet & sample meal plan.
You also receive a free week of the online training program. You start reading the meal plan and think “this is the opposite of every diet I’ve been on”. Bacon & eggs for breakfast, fast food hamburgers (minus the bun) for lunch & even chicken wings for dinner. You decide “what the heck” I’ll give it a shot, nothing else has worked”.

You start your new eating lifestyle with a meal plan that is 2300 calories and you’re thinking     “no way I can lose weight eating that much, the other diets had me start at 1700”.  Then you look at the amount of fat, 65%...WHAT? I’ll have high cholesterol, heart disease, hardening of the arteries, or a stroke. This is what being brainwashed into believing fat is BAD does to you. So, you start on monday & drop 5.5 lbs on the scale on Saturday mornings weigh in ( a lot of it will be water the first week), you can’t believe it, you’re  actually having a hard time eating all that food, no hunger at all like the previous “low fat” diets. Week 2, you’re down another 4 lbs, an unbelievable rate of weight loss, a little less than the first week but still fantastic, especially considering you’re only doing 3 strength training sessions per week & ZERO CARDIO. Week 3, a loss of 1.5 lbs, much less this week, but still pretty good considering you’ve experienced zero hunger & not much exercise. Week 4, “only” 1 lb. but still, you’re very happy, you’ve lost 12 lbs in 1 month, again, no hunger, little exercise & you’d only lost 10 lbs on the previous “diets” while performing 3 times as much exercise as well as being hungry all the time. A few more weeks pass, and fat loss stalls completely. 

You’re now getting a little frustrated, you have about 17 more lbs to lose to be at your goal weight, you haven’t had more than 30 grams of carbs in a day in what’s now been 7 weeks. You almost give up, thinking you are destined to always be on the “heavier side”, but instead you decide to schedule a 1 month consultation & seek some “professional help”. After a brief, yet informative email consultation, you explain how frustrated you’ve become, and you’re asked to please be patient , trust the process & the plan that you will be receiving, which will be detailing the modifications to your diet & exercise program. You’re expecting to have your carbs cut to zero & calories lowered to starvation levels like the other “diets” would have you do, but when you receive the  recommendations the very next day, you’re like, “HUH”? They suggest I cut my calories 1 day per week ( Monday) to 1500. 

 ketonationcoach sends you a detailed strength training workout as well as a video of each workout for you to follow along with, so there’s no confusion about proper exercise technique or intensity (very motivating). Another change KNC made was to have you add what they call a 2 hour G.R.P, short for “Glycogen Replenishment Phase”. This is a term KNC coined for strategic carb loading. You are VERY skeptical about this,  how was eating all these carbs going to help you lose weight, when the whole point of the diet was to eliminate carbs and now you’re being told to eat a lot of them for 2 hours? So, you start on Monday at 1500 calories, a bit hungry but not too bad, this way of eating has almost completely taken hunger away, you never really think about eating anymore, another massive advantage of this “lifestyle”. You have your first training session on tuesday, a full body training workout that is only 30 minutes, very fast paced. You train again on thursday & saturday, again full body sessions but different exercises, 30 minutes & you’re drenched! You weigh yourself sat morning, and even though you “felt” leaner, you weren’t expecting much, if any weight/fat loss. Step on the scale, step off, then have to do a double take, 3.5 lbs, WHAT? HOW?   

KNC sends you a detailed strength training workout, a video of each exercise for you to follow along with, as well as an individualized meal plan, everything is laid out intelligently!

WHAT HAPPENED?

 Going by the “math” you were only consuming about 500 calories less per week than before & burning off “maybe” an additional 400 calories. Going by the numbers you should have lost at most ¼ lb. After an email check in with ketonationcoach.com that afternoon you asked “how was this possible?” You were told that yes, most of that weight would have been water weight that you were holding before which could have been caused by a variety of factors including: thyroid suppression,  prolonged elevated cortisol levels, and a host of other variables contributing to water retention. So, what was actually happening before was, although you were still losing fat, you were holding an equal amount of water bloat, which disguised the true weight/fat loss. What seems to happen after the GRP (carb up window), is the cortisol levels drop & thyroid level is raised… as well as G.H & testosterone as well. (women, do NOT be afraid of testosterone)

"A METABOLIC SLOWDOWN MAKES IT NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO LOSE ANY FAT, (FORGET SEEING THOSE ABS) IT ALSO MAKES YOU HOLD ON TO VICERAL FAT AND ABDOMINAL BLOAT."

So, this gets fat loss moving again—not as quickly as when you first started, but that’s to be expected. After another few weeks, fat loss slows to a crawl again. You still have about 10-12lbs to lose to be at your goal weight.  
Fat loss is “usually” harder for women than men, so, often, many of them resort to drastic measures in an effort to become lean. Unmotivated people will give up way before they ever reach this level. Motivated individuals will do whatever it takes to get there. This type of person will often starve themselves or perform several hours of cardio & weight training per day. At ketonationcoach.com we want to help people, especially women avoid this frustration. We are here to help educate you before you become frustrated and end up quitting altogether.

IT'S ALL ABOUT SURVIVAL

 It’s normal for the metabolism to slow down on any diet or calorie restriction. This is all due to metabolic adaptation. It’s much less dramatic on a ketogenic diet in our experience, but it will still occur after months of being in a hypo-caloric state.
As soon as an individual cuts calories, for example, from 2,000 to 1,500, their metabolism begins to slow down. Most people do not realize that the body uses calories simply through digesting and processing food. This is what we describe as the thermic effect of food, or T.E.F for short. The act of eating less food causes lower metabolic output.

Losing bodyfat, especially a significant amount, will send a signal to the body to lower thyroid levels and diminish nervous system output in an effort to stop the weight loss. Once further calorie cuts are made and cardio is increased, ‘weightloss” will resume again,( but this time with more muscle being burned) with the body further lowering thyroid levels and nervous system output (this metabolic damage will make it increasingly more difficult to lose fat). Testosterone levels will also drop, while cortisol levels will increase. Since muscle is  what we call “metabolically active tissue” (it uses calories simply to live) the metabolism will drop even further.

So why would the body behave this way? survival. If our body did not have this adaptive ability we would lose weight without stopping until we eventually died. These metabolic adaptations are  necessary for survival.
Remember this: The human body’s number one priority is homeostasis. Whatever condition the body is put in, it will strive to survive within that new norm. You need to understand how to work with your body as much as possible, and understand that your body will automatically take measures in response to calorie intake or expenditure.
In our experience, metabolism slows down for a variety of reasons.. People run their metabolisms into the ground trying to get “ripped” for a show, a wedding, reunion or any other important event the individual wants to look good in. Leaving them seriously slowed.

Someone with a seriously damaged metabolism cannot consume many calories at all. Yet after becoming extremely frustrated over the lack of weight loss progress, most will tend to binge eat as they decide the diet is not working.
Their metabolism, running on such small amounts of food for months, or more…are not able
 to handle a high level of calorie intake, and the fat gain is fast and furious. This usually leads to gaining extreme amounts of adipose tissue, leaving the dieter heavier & fatter than when they started, as well as depressed.

The vicious cycle begins all over again.

How we advise clients to avoid this problem

Luckily, there are several ways to prevent serious metabolic issues from occurring. The metabolism will slow to some degree on any diet, but this should not lead to extreme calorie deprivation combined with hours of low intensity long duration cardio.
This is very unhealthy for your metabolism, and won’t get you lean enough. Some advice for achieving optimal results:

Take your time

 Fat loss will occur much faster on the ketogenic diet  plan than on any other plan in our opinion. But it still takes time, and with some individuals, a lot of time. A goal of 1.5% – 2.0% of  your current bodyweight, per week would be a realistic rate of fat loss for most individuals. 1.0%-1.5%  is  more realistic for individuals who are already lean. This will help to minimize any potential muscle loss. Muscle tissue consumes calories all the time. YOU DO NOT WANT TO LOSE THIS METABOLICALLY EXPENSIVE TISSUE.

Use carbs strategically

WE ADVISE OUR CLIENTS TO USE A STRATEGY CALLED G.R.P, SHORT
FOR “GLYCOGEN REPLENISHMENT PHASE”

Carbs increase cellular hydration, and therefore cell volume. When muscle cells are hydrated and have greater volume, this signals the body that it is in a satiated state. The body, sensing it is fed, will increase the metabolic rate. Obviously if carbs are too high, fat loss cannot occur, but for continued fat loss, carbs should be cycled in the diet. KNC believes that for “most” individuals, cycling carbohydrates the way we prescribe is an essential tool in keeping the metabolism elevated. Leptin is a primary reason for this. Leptin is a fat-burning hormone; its release is directly related to carbohydrate intake and body fat levels. Leptin serves many functions, including the control of energy expenditure.

As carbs get low and body fat levels dwindle, the body inevitably lowers leptin levels. You can combat this to an extent by adding in high-carb days. A high-carb day once every 4-8 days can boost leptin levels; leptin is highly responsive to glucose metabolism.
Add high carb days to boost leptin, and it will lead to a more positive hormonal profile in general. High carb days can lead to higher levels of the thyroid hormone t3, as well as help to keep testosterone levels elevated, both of which can further your fat-loss efforts.

Keep fat intake to 50% or more of your total calories

Fat, especially saturated fat must be available for the body to create cholesterol, which is needed to produce testosterone. If fat intake is too low, there won't be enough fatty acids available for optimal testosterone production. This leads to muscle loss as well as a myriad of other problems including, but not limited to depression. This loss of “lean tissue” will assuredly lower your metabolic rate.

A chronically low fat intake will actually program your body to hold on to fat stores. Proper amounts of fat in the diet will ensure that there is a caloric deficit for fat loss, but that the body does not perceive starvation. We hope this article has answered some of your questions on why we feel our dieting methods are extremely effective,  and what “weapons” you have at your disposal when you do hit that plateau. 

My simple program to get ripped!

My personal training & nutrition. Cyclical Keto for Muscle Gain

by Jeffrey R Graffius

The way I set up my training & nutrition isn't very exciting, in fact you may even think it's downright boring... especially when I am following a very strict carb cycling diet (C.K.D for short). My nutrition strategy has evolved over the years to be most effective for my current age & physique goals. You can use this plan for Cyclical Keto for Muscle Gain

At my age (49) I follow a cyclical ketogenic diet plan for rapid weight loss and muscle gain/retention. I’ve been training for decades, I'm simply  not going to be adding much, if any muscle mass. This said, I prefer to keep my body fat in single digits year round. This gives me an illusion of looking bigger than I am, especially when  “pumped up” and in the right lighting. Also, being only 5'6 "@ 167 lbs looks bigger on me than someone 6'2".

The diet I follow is my version of a cyclical ketogenic diet. Lately, I've been combining this with intermittent fasting and feel it's working very well. I've been consuming all of my calories in a 6 - 7 hour window during the day. For my schedule this is usually 12:00 - 7:00 pm or sometimes 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm. I also incorporate what I call " extreme calorie cycling". This means I vary my calories considerably during the week in accordance to my training. For me, this means monday, wed & fri may only be 1500 calories, tues & thurs could be  2500 - 3000.

Currently on the weekends, I implement a 2 hour carb up , where I will eat all the carbs I want in a 2 hour window on saturday evening, (usually from about 6:00 - 8:00).

This is what a typical saturday, late afternoon, early evening feast may look like.

 I usually train 3 main sessions on non consecutive days per week (tues, thurs & sat @ 8:00 am). Tuesday is chest & back, Thursday is quads & hams, Saturday is shoulders, triceps & biceps. On occasion, I will increase the sessions to 4 and sometimes even 5 per week, keeping with the same split routine.

 Below is a sample of what I've currently been eating on Monday, Wednesday & Friday ( low calorie days)

12:00: 1 dozen wing dings ( Thanks Meglio’s)
3:00: 1 ounce of almonds
7:00: 8 ounces of 80% ground beef , 2 cups of broccoli , 6 - 8 ounces of merlot

Tuesday , Thursday & Sunday would usually be a bit higher in calories. This is an example of what that may would look like:

9:00 am (after training session) Met RX Meal Replacement Shake or similar
12:00  (2) “quad stackers” from burger king, or (2) "baconators" from Wendy's (sans bun of course)
3:00 pm 1 ounce of almonds
7:00 pm  12 whole eggs
 

Exciting huh?

 Feel free to contact me for keto dieting programs or training programs: jeffgraffius67@gmail.com

Why are ketogenic diets so effective for fat loss?

A ketogenic based diet will, in my opinion, help MOST individuals lose more weight & bodyfat  than any other type of “diet”. Although changing a bit, a lot of people’s perception is that a high fat diet is “bad for them”. Most responsible for this belief  is mainstream nutritional dogma. Several decades ago, the entire population was advised to eat a low-fat, high-carb diet. During that time, no studies had shownthat a LFHC diet could prevent disease.  From an article written by Kris Gunnars

The Low-Fat Guidelines & The Obesity Epidemic

The low-fat guidelines were first published in the year 1977. Since then, the major health organizations and the government have not changed their position. Has this advice been effective against the obesity epidemic? A picture speaks more than a thousand words…

View fullsize

Of course, many things were changing in society at the time and this graph does not prove that the guidelines caused the obesity epidemic, just that it started at the same time the guidelines were published.  However, I personally find it plausible that demonizing fat and giving refined carbs and sugar the green light may have had something to do with it.

Because everyone thought that fat was the root of all evil, all kinds of low-fat junk foods flooded the market. These foods were loaded with refined carbs, sugar and HFCS, which actually are associated with heart disease, diabetes, obesity and all those diseases that the low-fat diet was meant to treat.

Bottom Line

The low-fat guidelines were first published in the year 1977, around the exact same time the obesity epidemic started.

Since then, many high quality studies have been done, including the Women’s Health Initiative, which is the largest nutrition study in history.  The results were clear… this diet does not cause weight loss, prevent cancer OR reduce the risk of heart disease.

After a carbohydrate rich meal, your pancreas secretes  insulin to your blood stream. It pulls the sugar out of the blood and into your fat cells. While insulin is present in the bloodstream, your fat cells will not to release any fat to burn.  One of insulin's jobs is to remove sugar from  the blood, sugar in the blood is very damaging to the body. When you consume a high carb meal, especially one with a lot of sugar in it, the pancreas usually over reacts & releases too much insulin, removing all of the sugar out of your blood,  causing your blood sugar level to fall  too low, making you crave carbs, especially sugar. So, how many carbs should you be consuming per day? Well, there is no definite number that is best for everyone. 30 grams has always been the recognized amount, but some seem to do better with less, say 10 – 15 grams, while others ( especially intense strength trainers)  may be better served at the 40 -50 gram count. In either case, your body is relying heavily on fat for energy, all day long!
Can you lose “WEIGHT”, by eating a high carb diet? Of course, if you are counting calories and exercising more to make sure that you are in a caloric deficit... the main stream weight loss groups espouse this approach, continuously  lowering calories until the goal weight is achieved . But, how realistic is that? It only delivers fat loss as long
as you can maintain the willpower & the discipline.

 A huge advantage of a high fat, low carb dietis the ability to satiate & suppress the appetite. After the body becomes fat adapted ( usually about a months time frame), your bodies natural appetite control mechanism kicks in, and you would not continue to eat after your body consumed enough calories. You wouldn't want to eat any more. This is how a normal metabolism should work, but we’ve screwed our system up so bad with processed foods, especially refined carbohydrate, that this natural regulatory system is completely out of whack.

Another advantage of a low carb/high fat  diet is muscle retention, provided you're consuming enough protein,( approximately 1 gram per pound of lean body mass) you will not lose muscle, you’ll actually be gaining lean muscle. When you diet to lose weight
on a high carb, low fat diet, you will lose muscle along with fat…in extreme cases of low
calories on a high carb, low fat diet, you can actually lose the majority of weight from lean muscle mass, slowing the metabolism even further in the process.

What are the best foods to eat on a ketogenic diet?

Almost any vegetable is low in carbs except  starchy ones, such as corn and potatoes. Here is  a list of veggies that are unlimited in the amount you’re allowed to eat: literally

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Spinach
Celery
Asparagus
Lettuce
Mushrooms

Broccoli with cheddar cheese melted over it taste so good & it’s healthy.

Here is a basic list of “allowable” foods on a ketogenic based diet:

Eggs – whole, bacon, pepperoni, sausage
Ham, Chicken Wings ( no batter or breading)
Colby, Mozzarella & cheddar cheese
Macadamia, almonds & walnuts
Ground Beef, tuna, cod, salmon, chicken breast, steak, turkey
Diet coke, diet tea ( use sparingly)
Mustard, hot sauce, full fat mayo

What is Ketosis?

Ketosis /kᵻˈtoʊsᵻs/ is a metabolic state in which most of the body's energy supply comes from ketone bodies in the blood, in contrast to a state of glycolysis in which blood glucose provides most of the energy.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO ME?

By limiting carbohydrates and eating adequate amounts of protein with a primary source of calories being healthy fats; thousands of people have managed to get their bodies to a healthy weight without supplements or drugs.

WHAT TO EXPECT

• Healthy Weight Loss                           

• Higher Energy Levels

• Reduced Bloating and Indigestion

• Reduced Hunger Levels

• Lean Muscle Gain

• Improved Clarity

• Reduction In Acne

• Better Sleep Quality

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