If you’ve recently started your weight loss journey you’ve probably heard of the keto diet. After all, it’s practically taken over the internet! With friends, family, and influencers raving about this diet plan you may be wondering, exactly how fast can you lose weight on keto?
Keto is a low-carb diet that promotes weight loss by removing certain types of food from your diet. In addition to weight loss, it also helps control blood sugar, cholesterol, and glucose levels. You can combine it with exercise and other fitness efforts to see faster results.
Read on to learn more about how the keto diet works and how soon you can start losing weight.
How Does The Ketogenic Diet Work?
All diets work by restricting certain types of food. But the keto diet isn’t just about lowering your daily calorie count. For keto, you need to bring your daily carb intake down to under 50 grams! That’s right. If you’re committed to the keto lifestyle and want to see fast weight loss results you’ll need to completely remove carbohydrates from your diet.
When you do that your body compensates by burning fat stored in your tissues. The process of burning fat releases substances called ketones than reduce your hunger levels. That’s why people on keto diets feel less hungry throughout their day, despite eating fewer calories.
Also, with less dietary fat intake your body is better able to moderate blood sugar and maintain healthy glucose levels. This prepares you with a stable amount of energy throughout your day, making it easier to exercise regularly and engage in high levels of fitness activities.
How Much Weight Can You Lose On A Keto Diet Safely?
While it can be tempting to try and lose as much weight as possible, you have to make sure you’re practicing healthy dieting. On average, it is possible to lose around 9 kg (20 pounds) of fat within 6 months of starting your keto diet. These results were obtained through a study on overweight individuals, however, so if you have lower body fat levels when you start out you may not burn fat as quickly.
It is also important to keep in mind that weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. You don’t want to burn an unhealthy amount of fat in a few weeks and then gain it all back right after. This type of dieting also has unintended consequences like sagging skin and stretch marks. With the right combination of the keto diet, exercise, and nutrition you can practice healthy weight loss and maintain your goal weight.
How Long Does It Take To Lose Weight On Keto?
Before we get into the details of the keto timeline it is essential to point out that weight loss is not a linear process. The journey will vary from individual to individual. You will experience highs and lows that will affect your progress. Women especially may notice extreme fluctuations around their menstrual cycle because hormone changes have a direct impact on weight gain. Your body responds to the various chemical changes happening within it in different ways. So do not be alarmed if your progress doesn’t look like anyone else’s, and especially do not compare your weight loss journey to another person’s experience.
That said, there are some markers that you can use to measure the progress of your keto weight loss.
After 1 week
The first week is perhaps the hardest part of the keto diet. Eating carbs is natural to your body and removing them from your diet will have an immediate effect on your system. You can expect intense cravings, mood swings, and low self-control.
But if you push through and persevere you can expect to lose around 10 pounds within the first week. A lot of this is water weight but your body will also start burning fat towards the end of the initial week. Glucose bonds with water and is stored as glycogen in your body. This is the first type of fat loss you can expect when you’re on a keto diet.
After 1 month
Once you’ve lost all that water weight and glycogen stores you will start experiencing more consistent weight loss with each passing week. At the one-month mark, you can expect to have lost around 8 pounds.
After 3 months
Continuing the keto diet past the 3-month mark is extremely difficult, and many people are not able to sustain the lifestyle. However, research shows that increasing your protein intake and reducing carbs over 12 weeks can reduce weight by around 20 to 22 pounds.
If you’re struggling to commit to the keto weight loss diet then this can definitely motivate you to keep going. When you’re seeing a noticeable difference in your body weight and fitness levels with each passing week you’ll be more pushed to keep going!
That’s why it’s important to get started. Beginning the diet and getting through the initial stages is the hardest part for most dieters.
How To Lose Weight Faster?
While it’s easy to state a number and claim that everyone can lose 9 kg (20 pounds) of fat within 6 months, the truth is a lot more complex. People have different types of bodies and metabolisms, which means they gain and lose weight differently.
But there are a few manageable factors that you can control to maximize your weight loss.
Caloric Deficit
While the specific types of nutrients and foods you eat play a huge role in the keto diet, you do need to reduce your overall calorie intake to lose weight.
Snacks and Desserts
Binge eating is the fastest way to gain weight and ruin your diet. Once you’ve switched to a healthy lifestyle you’ll need to exert a lot of self-control over your snacking habits.
If you have a high-fat diet with a lot of processed foods and sugar you’ll see minimal results. However, if you switch to healthier snack options you’ll have more energy and lower fat stores.
Activity Levels
While you don’t need to exercise to get on a keto diet, high physical activity levels will certainly help speed up the weight loss process. Exercise is essential for your overall health and if you want to transform your life you’ll need to cover all your bases.
Sleep Patterns
People who have regular sleep patterns and are getting around 8 hours a day of rest will see quicker results than people who aren’t. That’s because sleep plays a huge role in your body’s regular functions and can even reduce hunger. Research shows that there is a direct link between self-deprivation, appetite, and the types of foods people eat.
Stress Levels
Stress is another trigger for binge eating. It reduces your ability to control your cravings so you aren’t able to stick with a consistent keto diet plan. If you want to commit to your weight loss goals you will need to find healthy ways to process your stress and anxiety that don’t involve food.
Medical Conditions
Despite all these factors, medical conditions can ultimately play a huge role in weight gain. If you aren’t seeing any results after a few weeks of keto there is a possibility that your body fat is a symptom of a disease. You should see a medical professional and explain this to them as soon as possible so you can get a proper diagnosis. Also, people with medical conditions who are on certain medications may experience weight gain as a side effect of those meds. We do not recommend keto as a suitable diet for anyone with underlying health conditions.
Long-Term Steps To Maintain Your Goal Weight
Losing weight is definitely difficult but the biggest complaint people have with the keto diet is that they gain all that weight back. Once you’ve reached your goal weight you need to take concrete steps to maintain it. Here’s how!
Whole Foods
Processed foods are full of fattening unhealthy ingredients like sweeteners, coloring, preservatives, and flavorings. Not only do they have higher amounts of calories and carbs than whole, unprocessed keto foods, but they also promote binge eating by affecting your metabolism.
Switching to fresh ingredients and cooking at home is the best way to get the most out of your keto diet. With beef, salt, and some spices you can make keto meals that are delicious and healthy.
Intermittent fasting
If you want to take a break from your keto diet or stop it altogether returning to your pre-diet meal plans will likely cause weight gain. That’s because it takes your body and your metabolism time to adjust to any major lifestyle changes. Intermittent fasting is a good way to circumvent this issue.
It lets you maintain your ideal weight by alternating between eating and fasting. You can even lose weight this way. Some intermittent fasting methods include the 16/8 strategy, alternate days, a 5:2 diet, and many others.
Regular Exercise
If you want to maintain healthy ketosis your best bet is regular exercise. A mix of cardio and weight training will keep you in the best shape, regardless of what other diet plans you’re following. Just make sure you’re consuming enough calories to sustain your fitness plan.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, it is possible to lose an average of 9 kg (20 pounds) of fat within 6 months of starting your keto diet. This will require consistent effort and diet regulation, paired with healthy checkups and exercise regimens. As long as you are practicing keto in a healthy manner you can lose weight fast by cutting down on your carb intake.
