Eat Fat to Lose Fat?: The Truth About Ketogenic Diets

Ketogenic diets have been around for years, but have seen a huge boost in popularity recently. With so many diet trends coming and going, why has keto stuck around so long? And why has it become so much more popular recently?

Let’s begin by addressing what a “Keto Diet” is. In its simplest form, a ketogenic diet involves cutting out carbs, but there’s a lot more to a proper ketogenic diet that just not eating carbs. A general recommendation for a ketogenic diet is to eat 70% of your calories from fat and 30% from protein, eating as few non-fibrous carbs as possible (fibrous carbs are not digestible so eat your veggies. They’re an essential part of this diet). How is this possible? Surprisingly, carbs are not essential in your body. There are essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, but carbohydrates are not needed for your body to function. It’s true that glucose is your body’s preferred energy source, however, in the absence of glucose, your body will adapt in one of two ways. One option is for your body to undergo a process called gluconeogenesis in which excess protein is converted to glucose to be used for energy. As you may have guessed, protein being converted to glucose is not exactly optimal for gains. The other option is for excess fat to be converted into a chemical called ketones, which themselves can be used for energy. This is why it is ESSENTIAL to make sure you’re eating excess fat when doing a ketogenic diet, otherwise, your body will begin to burn through protein that could otherwise be used to build muscle. However, if you are eating enough fat, this will not be an issue. Ketone supplements may also be able to help put you in a state of ketosis even in the presence of carbs, however, I need to do more research before I comment on any of these claims. By now we’ve established that people can get away with not eating any carbs, but why would anyone want to cut out carbs?

Recently, people are joining the #WarOnCarbs (a term coined by world-renowned powerlifter Mark Bell) primarily as a way to lose body fat. The keto diet does allow for a tremendous amount of weight loss in a short time, but before we praise it as the new “miracle diet,” let’s take a look at how this weight loss actually occurs. A primary driving factor of fat loss from the ketogenic diet is the caloric restriction that occurs naturally from cutting carbs. This concept of calories in versus calories out (thermodynamics) is universal to all diets, meaning that keto does not hold an edge in this regard. However, it does have several other benefits outside of its direct impact on weight loss! Many keto-lovers are people who will binge on sugar uncontrollably as soon as they have a taste of carbs. With a ketogenic diet, these carbs are eliminated, making the diet easier to adhere to. Ketones themselves also have several other fat-burning benefits such as their ability to help suppress hunger, making it easier to eat fewer calories. Since the brain operates extremely efficiently on ketones you may also be more focused during your workouts! Their ability to help lower insulin levels will also provide more balanced energy, preventing the energy crash that you may sometimes feel after eating carbs. In terms of general health, ketones may also help to fight seizures and Alzheimer’s due to a potential increase in mitochondria in the brain. Diabetics may also do well on a ketogenic diet because the absence of carbs lessens the body’s reliability on insulin. Cancer patients may be the ones to benefit most from a ketogenic diet, however, as the cancer cells thrive in the presence of glucose. Because of this, the removal of carbs essentially “starves” the cancer cells.

Clearly, there are a ton of benefits to this diet. However, in terms of actual fat loss, almost every “benefit” relates to helping you to control your calories. While a ketogenic diet may all of for these calories to be easier to control, ketosis is far from necessary to achieve being in a caloric deficit. On top of this, much of the “weight loss” that occurs immediately is simply water weight. Your muscles store carbs as glycogen, a molecule that will be used for energy when you move. However, in the absence of carbs, theses glycogen stores will become almost completely depleted. Each gram of glycogen stored also carries 3 grams of water with it. This water is stored in the muscles so it will not make you look bloated, however, when you deplete your glycogen stores, you also lose the water that was previously stored within the muscle. This lost water weight accounts for much of the “weight loss” that many people initially see on ketogenic diets. I want to point out that this is alright as your body learns to run off ketones rather than carbs, however, this lost weight has nothing to do with fat loss.

There are also some negatives to a ketogenic diet that may discourage you from trying it. One of the biggest issues with a ketogenic diet is adherence. There’s no doubt that this issue exists throughout all diets, however, it is even more pronounced in the ketogenic diet. If you eat just enough carbs to take yourself out of ketosis, you will be left with no significant amount of ketones or carbs to use as energy, leaving you exhausted. Even if you remain in ketosis your performance may suffer due to the depleted glycogen stores that were mentioned earlier, which would greatly reduce recovery rates. It can also be difficult to get enough protein on a ketogenic diet. It would be nearly impossible to eat the 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight that the ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition) recommends without going over your daily calorie allowance.

With a ketogenic diet relying primarily on the creation of a caloric deficit, it is far from a “miracle diet” for fat loss as many people claim, it could still very well be the best diet for you. In the end, I am not arguing for or against a ketogenic diet. I’m saying that you should adhere to the diet that works best for you! What makes you feel good? What is most convenient for you? What allows you to train harder? What allows you to recover best? What gives you results? All of these are questions that you should know the answer to in order to make sure you’re getting the most out of your diet. Look at these answers and decide if the keto diet works best for you! If you’re interested in switching to a ketogenic diet, do some more research and try it out! Just note that my basic explanation of the diet was just to give you an idea of what this diet is all about. Do some more research on exactly what you should be eating before starting. It is also a good idea to check with your doctor before making any big changes to your diet. To make this simple, the diet that is best for you is the diet that makes you feel great and is easy to follow. Find that diet and stick to it!

Thank you for reading! Let us know in the comments if you have any questions or reach out on social media (@thefitexpo) and let us know what you want to see in the future!

Alex Gaynor (@alexgaynor_)

Lift Weight to Lose Weight

Lifting weight to lose weight may sound crazy to you at first, and you’re not alone. To many people, common sense says that cardio is the only way to burn fat while lifting weights makes you bulky. By the end of this article, you’ll come to see that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, cardio does burn calories, but lifting weights may have even more benefits in regards to weight loss!

First, let’s dismiss a common myth. Lifting weights will not make you bulky! You won’t go to bed looking like Spongebob one day and wake up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger the next! If lifting weights really made you instantly gain weight, don’t you think that every guy in your local gym would look a lot bigger and have to work a lot less hard? Gaining muscle is a painfully slow process, and if you ever do feel “too big” it’s a pretty simple fix! Just stop lifting for a while! Stressing about accidentally getting “too big” is like stressing about accidentally winning the Olympics. It only happens with years of dedication and training, not by accident.

With that out of the way, let’s dive into fat loss. Fat loss occurs when you burn more calories than you consume, creating a caloric deficit. This deficit can be made greater by decreasing the amount of calories eaten, or by increasing the amount of calories burned. This is where cardio comes into play as it is a simple way to increase the amount of calories burned. Many look to cardio as the best way to burn excess calories due to the fact that a specific time of cardio will likely burn more calories than lifting for that same amount of time would. Logically, this makes sense. In 20 mins of jogging, you’re moving constantly; whereas 20 minutes of lifting is broken up into several sets and rest periods so that actual exercise occurs during a fairly small amount of that 20-minute time span. However, the main benefits of lifting don’t actually occur during exercise!

What’s the Best Rest Time for You?

One of the most commonly debated questions between gym-goers is “what is the best amount of time to rest between sets?” You’ll often hear powerlifters saying that it takes 2-5 minutes to fully recover from a set, while bodybuilders will argue that anything over 1-2 minutes is just wasting time. Endurance athletes and those chasing extreme fat loss goals may argue for as little as 15-30 seconds of rest! With all of these conflicting ideas, it can be extremely difficult to decipher between fact and fiction. This article is here to help you sort through the broscience and figure out the best rest time for you!

So who’s right? Truthfully, all of them are right! There is no real optimal rest time for overall fitness. However, there is definitely an optimal rest time for each person depending on their current goals. Check below for more information on the optimal rest time to help you reach your goals!

Intermittent Fasting: What You Need To Know

Intermittent fasting is a popular dieting technique that has been around for years. About two years ago the hype surrounding intermittent fasting blew up due to its promotion by several internet fitness celebrities such as the Hodge twins, and the diet has remained popular ever since. However, as many of you know, popular does not necessarily mean effective. Data is often exaggerated or misinterpreted by companies looking to sell products. It is essential to do extensive research before starting any diet in order to minimize health issues and maximize results. However, some of you may not even be familiar with this diet so before we get into what the research says, let’s first discuss what intermittent fasting even is!

Intermittent fasting is a dieting technique which involves fasting (ingesting no calories) for a specific period of time, and then consuming all of your calories during your “feeding window.” The most popular, and most studied, form of intermittent fasting is 16/8, meaning a 16 hour fast followed by an 8-hour feeding window. As difficult as this sounds, remember that you are sleeping for 6-8 of these fasted hours. Still, why would you want to limit your eating to an 8 hour period? The most common reason people choose intermittent fasting is its “fat-burning effects.” At the end of the day, a calorie is a calorie, regardless of when it is consumed. That does not mean that intermittent fasting is useless for fat loss, however. In order to fully understand the purpose of intermittent fasting, let’s take a look at all of its potential benefits, as well as the studies that this data comes from.