The keto diet is known for its many benefits. It can help you reduce your inflammation, lose weight, and manage your food intake a bit easier. And that’s just a few of the good things.
Indeed, it is a great lifestyle to follow because of how awesome it makes you feel once you get used to it. But do you have to be in ketosis on a permanent basis? Will the weight come back on if you decide to go back to eating carbs?
We will answer these queries and more in this article, but first, let’s get into how long a person should follow the ketogenic diet.
How Long to Follow the Keto Diet?
Eating high fat, watching ketones and ketone levels, saying no to carbs. It’s a tough life at first, but then you feel great! How long can you keep up this great energy, fat loss, and low inflammation?
The answer is, as long as you like, with breaks every now and again, so your body doesn’t begin to eat through its muscle instead of fat. You can go onto keto for a set amount of time during the year and do some carb refeeding every so often, or you can cycle the keto diet.
How Long to Stay in Ketosis?
Once you get into ketosis, you immediately begin to notice the benefits! Your appetite is reduced, you feel happier and more energetic, and you achieve fat loss faster.
You may even achieve some of the other benefits in due time.
For example, you might achieve better blood sugar levels or experience an easier time managing type 2 diabetes. There is a chance you could lower the risks associated with heart disease and cancer, although these don’t happen in the blink of an eye. It will take some time and dedication, and it may not happen at all.
Weight loss happens at a rate of 1 to 2 lbs. per week for most folks. It may be less, but keto is a sustainable and safe way to lose weight. Some of you might go faster or slower, but don’t rush the process.
Going a bit slower means you get to establish and get used to those healthy habits longer, so you are more likely to hold onto them and sustain that weight loss.
Give It Time to See Health Benefits
Some of you might be doing keto to reap the health benefits. You might get discouraged when they don’t happen right away. Remember, good things take time. Sure, you might see some right away, such as fat loss, but others will take some time and not be so cut and dry (such as mood changes or levels of energy).
So, the length of time you stay on keto is going to vary. Take as much time as you need to achieve your health goals. Make sure the goals you set are clearly defined. Write them down and track them. This way, you can really measure how you’re doing.
Stay in the state of ketosis for however long it takes you to achieve the goals you desire.
From there, you can work out a plan to see what works best for your particular situation. You might just discover that you do well on a whole foods diet with a few carbs mixed in, or you might find that you have to stay on a strict keto regiment with only occasional carbs to do your best. It’s OK to do whatever works best for you, makes you feel great, and helps you achieve all your health goals.
Will I Have to Be Keto Forever to Keep Weight Off?
You don’t have to- no way! The way to keep weight off that you’ve lost is to eat at maintenance calories for your current body weight, height, and activity level. It means you can enjoy foods of all kinds if you like. It just has to stay within your calorie budget.
That being said, you might not like the way carbs make you feel. After getting back into eating carbs, you might not enjoy how your body reacts. For example, if you feel sluggish, you might not feel up to going to the gym, which, if you make skipping the gym, a habit could make the pounds pile back on.
The bottom line? Do what makes YOU happy. If you find that adding healthy carbs to your diet helps you feel great, stay at your target weight, and you’re enjoying yourself, have at it. If not, stick to keto eating with occasional servings of healthy carbs to keep up the good work.
I Want to Reintroduce Carbs – How to Do This?
Slowly transitioning from keto to a diet that includes carbs will help you avoid fast weight gain and eating in excess. You can also see how your body reacts.
- Make sure to include organic and whole foods when you can. Healthy food tastes and feels better, so choose with care.
- Keep track of your macros and add carbs back in increments each day. Start with 50 and then increase to 75. After eating basically no carbs, you have to let your body get used to them.
- Be sure to do regular weigh-ins and write down your progress. You can keep track of weight, blood sugar, body fat percentage, or your athletic performance as markers for success and how your goals are going.
- Be flexible. Going off keto is an experiment; it doesn’t mean you messed up. Be nice to yourself.
Conclusion
This wraps up our discussion of how long I can stay on keto. The answer is that you can stay on it as long as you like to achieve your health goals, and then evaluate from there whether to keep it going or to try something a little different.
It is going to depend on your personal health goals about what to do. Whatever it is, make sure it leaves you feeling healthy, energetic, and satisfied.