Fat Adapted On Keto: How to burn fat fast is important to your fat burning efforts. Maximize your success on the keto diet by knowing how to become fat adapted.
What Does Becoming Fat Adapted Mean?
The keto diet is all about causing your body to switch from using glucose to using fat for your immediate energy needs.
This is the process known as becoming fat adapted.
This important process will take a little time when following the keto diet for the first time.
Being Fat adapted is central to success on the ketodiet.
Due to this, it will be important that you know when you’re no longer depending on glucose for energy. At this point you will begin to and are burn through your fat efficiently.
This fat can be either dietary fat, or fat stored in your body.
Normally, it will take from a few days to a week or so to become fully established.
There are several factors which will determine the speed of becoming fat adapted. These include:
- How often you have been on the keto diet before.
- How strict you are about keeping to your carbohydrate allowance.
- Your level of activity.
Why Is Fat Burning Important On The Keto Diet?
The aim of the keto diet is to get you into a state of ketosis.
On a carb heavy diet your body will choose to metabolize carbs first.
This is because converting dietary carbohydrates into glocose is the easiest way of providing your body with its immediate energy needs.
Only when the body has insufficient carbs for its immediate energy needs will it switch to its second metabolic pathway.
The Switch From Glucose Burning To Fat Burning
As soon as there are insufficient carbs coming in, your body will begin to use your stored fat for energy.
It is due to this metabolic shift that the process of producing ketones is started.
Importantly, by measuring your ketone levels, you’ll be able to check that your body is burning fat.
Ketosis
It is while being in this state of ketosis that you’llbe able to access the weight loss and health benefits of the keto diet.
As long as you’re in ketosis, you’ll know that your fat stores are being used for your daily energy needs.
Therefore, if you’re following a keto diet, getting into a state of ketosis is going to be your main goal.
If all is going well, you should reach this stage within the first week or so on the diet.
That’s assuming you’ve been strict about keeping your carb intake to 20g net or less each day.
It’s now that you’ll have made the metabolic switch from burning glucose to burning fat.
Furthermore, you’ll be able to burn fat more efficiently as your body adjusts to your new diet.
It will be then that you will be fully fat adapted, a process that can take up to six weeks. You will begin to feel all the health and well-being benefits of the keto diet.
Fortunately, there are many signs of this process that is taking place in your body.
This will enable you to track that you’re progressing well with your keto efforts.
Signs That All Is Going Well
Less Hunger
This is very often the first sign you’ll notice.
Normally, its one of the very first changes you’ll notice after reducing your carb intake.
This is due to the fact that lower carbs will help to stabilize your blood/sugar levels.
Further, as you become more fat adapted, this effect will increase.
Due to this, it’s not unusual for keto dieter to have to keep track of how much they eat. It actually becomes much easier to under eat by mistake.
One great sign is that you’ll feel full for longer; the need to snack will diminish.
Because of this, you’ll begin to notice how easy it becomes to stay on your diet without the temptation to cheat or snack.
This has been well researched and is a big plus for the keto way of dieting.
This study found that when their participants were ketotic, the weight loss induced increase in the hormone ghrelin was suppressed. Ghrelin is a main trigger for feelings of hunger and of wanting to snack.
Feeling Full Even If You’re Eating Less Than Normal
The keto diet requires that you obtain about 70% of your daily intake from healthy fats.
Fortunately, fat is super satiating. You’ll soon notice that fat has the ability to make you feel much more full than low fat foods.
Not only will you feel full, you’ll stay feeling full for much longer than you did when eating a high carb diet.
Also, as soon as your body is using fat for fuel, either from your food or your own stored fat, your body will register the fact that it has a steady supply of energy.
This will help to keep your energy levels steady throughout the day. No more afternoon slumps or tiredness.
Fat Consumption And Your Brain
By consuming fat, you will also be sending those important “I’m full” messages to your brain.
This is because being in ketosis (fat burning) increases the amount of cholecystokinin that you produce.
Cholecystokinin (CCK) is released rapidly into the circulation in response to a meal. The greatest stimulator of CCK release is the presence of fatty acids and/or certain amino acids in duodenum. (1)
After a meal, secretion of cholecystokinin activates the satiety center of the hypothalamus in the brain so that the person feels full and stops eating.
Increased Fat Loss
Obviously, this is one of (if not the only) main reasons for following the keto diet.
The keto diets amazing fat burning ability is due to eating very few carbs each day.
When you do this, you will be preventing your blood/glucose levels from rapidly rising and falling throughout the day.
Your body needs to keep blood/glucose levels within a very narrow healthy range.
To do this, the body responds to suges of blood/glucose by increasing it’s output of the hormone Insulin.
Without this process, blood/glucose levels would quickly rise to damaging levels.
Unfortunately, when it comes to dieting and losing weight, this is bad news.
Why Is Insulin The Enemy Of Fat Loss?
The presence of too much insulin will be bad news if you’re trying to lose weight.
This is due to the fact that one of the main duties of Insulin is to trigger the storage of fat.
That’s just about opposite to what you’re wanting to happen if weight loss is one of your goals.
When levels of insulin are low, your body cannot go into fat storage mode.
Increased Energy With Reduced Daytime Sleepiness
Once you’re fully fat burning, you’ll have more stable circulating nutrients that can be used for your daily energy needs.
When your body is metabolizing glucose for energy, it has to depend upon a fluctuating amount of available energy at any one time.
Importantly, your energy levels will depend on when you last ate, how active you have been and on how many carbs in total you’ve eaten that day.
If you’ve ever felt almost comatose after a big carb feast, you’ll know exactly how bad this post meal slump can feel.
However, once you are fat adapted, your body will have a much more stable and regular supply for its daily energy needs.
This is because your body will use either the fat from your food, or your stored fat supplies – it can’t run out of fuel in this state.
This has the effect of giving more energy, and in a much more stable way. There won’t be times in the day when you feel sleepy, especially after meals.
You’ll feel a steady flow of energy all day, and an improved mood too.
You’ll also find that you have greater endurance for your exercise or gym sessions.
Better Sleep When Fat Adapted
Many keto dieters find that they are able to sleep for longer and with better quality sleep.
A Swedish study found that children who were being given a keto diet to help with drug resistant epilepsy, slept better and experienced more REM sleep.
They suggested that the brain chemical adenosine, which is important for sleep regulation, is increased in response to the keto diet.
This chemical helps to relax the nervous system and also reduces pain and inflammation – all factors that would also contribute to a good nights sleep.
Improved Cognitive Function
There is overwhelming evidence that burning fat for fuel is able to increase mental alertness and focus.
You can read more about this here and here.
Most people feel very much more alert and with sustained levels of energy throughout the day once they’re in ketosis.
The keto diet has been found beneficial for many neurodegenerative diseases, and it is often reported that there is a decrease in anxiety and the level of depression.
Increased Ability To Cycle In And Out Of ketosis
Many people find that they can cycling through weeks of keto dieting interspersed with periods of low carb or regular eating.
This is a popular way of losing weight without being on the keto diet for long stretches of time.
By doing this, they are able to build in more flexibility about the types of foods they can eat.
If you have been on the keto diet for some time and are well adapted to fat -burning, then this could be an option for you.
It allows you to eat something off the keto food list from time to time.
You’ll need to be well fat-burning adapted first though, as you will be asking your body to switch between metabolic states.
It takes some practise before your body can do that easily.
So, spend at least a few weeks, or better still a month, on the regular keto diet before building in your carb days.
If you don’t do this, you may well find that you become tired and stressed on the days you switch back to keto.
For more information about keto cycling see keto cycle diet vs keto diet.
Ability To Discover Your Personal Carb Limit.
The ability to discover your personal carb limit will make the keto diet much more flexible and enjoyable for you.
The keto diet suggests that you eat 20g net carbs or less each day.
However, your personal limit for ketosis may be quite a bit more generous.
There are ways that you can discover your own carb limit and it is discussed in more detail here:
how to work out your own carb limit for ketosis
If you are very keto adapted and can switch to burning fat easily, you’ll be able to increase your daily carb allowance and still stay in ketosis.
This will make staying on the keto diet and therefore benefiting from it, a much easier goal to reach.
When you first start on the keto diet you will be able to achieve ketosis withing the first few days, and normally within the first week.
Once you’re in ketosis, you’ll know that you’re burning fat for fuel. It’s now that you’ll be feeling all the health benefits that the keto diet has to offer.
However, for the first few weeks, you won’t yet be fully fat adapted.
Your body will need a little extra time to completely adjust to this new way of finding the energy it needs.
This takes some time and work, but it is well worth the effort to get there.
Within six weeks, your body will have fully adjusted to metabolizing fats.
At this time, you’ll be benefiting from the fast weight loss and multiple health benefits of the keto diet.
Moreover, by being fully fat adapted on keto, you’ll be able to easily follow keto cycling.
Plus you’ll be able to work out your own carb limit while still staying in ketosis.
At this stage, you’ll be feeling the maximum level of benefits. You’ll be well on your way to meeting all your health and weight loss goals.
These articles may also interest you:
How to work out your own carb limit for ketosis
How long does it take to go into ketosis
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