Video | Ketones | Continue Losing Weight | Maintain Weight

Most of us have changed our diets at one time or another. Over the past years, the ketogenic diet has risen in popularity because it works for fat loss, produces energy-rich ketones, and offers many enjoyable and easy-to-prepare food choices. 

But a keto diet cuts out some fun foods, like certain fruits, potatoes, and bread, and special treats like birthday cake. This leads many people to ask, “Can I ever go back to eating carbs?” This blog post explores when it is right and not right to step back from your keto diet. 

Must I Be Keto Forever? (aka Can I Start Eating Carbs Again?) [Video]

In this video, you’ll learn…

• Which health goals require more effort and which require less effort.
• The effect blood sugar has on weight loss.
• Helpful boundaries to follow when moving from keto to maintenance.

What is Your Goal?

If you started a keto diet, something specific attracted you, whether that was the health benefits of ketones, blood sugar regulation, or weight loss. That goal you initially set will affect the answer to the question we are exploring: Must I be keto forever?

Goal #1: Ketones 

One of the things that we’ve lost sight of is the healing benefits of ketones. 

Doctors Stephen Phinney and Dom D’agostino are two influencers who helped the public appreciate the health benefits of ketones for both the body and the brain.

The term keto-genic means “ketone-making.” 

Even if you reduce your carb intake, if you do not do so to the extent that your body is making ketones, then you are not technically following a keto diet. Instead, you’re eating a low-carb diet. 

That may be fine for you, as I will talk about in a moment. But you will be missing out on the additional benefits of ketones, which include enhanced fat-burning and appetite satiety, sustained energy, mental clarity, and a host of neuroprotective benefits. 

Must I Be Keto Forever? Yes

So, if you want the healing benefits of ketones, the answer to the question, “Must I stay keto,” is yes. 

To stay in ketosis, where your body is making ketones, you need to keep dietary carbohydrates very low. The way to know for sure if you are producing ketones is to pick up a glucometer online or at your local pharmacy, buy some ketone strips, and test a finger prick of blood. 

Your body will only make ketones if carbohydrates are deficient. You can do things to deplete carbs, namely intermittent fasting and exercise. But, limiting dietary carbs has to play a role because carbs are easy energy for your body. When you eat them, your body takes in the easy energy and burns it. 

If the carbs are not there, your body knows that it still needs energy, so it breaks down stored fat and turns it into energy-rich ketones. 

That is an important point for many people interested in a keto diet. Your body makes ketones from fat metabolism, so if you are making ketones, you are burning fat. 

However, ketones are not the only path to fat loss. Fat will be released when you eat in a way that keeps the fat-storing hormone low. 

The fat-storing hormone is insulin, which tends to follow blood sugar, meaning when your blood sugar is low, insulin is low. So, let’s say your goal is to continue controlling your blood sugar or continue losing weight. Do you need to stay keto? 

Goal # 2: Continue Losing Weight (Control Blood Sugar)

This answer is a bit more nuanced and depends on your genetics, metabolism, and your sense of self-control. 

While it is a bit simplified of a definition, when blood sugar is low, the fat-storing hormone insulin is low, allowing fat burning to take place. Diet, fasting, and exercise are all ways to lower blood sugar. So, the questions become, how many carbs can you eat, how long must you fast, and which exercise will work best? The answers depend on your body. 

Here again, monitoring adds clarity. You can use a glucometer with glucose strips or a CGM to monitor your blood sugar. 

A CGM is a continuous glucose monitor. The small device attaches to your arm, providing continual blood glucose (sugar) readings. As I mentioned in the video at the start of this blog post, Levels is a company that allows people without diabetes to get this blood sugar monitoring tool. 

Whether you monitor your blood sugar or not, if your goal is to continue to lose weight, you want to be clear on how many carbohydrates you eat daily and track your weight. 

Must I Be Keto Forever? Maybe

Some people will find that they need to continue eating a keto diet to continue losing weight. But others will notice that they do not need to limit carbs as strictly to get results. However, this is where the self-control check comes into play. 

It is possible to eat too many calories and stall weight loss on a keto diet.

Also, if you are losing weight and progressing toward a lower HbA1c reading, it is good to ask yourself, “How important is it to keep my momentum going?”

You’ve got the ball rolling. Even though there will be not-so-fun days ahead, it is easier to keep that ball rolling than to let it stop and have to muster up that momentum again. 

Another question to consider is, “How slippery is the slope?” Carbohydrates are addictive foods, especially refined and processed carbs, like the three C’s: cookies, cakes, and candies. The longer you are away from these foods, the less desire you have for them, but you have to get there, and that takes time. 

No one knows you better than you. If you add more carbohydrates to your diet, will you be able to stay on track? If you are unsure or are worried that eating a refined carb treat will trigger cravings, remember the saying, none is easier than some, and hold off until the weight is off. That brings us to maintenance. 

Goal # 3: Maintain Weight Loss

The ultimate goal of healthy living is to create a way of eating and moving that is easy to follow, enjoyable, and effective. When you get The 3 E’s in place, there is no reason or desire to go back to your old habits. That is the science and art of weight control.

It’s much like planning for retirement. You work and save, but you also need to plan vacations and fun along the way. That word, plan, is important.

Must I Be Keto Forever? No

If you have reached your goal and are not in it for the ketones, must you stay keto? No. But you still need boundaries and planning. 

Boundaries are needed because while you might look at excess body fat as a problem, your body looks at it as an asset. To your body, fat is available energy that you carry with you.

So, it is seen as a great thing because when food is not available, survival is not a problem. However, today, a lack of food availability is not as widespread of an issue. On top of that, high-carb processed foods are highly palatable, stimulating hunger rather than satisfying it.

Here are some basics and boundaries for moving away from keto once you’ve reached your goal. 

1. Know that you don’t have to stop eating a keto diet. You can increase your calorie intake and stay keto. The number of calories you can add depends on your activity level and other factors. Start with a hundred-calorie increase and go up from there as you monitor your weight.  

2. Leave the processed carbs at the grocery store. Don’t go down the cereal aisle, don’t go down the chip aisle, ignore the end caps with the sugary treats. It is easier to resist the temptation at the store than at home. 

3. If you increase carbs, choose one whole food per day; for example, one starchy vegetable, whole grain, or fruit. This might sound discouraging if you’re not at maintenance yet, but carbs add up fast. 

One small baked potato has about 30 grams of carbohydrate. It is the same for one bowl of oatmeal or one banana. Adding one of these foods to your daily diet may work for your maintenance plan, but having two or three of them per day might not. 

4. Make high-carb, refined treats special, not ordinary. Foods like birthday cake or mom’s famous potato salad can be enjoyed when they are reserved for special occasions. Make that your boundary. Put another way, know what a special treat is for you and have a plan for when you’ll eat it; don’t just eat treats because they are there. 

Takeaway

There is no cookie-cutter diet that is right for everyone. However, regardless of the diet you choose, it will take time to get results. Every once in a while, you want to step back and take a look at how things are going. To do this, know your typical carbohydrate intake, monitor your weight, and consider measuring your ketone and blood sugar levels.  

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week!

About the Author

Becky Gillaspy, DC, is the author of The Intermittent Fasting Guide and Cookbook and Zero Sugar / One Month. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with research honors from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1991.