Life After Keto: Can You Stop Keto and Maintain Weight Loss?

If you’re coming off a keto diet, you may be feeling a bit apprehensive about what the future holds for your weight. Will all those lost pounds come creeping back?

Heartburn on the Keto Diet – How to…

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Heartburn on the Keto Diet – How to get rid of it!

The answer to this question is not quite as straightforward as you might think.

Coming off keto needs to be done slowly and carefully, in order to avoid putting the weight back on.

In this blog post, we will discuss some tips for coming off keto successfully and maintaining your weight loss!

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What is Keto?

In a nutshell, the keto diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate way of eating that can help you lose weight and improve your overall health.

When you eat a keto diet, your body enters a state of ketosis, in which it burns fat for energy instead of carbohydrates.

This allows you to lose weight quickly and efficiently.

The keto diet has also been shown to have numerous other benefits, including improved mental clarity and decreased inflammation. I cover this topic in more depth in this post.

What Happens When You Stop Keto? – An Inside Look

When you come off keto, your body goes through a lot of changes.

First of all, your blood sugar levels will spike as your body starts to process carbohydrates again. This can cause fatigue, irritability, and headaches.

You may also find yourself craving sugary foods and feeling less satiated after meals.

Additionally, your body will start to produce more insulin, which can lead to weight gain if you do not transition at a slow enough pace. These effects are usually temporary and will subside after a few weeks.

With that said, let’s take a look at the best way to come off keto to minimize any undesirable side effects and maintain keto weight loss.

Here’s A 4-Step Guide To Come Off Keto And Maintain Keto Weight Loss

Step #1: Reintroduce Carbohydrates Slowly

So you’ve finally decided to come off keto after a long and carb-free journey, but now you’re wondering where to start. Well before you go crazy with the bread and pasta, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

First, coming off keto needs to be done gradually.

You can’t just quit cold-turkey and expect everything to go smoothly. Introduce carbs slowly and incrementally over time, so your body can adjust and you don’t end up gaining all the weight back quickly.

Step #2: Plan For A Well-Balanced Diet

Coming off keto is not just about adding carbs, but also about removing some of the other foods you were eating on keto. It’s about transitioning back to a more balanced diet.

This means you should begin considering other foods you plan to implement during your transition.

Consider adding leafy greens as these low-carb, nutrient-rich powerhouses are packed with vitamins and minerals, making them an essential part of any diet. Another food to add to your plate is fatty fish.

Fish like salmon and tuna are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to promote heart health and cognitive function.

And last but not least, don’t forget to include plenty of high-quality protein in your diet. Protein helps to keep you feeling full and satisfied, making it an important tool to maintain keto weight loss.

Step #3: Monitor Your Body’s Reaction

It’s important to give your body time to adjust. Coming off a keto diet can be a shock to the system, and you may experience some unwanted side effects like fatigue, headaches, and cravings.

Pay attention to how your body feels and monitor any changes in weight or energy levels during your transition.

If you feel good, then you can continue adding more carbs back into your diet progressively.

Step #4: Establish A Healthy Balanced Lifestyle

Transitioning back to a standard balanced diet after coming off keto means adopting an overall healthy lifestyle. It’s recommended to get active and develop a fitness schedule that you can adhere to every week.

This will help you stay on track and in control of your weight loss.

Make sure to consider your other life priorities when developing your plan. This will allow you to create a realistic workout schedule you can always rely on!

Avoiding Highly-Processed Carbs – Should You Eat Sugary Foods When You Come Off Keto?

When coming off keto, there’s one thing you should consider: you can’t go back to eating highly processed carbs like you did before.

That means being more disciplined when it comes to sugary drinks, processed snacks, white bread, and other foods with a high sugar content.

This is because avoiding highly processed carbs isn’t just a dietary restriction for people on keto; it’s actually recommended for everyone, regardless of their eating habits.

Here’s why:

1. Highly processed carbs are often high in sugar, which can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, and other health problems.

2. They’re also often low in fiber and important vitamins and minerals, which can lead to nutrient deficiencies.

3. Highly processed carbs can also contribute to gastrointestinal problems like constipation and diarrhea.

When you eat foods high in sugar, your body has to process it which requires energy. The processing of sugar also creates free radicals, which can damage cells and lead to inflammation.

Inflammation is linked to a whole host of health problems, including heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. And according to the Addiction Center, sugar is addictive and can lead to an overindulgence of sugary foods.

So if you’re trying to maintain keto weight loss, cutting out processed carbs is a good place to start.

Coming off keto may feel a bit daunting, but there’s no need to worry! As long as the transition is done slowly and progressively, it’s absolutely possible to avoid putting the weight back on.

Planning for your transition and adopting a healthy balanced lifestyle can further aid in a successful transition off of keto so you can maintain the keto weight loss you worked hard for. So fear not, my fellow ex-ketoers, there is hope for you yet!

If you would like help finding your Keto “Sweet Spot”, the Keto For life program is there for you. Combine the benefits of Keto with a balanced, sustainable lifestyle. Learn More

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Not sure how to start Keto? 

Here’s some resources to help you! 

• What is Keto?
• What Can I eat on Keto?
• How Much Should I Eat on Keto?
• What To Expect On Keto
• Ketogenic 21 Day Meal Plans
• Preparing for the Ketogenic Diet EBook
• Understanding Net Carbs and Total Carbs

How I Got Off of the Keto Diet Without Gaining Weight Back

• I lost 40 pounds in a year on the keto diet, but then I wanted to quit.
• To quit without gaining all of the weight back, I used “maintenance keto.” 
• Maintenance keto is a period when you increase your carbohydrate count and decrease fat consumption.

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When I started the keto diet, I was the heaviest I’d ever been.

By the end of the 12 months, I’d lost 40 pounds. Following the keto diet was easier than I expected, I ate foods I loved, and I always felt satiated. 

Weight loss was my initial goal, but after a year, I began to not recognize my body and lose my curves. My dilemma was that if I went off of keto, how would I not gain the weight back? 

So once my body was at a point where I felt healthy and strong, I consulted with nutritional experts to begin my version of “maintenance keto,” a transition out of following a strict keto diet when you gradually increase your carbohydrate count and decrease fat consumption.

Some choose to stay on keto-friendly foods but increase carbohydrates with green vegetables. Others decide to incorporate food outside of keto and stick to under 50 grams of carbs. Some use this period to transition into a fully balanced macro diet with no limitations. 

Although it worked for me, it’s important to note the keto diet is not ideal for everyone and can come with risks. These are the steps I took with my network of experts while listening to my body. It’s important to consult with your doctor before drastically changing your diet.

I used 6 months of maintenance to transition out of the diet and ensure I could healthily maintain weight  

I think because I was following clean keto — a version of the diet that focuses on supplying your macro fat count with mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like fish, avocado, and seeds — my transition was easier.  

Instead of living by convenient macro numbers that would drive up my fat intake, I listened to my body and balanced healthy fats with carbs from vegetable produce to help make up my daily food intake. 

In my first few months of keto maintenance, I began increasing my carbohydrate count.

On strict keto, my carbohydrate count was at 20 to 30 grams a day (mostly from green vegetables). For the first month of maintenance keto, I increased my carbohydrate intake to 45 to 50 grams daily while decreasing my fat intake to make up the difference. I kept my protein intake and menu of food items the same. 

I focused on eating more green vegetables while minimizing extra healthy fat additions to my meals. I still cooked with oils and ate fatty pieces of meat, but cut out fat bombs or extra avocado and nuts. 

For months two through four, I stuck with roughly 50 to 60 grams of carbohydrates a day. I also ventured into fruits and vegetables with heavier carbohydrate counts, like squash and carrots.  

On months five and six of maintenance, I stepped back from counting macros and began opening up my diet to more foods, including a little bit of dairy. I began following more of a paleo diet, which consists of meats, nuts, seeds, healthy oils, and produce (including most fruits and vegetables). 

On month six, I began having foods I ate before keto and saw how they interacted with my body.

For example, the first bite of a traditional milk-chocolate bar with cane sugar after a year and a half of no sugar tasted grossly sweet. I couldn’t believe I ate sugar for so long without seeing how incredibly sweet it was. My favorite food was always potatoes, but when I ate one after 18 months it initially tasted bland and my heart was broken. 

Month six was taking elements of keto, paleo, and my new preferences or aversions to food and making them my own. I also learned about what made me feel energized after eating or what made me feel bloated or tired.

Overall, maintenance keto worked for me and my lifestyle 

Even though I’m not currently on the keto diet or maintenance keto, I do visit these two eating lifestyles often.

Rachel Hosie/Insider

By going 12 months on keto, and six on maintenance keto, I lost 40 pounds and felt at peace and in love with the way I felt (body image aside). 

During months five and six, I gained a few pounds. But for the two years that followed, my weight generally stayed in the same 5-pound range. As someone who could fluctuate 5 pounds a day consistently, I couldn’t believe it.

My body, at that point, was exactly where it wanted to be. 

WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER KETO? — KETOPOWER.RU

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WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER KETO?

For those who are wondering: “what happens if I get off keto?”

Although this question usually becomes irrelevant for many reasons: on keto, your taste buds change so much that you naturally stop wanting to eat the way you used to. Many, having experienced ketosis and the sensations in it (lack of hunger, more energy, improved sleep, restoration of hormonal levels, etc.), prefer to stay in it for a long time.
But all of a sudden… Well, you need to know what’s in there? On the other side of keto…

First, what is ketosis and what is it for? Keto is a newly restored metabolic flexibility. In ketosis, you build up the necessary “tools” to effectively use fat as an additional source of energy – something that our body was originally programmed for and what we lose due to our high-carbohydrate and frequent eating. These are the new mitochondria in the cells. These are enzymes. Etc. It takes a while, but all these things don’t go away once you’re out of ketosis. It is lost only if you return to old habits for a long time.

The question is why do you need to stay in ketosis?
Let’s not talk about those who are being treated. In such cases, you need to stay in ketosis longer and, of course, under the supervision of a doctor (studies show that this can be done without harm for at least 5 years).

For the majority of those who read these lines, the goal is the same – to lose weight.
And then what? Do you think that you will return to your old habits? Hardly. You have 3 perspectives:

1) If you are still losing weight and are comfortable on keto, keep going until you reach your desired weight.
2) If you are losing weight and you have honestly been on strict keto for at least 2-3 months (without breakdowns and refeeds) and you are NOT comfortable, try something else, low-carb (NU), paleo, this also happens. Keto is not for everyone.
3) When you lose weight to the level you need, you can raise carbohydrates to 100-150g – you should find this bar for yourself. Some people are comfortable staying at 30g… some want more. Of course, there is no guarantee that you will stay in ketosis, but a low-carb diet is also very useful and for some it is much more comfortable. After fat adaptation, your insulin sensitivity will increase and this will allow you to comfortably consume this amount of carbohydrates without consequences. Remember that outside of ketosis, the brain requires about 100-150 g of glucose per day. This means that these carbohydrates will be used for their intended purpose, and not deposited in fat.

What should be avoided? If you decide you’re off keto, don’t add carbs on top of your usual amount of fat. This will lead to weight gain. If you’re adding carbs, cut back on fat. And preferably complex carbohydrates. Don’t fall back into old habits! Keep for yourself what you have gained in ketosis.

How to get out of ketosis?
Very simple – increase carbohydrates and goodbye ketosis. And no, leaving quickly is not harmful.

Many will be able to simply smoothly transition from periods in ketosis to periods on NU and back. And that’s okay! There are no rules for the duration of these periods. This is how our ancestors lived – they either starved or feasted and did not always eat only fat. Vacations, holidays, weekends – all this has a place to be, but after adaptation! You will not count calories and bju. You will listen to yourself: do I want to eat? If not, then I’ll starve. If so, what do I want the most? Fatty meat? Vegetables? Fruit? Ice cream? ? Nothing will happen to you if you eat it. But the most important thing is that you relax. And your body won’t perceive the diet as a stressor (if you perceive keto nutrition as such). Well, you will find a myriad of positive things that come from lowered cortisol levels. You will stop constantly thinking about food and start living!

The ketogenic diet allows you to reclaim a long forgotten tool for dietary flexibility. I would recommend staying in ketosis a couple of times a year, at least for a couple of weeks. To keep everything that you “built up” for the first time in optimal condition. But this is just my opinion and it is not scientifically substantiated.

Zozhnik | How to Recover from a Keto Diet

Written by Jason Helmes. He is the creator of anymanfitness.com, former math teacher, successful online coach, and writer for Men’s Health, Bodybuilding. com, GQ, and more. Despite the graphomaniac gaiety of presentation, Jason adheres to a scientific approach. We pass the floor to the author.

What is keto and how does it work

The ketogenic diet (very high fat, low protein and low carbohydrates) was developed in the 1920s to help children suffering from epileptic seizures.

Usually we get energy from carbohydrates, but when they are excluded from the diet, the body is forced to use another source – fat (from food). When the body begins to burn the ingested fats for fuel, it enters a state of “ketosis”. Doctors have found that when you are in ketosis, the frequency (and intensity) of epileptic seizures is significantly reduced – in some cases, even by 50%. Also, researchers of antiquity observed one side effect: weight loss. Fast forward almost a hundred years. Today, we are told from everywhere that the key to a long, healthy and happy life is to avoid carbohydrates (i.e., in perpetual ketosis).

Calorie Denial

Many followers of the keto diet say this the most: you don’t have to count calories on the miracle diet. The weight disappears magically. Eat anything (if you don’t want carbohydrates, of course), you’ll still lose weight. Your body will turn into a fat burning plant, all fat will burn as fuel. Who would refuse?

However, not everything is so easy and simple. The main mistake keto dieters make is not looking into the sources of fuel fat – yes, in ketosis, the body burns fat, but mostly from food. And not the wealth accumulated under the skin. The only way to force the body to open up reserves is a calorie deficit. With or without carbs.

There are a couple of other keto issues.

Problem 1: No-Carb Partying

To stay in ketosis, you can allow yourself up to 20-30 grams of carbs per day. For example, a medium-sized apple contains about 25. Thus, you will have to forget about apples, not to mention wine, kvass, bananas, bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, etc. and so on. Have you tried to visit any festival and find exclusively carbohydrate-free treats there? From now on, you can calmly hang out only at events organized by diet brothers.

Problem 2: unhealthy obesity

Although fats are not as harmful as nutritionists in the 90s claimed, their amount in the diet is still better to control. In the keto diet, it is proposed to bring the fat share to 70%. If, for example, the maintenance diet of an ordinary person contains 2000 calories and 44-78 grams of fat, then the Ketil diet (at the same calorie) already includes 155 grams of fat. The levels of lipids in ketofans are on average increased by 60%, cholesterol – by 30%.

Of course, the situation can be slightly improved by reducing the amount of saturated fat, but still such an increase is far from optimal for health.

Issue 3: Difficulty in staying

Even the most dedicated keto fans find it difficult to stick to keto in the long run. It is possible to hold out for several weeks or even months, but then … is it really no longer possible to taste carbohydrates? Never ever? The complete elimination of one of the three macronutrients is not very characteristic of a reasonable, healthy, long-term diet. This is usually the fault of fashionable and harmful blitzkriegs. “Throw away such and such a product (or a whole group) – you will lose weight in a matter of hours!” – this is the standard slogan of an unhealthy one-day diet.

Problem 4: The Keto Flu

When the body becomes “fat-burning”, many people experience keto sickness, the symptoms of which include drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, muscle pain, and irritability. If you courageously hold on and force the body to adapt further, then in a week these manifestations disappear. Recall, however, that 20-30 grams is your carbohydrate ceiling; one has only to go over a little, and you fly out of ketosis. Then, with agony, you get into it again and suffer from the keto flu again. This is how regularly broken keto proteins run in the wheel of disgusting well-being. Thanks to the simplest and most useful diet.

Why do they like keto so much?

Yes, although all of the above cons are not fiction, the keto idea is very attractive – on paper (now mostly on the screen):

• Lightweight – no need to count calories
• Simplicity – just turn down the heat

And yes, on the very first days of ketosis, the weight actually comes off. Although this does not mean at all that it is fat that burns, for someone the numbers on the scales are the main indicator of success.

A bit of mathematics to expose the trick:

1. Most people today follow a “civilized” (sarcasm) diet
2. We can safely assume that at least 300 grams of carbohydrates are gained daily, and someone has more than
3. Each carbongram retains about 3 grams of water
4. 300 grams of carbohydrates X 3 = 900 grams of water

Thus, ketone beginners lose almost a kilogram a day due to the lack of carbohydrates.
This motivates them incredibly (but falsely), which is why many people say: “Only keto worked for me, everything else did not help.” After the initial drain of the fluid, weight loss slows down dramatically. Further weight can be lost only – guessed it? – on a calorie deficit . Since most keto worshipers deny the calorie heresy and eat out of control, they can’t go any further. After a few weeks, they get frustrated, break down, eat sugar by the spoonful, and then go back on a simple and healthy keto diet. And so on through the cycle.

How to cure keto diet?

For true healing, it is desirable to meet several criteria. Check if you are ready to return to the dark side (we have cookies left)?

Criterion 1: after trying keto, you somehow didn’t like it

You believed the rumors about the trendy miracle diet, sat on it for a while and realized that such restrictions were not for you. Not a necessary condition, but it helps a lot to quit, because doubts about magic and universality have already arisen. Maybe everyone around you continues to praise it, but you do not want to continue to suffer without carbohydrates.

Criterion 2: you are able to believe in Almighty Calorie

In general, you know, it is strange that we are no longer schoolchildren and are familiar with the law of conservation of energy, but we still believe that it can appear from nowhere and disappear into nowhere. To renounce keto, it is necessary to recognize that:

1. in food calories (energy),
2. excess calories that we have not used up are stored (including in our wonderful fat reserves),
3. to reduce stocks will have to temporarily limit the flow of energy (sit on the deficit).

Seemingly basic things, but it is amazing how many adults do not recognize this.

Criterion 3: You are ready to faithfully count macronutrients for a whole month

Why so long? Yes, because with the return of carbohydrates to your own plate, you will collect some water. Be sure that it is not fat that is immediately deposited in the vacated warehouses, but the fluid balance is restored. By continuing to monitor all macronutrients over the following weeks, you will notice that weight gain has stopped and even – if the deficit is maintained – decrease has begun. A month is enough for the process to go as it should: you will begin to feel better, train more energetically, lose kilograms and centimeters.