This is an excellent question and the answer may well surprise you! The keto diet has taken the world by storm and skyrocketed in popularity over the past couple of years.
There are hundreds of videos for keto recipes online. There are many books on the topic… and suddenly you may see a whole bunch of fitness ‘gurus’ espousing the virtues of the keto diet. Yet, you do not really hear much about water fasting.
So, what is water fasting?
Water fasting is exactly what it says it is. You will not eat any food while fasting and only drink water. Unlike intermittent fasting, there is no eating window. In fact, there’s no eating at all!
How long a person may fast for will depend on the individual. Some go for 24 hours while others do 48 hours, and some go for up to 7 days or longer!
Once you’ve been fasting for about 20 hours or so, your body goes into ketosis. Your glycogen stores are depleted, and the body is converting fat into ketones for fuel. This is exactly the same state that the ketogenic diet aims to achieve.
Ketosis is what gets the fat burning. With the keto diet, you’ll have to watch your macronutrient intake and cut your carbs to below 50 grams and increase your fat intake to 75 or 80 percent. With water fasting, you do not need to do any such thing. You just fast. That makes water fasting much simpler.
Is water fasting safe?
Water fasting is very safe and is actually more beneficial than any diet on the planet. It “resets” your entire body and cleanses it better than any detox juice ever could. Do speak to your doctor before going on a water fast. People with diabetes may experience low blood sugar issues. So, it’s best to get advice from your doctor first.
Is water fasting more efficient?
You bet it is! The first 3 days of a water fast will be difficult. On the first day, you may have hunger pangs, food cravings, etc. On the second day, you’ll be more hungry and thinking about food every hour. On the third day, you may feel weak and lethargic.
However, most people report that on the 4th day, they suddenly experience abundant energy. Their metal clarity increases tremendously, and they can’t explain it. The body has gone into ketosis and is using a cleaner fuel source (ketones).
They noticed that their hunger disappeared too. Contrary to popular belief, you do not get hungrier as time goes on. In fact, your hunger pangs will subside because your body is burning fat for fuel and we all have ample stores of fat.
Weight loss on a water fast is awesome. You’ll lose a lot of water weight and fat too. Since you do not need to think about food preparation, your life will be easier.
Exercising on a water fast
Ideally, you should just stick to brisk walking during a water fast. Unlike a keto diet where you can start hard training once you’re keto adapted, with water fasting, your body is not getting any new fuel. It’s running on existing fuel. Taxing your body with hard exercise will raise your cortisol levels and impede fat loss. So, just stick to light exercise.
Do not try to rush the weight loss. Less is more and you’ll still lose a lot of weight because you’re not eating.
To conclude, water fasting is far more effective than the keto diet because it’s simpler to follow (not necessarily easier) and you’ll achieve more weight loss.
The downside is that you can only do a water fast for so long. So, use water fasting to cleanse your body and lose several pounds of fat quickly… THEN slowly transition to a keto diet that’s combined with intermittent fasting.
Ideally, you want to fast beyond 72 hours… and only resume eating when your body feels hungry. It may seem strange, but after fasting for a few days, your hunger will diminish till there is none left.
After about 7 to 10 days, people report feeling hungry again. This is real hunger and not the ‘mental hunger’ where we eat because we’re bored or out of habit. Water fasting will teach you how to differentiate between real hunger and hunger that arises from using food as therapy instead of fuel. Once you experience real hunger, this is the time to break your water fast.
Start with something light like fresh fruit juice, etc. Your stomach needs a few days to get used to solid foods again. It may take time to build up your ‘fasting muscle’. Start with fasts that last for 18 hours… then 20 hours. Move on to 24 and 36 hours.
Once you have a few fasts under your belt, aim for a 72-hour fast… and try to keep it going for as long as you can. If you can make it to the fourth day, you’ll probably keep fasting for several days after that.
You’ll be blown away by just how much weight you can lose in about 5 to 7 days. Give it a try and experience the wonders of water fasting.
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