If you’ve made the decision to switch to a ketogenic diet, you should know that the transition from burning sugar to burning fat doesn’t happen overnight.
There are four distinct phases, the duration of each phase depends on your own personal genetics, metabolism, your current “baseline” diet, and the magnitude of the change being made.
I made this switch twice — the first time (unsuccessfully) in 1999, and a second trial (successfully) in 2015.
In my first attempt, I was very unhealthy, eating a low-fat/high-carb diet, and quite honestly, had no idea what I was dong. In my defence, the internet was at its infancy at the time, there was very limited information on the topic, and I got all my diet advice from Oprah.
My second attempt went a lot smoother. I started from a much more balanced diet, stopped watching Oprah, and had access to wider diversity of information. I now know exactly where I went wrong in 1999, and see many people make exactly the same mistakes.
So if you decide to take on this challenge, here are four phases you can expect to go through on your journey …
PHASE 1: WITHDRAWAL (1 – 4 WEEKS)
When you first make the switch from burning glucose to using fat for fuel, you can expect your body (and mind) to put up a big fight.
Once you stop eating carbohydrates, your body goes through withdrawal, exhibiting symptoms on par with any other drug addiction. You will feel tired, irritable and hungry, as your body and mind conspire against you to top up your blood sugar.
If you can resist the temptation and stick to your low-carb limit, ketone production should begin within a few days, but withdrawal symptoms will likely linger for a few weeks.
PHASE 2: INDUCTION (1 – 3 MONTHS)
After several weeks of ketone production, your glycogen levels are now consistently low, enabling a more steady production of ketones. You now start to get accustomed to using fat for energy.
You should now start to see changes in body composition, recovery in your gut bacteria, and a drop in inflammation. You should feel better at this point, and that should encourage you to keep going.
PHASE 3: ADAPTATION (3 – 6 MONTHS)
After a few months of ketone production, your low-carb “diet” now becomes a low-carb “lifestyle”, and you’ve hopefully settled into a new routine.
Note that the ketogenic diet isn’t a “diet” — it’s a metabolic shift, and it takes your body a few months to make that transition. At this stage, your body is now fat-adapted, enabling it to use fat for fuel without hesitation.
PHASE 4: PROFICIENCY (6+ MONTHS)
Becoming proficient in producing ketones is the ultimate goal. Your body now a dual burning engine, running on glucose if/when available, and shifting into ketosis when fasting or running low on carbs.
It means you never “hit the wall” and run out of glycogen stores. It means you now have control over your weight, likely for the first time ever, just by controlling your carb intake. Not dieting, not endlessly running on the treadmill, but rather, by manipulating your daily macros. Switch from sugar-burn to fat-burn, in an instant, without question.
So if you’re ready to embark on this journey, the next question is how to begin. And that takes us to the next post in this series …