Keto For The 9-5 Worker: Energy, Focus, And Productivity

The keto diet is a high-fat, low-carb eating plan that can be challenging to stick to, especially for those with a physically demanding job. To ensure you're getting enough fuel to power through your workday, it's crucial to understand which foods to eat and which to avoid. Carbohydrates should be limited, with a daily intake of 20-40 grams, while protein intake should be moderate as excessive protein can take your body out of ketosis. The keto diet emphasizes increasing healthy fats, which should make up about 60% of your daily calories. Additionally, staying hydrated and maintaining adequate electrolyte levels are essential to combat the keto flu, a term for the adjustment period when starting the diet.

Plan meals ahead of time to avoid slipping up

Planning meals ahead of time is crucial for sticking to the keto diet and avoiding slip-ups. Here are some tips to help you plan your meals effectively:

Determine Your Macros and Calorie Needs

Before starting the keto diet, it's important to understand your macronutrient needs, including the amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrates you should be consuming. Use online calculators or consult a dietitian to determine your ideal macros and calorie intake. This will help you create meal plans that align with your keto goals.

Stock Up on Keto-Friendly Foods

Fill your pantry and fridge with keto-friendly foods. Some staple foods to consider include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, natural fats like butter and olive oil, leafy greens, and other low-carb vegetables. Having these foods readily available will make meal preparation easier.

Plan Your Meals in Advance

Meal planning is essential for staying on track with the keto diet. Dedicate some time each week to plan your meals for the upcoming days. Decide on breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, ensuring that they fit within your macros and calorie goals. This way, you'll always know what to eat and won't be caught off guard.

Batch Cook and Prep Your Meals

Consider batch cooking your meals ahead of time. Prepare large batches of keto-friendly dishes on weekends or whenever you have free time. Portion them into containers and store them in the fridge or freezer for quick and easy meals throughout the week. This will save you time and help you stick to your diet.

Be Creative with Recipes

The keto diet doesn't have to be boring. Explore keto-friendly recipes online or in cookbooks. Experiment with different ingredients and cooking methods to create tasty and varied meals. There are plenty of resources available to help you discover new and exciting keto-friendly dishes.

Stay Organized with Meal Tracking Apps

Utilize meal tracking apps or food journals to record your meals and stay organized. These tools can help you track your macros, calories, and progress over time. They also allow you to save your favorite recipes and discover new ones, making meal planning easier.

Remember, planning your meals ahead of time gives you control over your diet and helps you stay committed to your keto goals. It ensures that you always have delicious and nutritious keto-friendly options available, reducing the temptation to slip up.

Avoid high-intensity workouts as these are fuelled by carbohydrates

The ketogenic diet is a very low-carb, high-fat, and moderate-protein diet. It involves drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.

High-intensity workouts are fuelled by carbohydrates, which are the body's main source of energy. Carbohydrates are stored in the muscle cells as muscle glycogen, which becomes an immediate fuel source for the body during high-intensity exercise.

On the keto diet, your body burns fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. As a fuel source, fat is not as easily burned as carbohydrates, making the process less efficient. Therefore, the keto diet tends to limit performance during high-intensity workouts.

To avoid this, you can try a regular low-carb diet for the first few weeks to allow your body to adjust to burning more fat before completely eliminating carbs. You can also try incorporating more low-intensity, steady-state activities into your workout routine, such as jogging, biking, rowing, or yoga. These types of exercises are better suited to the keto diet as they don't rely on short bursts of energy.

Additionally, make sure to eat enough calories and protein to support your workouts. The keto diet can be low in calories, which could impact your energy levels and make it harder to build muscle mass.

Expect to experience keto flu as your body adjusts

The keto flu is a collection of symptoms that some people experience when they start a ketogenic diet. This happens because the body is adapting to a new diet consisting of very few carbohydrates. The symptoms can include:

• Headaches
• Foggy brain
• Fatigue
• Irritability
• Nausea
• Difficulty sleeping
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Stomach or intestinal pain
• Sugar cravings
• Cramping
• Muscle soreness
• Poor focus and concentration

The keto flu can start within the first few days of cutting back on carbs and can last for several days or up to a month. However, it's important to note that not everyone will experience the keto flu. Some people are naturally "metabolically flexible", meaning they can shift metabolic states easily without these symptoms.

If you do experience the keto flu, there are several ways to reduce the symptoms:

• Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and prevent dehydration.
• Avoid strenuous exercise and opt for light activities like walking, yoga, or leisurely biking.
• Replace electrolytes by salting your food and including potassium-rich, keto-friendly foods like leafy greens and avocados.
• Get enough sleep and cut down on caffeine, especially before bed.
• Eat enough fat, the primary fuel source on the ketogenic diet, to reduce cravings and keep you feeling satisfied.
• If necessary, cut out carbs gradually instead of all at once.

Be wary of micronutrient deficiencies and loose skin

Micronutrient deficiencies and loose skin are two potential side effects of the keto diet. Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals, which play crucial roles in the body's daily functions. A ketogenic diet restricts carbohydrate intake, which means that many micronutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes are consumed in smaller amounts. As a result, studies have found that the keto diet provides sub-optimal levels of many micronutrients.

The following are important micronutrients to focus on when on a ketogenic diet, as deficiencies could have adverse effects on your health:

• Vitamin B1 (Thiamin): Found in salmon, liver, beef, mussels, nutritional yeast, pork, and trout. Thiamin deficiency can lead to serious health problems such as beriberi and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which affect breathing, eye movements, heart function, alertness, and mental decline.
• Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid): Found in salmon, liver, eggs, chicken, turkey, trout, and sunflower seeds. While clinical Pantothenic acid deficiency is rare, it can adversely affect most body systems.
• Vitamin B9 (Folate): Found in liver, asparagus, okra, spinach, collard greens, turnip greens, and broccoli. Folate deficiency is one of the most common vitamin deficiencies and is linked to increased cancer risk, neurological disorders, fatigue, weakness, and irritability.
• Vitamin B7 (Biotin): Found in beef liver, eggs, and salmon. Biotin deficiency is rare but can cause neurological symptoms such as lethargy, paresthesia, hypotonia, depression, hallucinations, and red, scaly dermatitis.
• Vitamin D: Found in cod liver oil, swordfish, salmon, tuna, yogurt, sardines, liver, egg yolk, and cheese. Vitamin D is critical for bone health and muscle contraction, nerve conduction, and other cellular functions. Deficiency can cause rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, both of which are characterized by improper bone development.
• Vitamin E: Found in wheat germ oil, dry roasted sunflower seeds, dry roasted almonds, sunflower oil, safflower oil, hazelnuts, peanut butter, spinach, and broccoli. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that protects against the harmful effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Deficiency is rare but can cause skeletal muscle pain, weakness, anemia, and degenerative neurological problems.

In addition to the above vitamins, it is also important to ensure adequate intake of minerals like calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and sodium.

To avoid micronutrient deficiencies on a ketogenic diet, consider taking supplements or focus on specific vitamin-rich foods. Animal-based sources that are low in oxalates, such as sardines, clams, oysters, turnip greens, and broccoli, are good sources of calcium.

As for loose skin, this is a common after-effect of losing weight, regardless of the diet. When you lose weight, your skin may become loose as it had previously been stretched to accommodate the extra weight. Loose skin from moderate weight loss will usually retract over time, and you can aid the process by using remedies such as castor oil and coconut oil. Additionally, supplementing your diet with physical activity such as yoga can help reduce the extent of loose skin.

The keto diet may also be beneficial in this regard, as it has been shown to augment autophagy, a process where old cells are replaced by new ones, which can help prevent the skin from sagging.

Combine keto with intermittent fasting to speed up weight loss

Combining Keto with Intermittent Fasting to Speed Up Weight Loss

The ketogenic diet, or keto, is a very low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein diet. It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.

Intermittent fasting, or IF, is an eating pattern that involves cycling between periods of eating and fasting. There are several ways to do this, including the popular 16/8 method, where you eat within an eight-hour window and fast for the remaining 16 hours of the day.

Combining keto with intermittent fasting can be a powerful strategy for increasing weight loss and overcoming a weight loss plateau. Here's how:

Reach Ketosis Faster

Intermittent fasting can help your body reach ketosis quicker. When fasting, your body shifts its fuel source from carbs to fats, which is the basis of the keto diet. Insulin levels and glycogen stores decrease during fasting, leading your body to start burning fat for fuel.

Increase Fat Loss

Combining keto with intermittent fasting may help you burn more body fat. Intermittent fasting boosts metabolism by promoting thermogenesis, or heat production, which can help utilize stubborn fat stores. Studies have shown that intermittent fasting can lead to significant fat loss, even when compared to very low-calorie diets.

Preserve Muscle Mass

Intermittent fasting may help preserve muscle mass during weight loss. A systematic review found that intermittent fasting paired with resistance training maintained lean body mass while reducing body fat. Additionally, intermittent fasting can improve energy levels, which is beneficial for keto dieters looking to improve athletic performance.

Reduce Appetite

Fasting on keto can decrease your appetite. This can help with weight loss by reducing overall calorie intake. It also improves metabolic flexibility, meaning your body can easily switch between burning sugar (glucose) and ketones (from fat) depending on the available energy source.

Improve Mental Clarity and Brain Health

Sticking to a keto diet, especially when combined with intermittent fasting, may improve mental clarity and brain health. Ketosis provides a consistent fuel source for the brain, resulting in better mental performance. Studies have shown that a low-carb diet can lead to cognitive improvements, especially in older individuals with mild cognitive impairment.

Potential Risks

Combining keto with intermittent fasting may not be suitable for everyone. It is crucial to consult a healthcare professional before starting this restrictive diet plan, especially if you have a medical condition, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a history of disordered eating.

Additionally, combining these approaches may lead to micronutrient deficiencies or electrolyte imbalances if not done correctly. It is important to prioritize nutrient-dense foods during your eating window and ensure you are consuming a varied and well-rounded keto diet.

Sample Meal Plan

9:00 am – Omelet with cheddar cheese and mushrooms, black coffee

1:00 pm – Avocado salad and a keto-friendly protein shake

5:00 pm – Air fryer chicken wings with broccoli and cheese

9:00 am – Coconut and almond flour pancakes, black coffee

1:00 pm – Ground beef and cabbage, sugar-free lemonade

5:00 pm – Tuna patties, avocado slices or berries, and cauliflower florets

9:00 am – Breakfast casserole (Italian sausage, cheese, broccoli, heavy cream, and spices), black coffee

1:00 pm – Pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, keto-friendly smoothie

5:00 pm – Salmon with garlic and butter sauce

Frequently asked questions