How to get back into Ketosis fast
If you were in ketosis yesterday, but not so much today, I’m going to show you how to get back into ketosis in the fastest way possible. For whatever reason, something happened yesterday that caused you to slip up or you made a decision to “cheat” or you ate something you shouldn’t have and now you’re out of ketosis. Now what?
Ketosis Defined
First thing, let’s define exactly what ketosis is so there’s no guessing or assuming.
From WebMD:
“Ketosis is a normal metabolic process, something your body does to keep working. When it doesn’t have enough carbohydrates from food for your cells to burn for energy, it burns fat instead. As part of this process, it makes ketones.”
From Wikipedia:
“Not to be confused with Ketoacidosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state in which some of the body’s energy supply comes from ketone bodies in the blood, in contrast to a state of glycolysis in which blood glucose provides energy. Ketosis is a nutritional process characterized by serum concentrations of ketone bodies over 0.5 mM, with low and stable levels of insulin and blood glucose.”
Summarized, ketosis is when your body has ketone bodies available to use as a fuel source instead of sugar. So how do we do that quickly?
How to get back into Ketosis fast
Glycogen is stored in the muscles and the liver. Once you have a full tank so to speak, it begins to convert the sugar to fat. But we need the opposite thing here. We need to empty the tank so that we’re converting fat to ketones and using that as fuel instead. On average, that tank is about 400 grams in the muscle and 100 in the liver. When that’s depleted, we start making ketones.
There are three things you can do at this point to empty the tank. The simplest thing is to fast. But keep in mind, that can take a few days and it can have a high suck factor. Your next option is to immediately reduce sugar/carb consumption to somewhere under 25 grams. Even still we’re talking about at least two days to get this ketosis thing handled.
Two “hacks” for how to get back into ketosis fast
The first thing you need to do is use up that sugar you have stored. This is about 2000 calories.
Step one: Stop eating and find you’re BMR (base-metabolic-rate). This is how many calories you’ll burn in 24 hours if you just laid in bed all day long. Mine is about 1650.
What’s your BMR: https://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bmr
Step two: Additionally I want to do anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic means without oxygen, it is also more intense than aerobic and conveniently, burns the sugar first.
Step three: Do this anaerobic work first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. You’re already in a semi-fasted state at this point. You haven’t eaten in 5-8 hours, so you’re ahead of the game already.
So basically, the first “hack” is to train really hard on an empty stomach.
Step four: This is “hack” number two. Supplement. You want to make the transition back into ketosis quick and easy and you also want to spare muscle tissue.
“Hack” number two. Supplement.
MCT oil is a fuel source that either gets converted into ketones or moves on through the body. So start there, but if you really want to prime your ketogenic pump, try ingesting ketones. Exogenous ketones, specifically BHB (beta hydroxybutyrate) combined with MCT Oil is a perfect combo for getting back into ketosis fast. In fact, with this supplement, you can be in ketosis in between 45 and 90 minutes. Stack that with some HIIT training and you’re back in action in no time.
I had been supplementing with Keto//OS by Pruvit since March of 2016 and it has made a world of difference for me until I think due to the high sodium my blood pressure skyrocketed. So I don’t currently recommend it anymore. If you’re looking to reap the benefits of ketosis with supplemental ketones, try Purely Optimal BHB. This is what I’m currently taking in 2023.
Anaerobic Workout Ideas:
- Stair or Hill Sprints
- Burpees (any variation)
- Kettlebell Swings (or snatch… or cleans… or a combo or them)
- Tabata style intervals of push ups and deep knee bends
- Combine some of these (burpees and swings for example)
Benefits of being in ketosis:
- Focus: Reduced brain fog and increased awareness
- Energy: Fast and sustained energy from within
- Fat loss: Assists in abdominal fat loss
- Sleep: Wake up feeling recharged and fresh
- Strength: Increased strength & less inflammation
- Mood: Help regulate your ups and downs
Learn a lot of stuff about ketosis, Great blog, nice post, informative and well written.