When does your insulin level drop enough after eating to allow body fat to be burned?

(Rich Teter) #1

Hello. I’m new to the forums. Thanks to everybody for all of the great info here. I’ve been on the keto lifestyle since the beginning of the month or about 3 weeks now. I don’t have diabetes, but my mother has type 2 and I want to get myself healthy to avoid the same.

From what I’ve read here and from the 2ketodudes podcast, I am interested in trying some short fasts to get started. I am wondering how long after eating does it take for your insulin level to come down enough to allow your body to start consuming your own fat cells for energy. In other words, how short of a fast is beneficial for weight loss? Do I need to fast for multiple days to see benefits?

(Full Metal KETO AF) #2

Personally I think you should not fast right off and first learn how to eat keto. Eating fat will help you get fat adapted and then you really start burning body fat and fasting is more effective. For now just focus on <20g carbs per day. Avoid snacks and if you’re comfortable try eating twice a day in an eight hour span, fast for sixteen hours. If that’s easy close your eating window smaller like six hours, eighteen hours fasting. Do lots of reading here to educate yourself about eating ketogenic. This will be a better way to start, good luck. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Rich Teter) #3

Thanks for the tips, David. How long until fat adapted, and how do you know when you are there?

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #4

I agree whole-heartedly with David. Learn how to eat keto, keep your carbs sub-20 grams per day, if you get hungry between meals eat more at meals. Stay hydrated and keep your electrolytes up. You will pass a lot more water than before and flush out lots of salts (and other crap) in the process. Unless there is something severely amiss, the ups and downs of insulin caused by eating fat and protein will not ‘knock you out of ketosis’. Some few people discover that they have to reduce carb intake even lower than 20 grams per day, but you will discover that in due course.

A lot of people report that fasting, intermittent and multiple days, helps them with weight loss. But it’s something I think you should delay until you can learn more about it so that you know how to gain the benefits and avoid the pitfalls. For the first few months it’s more important to get yourself comfortable eating keto reliably and eliminating any carb craving and/or addictions you may face.

The longer you remain consistently in ketosis the sooner your cells and organs will adapt to utilizing fatty acids and ketones for fuel. It can take up to several months, so don’t expect miracles. Just stay the course. You will be glad you did.

(Jane) #5

Everyone is different and it can be anywhere from 6 weeks to several months.

You will know when you can go for long periods w/o getting hungry.

(Scott) #6

It took me about three months to feel like “I got this”. I didn’t stress over it. When your mindset is to choose this way of eating from now on you have plenty of time to settle in. I haven’t tried fasting yet and may give it a go or may not.

(Windmill Tilter) #7

I don’t really know the answer to your question, but I do know that calorie restriction alone is enough to cause the body to consume it’s own body fat. Probably everybody here has had the experience of restricting calories, eating 3 carb laden meals a day, and burning bodyfat to fulfill energy requirements before they knew better.

This is basically what 99.9% of “diets” do, and it does indeed work. It’s harder to maintain, and drops metabolic rate over time, but you can absolutely eat 3 meals a day and still burn bodyfat. I’m not advocating this approach certainly, but my point is that you don’t need to fast for 48hrs in order to burn bodyfat regardless of whether or not you do keto.

I agree with @David_Stilley that the best approach is to just to do regular keto for a month or two, keeping carbs under 20g, eating to satiety, getting fat adapted, and then start experimenting with fasting if you are so inclined. Fasting definitely isn’t necessary to lower A1C or reduce bodyfat though.

(Troy) #8

For me, In the beginning , I made the user error mistake of IF because I was caught up in the craze🤪
I got Light headed, fogged up mind, and equilibrium like drunken stupor
Not good😓

Noticed after research , sodium somewhat helped

However, like others mentioned, I was NOT eating enough food

Good Luck

(Full Metal KETO AF) #9

The six plus weeks is when fat adaptation starts. It’s not like you go to bed one night and wake up fat adapted. Not a light switch so much as volume control. I hear from some that fat adaptation continues for maybe two years. You’re metabolism will be flexible but fully geared for ketosis as the norm. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Prancing Pony) #10

If I remember correctly 12 hours is the minimum on average to get to fat burning. The Obesity Code by Dr Fung has a lot of detail in it.