There is no doubt. Since I found it, I prefer to spend most of my time in the state of nutritional ketosis.
Typically the exact ratio varies between the different seasons, but for the most part or at least what I did last year was around 70/30 during the summer and 85/15 during winter.
Make no mistake if I am able to keep it entirely ketogenic, I will most likely do it until the rest of my life, but there are 2 common side effects I always experience every time I stay high fat no carb for more than 2 to 3 weeks or month.
We all know the popularity gaining quotes such as:
“Nothing feels like Keto.”
But believe it or not when the side effects I talk about occur, keto does not feel the same anymore.
What I talk about:
1. Poor sleep quality.
2. Constipation.
Actually nothing feels the same and this has a detrimental impact on my ability to feel and perform at my best.
If experiencing the same or even similar side effects, than you might find the solution of your problem in the written paragraphs bellow.
Let’s also clear they are many different ways to threat both of them, but they don’t always work for everyone.
Believe it or not I tried all of the stuff, such as:
1. Drinking a lot of water.
2. Adding more magnesium to my diet.
3. Keeping the electrolyte balance checked.
4. Using fiber supplement.
5. Consuming lots of green leafy fibrous veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprout and others.
Truth to be told as long as for the first 3 of this list, I always make sure they are on point.
They are staple of my diet and lifestyle.
I always do everything I possibly can in order to avoid ending up dehydrated or sodium, magnesium and potassium deprived.
Due to a lot of personal experience and tons of researching, I definitely suggest you do the same.
Every day before bed I do up to 4 pills of magnesium and drink plenty of water during the day.
Often up to gallon and a half.
As long as for the last 2, I’ve tried them times, but they are simply not the right thing for me.
They don’t fix the problems. In fact it’s the totally opposite and they make things worse.
Their usage brings me some very unpleasant experiences such as: stomach pains, bloatedness and a specific feel similar to a terrible hangover.
So this appears to be the most important thing, that makes me avoid their consumption.
My body is simply not able to tolerate them well.
I do not try to say they do not work for many others, so please do not get me wrong.
On the other side there is another slightly less important reason.
I really do not like the way I feel after eating veggies and high fat meal, but if that was the solution, I would neglect my taste and eat it.
The quality of my sleep and the health of my colon are way important.
So what was the exact approach I took in order to fix my problem.
I started having some resistant starch on one or two days in row.
Yes. I just said that RS. I can ensure you they will not kill you.
Just incase this is your first time on this blog I would like to explain you the reason I am saying days is because I follow an OMAD aka One Meal A Day protocol on top of my diet.
I came up with this solution by a total accident.
After staying for almost two and a half years on my hacked version of the old school Meats and Eggs diet, during the beginning of 2016, I found the concept of safe starches.
I started experimenting with them and after figuring out which are the exact types my body considers as safe, I found that their consumption might be extremely beneficial when it comes to overcoming constipation and poor quality of sleep.
I also found that I do not need to eat them every week or even10 days as many others might think.
The moment when I feel need for more sleep is the one when I will use some carbs.
If I am going to eat them at all that will be only if I get constipated and/or do not enter the stage of REM sleep for more than 2 to 3 days.
But this not happens more than once or twice a month.
If you have similar situation and you search for a problem, I highly recommend you give the occasional usage of RS try.
After their digestion RS are converted into fatty called butyrate.
If you are already highly KETO adapted and you use some form of intermittent fasting on top of your diet you are going to switch back to ketosis a lot quicker, so no worries on this one.
I would like to point out, I do not use this as carb re-feed and I do not believe every one should do it.
Matter of fact Plenty of people do not suffer from the same exact side effects and many others find their solution in list of things I’ve mentioned above.
So this is not for everyone.
If you do OMAD as dinner, before you go to the bed than great.
The insulin spike from the carbs will help you enter the deepest phases of sleep so fast.
If you follow other types of IF like 8/16, I highly suggest you eat the carbs right before bed.
You want to spike insulin while you sleep that is the main reason for eating them.
I also found that if do this when I feel like there is an actual need, it fixes the problem at least for the next 15 days.
After their consumption I am able to maintain higher quality of sleep without spending more than 6 hours in bed.
I also experience zero difficulties when it comes to excrete everything on the next day.
The combination with pro-biotic supplement is extremely beneficial, but the product itself does not work that effectively when used alone without the RS.
Do not be afraid of gaining fat.
If you are lean and muscular individual your body will store the carbs in for of glycogen.
On the next day after 1 or 2 fasted training sessions you will switch back to fat burning mode.
As long as for the types of starches, it really depends on your personal preferences.
I use only white basmati rice, yams/ sweet potatoes, because those are the ones my body is able to tolerate.
You on your side have to figure out which are the types that may or may not work for you.
Typically all of the white rice, sweet /white potatoes and pumpkins are considered as safe, but my recommendation is to experiment and see for yourself.
The most important thing is to not feel attached to something, just because of “low carb” or “Keto”.
Trust me I figured this one out the hard way.
After close to 3 years on beef and eggs, I understood that if I really want to sleep for not more than 5 to 6 hour and eat only one meal per day, I will probably need some RS once in a while.
If something no longer work the same way like when you started it, make the needed adjustments in order fix things.
If the occasional use of some toxin free carbs is the solution of your problem, take advantage and fix it.
I hope that helps. Good luck.
Yours truly:
Peteonthebeat
