If a keto way of life is something you wish to explore, it is vitally important that you prepare your body with a gradual reduction of carbohydrates as opposed to ‘going cold turkey.’ As much as you may be enthusiastic to want to get going, this can be a shock to the system, be unpleasant for you and impact the sustainability of longer-term compliance to what should not be referenced as a diet, but a new way of living.
Before we explore the importance of resetting the body, let’s take a look at how our bodies have slowly evolved to become so carbohydrate dependent. Prior to the advent of agriculture and farming, our ancestors went for long periods of time without food. The acts of hunting and gathering was an activity-based pre requisite to food provision. This was very different to what we have become accustomed to today with grocery isles filled with high carbohydrate (often processed) foods, pantry cupboards stocked with non perishable preservative-filled foodstuffs and fast food outlets able to offer us a quick carbohydrate fix when we become hangry! On the contrary, our ancestors lived according to feast and famine cycles going for longer periods without food in between bountiful periods of feasting. This way of life afforded our ancestors great metabolic flexibility and sustained health benefits.
The truth is that without probably realising it, we slam so many carbohydrates into our systems that over many generations our brains have become entirely reliant on glucose (often referred to as the grain brain!) We skip a meal and become cranky- searching the petrol station quick shop isles for an energy bar or soft drink to give us an instant energy fix. We have become locked in a pattern of carbohydrate dependency which is arguably the single most disastrous health consequence of modern day living. We are so reliant on regular feedings that we can’t skip a meal without falling apart.
The overarching goal of a ketogenic lifestyle is to escape the disastrous consequences of carbohydrate dependency and become fat and keto adapted. We want our bodies to become efficient at burning body fat and making ketones in the liver. But to get to this point, we need to respect that our bodies may be dependent on glucose and so we need to ‘humanely’ get off the glucose express train.
Made To Thrive’s consulting programme is designed to ensure that you are guided through a process for your body to become fat adapted before entering into full nutritional ketosis. The programme is a gradual process of ‘weaning’ you off carbohydrates in a ‘kind’ process that gives the body time to adapt to a new way of life- for the longer term. It is for this reason, that so many Made To Thrive clients have experienced sustained success with this approach as it is not a ‘crash diet’ but rather a revamp of the way you eat.
As I’ve previously shared, nutrition is just one of Made To Thrive’s 7 pillars to health and thriving. As such, our body reset programme revamps not only the way you eat, but also supports you holistically to transition to a life of lower stress (or stress management), more quality sleep and movement (with some play and fun!)
The Made To Thrive reset includes a 21 day reprogramming of your metabolism so that your body can move to burning fat as a primary source of fuel, rather than carbohydrates. During this time, you will remove sugars, grains and refined oils and replace these with nutrient-dense, high fat, whole foods.
The next phase is a fine-tuning phase of introducing intermittent fasting, before supporting you to transition to a 6 week period of full ketogenic eating. During this gradual process, you will learn how to achieve metabolic flexibility which is the inherent secret to longevity, improved performance and long-term weight control. Most importantly, this guided process is a gentle way for your body to become fat adapted and for you to experience the success of sustained keto living, enjoying the longer-term benefits of a new and vibrant lifestyle.
Book a consulting appointment to be guided through a keto reset programme, and receive support to experience the benefits of full nutritional ketosis.
If you are malnourished, anorexic, diabetic or take medication for blood pressure, consult your physician prior to commencing any keto regime.