Are Keto and Intermittent Fasting Bariatric Friendly?

December 7, 2020

It’s one of the hottest trends in 2020: Intermittent Fasting. Even Hotter is: Intermittent Fasting Coupled With a Ketogenic Diet. The question for our bariatric community is, Are Keto and Intermittent Fasting bariatric friendly? As a bariatric patient, do you need to come at this a bit differently? If so, what are the rules for us?

If you haven’t heard about Intermittent Fasting recently, then you have been hiding from social and mainstream media. Two years ago, it was “everything ketogenic.” One year ago, the intermittent fasting craze was upon us. Fast forward to today, and the biggest trend of 2020 is to combine intermittent fasting with a ketogenic lifestyle.

Have you tried Keto? Have you tried IF (Intermittent Fasting)? Are you interested in learning about Keto and IF? As a bariatric patient can you even follow this regimen? This is what I am going to dig into today!

Ketogenic - a Low Carb Lifestyle

What do you think about when you hear the word “Keto”? I stopped using this word because of people today associating “Keto” with gobs of fat and butter and bacon. Keto for me is and always will be a healthy way to eat a diet of whole, live, fresh, natural, good quality food.

It is not “keto-shakes” and “keto-packaged snacks.” It is not all fat-bombs and bacon. What people forget is that the state of ketosis does not come from the addition of fat. It comes from the restriction of carbohydrates. We do not need to eat dishes loaded with fat to have success with a ketogenic lifestyle.

Today I prefer to use the term “low carb lifestyle,” even when discussing a ketogenic lifestyle.

Intermittent Fasting & an "Eating Window"

What do you think about when you hear the word “Intermittent Fasting”? People believe that fasting is the same as “starving yourself.” What about breakfast? Isn’t that the most important meal of the day? The “Kelloggs” family would certainly like you to believe that. They have been brainwashing us for decades.

Intermittent Fasting for me means Eat - Stop - Eat. That’s it. Nothing complicated and nothing expensive to buy. No pills or powders or potions are involved. You Eat. You stop eating for some time. You eat again. That’s it.

What’s so CRRRRRAZY about closing your eating window at 8 pm, and not opening it again until noon the next day? In the morning (or fasting period), we can drink black coffee, black tea, herbal tea, or water.

At noon we break our fast with a beautiful meal that is high in healthy fat and protein and low in processed or refined carbohydrates. BAM - we are combining Keto and intermittent fasting.

Can somebody please explain to me how “crazy” this is? I mean, eating healthy food 8 hours a day and the other 16 hours we are sleeping, working, exercising, sipping on coffee and tea. Does that sound so crazy? It sounds quite balanced to me.

The best thing is that we can choose whatever hours we want to incorporate our intermittent fasting. We can eat breakfast at 8 am and close our eating window at 4 or 5 pm. We can fast for 12 hours a day and eat for 12 hours a day. We can eat just one meal a day (OMAD).

We can come at this any way we like. We can switch it up during the week and just do it 3 days a week. We can incorporate intermittent fasting only on weekends. You Do You Boo. You can structure this to fit into your lifestyle.

Keto and Intermittent Fasting for Bariatric Surgery Patients

“But I am a bariatric patient. Can I still follow this lifestyle”? YOU CAN!

But, if you recently had bariatric surgery, I am not going to recommend that you incorporate intermittent fasting into your life “yet.” You still have a lot of restriction, and you will need to be learning how to use your fantastic tool.

You'll be learning to:

This is not the time to incorporate intermittent fasting, BUT it is a great time to incorporate a low-carb or ketogenic lifestyle. This is a great starting point for developing excellent eating habits and choosing fresh food versus processed foods. It is the perfect time to learn about healthy fats and how to add them to your meals. It is the perfect time to learn how to create new, healthy, low-carb dishes for your whole family.

Re-Evaluate After the Honeymoon Phase

Let’s face it - TIME FLIES, and before you know it, the honeymoon phase of bariatric surgery will be over. That is the first year where we are floating on the pink cloud, and everything and anything we do causes weight loss to occur YIPPEE!!

But, the time comes where the weight loss will slow down again. It gets more challenging to lose that one to two pounds a week. Long stalls can occur.

We need to re-evaluate what our bodies need to continue losing weight. Have we:

Now it’s time to incorporate intermittent fasting into our lives. The bonus is that if we’ve become adapted to eating in a low-carb or ketogenic fashion, intermittent fasting is MUCH easier to follow. We are not constantly hungry because we are not eating processed foods and sugars. The Keto and Intermittent Fasting Journey becomes pleasant and not something that we are dreading. Our fasting period doesn’t seem as difficult as we expected it to be. Before we know it, the eating window has opened, and our first meal of the day is something we’ve put some thought and effort into.

I believe that we are true biochemical individuals, and one way is not necessarily the right way for everybody.

But if you’ve considered giving Keto and Intermittent Fasting a try, and are well into your journey as a bariatric patient, I encourage you to give it a go. You might just learn something new about yourself and your body in the process. This may make absolute sense to you. It may help you break your “grazing habit,” or it may help you take a better look at the foods you are consuming during your feeding period.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sheri Burke is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana & Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery patients for 10 years & provides nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric patients. Sheri is passionate about supporting patients so she created a VSG Blanket & a VSG Plush. Read more articles by Sheri!

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