Drew Manning
Co-Founder of Complete Wellness
Founder of Fit2Fat2Fit
Since male and female bodies are created different, our approaches with Keto should NOT be the same. These are our biological differences that we have no control over!
In this article, I discuss the differences between men and women on keto and how they should approach keto for the best results.
Here’s the thing we need to understand about the Ketogenic Diet: it’s very bio individual. So even among men, there are different ways to do it, and among women there are different ways as well.
So just understand that each individual will have to tweak his or her diet throughout the process to make it work for them. But before you start tweaking your diet...
It’s really important to first become Keto adapted.
You will need to do strict Keto for the first 30 days before making major adjustments! Remember, your body is becoming more efficient at using this new fuel source, ketones, as its main energy source, and this process is going to take a while before your body is fully adapted.
Once you get adapted, then you can begin to make changes.
After becoming fat-adapted, I recommend individuals also practice intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting is very popular among the Keto community as it complements the benefits of Keto tremendously. In short, it aids in the production of ketones!
However, women typically don't do well over the long term with intermittent fasting and Keto. Due to their fluctuations in hormones throughout the month, they might need to actually increase their carbohydrate intake the week before their cycle starts. What I recommend for all women is to become adapted to the Ketogenic diet first and then cycle in and out of ketosis from time to time and more specifically try to add in small amounts of healthy carbs before your cycle.
I’m not talking about pizza, french fries, and soda...
I’m talking about healthy carbs like fruits, potatoes, and maybe a little bit of rice. Adding in those carbohydrates around nighttime could help balance out those hormones so women don’t have to experience any negative side effects from going Keto long term.
I’ve been able to help a lot of my female personal clients with this approach.
Men are much different. Since we don’t have those fluctuations in hormones each month it is much easier for us to stay on Keto long term without having to cycle off. But at the end of the day, what I recommend for both men and women is to...
Go ahead and get your hormones tested.
Getting your blood work done every few months is a great way to monitor how your body is changing. That way you will know, “Okay, maybe I need to switch things up. Maybe I need to do the cyclical Ketogenic diet or the targeted Ketogenic diet for a week or two and see how my body responds and adapts.”
We need to become our own experimentations so we know what’s best for us moving forward!
