Why Keto + Fasting Didn’t Work for You

I have a client who just started with me whose main goal is to lose weight. It’s something I hear a lot, and I totally get it, we all deserve to feel confident and comfortable in our bodies. She came to me telling me she’s tried it all … from cleanses to crash diets and her latest thing was keto and intermittent fasting with her husband. In a few short weeks, her husband was already down 7 pounds, but her weight hasn’t budged.

Keto diets can be disheartening for women, especially when they see their male friends and partners shedding pounds really easily. I have had my fair share with all the diets out there too and I tried to lose weight with a keto several years ago. It simply didn’t work for me, unlike so many men out there who manage to quickly lose several pounds in a matter of weeks.

WHY?

HORMONES.

Most people think that a low-carb high-fat diet leads to weight loss just because eating fewer carbs reduces insulin levels and burns fat. However, the keto diet doesn’t work for women. Plain and simple. Especially long term.

If you starve your body of carbohydrates for an extended period of time, you may lose weight, but unfortunately, this may cause additional problems, including disruption to hormone levels such as thyroid (which slows metabolism), cortisol and estrogen levels.

Men are just different biologically and hormonally. They have more testosterone and more muscle mass so they naturally burn calories faster than women. Keto actually boosts testosterone in men so their metabolism becomes even MORE efficient. They also have different glucose distribution which makes the diet more effective for them.

Women on the other hand have more estrogen than men which puts them at a metabolic disadvantage to men. As women, we have to first be able to CLEAR the estrogen and keep our detox pathways open in order to be able to lose weight. Recirculating estrogen levels make it really hard to effectively lose weight. So the next questions become:

Are you detoxifying regularly?

And are your hormones that maintain metabolism balanced?

When it comes to detoxification, are you regularly going to the bathroom? Are you getting enough fiber?

Only 14% of American women are getting enough fiber and it’s a prebiotic fiber that allows us to detox (aka poop) and removes any excess estrogens. When estrogen is too high in relation to progesterone, it is seen clinically as a culprit in expanding abdominal fat mass.

As for thyroid hormones, they control how we burn calories and keep our metabolism from getting too sluggish. Thyroid hormones get out of balance as we get older. From there, weight gain is a result of an underactive thyroid, as well as weakness and fatigue. If we’re depriving our bodies of carbs for too long, it puts too much stress on the thyroid and can cause it to slow as well.

Finally, cortisol rises with age and too much stress, be that mental, physical or emotional. Cortisol is our stress hormone. High cortisol can trigger blood sugar problems and storage of belly fat.

This isn’t just an issue of confidence though, like I said before abdominal fat also impacts inflammation levels and how we FEEL. Fat cells accumulating in the abdomen are linked with insulin resistance. Insulin is the most influential hormone when it comes to metabolism and our response to food. If we are not able to manage our refined sugar intake, over time, glucose levels rise in our blood and we have a situation called insulin resistance and fat accumulation. This is one of the biggest factors in the inability to lose weight in women.

The work I do with women is to find an individualized plan that is right for you based on your labs that will balance the hormones that affect your metabolism A diet that is designed with women’s issues and hormones in mind. The protocols I use keep hormones in balance and also have a detox component, maintain the right amount of carbs, give your body’s digestion a break without these crazy fasts, and include more vegetables and fiber. The WBK philosophy contributes to healthy gut function, improved hormones, and sustainable weight loss.

Email [email protected] to find the right custom program for you.