Following a ketogenic diet comes with quite a few health benefits, but many people come to keto as an effective approach to weight management.
If you’ve hit a weight loss plateau or aren’t losing as much weight as you’d like on keto, we have some advice to help you boost ketosis, burn fat, and reach your goals.
1. Monitor Your Macros
Keto works by reducing carbs and increasing your fat intake to shift the body into ketosis. In this metabolic state, your body burns fat for energy instead of glucose, producing ketones. To get there, you need to meet specific macronutrient ratios.
Classic keto looks like this: 70-75% of calories from fat, 15-20% from protein, and 5-10% from carbohydrates. Your daily calorie needs will vary depending on your activity level and weight loss goals, but for most dieters, carbs should come out to about 30-50 grams of net carbs per day.
While carbohydrates are the focus here, you can also sabotage your diet by eating too many low-quality fats or heavily processed foods. Opt for whole food sources whenever possible while sticking to your macro goals.
To get those ratios right, our Keto Calculator is a free, efficient way to help you identify the right grams of carbs, fats, and proteins you need to meet your goals.
2. Prioritize Healthy Fats
Healthy fats, like avocado, olive oil, and nuts, promote fullness by slowing digestion and stabilizing blood sugar levels. This could prevent overeating and make it easier to maintain a calorie deficit or reduce your calorie intake.
Consuming healthy fats also helps your body stay in ketosis. Dietary fats help the liver produce ketones that keep energy levels stable and reduce your reliance on glycogen stores. (1)
Finally, fats are good for hormonal balance. Healthy fats support the production of appetite regulators like leptin and ghrelin and balance insulin levels, which prevents fat storage. (2) Omega-3s from fatty fish reduce inflammation and help prevent stress-related cortisol spikes, which contribute to fat retention. (3)
Quality matters here. By choosing nutrient-dense, high-quality fats instead of processed or trans fats, you can help your body burn fat more efficiently while maintaining health markers responsible for weight loss.
3. Focus On Moderate Protein Intake
Keto is a high-fat, moderate-protein diet. While some may benefit from more protein to build muscle mass or fuel an intense workout regimen, that won’t translate to rapid weight loss for most.
Eating too much protein on keto can trigger a process called gluconeogenesis, where excess protein converts into glucose. (4) This can raise your blood sugar, increase insulin levels, and kick your body out of ketosis. That’s all bad news for fat loss and weight management.
Excess protein may also prevent the body from fully adapting to using fat for fuel, stalling weight loss further. To avoid this, go back to your macros. Aim for a moderate protein intake and prioritize high-quality fats to stay in ketosis and optimize fat loss.
4. Hydrate
Any rapid weight loss at the start of a new diet is likely due to drops in excess water weight. Fat loss comes next, but you have to stick to keto consistently to get there. It may not seem obvious since we just talked about water weight, but hydration is an essential piece of that process.
Drinking plenty of water helps maintain a healthy metabolism, curb cravings, and support fat breakdown. Plain water is great, but electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium can help you deal with any side effects of the keto flu at the start of a low-carb diet.
Replenish electrolytes through mineral-rich foods, supplements, or keto-friendly electrolyte drinks for optimal hydration, stable energy levels, and a smoother transition into ketosis.
5. Try Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting can speed up weight loss on keto by optimizing fat burning and increasing ketone production. In the first stage of ketosis, your body relies on stored glycogen for energy. Limiting your eating window can help your body burn through those glycogen reserves more quickly and target stored fat.
Fasting also promotes fat oxidation, improves insulin sensitivity, and helps you eat fewer calories, further boosting the effects of keto on your weight. (5) The combo is such a powerful tool it even has a name: Speed Keto.
Dieters following a Speed Keto plan combine low-carbohydrate keto with intermittent fasting to enhance the weight loss effects (and other benefits) of the ketogenic diet. While it can be tough to follow long-term, it could be the boost you need to get over a weight loss plateau.
6. Exercise Regularly
Exercise on any diet is important for long-term weight loss. For those following keto, regular exercise can boost your metabolism and your body’s ability to burn fat for fuel.
Fun fact: When you exercise regularly, your body burns even more calories when you are at rest!
Strength training and low-intensity cardio are best for fat loss and muscle preservation on keto. This can include light weightlifting, yoga, walking, cycling, or swimming.
Incorporating high-intensity interval training (HIIT) once you have a routine going can also be beneficial for enhanced fat loss. (6) The key is regular movement. Try to find exercise that you enjoy and feels good for your body
7. Prioritize Sleep
Regular, quality sleep plays an important role in balancing hormones that control hunger and metabolism. When you get enough rest, your body is better able to regulate ghrelin, your hunger hormone, and leptin, your satiety hormone.
Poor sleep increases ghrelin levels, which could mean cravings for high-carb or processed foods. (7) Rest also helps reduce stress and cortisol levels, which can lead to fat storage when elevated. This is especially true for fat stores around the abdomen.
Better sleep means more energy for exercise, an easier recovery, and a healthier metabolism, further supporting weight loss efforts. Shoot for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per day. Try to follow a regular sleep schedule and nighttime routine that prioritizes healthy sleep patterns.
8. Reduce Stress
Addressing stress reduces cortisol levels, your body’s stress hormone. Too much cortisol encourages fat storage, especially in the belly, and triggers cravings for high-carb, sugary foods. That can affect your weight loss and disrupt the ketosis process, as higher insulin levels prevent fat burning.
Stress can also have an effect on your mental health, making it harder to follow your diet, exercise, and get the rest you need for healthy weight loss.
Manage stress in a way that makes sense for your lifestyle. That can mean mindfulness, deep breathing, regular exercise, getting outside, or spending time with friends. The goal is to lower cortisol, reduce cravings, and support a healthier metabolism for better fat loss.
9. Consistently Check Your Ketone Levels
If your weight loss on keto isn’t where you’d like it to be, it’s possible you’re not reaching nutritional ketosis consistently. Ketone levels are a key indicator of ketosis, so tracking them ensures you’re in the optimal fat-burning state for weight loss.
Common ways to test your ketone levels include blood ketone meters, breath analyzers, and urine strips. Testing your blood is the most accurate and reliable method, but it’s not as accessible as the others. Our Ketone Test Strips measure acetoacetate in urine, which indicates ketosis.
The ketone range for weight loss on blood ketone tests is 0.5-3.0 mmol/L. Some researchers suggest a sweet spot of 1.5-3.0 mmol/l for accelerated weight loss. (8) Urine test strips usually come with a chart that shows a range of colors with corresponding mmol/L ketone levels.
Monitoring your levels is essential for those with diabetes. If they get too high, it could be a sign of complications like diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
By monitoring ketone levels regularly, you can adjust your diet and exercise to stay in the optimal range for you.
10. Take Specific Supplements
Your diet plan and limiting carbohydrate intake are key to successful weight loss on keto, but certain supplements can play a helpful role in optimizing your results:
- Electrolytes: Electrolytes prevent dehydration and imbalances caused by early ketosis, reducing the symptoms of keto flu and supporting muscle function.
- Exogenous ketones: Exogenous ketones are supplemental ketones that can help raise blood ketone levels, especially for those new to keto.
- Fiber: Your body needs fiber, even on keto. If you’re not getting enough, psyllium husk and acacia fiber can improve digestion for constipation relief and better gut health.
- L-carnitine: This amino acid may help your body burn fat more efficiently on keto. Studies show it may also support more regular bowel movements. (9)
- MCT oil: Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are rapidly converted into ketones for an immediate energy source and burning body fat. Try these as an easily blendable powder.
Talk to your healthcare provider or a dietitian before starting any new supplements, especially if you’re on existing medications or working to address certain health conditions.
FAQs
What are the benefits of ketosis?
A big benefit of ketosis is weight loss and weight management. Ketosis enhances fat burning, making it easier to shed excess weight while preserving muscle. It also stabilizes blood sugar by reducing insulin spikes, which can benefit those with risk factors for metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes.
Ketosis also benefits any body processes that benefit from a more stable energy source. That includes brain cognition and neurological function, benefiting those with epilepsy or Alzheimer’s disease. (10, 11) Research suggests that a high-fat diet like keto may even support heart health by targeting markers linked to a higher risk of heart disease, like blood pressure and cholesterol. (12)
What puts you in ketosis fastest?
Drastically cutting carbs, intense physical activity, and periods of intermittent fasting are all strategies that can help trigger ketosis. What works for you can depend on various factors, like your current fitness level and any pre-existing health conditions.
What do you eat on a keto diet?
Keto meal plans vary, but the focus of your diet should be on healthy fats (e.g. avocadoes, olive oil), protein (e.g. poultry, nuts for a plant-based diet), and low-carb vegetables (e.g. spinach, broccoli). Dairy and keto-friendly snacks are fine, but avoid sugar, grains, starchy vegetables, and high-carb foods that could kick you out of ketosis and result in weight gain. Additionally, skip heavily processed snacks labeled as low-calorie or low-fat. These are often packed with additives.
The Takeaway
If you’re not seeing the results you want or need, try a combination of diet and lifestyle changes. Track your macros to ensure you’re not consuming hidden carbs or eating too much of one thing. Check your ketone levels to ensure you’re enjoying the benefits of ketosis consistently. Starting keto can be a great way to kick off your weight loss goals, but it can also be a good tool for long-term weight management. The key is finding ways to make the diet work for you in a sustainable way.