SUPERPOWER FIVE: INCINERATE BODY FAT FAST
First, some backstory.
The Keto-Fu plan was first published online under the title Keto Diet Plan circa eight years ago on the Bodybuilding.com discussion forum. Soon after, a woman from Chicago emailed me. She wrote that a sales person at the local GNC outlet lost 18 lbs in a month on a diet he found on the internet. She asked for the link and it was the Keto Diet Plan!
Anyway, to make a short story even shorter, she was excited and she encouraged me to expand it into a book. The Keto Diet Plan eventually evolved into a chapter of the book Zero to Superhero.
Zero to Superhero took over four years to research, test and write, and although it’s now been put out to pasture, it had a good run. People seemed to feed off the energy and enthusiasm of the book. Good thing, since it took a lot of energy to write.
Oh yeah, and you know the rigmarole. Zero to Superhero, in whole and in part, is for entertainment purposes only. I’m not a doctor or a registered nutritionist. I’m just a guy who likes to get the inside scoop on topics that interest me, and share the information with others who could benefit.
Alright. With introductions out of the way, I’ll show you how to burn body fat like a human torch – the the Keto-Fu Plan.
FIRST, STOP EATING CARBOHYDRATES
The primary objective is for your body to achieve a seemingly magical metabolic state known as ketosis, and to do this you must forsake all carbohydrates. Pastries, breads, most soups (etc, etc) are all forbidden.
You may think abstaining from carbohydrates will be a piece of cake, but cake has carbs too, so you’ll have to think of another metaphor!
No carbohydrates means no condiments like ketchup salsa or even mustard. It means no juice, colas or milk, only water. A double no to the popular “diet” Crystal Light powdered drink mixes. Crystal Light contains dangerous neurotoxins aspartame and acesulfame potassium in it (the “Red 40″ and “Yellow 5″ listed on the ingredients can’t be all that good for you either). Stay away.
You CAN eat eggs and cheese at breakfast, but not toast. Black coffee is okay (for you that is, I’m a Latter-Day Saint and drinking coffee is against the LDS Health Code, so I won’t personally endorse it).
Fruit is a big negatory. Fruit is extremely healthy and beneficial, but for the ketosis phase of the Keto-Fu plan to work optimally, you half to cut it out. Take vitamins instead.
Not to fear: Eating fruit and still maintaining ketosis IS possible, if you know the tricks. For now, stick as rigidly as you can to your new no carb policy until you have a few “cycles” under your belt.
If you are a vegetarian, great. I personally won’t buy meat (with exception to sardines, salmon and tuna). Vegetarians and vegans merely need to use whatever no / super low carb meat substitutes they normally use.
Keep calorie consumption of good fats (forget trans fats and bacon gristle, it’ll kill ya) higher than your calorie consumption of protein. By “good fats” I’m suggesting Omega 3, in liquid not capsule form. Flaxseed oil and hemp seed oil are perfect. Add it to your dark green vegetables (which are Keto-Fu safe in moderate amounts) or in a no carb protein drink. Try and keep good fats at at least 60% of your total caloric intake.
And another thing, keep your overall caloric consumption to a minimum. This shouldn’t be a problem since fat and protein meals provide satiety, and you’ll be avoiding carbs which typically make people hungry faster. On the Keto-Fu plan, your stomach will shrink, but without any uncomfortable hunger pangs.
WHIP YOUR BODY INTO A KETOGENIC FRENZY
The day you begin the Keto-Fu plan is critical. You want to transition into ketosis as quickly and easily as possible.
Being in a state of ketosis is the golden goblet of fat-burning. In ketosis, your body will incinerate midsection flab like a blast furnace. Yes, that’s correct, problem areas like love handles and thighs are first to die!
In ketosis, your body is utilizing your own body fat stores as its primary fuel source. It’s like paying off the principle of a mortgage before the interest!
It’s why the Keto-Fu plan (and it’s ketogenic ilk) rock so hard.
Now it’s time to stop daydreaming of a leaner, healthier self and start moving. To achieve the ketosis fat-burning state, you’ll need to do four things:
1. Abstain from eating carbohydrates, essentially replacing carbs with good fats (i.e. flaxseed oil)
2. Engage in intense cardiovascular exercise for a minimum 20 minutes to get into ketosis fast (rather than the alternative which is fasting 24 hours). Do cardio activity whenever possible (but don’t overdo it).
3. Drink lots of water. Eight glasses isn’t nearly enough because you’ll need to flush out all the body fat you’ll be losing so fast.
4. Take an unsweetened fibre supplement like Metamucil
Cardio in the morning burns the most fat of the entire day. Intense exercising in the morning, with zero glucose in the blood is fat burning Nirvana! Take full advantage of your mornings to burn the most fat possible.
If you want to work out at the gym, and by that I mean lift weights, you can still do so. However, having eaten no carbohydrates for x amount of days, you may be feeling slightly under the weather (it’s normal) and as weak as a newborn kitten (also normal).
I suggest bringing a protein drink consisting of whey protein isolate, table sugar, creatine, and my favorite amino acid of all time: glutamine. Zero to Superhero recommends specific amounts and other wicked combinations to help build muscle and burn fat faster.
Sip it in-between sets to give you some energy and power.
Will the sugar kick you out of ketosis? Absolutely, but your muscles will need the amino acids of the protein drink and the sugar will kick the hormone insulin into gear and drive the nutrients of the drank into the muscles and cells.
When you’re finished your work out how to a small carbohydrate meal with an apple cider vinegar tablet and chromium to maximize your insulin uptake.
After this small carb meal return back to your no carb diet.
After five days of carbohydrate depravation, you may want to take a break and eat some “fun foods” for a change. Perhaps you started the Keto-Fu plan on Monday morning, it makes sense you would want to transition to more “normal” foods come Friday afternoon when you say, have the kids for the weekend.
INTRODUCING THE “FREAKENDER”
If that sounds like a plan, then I have a mindblowing proposition for you! It’s called the “The Freakender” and it will allow you to eat pastries, cakes and cereal like it’s going out of style. It’s similar to what marathon runner’s “carb load” before a big race, but it’s more aggressive.
There are some “massive” benefits to “The Freakender” high carb phase:
• The Freakender is highly anabolic, which means it builds muscle
• The Freakender is fun because you can eat cereal pastries, past and other highly refined high carb foods without gaining an ounce of flab
• Calories aren’t an issue, neither are grams consumed (as long as you don’t want to be too specific and hard-core about it)
• After The Freakender, the strength gains you receive are incredible, allowing you to lift more weight and run farther than you thought possible
• After The Freakender, your muscle bellies are pumped full of glycogen and look huge
• Best of all, if you carb load correctly, you won’t gain any body fat whatsoever. You WILL likely gain muscle and likely even get leaner
P.S. While we’re on the topic of radical, ketogenic-type diets, I’d be amiss if I didn’t acknowledge two inspirational books of mine:
• The Ketogenic Diet: A Complete Guide for the Dieter and Practitioner by Lyle McDonald
• Underground Bodyopus: Militant Weight Loss & Recomposition, by the late and great Dan Duchaine.
