How many months should I follow the keto diet?

A keto or ketogenic diet, or a low carb diet, is a very low-carb diet that turns the body into a fat-burning machine.

It has many proven benefits for weight loss, health, and performance, as many people have already experienced.

It's also referred to as LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) and IHF (Insulin Healthy Fat).

What should you expect from it?

Should you follow it over one month, three months, or longer?

Or would that be unnecessary?

When should you stop it?

And what are the best ways to transition back to your usual eating method again?

A general overview of the Keto Diet

The Ketogenic Diet (KD) is a very low-carb, high-fat diet that shares many similarities with Paleo and Atkins.

It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. When your body enters ketosis—burning fat instead of carbohydrates as its primary fuel source—your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.

This state is called ketosis, where your body uses dietary and stored body fat to produce energy until you consume enough carbohydrates to switch back into glucose mode.

Symptoms you may encounter while following a Keto Diet.

After your body transitions from using glucose as its primary fuel source to using ketones, you may experience some uncomfortable symptoms of adaptation.

This may include mild keto flu (see below), cravings for carbohydrates and sugar, headaches, and fatigue.

These are temporary and will subside in a few weeks as your body becomes fat adapted.

You can reduce symptoms by increasing hydration, electrolyte intake (particularly sodium), and consuming more healthy fats.

Remember that keto flu usually takes about 1-2 weeks to subside after starting a ketogenic diet.

It can be pretty severe, with headaches, lethargy, confusion, weakness, and fatigue being common symptoms of insufficient electrolytes during the adaptation phase.

Staying on track in your first 30 days

Your first month on a ketogenic diet will be challenging, but it will get easier after that.

The hard part is getting over your keto flu symptoms and into a rhythm of eating and living. But once you're past 30 days, every month after that gets easier.

This isn't to say that every day is as simple as cake—you may have your ups and downs—but if you continue to dedicate yourself, even through rough times, you can quickly lose 2–3 pounds per week while following a well-formulated ketogenic diet.

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If it is still difficult to lose weight after 30 days...

If you're still having difficulty losing weight after 30 days on a low-carb, high-fat diet, make sure that you're tracking your progress with any necessary tools (we like MyFitnessPal).

Also, look out for unintentional carbs. They might sneak in through vegetables and dairy foods used to flavor meals.

Another factor could be stress or lack of sleep—anything that disrupts your regular eating routine can cause weight gain.

So check in with yourself regularly to see how things are going. And use our tips above to get back on track if necessary!

What are some tips for long-term Keto Diet success?

It's helpful to think of keto as a long-term lifestyle change—that's not just limited to these three short months.

Think about how you'll feel one, two, and even five years from now if you stick with it.

That knowledge can be motivating when those get-togethers with friends or co-workers inevitably come up (which they will).

And hey, while we're on that topic: Keto isn't for everyone. Some people do better on higher carb diets; in fact, some studies suggest that overweight people lose more weight on them than lower carb ones.

However, there are still tons of success stories out there from people who've lost weight and kept it off while following a keto plan for years—and that should inspire us all to give it our best shot!

Getting back into a regular eating pattern after following Keto Diet

Following a strict ketogenic diet is not easy to do, and maintaining it requires some effort.

Once you are done with it, you will need to go back to your normal eating habits for at least 3-to four weeks.

This will allow your body to go through withdrawal symptoms and adjust accordingly.

Make sure that you focus on healthy, low-carb foods and reduce carbs gradually.

Your body will eventually get used to fewer carbs and start using fat as an energy source again.

This transition period can be uncomfortable for some people, so try going slow and sticking with low-carb snacks like veggies, nuts, or cheese until then.

The best way to avoid the side effects of the Keto Diet is by slowly reducing your carbohydrate intake over time.

It's easier than trying to quit cold turkey after following a Ketogenic Diet for several months.

A gradual change in diet also gives you enough time to figure out if any side effects are due to the Keto Diet or something else entirely.

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