Keto egg fast…what the what? Most people assume that fasting means abstaining from all food, but not in the world of weight loss!
Nope, in this case egg fast means eating only eggs. And a few accompaniments, but we’ll get into that in a bit.
Hello and welcome to Fearlessly Holistic.
My name is Irma and I want to share my journey to improved health by eating whole foods, moving my body and eliminating stress as much as possible.
It is my hope to inspire you to make daily changes.
Why? Because eating fresh, seasonal food and getting some sunshine is the best way to increase longevity. But you do not want just a long life.
You want a quality long life.
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Egg Fast?
First, a bit of dieting history…
Back in the day, aka the early aughts, there was something called the Atkins Diet. This was the first of the early Keto diets.
Phase one of Atkins, known as “induction”, is a low carb diet meant to induce ketosis. During induction you eat no more than 20 carb grams per day to achieve ketosis and start weight loss.
Related Post: Ketogenic Diet Plan: Ketosis & What To Eat
The best book for understanding the Atkins diet is, in my opinion, Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (DANDR). This is a 500+ page handbook on all things low carb.
Around page 272, in the section on metabolic resistance, is a section called “fat fast”. For more information on metabolic syndrome, go here.
This little gem is an explanation on how to break a stall eating mostly fat foods.
Now before you freak out, thinking that it’s eating spoonfuls of butter, hear me out. These foods are high fat but not 100% fat; more like 90%.
Each food item is roughly 200 calories and you can five choices per day. This gives you 1,000 calories of primarily fat.
The rationale for this is if you do have metabolic syndrome, any glucose in your diet can stall you. Therefore, to kick-start your weight loss, eat fat.
Fat Fast Foods are:
- One ounce of macadamia nuts or macadamia nut butter
- Two ounces of cream cheese or Brie
fresh macadamia nuts - One ounce of chicken or tuna salad with two teaspoons of mayonnaise served in one-quarter of an avocado
- Two deviled eggs made with two teaspoons of mayonnaise
- Two ounces of sour cream and two tablespoons of black or red caviar
- Two and a half ounces whipped heavy cream topped with sugar-free syrup
- Two ounces of pate (check label for fat content)
- Two egg yolks (hard boiled) with one tablespoon of mayonnaise
Not bad eh?
Dr. Atkins was very clear that these foods were only to be eaten if you have metabolic resistance.
According to Dr. Atkins, Fat Fast is dangerous unless you are metabolically resistant, because of the rapid weight loss.
Ditto for Keto Egg Fast. This is help to break a stall, not a long-term way-of-eating (WOE).
I mean you can eat like this for a while, but it’s kind of boring. You might want to switch it up with Ketovore, which is a hybrid of Keto and carnivore.
Related Post: Ketovore For Better Health
Fat fast is based on the Kekwick diet. The Kekwick diet was created by British researchers Alan Kekwick and Gaston Pawan.
Kekwick’s diet was then confirmed by Frederick Benoit and his team as a superior way of burning fat, compared to a total fast (no food).
The Kekwick diet forces the body into lipolysis so that it will burn stored fat.
That list of fat fast foods contains a few items that might be out of reach for some people, like the caviar and pate. But did you see deviled eggs on that list? Yes, this was the beginning of multiple variations of Fat Fast created over the years, like:
- Meat and Egg fast (based on Atkins Fat Fast)
- Beef and butter fast (The current name for Meat and Egg Fast)
- Egg Fast (created by Jimmy Moore of Living La Vida Low Carb)
From Jimmy’s YouTube channel:
“From March 12 through April 10, 2010, author Jimmy Moore put himself on a self-experiment of eating just eggs, butter, and cheese (local farm pastured eggs, grass-fed butter, and raw cheese) to see what would happen to him. Here’s a post about the eggs-periment:
The idea is the same for all…using fat to burn fat.
Please note that for egg fast or any fat fast to work, there must be a caloric deficit, which is why the calories are set at 1,000 per day.
If you want to eat more than 1,000 calories on these fasts, you must be doing some fat burning activities like weight training or cardio.
Otherwise, too much fat will stall you. This is because your body does not need that much energy, so it will burn the calories from your food before it burns your body fat. Natch.
Benefits of The Keto Egg Fast
Like other low carb ways of eating, the biggest benefit to egg fast is to kick-start weight loss if you are stalled.
But that is not the only benefit.
If you watched that video, you will see that Jimmy kicked his 6 year diet soda “addiction”. Keto diets, and low carb in general, are great for busting food addictions.
And yes, you can become addicted to sugar substitutes.
So if you’re not sure what to eat on Keto just know that protein, eggs, and butter are the way to go.
Other benefits:
- Weight loss – This occurs if your calories are low and your foods fat percentage is high (80% or more), and you achieve ketosis.
- Less cravings – High fat diets are more filling
- Insulin Resistance Improvement – The longer you are on low carb, the more you improve your insulin resistance.
- Reduction in belly fat
- Improved cholesterol markers
Keto Egg Fast Diet Rules
The Keto egg fast diet is primarily eggs, fat, and some cheese.
Because who doesn’t like cheese with their eggs?
Remember that egg fast is an off-shoot of fat fast, and therefore it has it’s own rules.
You will not find many egg fast websites with the same hard-and-fast rules as the next site. I tried to find Jimmy’s original post, but it’s buried in the internet basement.
So I went looking in the next most logical place…Dana Carpender’s website.
Dana wrote a Fat Fast cookbook, full of yummy high fat recipes. I scrolled through Dana’s blog but I couldn’t find her guidelines. I’m sure they are there, but I got tired of scrolling.
But, there are plenty of other recommendations!
For me, I like the guidelines for fat fast, which is eating 5 times a day, or every two hours.
If you are doing Intermittent Fasting as well, you might have to eat all your eggs in a 6- or 8-hour window of time, but totally do-able.
Related Post: How To Do An Intermittent Fasting Diet Plan
What is important:
-Eat whole eggs (yolk and white).
You want the Choline in the yolk to help metabolize the fat.
This is key. And egg whites contain Methionine, which also helps the liver metabolize fat.
- Get the best quality eggs that you can afford. Local pastured are best. Next best are organic.
- At minimum, eat at least six eggs per day
- Eat, even if you are not hungry. Try to adjust eating times to within a specific window of time i.e 10 am to 6 pm.
You must eat eggs at each meal
- For every egg you eat, also eat 1 tablespoon of fat (see fat choices below).
- You can eat up to 1 ounce of cheese per egg that you eat (Maximum 4 ounces per day)
- Tea and coffee are fine, but no sweetener. Try Keto coffee: coffee, coconut or MCT oil, and grassfed butter. Use a frother to emulsify.
Drink plenty of water
- Try to stop eating at 6 pm (depends on work hours of course). You will gain more benefits if you fast for 12 hours i.e 6 pm to 6 am.
- Feel free to eat egg fast Monday to Friday and Keto or other low carb woe on weekends, for variety.
- Use quality salt, like pink Himalayan, on your food
- Take magnesium if you experience leg cramps (can happen when people quit a processed food diet or restrict veggies).
- Stay under 5 grams of net carbs with any add-ins like hot sauce.
Be aware (warnings):
- This diet is to break a stall and is designed for the metabolically resistant person.
- You should speak with your doctor before you start any new eating plan. This diet may be wrong for some types of people.
It is recommended to eat egg fast no more than 5 days in a row
- Egg fast is recommended for people used to eating low carb. It is not recommended for new dieters because you may have to deal with ketosis symptoms like Keto flu at the same time. And shifting from processed foods to high fat can make you feel nauseous.
- Avoid egg fast if you have health issues related to your liver. Egg fast has limited nutrition and zero fiber.
- Get plenty of rest.
Exercise minimally if you are new to this type of fasting.
- Constipation may be a problem. I would like to say that it probably isn’t traditional constipation (i.e blockage), but it’s more that your body loves whole foods and spends more time stripping them of all their nutrients, which takes time. Eat salads on your off-fast days to keep ahead of this.
- When ending egg fast, transition to low carb (under 20 grams of carbs daily). This helps to maintain any weight loss.
Keto Egg Fast Meal Plan
Okay, let’s talk meals!
- To transition in to the egg fast, eat two of these meals for two days prior to starting. Also do this to transition out of the egg fast.
- Eat regular Keto/low carb food for your “third” meal of the day. I suggest a large serving of protein with butter.
- Add in Keto coffee for days when you can’t sit down to breakfast.
Keto coffee:
1 mug fresh brewed coffee. To this add 1 teaspoon coconut or MCT oil and 1 tablespoon of grass fed butter (like Kerrygold). I live in Canada and we don’t have Kerrygold, so organic will do.
Use a battery powered frother to emulisfy and give your coffee a latte feel. The butter will add a hint of sweetness, so no other sweetener is necessary.
Here are some sample Keto egg fast diet meal/food ideas. Mix and match based on your preferences.
Meal #1:
Eggs (2) scrambled with 2 ounces of shredded cheddar, cooked in 2 tablespoons of butter
Meal #2:
2 eggs mixed with 2 ounces of softened cream cheese until smooth. Fry in butter like a pancake.
Hard boil 2 eggs. Cool, remove shell, cut in half and scoop out the cooked yolk. Mix yolk with 2 tablespoons of quality mayonnaise (like Chosen Foods Avocado oil mayo). Add filling back in to the cooked egg whites for deviled eggs. Sprinkle with a bit of paprika for some flair.
Meal #4:
2 boiled eggs plus 1 string cheese portion. Add mayo if necessary. Very portable.
Meal #5:
Beat 3 eggs, add in 3 ounces of Feta. Fry like an omelette. *Optional: Add in 1 Tbsp of bacon bits and 1 tsp. chopped spring onion for Keto.
Meal #6:
Modified Chaffle: Beat 1 egg. Add to it 1 ounce of shredded sharp cheddar. Heat up your waffle iron and pour your mixture in the center. Or purchase a mini-waffle maker. Cook til done. Eat.
FYI: Egg whites work best for chaffles. Yolks give a more “eggy” taste, which is fine if you are eating eggs alongside.
Use chaffles as a bread. Fry an egg in butter and use your chaffles to make sandwich!
You can use cream cheese or good mayo instead of cheese. Use a good blender to combine ingredients.
Chaffles are versatile and there are tons of recipes using add-ins like crushed pork rinds or peppers. There are also “dessert-style” chaffles, good for Keto days.
Meal #7:
Hard boil two eggs. Cool, peel, and mash. Combine with 2 Tbsp of mayonnaise for egg salad. Serve with 2 ounces of cheese.
Meal #8:
Frittata: Beat 3 eggs with 3 ounces of shredded cheese (a mixture of cheeses tastes great). Add salt and pepper.
Pour mixture into silicone baking cups inside a muffin tin. Bake at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes or until done (knife inserted comes out clean).
For Keto: add in peppers, spring onion, bacon bits. You can use some heavy cream in the keto mix too.
Meal #9:
Egg Fast Cloud Bread.
This recipe comes from Ketogenic Woman and is a variation on the low carb Cloud Bread, which is mostly egg whites. Use a non-stick donut or Oopsie pan.
- 3 eggs
- 3 ounces of cream cheese
Preheat oven to 300F. Separate eggs, putting whites in one bowl and yolks in another. Beat egg whites with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Rinse off beaters.
- Beat cream cheese and yolks on low speed until smooth.
- Using a spaula, fold egg yolk mixture into egg whites, being gentle. Try not to deflate the whites.
- Spread mixture into compartments of your pan.
- Bake 30 minutes, cool, serve. Use for sandwiches or on the side.
Meal #10:
Egg shake.
This recipe also comes from Ketogenic woman, and I included it as a “portable” food. Because…portable.
- 2 large eggs
- Fat (Avocado oil, MCT oil, Coconut oil, soft butter, ghee, or mayonnaise)
- Optional: 2 ounces cream cheese
- Sugar free syrup (if you can find something that doesn’t break your stall. Or use on Keto days)
- 1/2 to 1 cup water and ice. Or use cold coffee.
Put all ingredients into a blender and mix well to combine. Pour into a travel cup and off you go!
*Word of Warning*
If you are new to eating healthy fats or Keto coffee, start small with the coconut or MCT oil. Try 1 teaspoon at a time until you see how it works with your digestive tract.
As well, Coconut oil/MCT contain medium chain triglycerides, which are fats that cross the blood/brain barrier.
This means that if you mix MCT with something like caffeine (aka coffee), the caffiene goes to to your brain. Read up on it here.
Conclusion
Hasn’t this been fun? I was all over meat and egg fast when I first heard about it. And, FYI, I lost 8 lbs in six days. I gained half of it back when I added back veggies, but it was worth it to lose even 4 pounds in less than a week.
A trip to the Naturopatic doctor helped me discover that I’m intolerant to egg whites, so I don’t do egg fasts as much anymore.
I still eat eggs (YOLO), just not as often.
Keto egg fast fits in nicely with Intermittent Fasting, which you can do at the same time. win-win. Sign up today and start getting the extra benefits that come from combining low carb and fasting.
Holistic approaches never just address symptoms of specific health problems, but instead aim to return or keep the patient in a state of balanced health between mind, body, and spirit. Combining IF with Keto or Ketovore creates harmony for your health.
Holism targets overall wellness, and when we are well, we only get better with age.
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Until next time, here’s to our health!
-Irma