IT’S SO EASY!
Combining the powerful keto diet with additional fruit and vegetables supercharges weight loss—and helps eliminate sagging skin and wrinkles. “This plan gives you the power of a low-carb, ketogenic diet—which is huge—but also provides the benefits of all of the extra nutrients we’re packing in,” asserts nutrition and weight-loss expert Eric Berg, D.C., author of The Healthy Keto Plan. “This prevents keto side effects, so you feel good and you look good as you lose weight.”
To get the benefits, Dr. Berg suggests tweaking the standard keto food formula: Instead of getting only 5% of your calories from carbs, his plan calls for 10% carbohydrates, reserving half of those calories for vegetables. That means at a typical meal, half your plate will be made up of vegetables. Indeed, Dr. Berg advises eating at least 7 cups of salad greens (that’s two 5-oz. bags of salad greens) or 4 cups of other vegetables like broccoli or Brussels sprouts every day. You can also enjoy up to 1 cup of berries each day. Off the menu are starchy carbohydrates, including legumes, grains (like bread, pasta and cereal) and starchy vegetables (like potatoes and corn), which pull the body out of weight-loss mode.
Despite all the veggies on your plate, this is still a keto diet, so 70% of your calories should come from fat. At each meal, aim to eat 25 grams of fat, mixing and matching from these common keto foods: 1 oz. of white-meat poultry (2 grams), 1 oz. of fish (4 grams), 1 slice of bacon (4 grams), dark-meat poultry (4 grams), 1 egg (5 grams),
1 oz. of red meat (5 grams), 1 Tbs. of heavy cream (6 grams), 1 Tbs. of nut butter or 10 nuts (9 grams), 1 Tbs. of butter (12 grams), 1 Tbs. of olive oil
(14 grams) or 1 avocado (20 grams).
In addition to a healthy amount of fat and vegetables, Dr. Berg recommends that 20% of your calories come from protein, which adds up to about 12 oz. of protein throughout the day. That’s roughly one palm-sized portion of fish, shellfish, red meat or poultry at each meal. Fatty fish like salmon are especially good for their omega-3 fatty acids, which ease inflammation to support weight loss and tighten sagging skin. And for your fastest slimdown ever, incorporate these smart strategies into your routine:
Swap your sweeteners. Dr.
Berg recommends avoiding table sugar, honey, juice, maple syrup and corn syrup, which interrupt fat burning. And, he adds, try not to combine sugar with protein, which also slows metabolism and leads to the formation of compounds that make the skin sag. (Enjoying natural fruits alongside protein—like half an apple with cheese or berries with cream—is okay.) But don’t despair. “There are plenty of lowcarb, low-sugar alternatives out there,” asserts Dr. Berg. “And many of them are so delicious, you won’t be able to tell the difference!” For example, treats sweetened with stevia are allowed, and Dr. Berg even recommends low-carb ice cream, like Enlightened brand.
Drink up. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water throughout the day. This keeps the stomach full to help ward off hunger pangs and has been shown to make the skin look more plump. Also smart: Consider adding an electrolyte mix into one glass of water each day, which will provide minerals necessary for fat burning. Just check the label to make sure you pick a mix that’s sweetened with stevia, like Ultima Replenisher Electrolyte Hydration Powder ($15 for 30 servings, Vitacost.com) or Dr. Berg’s Electrolyte Powder ($33 for 45 servings, Amazon.com).
Close the kitchen after dinner. For best results, aim to finish eating for the day by 8 pm, then enjoy breakfast at 9 am the next morning. Fasting for at least 12 hours each day is especially important for women over 40, as collagen and muscle break down at an increasingly rapid rate as we age, causing weight gain as well as loose skin. But fasting activates autophagy, the
body’s process of replacing damaged cells with new cells for a healthier, more youthful appearance. Indeed, combining an extended daily fast with a keto diet is a surefire way to tighten skin. “I’ve never seen a more powerful combination for burning fat and tightening skin,” admits Ken Berry, M.D., a weight-loss expert and 20-year practicing physician. Worried it’ll be too hard? Think of it this way: “You’re already fasting 8 hours every day when you sleep,” Dr. Berry says. “It’s so easy you can do it in your sleep.” And you don’t have to do it all at once. Instead, gradually extend the time between dinner and breakfast over the course of two or three weeks. As your body adjusts to fat-burning mode, fasting will begin to feel much easier.