Week 5 – 10 Week Keto Challenge

Week #5

Halfway, baby – halfway!!

Week 5 – Strict Keto / Macro Tracking (10-hour eating window; 14-hour fast)

This week’s meal plan

Following a strict keto diet, you will track everything that goes into your mouth. Focus on consuming whole foods only; no processed foods or treats.

In week 5, you should work at consuming all of your calories and macros within an optional 10-hour window (14 hours of fasting).

Here is what a typical 10-hour eating window could look like:

6:00 am – 9:00 am – no food. Consume only water (with or without water enhancers; sweetened with stevia) and coffee/tea (sweetened with liquid stevia, skinny syrups, 1 tbs butter, a splash of hwc, an ounce of unsweetened almond milk, 1 tbs MCT oil, 1 tbs coconut oil, or any other zero calorie/ carb/sugar substitutes).
9:00 am – 7:00 pm – eat based on macros and calories, continue to drink water to ensure that you meet your daily requirement (your weight divided by 2 = ounces to drink)
7:00 pm – 6:00 am – no food. During this window, it’s best to consume only water (with enhancers) and tea (sweetened with liquid stevia).

As a reminder, here is the link to the weekly eating plan for the 10 Week Keto Challenge.

Refer to the Recipes – Week 5 post for some great keto-friendly recipes.

Weekly Information

This week, the following topics will be addressed:

Benefits of doing an egg fast
Basic egg fast rules
Eggs, cheese, and fats
Sample egg fast menu
Transitioning off the egg fast

In preparation for next week’s 5-day egg fast, here is the information that you need to have on hand:

If you don’t like eggs, next week is going to be brutal!!! (Please note that if you’d like, you can avoid the egg fast and make this another carnivore week; our week 1 plan).

It is also important to note that you will be doing the egg fast for 5 days only; Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday will see you following strict keto with an optional 10-hour eating window (14-hour fast).

Love this meme!

Benefits of Doing an Egg Fast

Reduced appetite – eggs, high in protein, are very filling. This ‘fill’ effect may mean that you consume fewer calories each day, leading to weight loss.
Weight loss – an egg fast is highly restrictive. I’ve read research that indicates that limiting food choice and variety naturally reduces calorie intake.
Can promote loss of belly fat – studies have shown that egg fasts promote the loss of belly fat more so than low-fat diets.
Can reduce insulin resistance – this allows your body to more effectively manage blood sugar levels.

Basic Egg Fast Rules

Eat at least 6 whole eggs each day. (There doesn’t seem to be any hard, fast rule for the maximum number of eggs. 12-15 maximum is what I have read).
Eat 1 tbs of healthy fat (butter, mayonnaise, coconut oi, MCT oil) per egg
Eat up to 1 oz (28 grams) of full fat cheese per egg. (This isn’t a requirement. Some people find that eating this much cheese during an egg fast impedes results. I love cheese. So, when I did my egg fast, I did eat 1 oz of cheese per egg and I still lost weight).
Eat your first egg (any style, any recipe) within 30 minutes of waking up.
If breakfast isn’t your thing, have a bulletproof coffee instead of eggs.
Eat an egg-based meal every 3-4 hours, even if you’re not hungry.
Stop eating 3-hours before bedtime.
Add salt (for electrolyte replenishment) when possible.
Feel free to use condiments and spices.
Drink tons of water!
Enjoy zero carb drinks (i.e. – coffee, tea, zero calorie/carb/sugar drinks). For best results, try and avoid diet drinks. But, eating eggs for 5 days is hard enough. If diet soda makes you feel better, enjoy!
All other foods and drinks that contain calories are off-limits!

This visual comes from Mama’s Geeky.

And here is another from Ketogenic Woman.

You can see from the two visuals above that, depending on which website you reference, the rules are slightly different for an egg fast. It doesn’t matter which set of ‘rules’ you adhere to when doing the egg fast as long as you:

Eat a minimum of 6 eggs each day
Consume 1 tbs of healthy fat per egg
Stop eating 3 hours before bedtime

Eggs, Cheese, and Fats

Eggs – if possible, aim to eat pasture-raised eggs
Cheese – eat full fat cheese with less than 1 gram of carbs per ounce (cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, Swiss, brie, Monterrey jack, mascarpone, cream cheese, blue cheese). Try to limit cheese to 3-4 oz/day.
Fats – grass fed butter is the best choice, where possible. MCT oil, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, or any other keto-friendly oils are also safe.

The visual below comes from Ruled.Me.

Sample Egg Fast Menu

This is not my creation, nor is it the menu that I followed when I did my egg fast. (It comes from Healthline). But it gives you a solid idea about what 5 full egg fast days looks like.

Day One

Breakfast: an egg-cheese omelet made with 2–3 eggs, cooked in 2–3 tablespoons of butter or another healthy oil, such as olive oil
Snack: 1 stick of string cheese
Lunch: 2–3 deviled eggs
Snack: 2 ounces of a cheese of your choice
Dinner: egg crepe made using just 2–3 eggs, cooked in 2–3 tablespoons of butter or other healthy oil

Day Two

Breakfast: cream cheese pancake — 2–3 eggs and 2–3 tablespoons of cream cheese blended until smooth and cooked on a pan or griddle with 3 tablespoons of butter
Snack: 1 ounce of a cheese of your choice
Lunch: egg salad — 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Snack: 1 ounce of a cheese of your choice
Dinner: crustless cheese quiche made with 2 eggs

Day Three

Breakfast: 2 eggs fried in 2 tablespoons of butter with a cup of tea or black coffee
Snack: 2 sticks of string cheese
Lunch: leftover slice of crustless cheese quiche
Snack: 1 ounce of a cheese of your choice
Dinner: 2–3 deviled eggs

Day Four

Breakfast: egg and cheese omelet made with 2–3 eggs, cooked in 2–3 tablespoons of butter
Snack: 1 ounce of a cheese of your choice
Lunch: 2 hard-boiled eggs
Snack: 2 sticks of string cheese
Dinner: 2 egg waffles — 2–3 eggs cooked in a waffle maker with butter

Day Five

Breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled with a cup of tea or black coffee
Snack: 1 stick of string cheese
Lunch: egg salad — 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Snack: 1 ounce of a cheese of your choice
Dinner: crustless cheese quiche

Transitioning Off the Egg Fast

Most people do end up losing weight on a 5-day egg fast; anywhere from 2-8 lbs. Many also report gaining some of that weight back shortly after ending the egg fast. I’ve done a fair bit of research on transitioning off the egg fast so as not to gain what was lost. The general consensus is to follow the transition period for as many days as the egg fast lasted. In the case of the 10 Week Keto Challenge, that would be a 5-day transition.

Please consider following these ‘transition guidelines’:

First 2 days following the egg fast (Saturday/Sunday) – eat a regular ‘egg fast’ breakfast, lunch, and snacks. For dinner, add a protein (meat). Try to avoid veggies right now.

Days 3, 4, and 5 (Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday) – eat a regular ‘egg fast’ breakfast and snacks. For lunch and dinner, have a salad/veggies (no more than ½ cup), add a protein (meat) and some fat.

To Do:

Complete your week 5 tracking sheet.
Plan your menu for week 6. Check out the Recipes – Week 6
Try googling egg fast recipes.
Purchase your groceries and try to prepare your meals in advance. You’re going to need a LOT of eggs for next week.
Make sure that you are getting in 10,000 steps each day.
Consider logging your fasting hours in the LIFE fasting app.
If you haven’t already done so, look into incorporating some strength training to your schedule; 3-4 times each week.
Look in the mirror. That’s your competition!

Next Week:

The whoosh effect
Keto police
Common keto mistakes

The menu for next week revolves around our egg fast. You only do the egg fast for 5 days. The weekend will see you going back to strict keto / macro tracking.

The meme below was found on Meme Generator.