Check Out My Keto

Diet and Nutrition
1

I’m in the middle of my third week of my keto diet and i’ve noticed some nice changes in my physique, but its getting to that point where the fear of getting skinny and feeling smaller due to the fat loss has crept up on me. So i wanted to run my numbers by everyone to double check that im doing this right. I weighed 200 lbs wen starting which put me at 3000 calories a day maintenence, so my starting point was 500 below that…

weeks 1-2
Sun-fri a.m. = 2500 cals/111g fat/<50g carbs/325g pro
fri p.m. - Sat = <88g fat/770g carbs/325g pro

week 3
Sun - fri a.m. = 2300 cals/103g fat/<50g carbs/295g pro

how do those numbers look to you as far as following a traditional keto diet? not enough fat? too much protein? It should be said that i have not experienced any strength loss whatsoever so far

thank you

2

[quote]Kevk010 wrote:
i’ve noticed some nice changes in my physique[/quote]

Then keep doing it!

-Sab

3

I don’t know what your body fat levels are like or whether you engage in sports, etc. What I do know is that the more fat you have the less carbs you should be ingesting and the less frequent your carb-ups should be.

IMO, dropping the daily intake to 30g should guarantee ketosis, unless you’re ingesting hidden carbs (avoid all these protein bars that claim to have only 2.5g net carbs, etc, this includes Atkins own bars). Your carb-up is arguably too long. I would budget 2-3 carb meals over a 6-9 hour peroid once per week max, with a carb ceiling of 400g total.

Remember on a CKD initial body comp changes occur as a result of water loss and not fat loss per se. However, if you’re losing 1-2 lbs on your current system then you may be advised to stick with it and ignore all I’ve just said. As an endomorph, and veteran CKD follower, your own protocol would not be an optimum system for me.

4

Your protein is way too high for ketosis. I’d read a bunch by Lyle McDonald and then adjust. You are eating a bunch of sugar, it’s just called protein here.

If it’s working for you then keep going. There is definitely a stage between thick and cut where you feel like you’re just getting smaller without looking any better, but once you get past this you’ll actally end up looking bigger, and cut!

So keep it up if you want, but for an actual ketogenic diet you’ll need to increase fat and decrease protein. Two week induction and then you can start to incorporate carb ups where you’ll maintain protein but eat a stack of carbs and trace fats.

Read Lyle McDonald’s stuff.

5

JamesBrawn007 wrote:
I don’t know what your body fat levels are like

Your carb-up is arguably too long. I would budget 2-3 carb meals over a 6-9 hour peroid once per week max, with a carb ceiling of 400g total.

My body fat is currently 14-15%

would 400g be enough to refill my glycogen levels for the following week?

i fixed my previous caloric breakdown and my new one looks like this

Sun-Fri a.m. 125g fat/<40g carbs/215g protein

thoughts?

6

[quote]Kevk010 wrote:
My body fat is currently 14-15%

would 400g be enough to refill my glycogen levels for the following week?

i fixed my previous caloric breakdown and my new one looks like this

Sun-Fri a.m. 125g fat/<40g carbs/215g protein

thoughts?
[/quote]

I personally don’t think you can go too far wrong with the macronutrient split you have described. A sound keto formula is 50-55% from fat, with carbs making around 30-50g, the rest of the calories coming from protein. Your split has that. If you need to increase/cut calories stick to the percentage split and adjust calories accordingly.

From trial and error over the last 18 months on CKDs, I can state that less frequent, lower carb days work best for me. I have been around the 15-17% BF and can state from experience 36-48 carb ups every weekend did little to improve my body comp. Change occured when I followed CT’s advice (see Refined Physique Transformation). In summary, the carb up consisted of 1-2 meals one day per week (Sunday), with one being a true cheat meal. Estimate carb intake would have been around 250-300g.

Regarding your 400g carb refill query, the salient point for me was that the effects of glycogen ‘supercompensation’ appears to be widely exaggerated in some quarters. It stands to reason that if your body can only accommodate say 400g following depletion, adding another 400g is only going to be stored as fat (400g carbs = 1600 calories = approx 1/2lb fat) - exactly what you want to avoid.
The compensation period is supposed to be used as a window where you can maintain, or even gain, lean mass during an otherwise energy deficeit. Now given your primary goal is fat loss, you need to accept you want that window to close, i.e. so you get back into ketosis and maximise fat loss. Stuffing yourself with carbs until late Sunday night could mean you don’t get back into ketosis until Tuesday or even Wednesday, meaning you’re getting into the optimal fat-burning state for 3 days per week.

Now the caveat here is energy use. If you train more, participate in sports, lead an active lifestyle, etc, then additional carbs may benefit you (in fact HIIT can be quite oppressive on a low calorie keto diet).
However, my whole point here is ‘efficient’ fat loss. Most people can’t afford to devote themselves to training 1-2 times a day, 6 days a week, while consuming specific meals and supplements. So the balanced approach described achieves the same goals.

For what it’s worth, I’m currently on Berardi’s Get Shredded plan and post my progress on the Carb Cycling Experience thread. I’ve lost 11lbs during the first 34 days (currently on day 40), so I find it works well.

7

is there any formula you could reference or reccomend for carb intake during the carb up? 400 sounds more practical than 750, but i would assume everyone is different and everyone needs a different amount of carbs

8

[quote]Kevk010 wrote:
is there any formula you could reference or reccomend for carb intake during the carb up? 400 sounds more practical than 750, but i would assume everyone is different and everyone needs a different amount of carbs[/quote]

From CT’s Refined Physique Transformation article:

The leanness factor is also applied to the frequency and magnitude of your carb-up (higher carb days):

For men

Above 20% body fat: carb-up at around 0.75g of carbs per pound every 14 days

15-20% body fat: carb-up at around 0.75g of carbs per pound every 10 days

12-15% body fat: carb-up at around 1.0g of carbs per pound every 7 days

10-12% body fat: carb-up at around 1.25g of carbs per pound every 7 days

Less than 10% body fat: carb-up at around 1.25g of carbs per pound every 4-5 days

The type of food you’re allowed on those carb-up/refeed days changes too based on how fat you are:

For men

Above 20% body fat: carb-up only with clean carbs (yams, non-green veggies, fruits, oatmeal, rice, potatoes, grits, etc.)

15-20% body fat: carb-up only with clean carbs

12-15% body fat: carb-up mostly with clean carbs. One or two ‘‘cheat’’ items is acceptable but avoid eating foods that are both high in fat and sugar.

10-12% body fat: Carb-up can include a bit more cheat food, but still stay away from fat/sugar combo foods.

Less than 10% body fat: the refeed can be more lenient. While results will be better with cleaner food, when you get down below 10% it’s okay to include some dirtier meals (pizza, burgers, pastries, etc.) in your refeed day.