Low Carb Weight Loss Help

Diet and Nutrition
1

I’ve been using low carb diets to drop from 150kgs to 105kgs, but one issue I keep coming across is that I find it very hard to eat more than 1500 - 2000 calories per day on a low carb diet. Usually, I’ll have 2 large meals per day, one about 2 hours after getting up, then another one in the evening.

I do not feel hungry outside of these 2 times per day, but at the same time I’m concerned that eating below maintenance, while lifting 4 - 5 times per week could be causing my fat loss/muscle gain to slow down.

I’m currently on a 4 sets, 8 rep program, with a 3 day split, Chest/shoulders/Triceps (twice per week), Back/Biceps (twice per week), Legs (done once per week).

Any advice would be appreciated.

2

What exactly are you eating during those two meals?

3

[quote]Jackie_Jacked wrote:
What exactly are you eating during those two meals?[/quote]

The first one is pepperoni 130g (31.2 46.8 protein/fat) and 70g of Feta cheese (10.5 18.41 protein fat)

The second meal is usually either minced beef with a few jalapeno peppers, and mushrooms (4 5,2 0,6 protein carbs fat) with tabasco sauce or a fry up of 3 whole eggs, mushrooms, salami ( 16.65 32.375 protein fat) or pepperoni. Everything cooked in extra virgin olive oil.

If I feel like more food, I’ll have either a few slices of roast beef, or about 50g of pepperoni.

4

besides mushrooms are you eating any veggies?

I wouldn’t be so much worried about slowing the metabolism with this diet as I would with nutritional deficiencies, in part due to your choice of meat.

5

[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
besides mushrooms are you eating any veggies?

I wouldn’t be so much worried about slowing the metabolism with this diet as I would with nutritional deficiencies, in part due to your choice of meat.[/quote]

I take a vitamin supplement, and the mince is from grass fed beef. But I see your point about nutritional deficiencies. I just find it very hard to stay under 30g of usable carbs when I include veggies in my diet. What meat would you recommend?

6

[quote]Scelerat wrote:

[quote]Jackie_Jacked wrote:
What exactly are you eating during those two meals?[/quote]

The first one is pepperoni 130g (31.2 46.8 protein/fat) and 70g of Feta cheese (10.5 18.41 protein fat)

The second meal is usually either minced beef with a few jalapeno peppers, and mushrooms (4 5,2 0,6 protein carbs fat) with tabasco sauce or a fry up of 3 whole eggs, mushrooms, salami ( 16.65 32.375 protein fat) or pepperoni. Everything cooked in extra virgin olive oil.

If I feel like more food, I’ll have either a few slices of roast beef, or about 50g of pepperoni.
[/quote]

Where did you read up on keto diets? You are not only not getting enough food but almost no variety of foods. Is there any way that you can vary up your protein sources and add some leafy green salads? I’d also try to eat about every four hours. Can you add in a couple of more meals? Ideally, I’d see some chicken, steak, pork with a few veggies and lots of green leafy veggies, eggs, oils, butter.

How long have you been doing a keto/low carb diet and how often do you have carbs or do you not allow yourself any, ever?

7

[quote]Jackie_Jacked wrote:

[quote]Scelerat wrote:

[quote]Jackie_Jacked wrote:
What exactly are you eating during those two meals?[/quote]

The first one is pepperoni 130g (31.2 46.8 protein/fat) and 70g of Feta cheese (10.5 18.41 protein fat)

The second meal is usually either minced beef with a few jalapeno peppers, and mushrooms (4 5,2 0,6 protein carbs fat) with tabasco sauce or a fry up of 3 whole eggs, mushrooms, salami ( 16.65 32.375 protein fat) or pepperoni. Everything cooked in extra virgin olive oil.

If I feel like more food, I’ll have either a few slices of roast beef, or about 50g of pepperoni.
[/quote]

Where did you read up on keto diets? You are not only not getting enough food but almost no variety of foods. Is there any way that you can vary up your protein sources and add some leafy green salads? I’d also try to eat about every four hours. Can you add in a couple of more meals? Ideally, I’d see some chicken, steak, pork with a few veggies and lots of green leafy veggies, eggs, oils, butter.

How long have you been doing a keto/low carb diet and how often do you have carbs or do you not allow yourself any, ever?[/quote]

I did a traditional ketogenic diet for in excess of a year, including leafy vegetables, boiled vegetables, salads etc. I recently switched to carb nite, which is when I cut out all the vegetables. I do use liberal amounts of olive oil and butter when cooking. The mince is actually homeground from steak. As a part of carb nite, I spend one evening every week eating a large amount of carbohydrates from 6pm to midnight.

For some reason my appetite just completely disappears when I’m eating ultra low carb, which combined with hardly ever getting hungry means I don’t eat. I tend to have some form of pork on saturdays, and chicken as a replacement for the salami/pepperoni mix once a week. The pepperoni/salami/feta combo is more or less my staple food though.

8

[quote]Scelerat wrote:

[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
besides mushrooms are you eating any veggies?

I wouldn’t be so much worried about slowing the metabolism with this diet as I would with nutritional deficiencies, in part due to your choice of meat.[/quote]

I take a vitamin supplement, and the mince is from grass fed beef. But I see your point about nutritional deficiencies. I just find it very hard to stay under 30g of usable carbs when I include veggies in my diet. What meat would you recommend? [/quote]

You get almost no carbohydrate from vegetables. It’s nearly all fiber, some of which is converted to short chain fatty acids and released to the bloodstream as usable calories.

I would try not to eat processed meats for my main source of protein but can be a good source of fat.

9

I’m not familiar with the diet protocol that you’re following but does it really condone no veggies? Even Atkins allows some and actually, a certain number of your carbs must come from veggies. The processed meats, as mentioned above, are probably not the best thing to have on a daily basis but you seem to really like them. Any way to get some more variety in there?

I know what you mean about not being hungry on low carb but you really need to make yourself eat at certain intervals or you will not be doing your metabolism any favors.

Do you subtract your fiber from your carbs to get your net count or are you counting all of it’s carb content? What LIFTICVSMAXIMVS was telling you about fiber is true. You can also do salads.

10

[quote]Jackie_Jacked wrote:
I’m not familiar with the diet protocol that you’re following but does it really condone no veggies? Even Atkins allows some and actually, a certain number of your carbs must come from veggies. The processed meats, as mentioned above, are probably not the best thing to have on a daily basis but you seem to really like them. Any way to get some more variety in there?
[/quote]

It doesn’t exactly condone it, but the people who get the best results are the ones that keep carbs as close to 0 as possible. I’m adding more eggs, bacon, chicken and pork. I also plan to put some game meat in there once the hunting season starts. The reason I eat the processed meats is mostly due to simplicity, with limited time, they’re quick and convenient.

I try to snack on fat/protein in the evenings, usually some form of cheese, almond butter and coconut oil. Overall, I’d put money on me getting 70% of my daily calories between 8pm and midnight.

[quote]
Do you subtract your fiber from your carbs to get your net count or are you counting all of it’s carb content? What LIFTICVSMAXIMVS was telling you about fiber is true. You can also do salads.[/quote]

I do, but I found that in the absence of other carbs, I over indulged in vegetables, making me go over the limit time and time again, so I found it easier to eliminate them for the 2 - 3 months I’ll be spending on carb nite, before switching to something like a Paleo diet with carb backloading.

The remaining 20 lbs of fat I need to drop to get down to 12 - 15% BF have shown themselves resistant against just about anything I’ve thrown at them.

11

Seriously, eat some leafy vegetables. You’d need to eat two crates of spinach to get up to 30g of carbs.

12

[quote]Scelerat wrote:
I’ve been using low carb diets to drop from 150kgs to 105kgs, but one issue I keep coming across is that I find it very hard to eat more than 1500 - 2000 calories per day on a low carb diet. Usually, I’ll have 2 large meals per day, one about 2 hours after getting up, then another one in the evening.

I do not feel hungry outside of these 2 times per day, but at the same time I’m concerned that eating below maintenance, while lifting 4 - 5 times per week could be causing my fat loss/muscle gain to slow down.

I’m currently on a 4 sets, 8 rep program, with a 3 day split, Chest/shoulders/Triceps (twice per week), Back/Biceps (twice per week), Legs (done once per week).

Any advice would be appreciated. [/quote]

Your entire premise seems confused. You’re worried that by eating below maintenance, you won’t be able to lose fat and gain muscle. You need to prioritize your goals, which one is more important to you? If it’s continuing to lose weight (and great job on the huge loss so far),
then continue on. If it’s gaining muscle, then you may need to increase total calories.

I’ll second what everyone else is saying: eat your damn leafy greens. If vegetables are pushing your net carbs (total carbs - fiber) over 30 grams, then make some other veggie choices. Stay away from sugary/starchy vegetables like corn and carrots, and focus on greens.

Lastly, 30 grams is not a magic number delivered to us mere mortals by the powers on high. It’s a rough guess of what works well for most of the population. Get yourself some keto strips from the pharmacy and start experimenting.

<---------- Low carb since Jan 2012.

13

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
Your entire premise seems confused. You’re worried that by eating below maintenance, you won’t be able to lose fat and gain muscle. You need to prioritize your goals, which one is more important to you? If it’s continuing to lose weight (and great job on the huge loss so far),
then continue on. If it’s gaining muscle, then you may need to increase total calories.

I’ll second what everyone else is saying: eat your damn leafy greens. If vegetables are pushing your net carbs (total carbs - fiber) over 30 grams, then make some other veggie choices. Stay away from sugary/starchy vegetables like corn and carrots, and focus on greens.

Lastly, 30 grams is not a magic number delivered to us mere mortals by the powers on high. It’s a rough guess of what works well for most of the population. Get yourself some keto strips from the pharmacy and start experimenting.

<---------- Low carb since Jan 2012.

[/quote]

Absolutely! Good post!

OP, http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase-1/What-You-Can-Eat-in-this-Phase.aspx Scroll down to the veggies part. There are so many other choices that would allow you to eat more food and have more of a selection. There are many other programs out there other than this one too. I advocate the general principals of that one. Dr Pangloss is correct though because everyone has a different carb tolerance. For some, it may be 20 grams, for some, maybe 40 or 50.

14

OP, your doing fine. Don’t even know why you made this thread. Just follow Keifer’s diet to the letter and when you get sick of it or hit your goal weight move to Paleo.

You obviously already know that muscle gains, if any, will be minimal on carb-night. It’s a weight lose diet so your suppose to eat under maintenance. I am honestly surprised you even have questions, knowing how wordy Keifer can be I think he over-explains his diets in the most minute detail.

carbnite.com/ns-buythebook.php

15

[quote]JLone wrote:
OP, your doing fine. Don’t even know why you made this thread. Just follow Keifer’s diet to the letter and when you get sick of it or hit your goal weight move to Paleo.

You obviously already know that muscle gains, if any, will be minimal on carb-night. It’s a weight lose diet so your suppose to eat under maintenance. I am honestly surprised you even have questions, knowing how wordy Keifer can be I think he over-explains his diets in the most minute detail.

carbnite.com/ns-buythebook.php[/quote]

What makes you think he’s following Carb Nite? Or are you suggesting that he start?

16

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]JLone wrote:
OP, your doing fine. Don’t even know why you made this thread. Just follow Keifer’s diet to the letter and when you get sick of it or hit your goal weight move to Paleo.

You obviously already know that muscle gains, if any, will be minimal on carb-night. It’s a weight lose diet so your suppose to eat under maintenance. I am honestly surprised you even have questions, knowing how wordy Keifer can be I think he over-explains his diets in the most minute detail.

carbnite.com/ns-buythebook.php[/quote]

What makes you think he’s following Carb Nite? Or are you suggesting that he start?[/quote]

[quote]Scelerat wrote:
I did a traditional ketogenic diet for in excess of a year, including leafy vegetables, boiled vegetables, salads etc. I recently switched to carb nite, which is when I cut out all the vegetables. I do use liberal amounts of olive oil and butter when cooking. The mince is actually homeground from steak. As a part of carb nite, I spend one evening every week eating a large amount of carbohydrates from 6pm to midnight. [/quote]

17

^ Thanks, I missed that.