Ketosis vs. non ketogenic low carb diets

[Gslack93]

Alright so I am trying to lose 70 pounds. Basically it's come down to the two aforementioned diets and I've done my research and this is what I have to say, however; I would enjoy some commentary and discussion before I decide. So anyways here it goes.

Ketosis:

Pros: rapid fat loss
Cons: a myriad of health risks.

Non ketogenic low carb diet:
Pros: more stable fat loss
Cons: far less health risks.

Basically what I've gathered is it'll be difficult to continue my aerobic and anaerobic exercises on a ketosis diet, so not only will I feel sluggish and such but even if I stay away from saturated fats
and only have protein that protein getting burned with fat will put a dangerous amount of ketones in my body overall being detrimental to my overall Health and I won't see any significant gains in muscle anyways, but I get the rapid fat loss and possibly even some muscle loss.

Now with the low carb non ketogenic diet if I have those carbs and the protein ive gathered that if I do enough cardio for log enough I'll burn all of the available carbs and fats and eventually I'll start going into my fat reserves but I'll have to work out a lot harder and longer and I won't see as drastic results as I would with ketosis, and I'd still be able to do anaerobic resistance training.

Obviously I need to pay attention to what I eat, how much i chew etc (metabolism starts in your mouth) but in the long run would it be more beneficial to do the non low carb diet and continue my workout routine or do the ketosis and put off working out for awhile to be safe? Advice is greatly needed here. I can lose weight and I've done it before, but I'm trying to do it in a controlled healthy manner so I don't just eventually gain most of it back again (which is what happened last time I lost sixty pounds and my muscles atrophied bad) soo...

[kevi204]

Keto=Rapid fat loss, lol. It's really more like rapid water loss
-Both diets would basically give you the same amount of weight loss given the caloric deficit is the same in the long run.
see here...http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=133163973

General rule, is get your protein and fat requirements in order, and what's left over can go to carbs.

[dmacdonal9]

This would be relevant to your needs:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16685046

[godevs4ever]

Keto=Rapid fat loss, lol. It's really more like rapid water loss
-Both diets would basically give you the same amount of weight loss given the caloric deficit is the same in the long run.
see here...http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=133163973

General rule, is get your protein and fat requirements in order, and what's left over can go to carbs.

no it's not rapid water loss, don't be stupid....ive done keto several times and each time doing keto while working out which im sure is what the OP means and anyone means when mentioning diets, goes without saying. Keto helped me slim down to 5% bodyfat years ago when I was intensely worried about my body fat % more so than body composition. Keto works if you do it right, don't let others detract you from using Keto if it's your choice of diet. But don't do keto for too long because it can have adverse affects if you do....always cycle when you eat.

[dmacdonal9]

no it's not rapid water loss, don't be stupid....ive done keto several times and each time doing keto while working out which im sure is what the OP means and anyone means when mentioning diets, goes without saying. Keto helped me slim down to 5% bodyfat years ago when I was intensely worried about my body fat % more so than body composition. Keto works if you do it right, don't let others detract you from using Keto if it's your choice of diet. But don't do keto for too long because it can have adverse affects if you do....always cycle when you eat.

No one is saying it doesn't "work", but the evidence suggests it works no better or worse than any other diet that creates a caloric deficit. The study I linked above is a good example. Here's another:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0804748

[Keyboardsmasher]

It's all about deficits, however you chose to loss 70lbs is up to you; carb, no carb, low carb... it's doesn't matter you will achieve the same results if you're in a deficit.

My experience with these diets

Keto/CKD

Pros - Less water retention you look leaner, appetite is noticeably less, consistent energy throughout the day.
Cons- lack of food choices, lower energy, hard time sleeping, strength goes down and you look flat.

Macro diet ( using layne nortons calculator)

Pros - intensity in gym, food choices, gains have been made while cutting, cardiovascular activity doesn't suffer ( I work a physical job, it's hell on ckd/keto)
Cons- Constant cravings for sweets, always feel hungry, feel bloated after eating multiple meals, bloat.

[korvix]

500 deficit on carb diet or keto diet will yield the same result in terms of body composition.
The only difference that on keto you'll feel like ****, good luck.

[DiaFF]

The only difference that on keto you'll feel like ****, good luck.

I'm not sure why everyone says this. Personally, I did CKD for 5 months and I felt great with it. I just found it annoying to manage all the time so I went back to eating carbs.

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating for keto, I think it's dumb. But each to his own.

[ijericho]

I'm not sure why everyone says this. Personally, I did CKD for 5 months and I felt great with it. I just found it annoying to manage all the time so I went back to eating carbs.

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating for keto, I think it's dumb. But each to his own.

I agree with this. It might have been psychological, but I felt pretty good while doing keto. You get some brain fog from not eating carbs at the level you probably did before (which would be way too high if you're coming straight off of a diet that had you overweight to begin with).

And yes, since many things that are "quick and easy" put you into a panic that you're going to break ketosis, it's easier to skip snacks and maintain the deficit. And it ended up very time consuming and expensive for me preparing all my meals for the week at home (I get free lunches/breakfast/snacks at work, but they're not keto friendly).

Echoing what everyone else is saying, a deficit is what creates fat loss. Do what you can stick to for long term if you're determined to lose 70 pounds. It will be a grind and you'll be happier if you're not flipping your life upside down to meet your goals. All it takes is a tweak.

[Gslack93]

Thanks for the input everyone. My brother managed to lose the same amount of weight in 2 months using ketosis and he only ate carbs from vegetables, he told me he didn't feel bad but some people report feeling bad. But the thing is even though my brother slimmed out he has no muscle mass or definition at all and even though I'm pretty overweight I used to be pretty cut before a bunch of stressful life events happened and I quit working out so I'm just concerned about losing the muscle i already have is all.

[DiaFF]

- Eat at a 500 cal deficit
- Eat min. 1g of protein per 1lb of LBM
- Eat min. .45g of fat per 1lb of LBM
- Lift heavy

You can fill the rest of your daily calories with whatever you want.

If you do those things you shouldn't worry about losing muscle mass.

[eriquee]

The only thing you can do to maintain muscle is lifting heavy in the gym, what kind of diet you use to slim down wont matter, but if you don't workout you will lose muscle mass even in ketosis, which supposedly muscle sparring.

[mikegt87]

why are you avoiding saturated fats?

My suggestion is you go KETO while eating a paleolithic diet. This is what I did 40lbs ago.. Last 20 lbs I have not been keto though.

[lilceeceebeats]

I'm carb sensitive.. and maternal diabetes runs in my family.. so eating low-carb and being on a ketogenic diet (I switch off every month) has really helped me get leaner while retaining my muscle mass.

At the same time, my energy levels are stable. Before i knew i was carb sensitive, i was counting calories and have passed out twice because my sugar levels dropped drastically. I feel great on this diet and highly suggest it, but everyone is different. Stick with what works for you. Good luck with your goals!

[tomlaw91]

Wouldn't recommend keto for long periods of time. Some people take on a keto diet when trying to get sub 10% bf levels but they incorporate a carb refeed day once a week, sometimes twice a week to drop even further.