new to keto, looking for diet critique

[Bubba0001]

This is my first attempt at a keto diet.
I am 5'11" 215lbs I'm guessing around 20% BF%.

Background (skip to bottom for diet)
I am very familiar with the importance of a constant stream of protein all day long. I have been a big carb fan, but I want to try something different to get my body fat down. I started about 3 years ago at a sedentary 265lbs. Super-FAT. Over the last few years I've lost over 40lbs of fat and gained plenty of muscle by eating 5-6 small healthy meals. I train hard and heavy 4 days a week with 30 minutes of moderate intensity cardio directly after weight training.

One of the staples of my diet since the beginning is to eat as soon as I wake up, and eat right before I go to bed(usually casein protein or cottage cheese). How does this work with keto? I am having a hard time spreading out my meals and keeping protein low enough to have this night time shake. Will I not be needing it due to my body's transfer from using carbs/glucose to using fat?

protein carbs fat calories
Breakfast
3 large whole eggs 27 3 27 363
1 tbsp olive oil 0 0 14 126
2 slices cheddar cheese 14 0 18 218

Snack
6 oz fried chicken strips (3 strips) 32 9 21 353
2 tbsp bleu cheese dressing 1 2 16 156

Lunch
2 cup salad
2 tbsp bleu cheese dressing 1 2 16 156
4 oz cooked chicken breast 27 0 2 126
2 slices bacon 6 0 9 105

Preworkout
1 scoop protein 24 3 1 117
2 tbsp peanut butter 8 5 16 196

Postworkout
1 scoop protein 24 3 1 117

Dinner
6 oz cooked Salmon 30 0 6 174
1 tbsp olive oil 0 0 14 126
1 cup broccoli 2 9 0 44

Bedtime
Another shake?
1 tbsp peanut butter 4 3 8 100
1 tbsp flax seed oil 0 0 14 126

Totals 200 39 183 2603

My current diet consists of approximately 325g protein, 300g carbs, and very little fat for about 2800 calories a day. I've seen other's keto diets and mine appears to be a lot of food. Will I really feel full that long to not be begging myself for the extra meal?

Thank you in advance for your time!!

[BRC1989]

Your diet looks good IMO, and yes you should feel fuller longer on keto than a regular say 40/40/20 p/c/f cutting diet.

[CanuckTank]

Cals are a little high. I would aim for 2200 max for your weight and height.

[Bubba0001]

Cals are a little high. I would aim for 2200 max for your weight and height.

That's where part of my confusion with keto sets in. Including my training and cardio maintenance calories for me is about 3000. I was losing 1.5-2lbs a week on 2700-2800 calories. I will end up getting down to about 2200 calories after the first 4-8 weeks(depending upon how well the diet is going), but I never start my diet with such a drop. Is keto that different?


Thanks for the replies guys!

[Bubba0001]

I'm done with meals 1 and 2 and I feel like CRAP is this normal? I feel like I'm goin to hurl. Again this is my first attempt at a keto diet.

[brom32]

You wont feel the best for the first couple of days. After that you will feel great! Just man it out :P

[ryo1549]

Yep, some people it takes longer, I know it took me 10 days of keto before I felt normal again. You'll get through it.

[MuZI]

Background (skip to bottom for diet)
I am very familiar with the importance of a constant stream of protein all day long. I have been a big carb fan, but I want to try something different to get my body fat down. I started about 3 years ago at a sedentary 265lbs. Super-FAT. Over the last few years I've lost over 40lbs of fat and gained plenty of muscle by eating 5-6 small healthy meals. I train hard and heavy 4 days a week with 30 minutes of moderate intensity cardio directly after weight training.

One of the staples of my diet since the beginning is to eat as soon as I wake up, and eat right before I go to bed(usually casein protein or cottage cheese). How does this work with keto? I am having a hard time spreading out my meals and keeping protein low enough to have this night time shake. Will I not be needing it due to my body's transfer from using carbs/glucose to using fat?

One of the things I'm picking up from your posts is that you're really afraid of reducing the kcals and grams of protein for fear of catabolism. If you keep thinking about this from a traditional dieting perspective you're going to cause yourself a lot of unnecessary stress...

I was afraid at first too but trust me... you can be a bit more lax on keto... Stick to the 65/35/5 percentage and you'll be good... You won't lose the muscle you worked hard to gain...

At 215/20% BF I'd do 2,300-2,400kcal and then drop 10% weekly/bi-weekly.

Too much protein and kcal on keto can be a bad thing...

I'm done with meals 1 and 2 and I feel like CRAP is this normal? I feel like I'm goin to hurl. Again this is my first attempt at a keto diet.

Keep us updated... it might get a bit worse before it gets better...

[Bubba0001]

Thanks for all the input guys!!! I'm about 20 min away from my next meal, we'll see how it goes!

[Bubba0001]

After my third meal I started feeling better. So far so good, I'm not missing the carbs too much yet Day 2 is a training day so we'll see how that goes.

[CanuckTank]

That's where part of my confusion with keto sets in. Including my training and cardio maintenance calories for me is about 3000. I was losing 1.5-2lbs a week on 2700-2800 calories. I will end up getting down to about 2200 calories after the first 4-8 weeks(depending upon how well the diet is going), but I never start my diet with such a drop. Is keto that different?


Thanks for the replies guys!

If you are going by those online calculators, they are DEAD WRONG.

If I was to eat what they said was my maintanence, I would be a lard ass.

What weight and height are you?

[MASSter]

If you are going by those online calculators, they are DEAD WRONG.

If I was to eat what they said was my maintanence, I would be a lard ass.

What weight and height are you?

The one keto online calculator on the Shannon Clark keto page put my cals at 4k when I calculated it(WTF?). So yeah...hard to trust the online calculators.

[CanuckTank]

The one keto online calculator on the Shannon Clark keto page put my cals at 4k when I calculated it(WTF?). So yeah...hard to trust the online calculators.

Bingo!

One of the main reasons why people convince themselves to eat more and thus fail on this diet.

4000cals a day is one heck of a lot of food.

[LMG462]

[QUOTE=CanuckTank;406180821]If you are going by those online calculators, they are DEAD WRONG.

QUOTE]

How is it best to figure what intake should be for loss?

[Bubba0001]

I have been using the Harris Benedict equation. I did the math myself and on the site's calculator. I have also used my PT book(I am certified thru ISSA) to determine my caloric needs. I knw my numbers are correct like I said I've already been dieting and losing weight. I maintain my weight when I eat about 3200cals per day(been tested and I knw for a fact this is what I need). I have lost 7lbs in 5 weeks on a 325g protein, 300g carb diet for about 2800cals.

[Bubba0001]

I had meal 1, then my preworkout meal and trained about 2 hours after that(a little later than I like, I usually prefer to train about an hour after I eat.) It was leg day. I started off feeling pretty weak, but I finished up pretty dang strong. Maybe the Nano Vapor kicked in a little late lol. I'm down to about 212lbs now. From my research I'm assuming it's water weight. Feeling of nausea wasn't as bad today, but it was still present. Question about fried food (is it even allowed?)...is there a specific oil that is recommended to use maybe one to stay away from? Rip my diet apart I really do appreciate the in-depth critiques.

Thanks!

[Bubba0001]

Day 4 I woke up and weighed 208lbs. I'm lookin flatter and I'm a little weaker. Oddly enough I feel a little more energy throughout the day. I don't need that 2nd cup of coffee! The nausea is subsiding for the most part. I felt a little nausea after my postworkout shake (30g protein, 30g carbs). Other than that I feel good. Sleeping well and not having as hard of a time waking up. I just don't get why, if this diet works so well, we don't see more pro bodybuilders eating like this. I am going to wait til the end of week 2 to do a carb load.

[Bubba0001]

day 8, i woke up at 204lbs...I have lost 9 pounds in 8 days. I'm thinking I should start my carb load this weekend. I have definitely lost some strength, but I feel a lot more energetic. I'm thinkin I'll eat about 500g carbsm 200g protein and very little fat throughout friday and saturday. Any experienced ketoers have any advice here? I'm going to stick with pasta, oatmeal, whole grain carbs. Is it too early to carb load? I have been using keto sticks throughout the day for 2 days. At most I hit the "small" amount of ketones in my urine. Is this where I am supposed to be? Should i stick out the no-carb for another week?

Thank you for your time.

[Seyton]

If this is your first time on Keto I would not carb up for 2 weeks from the start date. Need to let your body become fully fat adapted.

[Bubba0001]

If this is your first time on Keto I would not carb up for 2 weeks from the start date. Need to let your body become fully fat adapted.

Thanks. I started mid-week, so maybe I'll give it 2.5 weeks. One more question(disregard the rest of my above post). Dave Palumbo and Fitnessman both recommend a 30g carb 30g protein shake after your workouts. Do I hold off on this as well?

[Bubba0001]

I gained 2 lbs on my carb load weekend. Since then I have gained another 1.5-2lbs. I am wondering if I should increase my carbs to help finish my workouts. I have lost quite a bit of strength in some exercises and I feel that I hit a point where I have no more energy to push out another rep when I know 6 weeks ago I was doing more reps AND more weight. Is this just something that people deal with while on a keto diet? My squat has dropped 50lbs, my dumbbell bench about 10lbs. Should I introduce a preworkout carb/protein shake? Generally my energy levels are great. I can get through workouts just fine. It's in the middle of a set where I notice the biggest decrease in performance.