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  1. #1
    Registered User Psyfactor312's Avatar
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    Re-introducing Carbs after years of keto and low carb

    I have a big problem and I hope someone can tell me from his experience.

    I used to be a ketoer on CKD (I was bulking after a thyroid issue, w. success btw). At that time I liked the keto foods, but after a few years and reaching my goal weight I was more inclined to having vegetarian foods (but no grains or fruits!) and liked meat less. So my meals now are 95% veggies and a tiny bit of meat for flavour, or shrimps, I get the rest of my protein from lots of cottage cheese and a shake.

    My thyroid (st.p. Hashimoto attack, which made my thyroid shrink at the time) is still low.
    I am not on medication, bc the doc deemed it not necessary for the time being (I'm under his supervision and he's a very understanding, open-minded doctor - knows my whole med. history and bb-lifestyle).
    He doesn't know much about low-carbing though.

    My problems are:
    -I have bad insomnia (feel over-energized and cannot sleep - get tired the next morning with heavy brainfog and headaches).
    -Although I'm tracking my calories, train with weights + cardio every day, I "cannot" cut anymore. If this was someone else or me when I used to eat some carbs (i.e carb ups or regularly), I would sure "look the way I live", i.e more defined. In other words, a stall that doesn't match my training and eating at all and it seems I would gain if I reduced my cardio.*
    - I often feel "depressed".
    - I guess something is wrong with the leptin AND the thyroid (thyroid is borderline) and I need to reset the leptin also.

    So now, at about 60g of carbs per day (for 1 year; before was keto with under 30g of carb for 4 years), with all these "sluggish" symptoms I am planning to increase my carbs. Not "high" carb but maybe some brown rice, brown pasta, oats etc. OR I do carb ups.
    [Since I moved away from keto to 60g I stopped carbing up; my carb ups in keto became less frequent and with 60g I haven't carbed up now in 8 months. After carb ups the symptoms always resided for a few days.]

    So my question is: what's the best to do?

    a.) I continue with my diet now and carb up every few weeks - although it is above the keto carb allotment?
    60g or even up to 80 or 100g (but <100g) on normal days. --> would be then: carb up once in a while after 1 VLC day (or more depending how many carbs I've been eating till then that week) and a depletion a work out. --> 1 carb meal in the evening.

    b.) I have a daily moderate carb diet (with re-introduction of carbs from grains; this is what I'm a bit scared of, bc I know that I am carb-sensitive; this is why I had chosen keto to gain weight in the first place).
    If I choose this option, should I start this with a controlled complex carb carb-up first (low fat, high complex carb day). including an intensive depletion work-out and THEN lower to maintenance carbs? Bc if I lslowly re-introduce I might being hungry all the time (fear). My thought is that with such a carb up, I could instantly kickstart my messed up metabolism and leptin and that all carbs thereafter are relatively low compared to that.

    I really don't know which way is best and would be very thankful to hear from others that low-carbed for a longer period (even years) and added in carbs again.

    P.S: upping the fats didn't help, I just gained weight and bf but the "tired-symptoms" never subsided. When I used to do keto I didn't have these due to the weekly carb-ups. But now I can't do keto anymore (bc I don't like the foods).

    My doc doesn't know much about low carb or keto, but he says that from what he has heard, carbs might be necessary to kickstart thyroid function again (and from my knowledge also Leptin). And I'd rather eat some carbs than start a medication regime. I never felt so awful (like "hit by a truck" before).

    I forgot to mention that I'm also a Warrior Dieter (main meal in the evening), so whenever I carbed up it was only 1 carb heavy MEAL (~300-350g of carbs), not a whole day.

    *I upped the cardio bc I wanted to reduce belly fat and as we know, we cannot spot reduce. But now I feel that if I reduced the cardio, it would all be reversed, so I have to somehow reset my calorie level (higher).
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  2. #2
    Banned StevenRogers's Avatar
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    I would just reverse diet. Add in 100 calories a week.
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    Originally Posted by StevenRogers View Post
    I would just reverse diet. Add in 100 calories a week.
    Buddy, your metabolism is f*cked up. So try this ^
    Im like a dog, easy to understand english language, but hard to say )

    Dont try to impose some one, all i have posted is only my POV
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  4. #4
    Registered User Psyfactor312's Avatar
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    Psyfactor312 is offline
    I know it is *lol*. I made the big mistake of going lower. Some ppl recommend this "1 Lower Carbs- when that stops working lower calories and/or increased exercise...." so now I have used up all possiblities, I am stuck in a rut and I don't even want to exercise as much/eat as little, but I'm afraid that (with this sluggish thyroid by nature - bc of Hashimotos) if I stop all that, the efforts (and results) of the last months will be reversed and all was for nothing. I did lose a bit on the waist, but it's still not the "goal" bc I am of the Skinny fat type. Whenever I lose, the pouch on the stomach is terribly stubborn ! And you can only lose overall fat and not just in one place. So that had been the idea behind my cutting regime which only helped a bit, for the price of becoming overtrained.

    Do you mean I can stay low carb and increase by 100 every week? Or shall I also do carb-ups to kickstart leptin (bc fats and protein are not as potent for this)?
    (As said, I'm not a very carb-tolerant person and I have to stay low carb due to reactive hypoglycemia. So going on a carby diet during these weeks would not be a good idea in my case.
    But I could do carb-ups every 1-2 weeks after a depletion work-out, as I used to do when bulking on the anabolic diet).
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  5. #5
    Registered User Kostya1981's Avatar
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    Kostya1981 is offline
    Originally Posted by Psyfactor312 View Post
    I know it is *lol*. I made the big mistake of going lower. Some ppl recommend this "1 Lower Carbs- when that stops working lower calories and/or increased exercise...." so now I have used up all possiblities, I am stuck in a rut and I don't even want to exercise as much/eat as little, but I'm afraid that (with this sluggish thyroid by nature - bc of Hashimotos) if I stop all that, the efforts (and results) of the last months will be reversed and all was for nothing. I did lose a bit on the waist, but it's still not the "goal" bc I am of the Skinny fat type. Whenever I lose, the pouch on the stomach is terribly stubborn ! And you can only lose overall fat and not just in one place. So that had been the idea behind my cutting regime which only helped a bit, for the price of becoming overtrained.

    Do you mean I can stay low carb and increase by 100 every week? Or shall I also do carb-ups to kickstart leptin (bc fats and protein are not as potent for this)?
    (As said, I'm not a very carb-tolerant person and I have to stay low carb due to reactive hypoglycemia. So going on a carby diet during these weeks would not be a good idea in my case.
    But I could do carb-ups every 1-2 weeks after a depletion work-out, as I used to do when bulking on the anabolic diet).

    Was in same situation. So i have found solution for myself: Keto-diet + increase calories by 100 every week till my maintenance level + no refeeds. Yeah... its a long way home ) but when you will get there - cut your calories again and it will burn your fat with magnificient results.

    As i said - that works for me.

    Search for: "Layne metabolism crash".
    Im like a dog, easy to understand english language, but hard to say )

    Dont try to impose some one, all i have posted is only my POV
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  6. #6
    Registered User Psyfactor312's Avatar
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    Psyfactor312 is offline
    Originally Posted by Kostya1981 View Post
    Was in same situation. So i have found solution for myself: Keto-diet + increase calories by 100 every week till my maintenance level + no refeeds. Yeah... its a long way home ) but when you will get there - cut your calories again and it will burn your fat with magnificient results.

    As i said - that works for me.

    Search for: "Layne metabolism crash".
    Thank you very much, my friend ! I'll try. It won't be a 30g keto, but maybe around 50-60g bc I don't like meat anymore and I eat cottage cheese and vegetables (that's where my "carbs" come from).

    Do you never carb up, ever ? How many carbs do you consume on average?

    It's great to know I'm not the only one who got into this situation, after all you read this wrong advise (excercise more and/or eat less to cut the last bit) so often on bb sites.
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