A Guide to Ketosis

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

im not trying to sound like a skeptic because it sounds like a good diet and i need to lose weight and lower my cholesterol but how in the world is it possible to lower bad cholesterol by eating meat thats packed full of it? in my mind its like drinking more water will help someone urinate less.

You actually can only absorb 1/4 of the cholesterol you eat. Eating things like eggs (that are high in cholesterol) have actually been proven to improve the good cholesterol and lower the bad cholesterol (which I read is a myth to begin with, there is no such thing as "good" and "bad" cholesterol).

Basically, 3/4 of this comes from your own body. Also worth noting is that Canada has done away with putting cholesterol on their labels because of these reasons. Only if you actually have high cholesterol (in my opinion) should you watch what cholesterol you put into your body.

I wish I had the source, its fresh in my mind from reading it just a week ago and these are the conclusions I came to. The best thing to do my friend would be to do a search and see if ketosis is proven to lower cholesterol. I'm guessing since you already have high cholesterol, you may want to watch how much you take in?

Exercise and possibly a "normal" diet may be more right for you..

[aegolius]

Hi all

I am new to this world and have been lurking for some time. I am a 27 year old female, 150cm tall (or short) and 47kg. I have recently started weight training and I am trying to learn about nutrition. I believe a ketogenic diet would be suitable for myself, as I'd like to burn some fat, build muscle and I also get hypoglycaemia so it makes sense to me to graduate to a ketogenic diet to maintain BSL.

I have used the online Keto Macro calculator which tells me that my BMR is 1111 cal and my daily expenditure is 1722. This was based on an estimated 20% body fat, as unfortunately I don't have the tools to measure that exactly.

I thought given that I am not overweight, that a 10% deficit sounded reasonable and so the calculator spat out the following figures:
1550 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
25g Carbohydrates (6%, 100 kcal)
80g Protein (21%, 320 kcal)
126g Fat (73%, 1130 kcal)

I've been trying to work out a meal plan for myself using My Fitness Pal however I am finding it difficult. With basic supplements (even changing my protein to carb free Isopure) I have only 800 odd calories to play with. I seem to have a lot of fat to make up for and the figures indicate I am having too much protein. It's very challenging trying to get 800 calories spaced across 5 meals; I feel as though I'd really have no sustenance.

Am I missing something? I'd be really grateful for any advice anyone has.

In the interim, I will keep researching.

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

Hi all

I am new to this world and have been lurking for some time. I am a 27 year old female, 150cm tall (or short) and 47kg. I have recently started weight training and I am trying to learn about nutrition. I believe a ketogenic diet would be suitable for myself, as I'd like to burn some fat, build muscle and I also get hypoglycaemia so it makes sense to me to graduate to a ketogenic diet to maintain BSL.

I have used the online Keto Macro calculator which tells me that my BMR is 1111 cal and my daily expenditure is 1722. This was based on an estimated 20% body fat, as unfortunately I don't have the tools to measure that exactly.

I thought given that I am not overweight, that a 10% deficit sounded reasonable and so the calculator spat out the following figures:
1550 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
25g Carbohydrates (6%, 100 kcal)
80g Protein (21%, 320 kcal)
126g Fat (73%, 1130 kcal)

I've been trying to work out a meal plan for myself using My Fitness Pal however I am finding it difficult. With basic supplements (even changing my protein to carb free Isopure) I have only 800 odd calories to play with. I seem to have a lot of fat to make up for and the figures indicate I am having too much protein. It's very challenging trying to get 800 calories spaced across 5 meals; I feel as though I'd really have no sustenance.

Am I missing something? I'd be really grateful for any advice anyone has.

In the interim, I will keep researching.

The advice someone gave me that has really helped is to stop taking protein shakes and just get all your protein from food. This will eliminate some carbs and give your body solid food to use as energy.

What I do now is cook up 6 eggs post workout instead. For you it might be cooking up 3 eggs or having some pre boiled to where you can eat them right after your workout.

Eggs & fatty meat I've found is the cheapest way to do this. I also snack on some cashews and throw in some broccoli and salads with ranch dressing.

Another suggestion is to not worry about calories til you get out of the brain fog/headache stage. You're already (possibly not, since your diet is probably already low carb it sounds) going to feel crappy enough that you don't want to feel crappy and be starving at the same time.

I'm starting Week 3 and I'm just starting to get a clear head. I haven't tracked my calories, I just make sure I'm eating the right ratio of fat to protein to carbs.

Hopefully this helps a bit..

[VPalumbo]

I have a question maybe you guys can answer. I used the calculator to tell me how many calories, etc that I need to be eating every day. Since my goal is around 2 lbs per week loss of body fat it's telling me to eat 90g of fat a day. I tried to increase the lbs per week and it told me that it was unhealthy or something that the keto diet wouldn't work if I went any lower. Since we are training our bodies to use our fat as energy and such I don't really understand how it's unhealthy. If my body is 35%+ body fat and I have PLENTY of fat in my body for it to use. Why do I need to still eat 90g of fat a day? Why couldn't I cut that in half and let it eat more fat from my body instead of eating it?

I'm not a nutrition expert so a lot of this stuff is new to me. There may be a really good explanation and I'm hoping someone will clear that up for me and help me understand it.

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

I have a question maybe you guys can answer. I used the calculator to tell me how many calories, etc that I need to be eating every day. Since my goal is around 2 lbs per week loss of body fat it's telling me to eat 90g of fat a day. I tried to increase the lbs per week and it told me that it was unhealthy or something that the keto diet wouldn't work if I went any lower. Since we are training our bodies to use our fat as energy and such I don't really understand how it's unhealthy. If my body is 35%+ body fat and I have PLENTY of fat in my body for it to use. Why do I need to still eat 90g of fat a day? Why couldn't I cut that in half and let it eat more fat from my body instead of eating it?

I'm not a nutrition expert so a lot of this stuff is new to me. There may be a really good explanation and I'm hoping someone will clear that up for me and help me understand it.

I'm not a nutrition expert but I can chime in for you. 2 lbs is about the norm - I would guess the program/app you are using is taking the average person, or what the average person should be, and saying more than 2 lbs is too much.

I think you will be fine lowering your calories to whatever you feel comfortable with just make sure you're still getting the correct ratio of fatsrotein:carbs. Also, don't go getting anorexic on it. I know you probably won't but I have to throw that out there. Make sure you're getting plenty of water - it seems that people switching over to keto forget to increase their water intake and get dehydrated (I did, along with many others).

It seems youre on the right track.

[zeaview]

I have a question maybe you guys can answer. I used the calculator to tell me how many calories, etc that I need to be eating every day. Since my goal is around 2 lbs per week loss of body fat it's telling me to eat 90g of fat a day. I tried to increase the lbs per week and it told me that it was unhealthy or something that the keto diet wouldn't work if I went any lower. Since we are training our bodies to use our fat as energy and such I don't really understand how it's unhealthy. If my body is 35%+ body fat and I have PLENTY of fat in my body for it to use. Why do I need to still eat 90g of fat a day? Why couldn't I cut that in half and let it eat more fat from my body instead of eating it?

I'm not a nutrition expert so a lot of this stuff is new to me. There may be a really good explanation and I'm hoping someone will clear that up for me and help me understand it.

Fats have large roles in hormonal balances and cell function. And weight loss/gain has nothing to do with the percentage of fat in your diet, it relies solely on a caloric deficit or surplus.

Fats are much more than something you eat. In fact, fat is one of the most important things inside of you. I recommend you read the 'sticky' threads at the top of the Nutrition forum, as well as the stickies at the top of the Keto sub-forum. There's also other people here who know a lot more about fat, so do your research and if all else fails, come back - ask questions, learn for free.

Side note: your questions will also get a lot more answers if you ask them directly in the Nutrition forum.

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

Fats have large roles in hormonal balances and cell function. And weight loss/gain has nothing to do with the percentage of fat in your diet, it relies solely on a caloric deficit or surplus.

Fats are much more than something you eat. In fact, fat is one of the most important things inside of you. I recommend you read the 'sticky' threads at the top of the Nutrition forum, as well as the stickies at the top of the Keto sub-forum. There's also other people here who know a lot more about fat, so do your research and if all else fails, come back - ask questions, learn for free.

Side note: your questions will also get a lot more answers if you ask them directly in the Nutrition forum.

Hmm, I was reading it like he wanted to cut everything in half, including the fat. I didn't read it like he thought fat makes fat..

[paulup]

Forgive me if this has already been answered, but I couldn't find it.

When you say carbs, does that mean any carbs, or carbs from sugars? I'm having an extremely hard time hitting my fat without going WAY over on protein. I can eat unsweetened peanut butter for 16g fat, but it has 6g carbs, only 1g from sugars. So when I calculate the peanut butter, do I need to calculate 6g carbs per serving, or just the 1g from sugar? Same issue with most nuts. I'm at a point where I just have to consume as much ribeye, pork sausage and cheese as I can handle, or start dumping oil on everything, else my protein goes through the roof.

I'm about to cut out the protein shake(28g protein, 7carb(0g ffrom sugars), 2fat), but I go from the gym to the office every morning so can only cook with microwave or Foreman grill here.

Appreciate the advice, this place really has a rich knowledge base.

ETA: I'm 6' 243lbs 30%(approx) body fat. Training according to the thread AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part V(sorry, post count isn't high enough to post links), but seriously trying to drop fat weight and i know KETO is the key.

[paulup]

This is where I am at for the day right now:

Totals-------------696-------19--------28--------92------1,567--------5
Your Daily Goal----1,990------274-------66-------75-------2,500-------40
Remaining---------1,294------255-------38------(-17)------933--------35
----------------- Calories----Carbs-----Fat-----Protein----Sodium-----Sugar

Ignore the "Your daily goal" numbers, because MyFitnessPal gave me that, and it isn't geared towards Ketosis. I've had a protein shake, a sirloin steak, deep greens salad, 2 servings of cheese, 4 turkey slices with cream cheese and a small amount of sunflower seeds and my calories are only at 696. I still have dinner to eat, but its almond flour breaded chicken nuggets(22g fat, 35g prot) with broccoli and asparagus. NEED fat, don't want to chug oils and end up on the can all night.

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

This is where I am at for the day right now:

Totals-------------696-------19--------28--------92------1,567--------5
Your Daily Goal----1,990------274-------66-------75-------2,500-------40
Remaining---------1,294------255-------38------(-17)------933--------35
----------------- Calories----Carbs-----Fat-----Protein----Sodium-----Sugar

Ignore the "Your daily goal" numbers, because MyFitnessPal gave me that, and it isn't geared towards Ketosis. I've had a protein shake, a sirloin steak, deep greens salad, 2 servings of cheese, 4 turkey slices with cream cheese and a small amount of sunflower seeds and my calories are only at 696. I still have dinner to eat, but its almond flour breaded chicken nuggets(22g fat, 35g prot) with broccoli and asparagus. NEED fat, don't want to chug oils and end up on the can all night.

You need to eat more fatty meats. Steaks are usually fairly lean and so is chicken. You need some hamburger bud. Eat some eggs as well. For today you can take out the whites and make like 6 egg yolks. Probably won't taste too well but at least you won't be on the toilet.

[paulup]

Jfb, can you comment on the total carb/net carb thing? I can eat enough nuts to get me there, but only if its net carbs.

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

Jfb, can you comment on the total carb/net carb thing? I can eat enough nuts to get me there, but only if its net carbs.

Are you talking which carbs count toward your daily allowance? If so you take the total carb amount and subtract what it says for dietary fiber. Fiber carbs don't count, all the rest do.

Hopefully this answers your question.

I'll use my almonds for example:

They have 5 carbs per serving but 3 g are dietary fiber carbs therefore, on the keto diet, I'm getting only 2 g of carbs of my daily allowance.

[VPalumbo]

Hmm, I was reading it like he wanted to cut everything in half, including the fat. I didn't read it like he thought fat makes fat..

No not everything in half just the fat intake. Instead of 90g doing like 45g instead so that my body eats more of my own fat already stored instead of the fat I am eating during the day. I don't want to cut the protein at all. I'm just not sure if I cut back some of the fat if it will effect me or not. If its better for me to stick with the 90g I'm just looking for a good reason why I should.

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

No not everything in half just the fat intake. Instead of 90g doing like 45g instead so that my body eats more of my own fat already stored instead of the fat I am eating during the day. I don't want to cut the protein at all. I'm just not sure if I cut back some of the fat if it will effect me or not. If its better for me to stick with the 90g I'm just looking for a good reason why I should.

Because fat doesn't make you fat, carbohydrates make you fat.

If your ratio becomes off balance you may never enter ketosis.

Your diet should be 60% fat calories, 35% protein calories and 5% (or less) carbohydrate calories.

If you cut your fat in half your % of protein calories would go up and your % of carbohydrates will go up. Your body will start to store your protein and use it as energy instead of your glycogen stores (from what I was told).

You need to get out of the mindset that fat makes you fat. Carbohydrates are what makes you fat! Fat is needed to remain healthy.

Protein also doesn't all go to your muscles, if your body doesn't use it, it can be stored as fat.

I hope those are reasons enough to not cut your fat in half. If you do that you will never enter ketosis.

[paulup]

Are you talking which carbs count toward your daily allowance? If so you take the total carb amount and subtract what it says for dietary fiber. Fiber carbs don't count, all the rest do.

Hopefully this answers your question.

I'll use my almonds for example:

They have 5 carbs per serving but 3 g are dietary fiber carbs therefore, on the keto diet, I'm getting only 2 g of carbs of my daily allowance.

Answered perfectly, and what a relief, thanks hoss.

[VPalumbo]

Because fat doesn't make you fat, carbohydrates make you fat.

If your ratio becomes off balance you may never enter ketosis.

Your diet should be 60% fat calories, 35% protein calories and 5% (or less) carbohydrate calories.

If you cut your fat in half your % of protein calories would go up and your % of carbohydrates will go up. Your body will start to store your protein and use it as energy instead of your glycogen stores (from what I was told).

You need to get out of the mindset that fat makes you fat. Carbohydrates are what makes you fat! Fat is needed to remain healthy.

Protein also doesn't all go to your muscles, if your body doesn't use it, it can be stored as fat.

I hope those are reasons enough to not cut your fat in half. If you do that you will never enter ketosis.

Got you thanks a lot for clearing that up. I appreciate it.

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

Answered perfectly, and what a relief, thanks hoss.

Got you thanks a lot for clearing that up. I appreciate it.

No problem guys, glad to help!

[Levyii]

Just checking in with Paul and VP to see how the keto is going? Started keto a few weeks ago myself, went stagnant on weight loss. trying to lose about 10% body fat while maintaining muscle. Probably reefed (not as much as the rest of the guys here lol) once a week on Sunday as Mondays I try to make leg days!

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

Just checking in with Paul and VP to see how the keto is going? Started keto a few weeks ago myself, went stagnant on weight loss. trying to lose about 10% body fat while maintaining muscle. Probably reefed (not as much as the rest of the guys here lol) once a week on Sunday as Mondays I try to make leg days!

You might consider not having refeeds at all. I feel that, for me at least, if I don't do refeeds, the fat comes off faster. I don't have any scientific proof but as one guy's anecdotal evidence, it might be something to think about.

[boycaron]

thanks.

[shortythree]

going to try this soon

[joe8512]

I experimented with this about 2 years ago. My meals considered entirely of vegetables and some form of protein, I used all kinds of oils throughout the day as well. I did NOT refeed.

The way my body is, I started at 14% bodyfat and within 4 weeks began to see abs and at 12 weeks I was at 6.5% bodyfat and jacked. The only thing I remember that was a big turn off was I didn't gain strength in any of my lifts during that whole period. I was pretty much stagnant in strength but had significantly higher definition and cardiovascular endurance.

Can anyone elaborate why that was? Or better yet, how to get the best of both?

[xxx_jfb_xxx]

I experimented with this about 2 years ago. My meals considered entirely of vegetables and some form of protein, I used all kinds of oils throughout the day as well. I did NOT refeed.

The way my body is, I started at 14% bodyfat and within 4 weeks began to see abs and at 12 weeks I was at 6.5% bodyfat and jacked. The only thing I remember that was a big turn off was I didn't gain strength in any of my lifts during that whole period. I was pretty much stagnant in strength but had significantly higher definition and cardiovascular endurance.

Can anyone elaborate why that was? Or better yet, how to get the best of both?

I'm just going to guess that you were at a caloric deficit or maintenance? If you want to gain muscle, you need to eat more. You *should* put on more muscle and stay toned on keto if you do it right.

[tramn1982]

A very informative thread for someone new to the board. I've adjusted my goals on MFP and got feedback that it would be a ketosis plan that I would be on. That is something I felt great when I was doing it. My schedule/life has drastically changed so I'm skeptical to hop back in it again.

[ClarkKent84]

great info here...

[emilyhiskins3]

I've created a PDF file of the completed 'list of ketogenic foods' for you guys to download. This list is now colorblind friendly, it maintains the hyperlinks to nutritional data, and now you can print the list out so you can have it with you wherever you go.

You can download the PDF file below..

You are a total Gem!!!! im putting this on my fridge right now... Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

[rimbaud92]

So I'm currently 6'0 and 136 lbs, looking to gain weight (in muscle). After reading through all the information on the first page, I'm still unsure if it's possible to do so while using a ketogenic diet, especially since the macro calculator only has options to lose or maintain weight. Is it possible?

[grndzro]

So I'm currently 6'0 and 136 lbs, looking to gain weight (in muscle). After reading through all the information on the first page, I'm still unsure if it's possible to do so while using a ketogenic diet, especially since the macro calculator only has options to lose or maintain weight. Is it possible?

Yes it is possible.
Eat near zero carbs.
Take as much protein as you can handle and stay in Keto.
Spread out your fats.
Take extra protein and some Coconut/mct oil pre workout.
Mild-medium full body workouts daily. bi weekly very heavy workouts to promote hypertrophy.
Do not overtrain. if you are hungry right after a workout you either overtrained or undershot your protein.
Glutamine pre workout can help preserve AA ratios. Carefull, Glutamine can be converted to carbs. Start slow.

[1976pianoman]

rimbaud92: First of all, why at 6'0/136 lbs are you doing keto!? You are rail thin and need more BF! Or are you a woman? Because that changes everything. If you are a man, read on.

What you are referring to is called a recomp. While it is possible, it's pretty difficult and not advised while doing keto. However, there are some compromises such as CKD and TKD, yet even these will spread you out too thin among a spectrum that you really need to be on one side or the other for maximum impact - bulking or cutting. Pros do bulking and cutting cycles separately. It's much more productive for protein synthesis (muscle growth) if you are eating a high protein diet with a carb, and cal surplus. And it's obviously much more productive for burning fat if you are keeping carbs under 20g/day (keto). The two sciences don't mix, yet CKD and TKD do their best to do so.

You are in the optimum body composition right now to not worry about keto or any other form of weight loss rather dive into the opposite - a bulking diet assuming you are weight training of course. Your BF will increase, yet once you put on significant muscle it will be a breeze to burn that little bit of fat off. IMO, you could use a lot more BF anyway.

[RookieMonster]

thanks