New to Keto? - Look Here First *Frequently Asked Questions*

[Haywood Jablome]

Am i eating too much? too little? hoping to lose about 1-2lbs of fat/week.

Thanks so much for your time!

I'm guessing you need to be closer to 1500 cals just based on your height and bf%

[Eileen]

Nuts are a good keto snack for running between classes. Also cheese or cottage cheese.

I tend to carry a small tin of sardines or a pouch of the ready to eat dressed tuna. Throw them on top of a side salad and you have a decent keto snack.

[Woods55]

thanks
ill try doin that and see how it works
i also found a keto brownie recipe and if i can convice my cousin to let me cook in his house i might be able to make some of those to last me the week

[Woods55]

if i do 40 min low intensity cardio right after i wake up and then eat breakfast and an hour later go lift would that be ok for a keto diet

also what type of cardio works best with keto cause im used to doing HIIT but wont that deplete muscle glycogen to quickly and take away from my workouts even if i do it for only like 20 min after lifting

Im just worried about my performance later in the week after doing an HIIT session and i dont want the glycogen that i need for weight lifting being used for HIIT and since im pretty sure that HIIT without carbs can cause muscle breakdown and i dont have quite that much to spare im just a bit worried

[Eileen]

Whatever workout you did before, you can do on keto. You may find you are struggling a bit in the first couple of weeks, so it's okay to slack off a bit on your cardio for that period. Then it's business as usual.

I'm not convinced that fasted cardio is a huge advantage to you. The usual reason for doing it is that after a night's sleep, your glycogen levels are low and you'll burn fat. On keto, you are always burning fat, so you are probably better doing higher intensity cardio when you have the energy to do it.

[aussieangie]

Whatever workout you did before, you can do on keto. You may find you are struggling a bit in the first couple of weeks, so it's okay to slack off a bit on your cardio for that period. Then it's business as usual.

I'm not convinced that fasted cardio is a huge advantage to you. The usual reason for doing it is that after a night's sleep, your glycogen levels are low and you'll burn fat. On keto, you are always burning fat, so you are probably better doing higher intensity cardio when you have the energy to do it.

Hi Eileen I've been so busy. I was interested in your thought on your comment of fasted cardio.
I'm doing Dave plumbo's keto diet and it's week 3 for me and down 2% BF.
I do 45 mins to 1 hr low intensity cardio every morning fasted and I think it's helping me with great results. I do low intensity ( a medium paced walk) so that I don't burn myself out and burn muscle glycogen.
Do you not believe in it?

[Eileen]

If you are getting close to competition stage, then yes, it's useful. But if you have a fair bit of fat to lose, I'd stick with the standard cardio and belt on at it.

[Woods55]

sorry i keep poppin up with questions but at the end of the first week of keto i know you dont do a carb up and your supposed to wait till the end of week 2 but what does that mean for lifting

Would i still do a depletion workout for the end of the first week or would i just repeat my split and save the depletion workout for the end of week 2

[jesmine]

I'm guessing you need to be closer to 1500 cals just based on your height and bf%

Thanks for your feedback...i will drop my fat and protein grams to accomodate that. i've lost about 2lbs for my first weigh in and i'm encouraged, though i know it would be more water weight but what the heck!! i'm motivated!

[FrazerPrescott]

This diet is not the same as the CKD. There is no carb up and carbs are consumed around the time of your training. Those who do high intensity training would benefit more from the TKD than other keto diets.

Consuming carbs before your w/o is to provide glycogen to your muscles to help fuel your training to enhance your performance in the gym. You should not be kicked out of ketosis but if you are it will be for only a few hours.

It's recommended to consume a fast digesting carbohydrate (high GI) pre-workout, 25g to 50g. Something in powder form and put into a shake would be sufficient. Do NOT add fat to this pre-w/o meal/shake. It would be wise for you to experiment with the amount of carbs pre-workout to find what works for you.

If you're also interested in taking post workout carbs to help with recovery, 25to 50g would be sufficient. Fructose and sucrose should be avoided as they can refill liver glycogen and interrupt ketosis. A good protein shake will help with recovery as well if you chose not to have carbs.

Have just started Keto and was wondering whether high or low GI carbs should be consumed post workout or whether it is really an issue.

[Eileen]

Post workout, a SMALL amount of high gi carbs. You want to a very short insulin spike which goes away as soon as it's shuttled the protein into your muscles.

[atbeezy]

Ok, so I've finally decided to give keto a try and will be starting in two days. My question is, if I weigh 165 and my calorie intake should be 1650, how am I supposed to stay inside that range? That seems awfully low. I am at 1800-2000 a day right now, and I'm always hungry!:/
I plan on giving keto max effort for a month and checking out my progress after that. Reason for keto is that I was down to 155 and in the best shape of my life and then I totally messed up my diet the past two weeks due to an intense traveling schedule. Just want to get back to where I was asap.

[Eileen]

Stick with the calories you are eating now, and just adjust the ratios. 10 cals per pound is recommended if you have a fair bit of fat to lose. Looking at your weight and pic, you don't have that much, so should be fine with 11-12 cals per pound.

[atbeezy]

Stick with the calories you are eating now, and just adjust the ratios. 10 cals per pound is recommended if you have a fair bit of fat to lose. Looking at your weight and pic, you don't have that much, so should be fine with 11-12 cals per pound.

Oh! Ok thanks. Makes a bit more sense. And from there I just re calculate every time I drop weight?

[Eileen]

Oh! Ok thanks. Makes a bit more sense. And from there I just re calculate every time I drop weight?

If you know it, base your cals on your lean mass (about 14 cals per pound of lean). That way, you don't have to recalculate so often.

[New_Start_2010]

Hey, quick question - would you recommend keto to someone looking to put on muscle mass and weight or isit primarily for people cutting?
I'm unable to train for another week now out of 3 weeks off and though I might try out keto before I start back again. Currently eating 2600 calories 200 carbs 270 protein 80 fat. Would you recommend starting keto? Thanks

[Eileen]

If your stats are right, you need to be doing some serious bulking, not cutting. It is possible to bulk on keto, but it's not as easy as on a carb diet.

[PureLegendary]

need help with my fat foods

Could I use Omega 3-6-9 to compensate for the fats in my KETO diet?

Anyone got some low calorie high fats I'm eating cheese at the moment but not enough.

[New_Start_2010]

If your stats are right, you need to be doing some serious bulking, not cutting. It is possible to bulk on keto, but it's not as easy as on a carb diet.

Thanks for your reply. Yer my stats are right atm actually I have lost a bit of weight from eating less whilst not working out 63Kg now I'm underweight due to previously being unwell for a while and now just trying to get it back up.

So do you think it would be better to carry on with higher carb intake whilst bulking and then use keto when I am at a stage to cut?
Previous to having a break from the gym a few weeks ago my macros were.
3400 Calories - 400 Carbs - 73 Fat - 280 Protein and seemed to be gaining at a good rate then.

Also I reduced my carbs and increased my fat whilst I am not training so macros are:
2600 - 200 Carbs - 78 Fat - 265 Protein. Do you think this is OK?

Weighting myself every morning then doing a average once a week and I am still gaining just at a moderate rate (which is probably what I wanted whilst not training as it will all be fat right?)

thanks

[CatFunt]

Just something I discovered yesterday but chinese beansprouts apparently have less than 1g of carb per 100g according to the label.

Thing is I am skeptical, anyone know for sure?

[Eileen]

need help with my fat foods

Could I use Omega 3-6-9 to compensate for the fats in my KETO diet?

Anyone got some low calorie high fats I'm eating cheese at the moment but not enough.

Fat is all high calorie. Use it make a salad dressing so it goes further.

I think Omega 3-6-9 is a gimmick. You already get too much O6 in ordinary food, and you get O9 in olive oil, but very few people get enough Omega 3. Buy some fish oil, which is much cheaper instead. In fact, buy it by the bottle rather than capsules, and pour a couple of spoons on top of tuna. No fishy aftertaste and you get lots of good fats.

Cheese is fine in the right amount, but try to get the bulk of your fats from eggs, oily fish, fresh meat and olive oil.

[Eileen]

Just something I discovered yesterday but chinese beansprouts apparently have less than 1g of carb per 100g according to the label.

Thing is I am skeptical, anyone know for sure?

Sounds about right. Beansprouts, celery, fennel and a few other veggies are incredibly low cal and low carb.

[Eileen]

Thanks for your reply. Yer my stats are right atm actually I have lost a bit of weight from eating less whilst not working out 63Kg now I'm underweight due to previously being unwell for a while and now just trying to get it back up.

So do you think it would be better to carry on with higher carb intake whilst bulking and then use keto when I am at a stage to cut?
Previous to having a break from the gym a few weeks ago my macros were.
3400 Calories - 400 Carbs - 73 Fat - 280 Protein and seemed to be gaining at a good rate then.

Also I reduced my carbs and increased my fat whilst I am not training so macros are:
2600 - 200 Carbs - 78 Fat - 265 Protein. Do you think this is OK?

Weighting myself every morning then doing a average once a week and I am still gaining just at a moderate rate (which is probably what I wanted whilst not training as it will all be fat right?)

thanks

It might not be all fat, if you normally train hard and are fairly active now.

You can use keto to bulk if you concentrate on big frequent carb-ups. You are one of the few people who would benefit from doing a carb-up exactly as per the stickies.

[New_Start_2010]

At present I'm completely inactive and putting on weight which I'm pretty sure is fat as all my definition is going by the day.
Based on my previous calories whilst having carbs what should my macros be on keto? I know carbs have to be below 50g. I was thinking about just doing 1 carb up day a week whilst not training then maybe doing moderate carbs before workout when I'm back in the gym. Thanks

[Eileen]

If not training, don't have any carb-up days. They'll just undo all the dieting you did all week. Once you are training, make the size of your carb-up proportional to the intensity of your training.

If you are not training, then try keto (with carbs at 20g a day) at around 10 cals per pound of total weight. Once you are training again, you can add in a few more cals, but don't go mad.

[BNX]

Caveat: Yes, we know, strong first post.

I went through this thread quite extensively and have some questions that were probably answered but I thought I would give them a shot here:

1. Does the fat come mostly from oils throughout the day? I can't for the life of me figure out a diet thats 65% fat without going way over 1.0g/lean bw of protein.

2. Where do I purchase ketone strips? Local store over internet preferred.

3. I am going to the store saturday and plan on starting on Sunday. Anyone have a go-to grocery list I can borrow so that I get all the essentials?


Thanks,
BNX

[New_Start_2010]

If not training, don't have any carb-up days. They'll just undo all the dieting you did all week. Once you are training, make the size of your carb-up proportional to the intensity of your training.

If you are not training, then try keto (with carbs at 20g a day) at around 10 cals per pound of total weight. Once you are training again, you can add in a few more cals, but don't go mad.

Ok so just so I have this right. I happy at consuming 2600 calories a day as my weight fluctuates around the 63Kg mark (fine while i'm not training as dont want to put on much BF) at 2600 calories.
So for Keto whilst not training I should do 20g Carbs then 30% of calories coming from Protein and the remaining coming from fat?

Which will be 20C/190P/196F - I think thats right?

And whilst not training DO NOT have 1 carb up day a week?

Thanks for your help Eileen

[Eileen]

Caveat: Yes, we know, strong first post.

I went through this thread quite extensively and have some questions that were probably answered but I thought I would give them a shot here:

1. Does the fat come mostly from oils throughout the day? I can't for the life of me figure out a diet thats 65% fat without going way over 1.0g/lean bw of protein.

2. Where do I purchase ketone strips? Local store over internet preferred.

3. I am going to the store saturday and plan on starting on Sunday. Anyone have a go-to grocery list I can borrow so that I get all the essentials?


Thanks,
BNX

Ideally, the fat comes in your food. Eggs, oily fish, fatty cuts of meat or chicken, nuts, avocado, etc. You can add oil if your protein is very lean.

Any pharmacy will have ketones stipes. You might have to ask for them, they are often behind the counter.

Eggs, fish, steak, ground beef, chicken, lots of green veg, olive oil, butter, whey, more green veg.....

[Eileen]

Ok so just so I have this right. I happy at consuming 2600 calories a day as my weight fluctuates around the 63Kg mark (fine while i'm not training as dont want to put on much BF) at 2600 calories.
So for Keto whilst not training I should do 20g Carbs then 30% of calories coming from Protein and the remaining coming from fat?

Which will be 20C/190P/196F - I think thats right?

And whilst not training DO NOT have 1 carb up day a week?

Thanks for your help Eileen

Wow, you don't often meet someone of your size who can cut on 2600 cals. Yes, your macros look fine.

Only carb-up when lifting hard.

[BNX]

Ideally, the fat comes in your food. Eggs, oily fish, fatty cuts of meat or chicken, nuts, avocado, etc. You can add oil if your protein is very lean.

Any pharmacy will have ketones stipes. You might have to ask for them, they are often behind the counter.

Eggs, fish, steak, ground beef, chicken, lots of green veg, olive oil, butter, whey, more green veg.....

Thanks Eileen.

I guess I have never bought anything lower than 93% ground beef so my numbers were all off. Seems that 80-85% is where I need to be with that and stay away from chicken and more to fish.