Another Keto Diet Question

[JonathanCSewall]

Well a quick background of me. 29 Male, 160-165lb w/ 24% BF. I workout out 6-7 times a week and play sports as well. Mildly built but with some fat around the mid section. Currently coming off a semi-low carb diet which was ok, but hit a major plateau (1800 kcals). My goal is to be around 145-50.

Below is what Keto-Calculator is giving me:

29/M/5'8" | CW 162 | 25% BF | Very active

* 1895 kcal Goal, a 30% deficit. (1551 min, 2706 max)
* 20g Carbohydrates
* 97g Protein (73g min, 121g max)
* 159g Fat (121g min, 248g max)

Is this an accurate reading or do you recommend something different. I am using MFP for a very long time and I count an track all my macro/micros. Also I will still be working out each day and prob just hit the stairs for 30 mins on a low setting. I don't lift crazy heavy but i do follow a 10/10/10,20/10,20,10 rep range. Just so I hit the type A & B fibers in the muscles.

This is my MFP diet plan all figured out as well:
TOTAL: 1,888kcal 18g C, 156g F, 89g P, 935mg, 2,061mg Sod, 3g Sugar, 4g Fiber


The carbs are lower by -3g but i also have 4g of fiber as well. Also I am a creature of habit and I can eat the same thing daily, so I will basically just switch out things such as my steak, fish, eggs, etc etc.


Any recommendations regarding the diet, the kcal, or even a workout routine i will gladly accept with open arms. I am here asking for help so I will not reject any offering of help. The more info you can give me the better off I will be.

[danfleysher]

Your calorie range (1551-2706) is kinda wide and inconsistent. Aim for a range that's more like 1700-2100. Still, 1900 calories seem low for somebody who is going to be working out and doing 30 minutes of stairs every day. I would check your TDEE again.

Macro wise you're okay. I would bump the proteins up closer to 110-115 range since you're doing a lot of physical activity.

I don't know how long you've been lifting for but I suggest checking out the Fierce 5 Program for your lifts. It's really good for increasing strength and it doesn't take too long.

[JonathanCSewall]

Your calorie range (1551-2706) is kinda wide and inconsistent. Aim for a range that's more like 1700-2100. Still, 1900 calories seem low for somebody who is going to be working out and doing 30 minutes of stairs every day. I would check your TDEE again.

Macro wise you're okay. I would bump the proteins up closer to 110-115 range since you're doing a lot of physical activity.

I don't know how long you've been lifting for but I suggest checking out the Fierce 5 Program for your lifts. It's really good for increasing strength and it doesn't take too long.

Thanks for the reply. I have gotten a wide range of cals for each calculator I use. I could easily reduce my workout days and also get rid of cardio. I normally lift for 30 mins a day and cardio for 30. So I am only at gym for nearly and hour. I am not set on the reps,sets range as I like to change things up to fool the muscles and body. Ive been lifting for like 5-7 years, not a professional but not an amateur.


Your BMR is: 1667 Calories/Day
Your TDEE is: 2443 Calories/Day

This is with 30 mins of cardio a day, exercising 6 days a week w/ moderate intensity.

[JonathanCSewall]

This is my exact meal plan.

[danfleysher]

Fair enough. Stick to eating 1900 calories and see how you progress. If you're losing over 1.5 lbs a week (after initial two weeks due to water), I would increase the calories by 200. Also just to be completely transparent, eating 1900 calories on a ketogenic diet will produce the same results as eating 1900 calories on your semi-low carb diet.

How much weight are you moving on your big lifts? If you don't like following a program, that's fine, but I would still encourage you follow some type of linear progression. That means sticking to some set improvement week over week. For example, this week you could do all your exercises 3 sets for 8 reps. Next week, try doing 3 sets for 9 reps. Go until you can do 3 sets for 12 reps and then drop back to 3x8 but increase the weight.

[danfleysher]

Little backstory:
I started lifting when I was 17/18. I read all about how you're supposed to confuse your muscles and not to over train. I looked up various workouts online, typically followed a routine like Chest/Tri's, Back/Bi's, Legs/Shoulders with plenty of exercises so I could hit the muscle in every which way. Because I was growing, I thought I was doing it right. I spent the next 6-7 years (basically until I was about 24), training sporadically and doing either 1 body part a day or the routine I outlined earlier.

Long Story Short:
About 7 months ago I got serious about my fitness, starting looking at research and examining evidence, and here's what I found.

Over Training? Horse****. Muscle Confusion? Horse****.

I train the same muscle groups 3x a week am and still fresh as hell for every lift and I lift heavy! I have seen my lifts go up way more (broke through PR's), body composition has improved, and I'm actually spending less time in the gym. Muscle confusion is a term that got blown out of proportion. Yes, if you dumbbell curl 20 lbs for 3 sets of 8 for the next year, you are going to see EXTREMELY high diminishing returns. But you know what, if you increase the weight by 5lbs every 2 weeks, you will see growth. They don't have little brains that need to be confused in order to work and grow, they just need to be put under stress. You can do that by simply increasing the weight 5 lbs or increasing the reps.

That's not meant to offend you in any way. I wasted plenty of time doing what I thought was right and I just want to be sure you don't do the same.

[JonathanCSewall]

Fair enough. Stick to eating 1900 calories and see how you progress. If you're losing over 1.5 lbs a week (after initial two weeks due to water), I would increase the calories by 200. Also just to be completely transparent, eating 1900 calories on a ketogenic diet will produce the same results as eating 1900 calories on your semi-low carb diet.

How much weight are you moving on your big lifts? If you don't like following a program, that's fine, but I would still encourage you follow some type of linear progression. That means sticking to some set improvement week over week. For example, this week you could do all your exercises 3 sets for 8 reps. Next week, try doing 3 sets for 9 reps. Go until you can do 3 sets for 12 reps and then drop back to 3x8 but increase the weight.

If I reduce the intake would that help with the ketogenic diet. I tried the whole low carb diet with low fats as well and I just can’t get anywhere. So I wanted to try keto, since its seen some great results on people. I know this depends on the persona and their body of course. But I’ve done the whole low carb, low fat and even high carb diet and still can’t shed any weight around the mid-section.

This is a back/bicep routine. With 10/10/10,20/10,20,10 (TEN reps being max and then droping the weight half or even more for the 20 and last 10) I am generally out of the gym from lifting in about 35-40 mins.

Back/Bicep
Low Hammer Pull 85/40
Cable row 140/70
Bent row 50/15 (do 25)
Lat pull down 120/70
Spider curl 40/20 single
High cable curl 12.5/7.5

I will finish this week off by sticking to this routine. Then I will gladly try the whole 3 sets of 8 reps. Now is this max every time or working my way up to the 3rd set which will be the MAX. Sorry for all the questions as well. But thank you for answering them.

[JonathanCSewall]

Little backstory:
I started lifting when I was 17/18. I read all about how you're supposed to confuse your muscles and not to over train. I looked up various workouts online, typically followed a routine like Chest/Tri's, Back/Bi's, Legs/Shoulders with plenty of exercises so I could hit the muscle in every which way. Because I was growing, I thought I was doing it right. I spent the next 6-7 years (basically until I was about 24), training sporadically and doing either 1 body part a day or the routine I outlined earlier.

Long Story Short:
About 7 months ago I got serious about my fitness, starting looking at research and examining evidence, and here's what I found.

Over Training? Horse****. Muscle Confusion? Horse****.

I train the same muscle groups 3x a week am and still fresh as hell for every lift and I lift heavy! I have seen my lifts go up way more (broke through PR's), body composition has improved, and I'm actually spending less time in the gym. Muscle confusion is a term that got blown out of proportion. Yes, if you dumbbell curl 20 lbs for 3 sets of 8 for the next year, you are going to see EXTREMELY high diminishing returns. But you know what, if you increase the weight by 5lbs every 2 weeks, you will see growth. They don't have little brains that need to be confused in order to work and grow, they just need to be put under stress. You can do that by simply increasing the weight 5 lbs or increasing the reps.

That's not meant to offend you in any way. I wasted plenty of time doing what I thought was right and I just want to be sure you don't do the same.

No worries man not offended one bit. And thanks for the back story.. I do like this routine I am on now, silly because its quick, little rest and also hitting both my type A and type B fibers in the muscle when I drop the weight in half and bang out 20 and then 10.

[danfleysher]

Diet
Ketogenic diet is macro-nutrient specific so total calories don't matter as long as you keep your carbs below 30G net and protein at a reasonable amount (I use .8-1g/lb of lean mass). Reducing intake won't help but reducing carbs (maybe 10 i/o 20) for the first few days will get you adapted faster.

Just to reiterate because I don't want this seem like magic, fat loss will be the same under any diet as long as your calorie deficit is the same. Don't get me wrong, Keto has it's benefits and I personally swear by it. It does wonders for reducing appetite so eating 2,000 calories will feel like 3,000. Last point I want to make is that you can't target fat loss in one area so just keep losing weight and eventually the fat from the mid-section will come off. My stomach is also the last place to have any visible changes so I know the struggle.

Exercise
As long as you're in the gym and doing something, you're going to benefit so whether you want to stick to your routine or follow one of the ones here, totally up to you.

I'm currently doing the warrior routine (link below) and it takes me about an hour to get through so a little longer than yours. I do the same weight in every set but I add 5 lbs every week. If I've struggled with the weight, I'll add 1 rep instead.
Before I started the program when I was squatting 185, which at the time I thought was pretty good. At the start of the program, I dropped the weight to 135 to get used to lifting 3x a week. After a couple weeks I got back to 185. I then went from squatting 185 to 225 in about 6 weeks. I can't tell you how fcking psyched I was to squat 215 and know that next week I going to crush 225. PURE. FCKING. BLISS.

Warrior Routine: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=170130833
Since its 3x a week, I do cardio on the off days.

If fullbody isn't your thing or you want to lifting more often, check out the Fierce 5 Upper / Lower routine or the Push/Pull/Legs.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=162916931

I've been training for 8 years and have seen the best results from a beginner routine.

[JonathanCSewall]

Diet
Ketogenic diet is macro-nutrient specific so total calories don't matter as long as you keep your carbs below 30G net and protein at a reasonable amount (I use .8-1g/lb of lean mass). Reducing intake won't help but reducing carbs (maybe 10 i/o 20) for the first few days will get you adapted faster.

Just to reiterate because I don't want this seem like magic, fat loss will be the same under any diet as long as your calorie deficit is the same. Don't get me wrong, Keto has it's benefits and I personally swear by it. It does wonders for reducing appetite so eating 2,000 calories will feel like 3,000. Last point I want to make is that you can't target fat loss in one area so just keep losing weight and eventually the fat from the mid-section will come off. My stomach is also the last place to have any visible changes so I know the struggle.

Exercise
As long as you're in the gym and doing something, you're going to benefit so whether you want to stick to your routine or follow one of the ones here, totally up to you.

I'm currently doing the warrior routine (link below) and it takes me about an hour to get through so a little longer than yours. I do the same weight in every set but I add 5 lbs every week. If I've struggled with the weight, I'll add 1 rep instead.
Before I started the program when I was squatting 185, which at the time I thought was pretty good. At the start of the program, I dropped the weight to 135 to get used to lifting 3x a week. After a couple weeks I got back to 185. I then went from squatting 185 to 225 in about 6 weeks. I can't tell you how fcking psyched I was to squat 215 and know that next week I going to crush 225. PURE. FCKING. BLISS.

Warrior Routine:
Since its 3x a week, I do cardio on the off days.

If fullbody isn't your thing or you want to lifting more often, check out the Fierce 5 Upper / Lower routine or the Push/Pull/Legs.


I've been training for 8 years and have seen the best results from a beginner routine.

Question about the warrior routine. On your off days do you do fasted cardio? I started to implement that into my workout with HIT (35-45 seconds sprint uphill, followed by 3-4 mins of 2.5-3.0 walking at 0 level). I don't plan on having any carb up days in the near future as well.