Transitioning off of keto..

[Praemonstrator]

Edit: My main goal is to get rid of my belly fat

39 years old, 5'9"

Jan 1st 2020 at 214lbs, now I'm at 180lbs. Decided to try transitioning off of keto for a while but forgot how to eat any other way..

Lost most of the weight in the last 2 months when I decided to really get serious about tracking net carbs, etc and was only eating around 1200 calories /day max. I know this is low but it really worked for me.
Now I'm trying to figure out macros, calories etc for a "normal" diet. Most calculators recommend around 1550 cals /day. Right now I have percentages set at C: 25, F: 40, P: 35 but every calculator shows something completely different. I'm doing home workouts every day with the minimal equipment that I have and have no problem sticking to 1200 calories but I also don't want to lose the muscle that I have. Any recommendations on how to proceed?

[1MANU]

1200 calories a day long term for an active adult 180lb male? No.

1550 calories a day for an active adult 180lb male? Nope again.

Read this sticky and calculate:

https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=173439001

[kingofturtles]

your prob closer to 2400 cals a day. Thats a huge jump. You can either

1. Jump straight to 2400 and see what happens or;
2. Reverse diet back up to 2400 (I like to reverse diet because if my new maintenance is, say 2200, i didnt overshoot it right off the bat by 200).


if you reverse diet then your still going to be "cutting" for a while so keep your protein the same (should be high right now) and then gradually move up your carbs one week, fat one week etc.. till you feel youve reached your maintenance.

If you jump straight to 2400 then you can just do the regular 1.4-1.7g per kg of bodyweight then i usually split carbs/fat 60/40 with remaining cals.

edit: that would be 114p, 285c, 84f

[Praemonstrator]

your prob closer to 2400 cals a day. Thats a huge jump. You can either

1. Jump straight to 2400 and see what happens or;
2. Reverse diet back up to 2400 (I like to reverse diet because if my new maintenance is, say 2200, i didnt overshoot it right off the bat by 200).


if you reverse diet then your still going to be "cutting" for a while so keep your protein the same (should be high right now) and then gradually move up your carbs one week, fat one week etc.. till you feel youve reached your maintenance.

If you jump straight to 2400 then you can just do the regular 1.4-1.7g per kg of bodyweight then i usually split carbs/fat 60/40 with remaining cals.

edit: that would be 114p, 285c, 84f

Even though my goal is still to burn fat? I realize I’m not going to be building much in the way of muscle and as much as I hate to say it I’d rather lose some muscle if it means getting rid of the last of my belly fat. Still have a ways to go.

[Camarija]

Even though my goal is still to burn fat? I realize I’m not going to be building much in the way of muscle and as much as I hate to say it I’d rather lose some muscle if it means getting rid of the last of my belly fat. Still have a ways to go.

Let me know if I'm wrong in summing up your position.

You have two goals.

1. You want to lose weight.
2. You want to decrease your body fat percentage.

You want recommendations on nutrition to achieve these goals.

---

1. If your goal is losing weight to lower your body fat percentage, you actually need to best preserve your lean body mass while losing weight. Otherwise your belly fat will never go away, and you will just be a smaller, weaker version of yourself. Feel free to take a deeper look into the source below. If you're planning on rapid weight loss, expect the majority of that weight loss to be lean body mass, and hurting your goal of taking away belly fat. I would recommend 0.5% - 1% weight loss a week, of which 15-40% of weight lost would be lean body mass. So for example, you weigh 180 lbs. Aim to lose between 0.9 and 1.8 lbs a week. In terms of calories, you're looking at a deficit of 3150 - 6300 calorie deficit a week. So certainly, you would need to eat considerably more than 1550 calories. ***However, you will have the best results long term on the lower end of that spectrum, losing the least weight each week.

Slower weight loss may constitute an effective strategy for maintaining energy availability and muscle mass during an energy deficit.

Source:
Nutritional strategies of British professional and amateur natural bodybuilders during competition preparation.
Chappell AJ, Simper T, Helms E

2. Higher placing bodybuilders follow high protein (3.3 g/kg BW), low fat (0.6 g/kg BW) diets and consume more carbohydrate and energy than their less successful peers. Emulating these strategies would probably result in similar consequences of minimizing lean body mass loss while losing weight.

Source:
Nutritional strategies of high level natural bodybuilders during competition preparation.
Chappell AJ, Simper T, Barker ME

---

Good luck with your health goals.

[kingofturtles]

Even though my goal is still to burn fat? I realize I’m not going to be building much in the way of muscle and as much as I hate to say it I’d rather lose some muscle if it means getting rid of the last of my belly fat. Still have a ways to go.

For some reason i got the impression that you were trying to maintain and no longer cut. All that advice was to transition back to maintain cals. All that work for nothin.

Too many beers I guess.

If your still cutting id start at about 1900 cals with 180g protein then 60/40 the remaining carbs/fat

[SubWooferCooker]

Consume at least 0.7g protein per lb of bodyweight and 0.45g of fat per lb, fill the rest with whatever you want, there is no magical approach besides calories in vs calories out that is even remotely worth worrying about.

[Tommy W.]

You want to slowly RE introduce carbs and ramp up your calories to your new maintenance which will be a lot lower than before. High protein will be a priority as fats will be coming down and carbs will be coming up

[Praemonstrator]

Let me know if I'm wrong in summing up your position.

You have two goals.

1. You want to lose weight.
2. You want to decrease your body fat percentage.

You want recommendations on nutrition to achieve these goals.

---

1. If your goal is losing weight to lower your body fat percentage, you actually need to best preserve your lean body mass while losing weight. Otherwise your belly fat will never go away, and you will just be a smaller, weaker version of yourself. Feel free to take a deeper look into the source below. If you're planning on rapid weight loss, expect the majority of that weight loss to be lean body mass, and hurting your goal of taking away belly fat. I would recommend 0.5% - 1% weight loss a week, of which 15-40% of weight lost would be lean body mass. So for example, you weigh 180 lbs. Aim to lose between 0.9 and 1.8 lbs a week. In terms of calories, you're looking at a deficit of 3150 - 6300 calorie deficit a week. So certainly, you would need to eat considerably more than 1550 calories. ***However, you will have the best results long term on the lower end of that spectrum, losing the least weight each week.

Slower weight loss may constitute an effective strategy for maintaining energy availability and muscle mass during an energy deficit.

Source:
Nutritional strategies of British professional and amateur natural bodybuilders during competition preparation.
Chappell AJ, Simper T, Helms E

2. Higher placing bodybuilders follow high protein (3.3 g/kg BW), low fat (0.6 g/kg BW) diets and consume more carbohydrate and energy than their less successful peers. Emulating these strategies would probably result in similar consequences of minimizing lean body mass loss while losing weight.

Source:
Nutritional strategies of high level natural bodybuilders during competition preparation.
Chappell AJ, Simper T, Barker ME

---

Good luck with your health goals.

Thank you. I edited my original post to include that fat/weight loss is my main goal, particularly my remaining belly fat. Great advice and great info. I really appreciate the reply. Would you think 1900-2000 calories per day to be a more reasonable intake to still burn that fat but not lose too much lean mass?

[Praemonstrator]

For some reason i got the impression that you were trying to maintain and no longer cut. All that advice was to transition back to maintain cals. All that work for nothin.

Too many beers I guess.

If your still cutting id start at about 1900 cals with 180g protein then 60/40 the remaining carbs/fat

I re-read my original post and realized I didn't make it clear. My bad. I edited it and I appreciate the info.

[Mrpb]

If you're transitioning off keto make sure to SLOWLY introduce carbs. This is less important when you're in calorie deficit.