Need Advice please... 5x5 or Keto or Both....

[mattkw80]

40 years old, 260lbs... need to lose 90
lbs to get to 170.

I've done Keto in the past and lost weight.
(Gained it all back and then some).

I've done 5x5 in the past and gained strength.

This time around... older and fatter....
I was going to take a multi-program approach:

a. DDPY Yoga - for flexibility, and for something to do on rest days.
b. 5x5 - to gain muscle
c. Keto - to lose fat


My issue is - I don't personally find 5x5 and Keto to be compatible for me.
Seems to me - on Keto - I am weaker and less motivated.

But... on the other hand... I just did a solid month of 5x5.
Sure, all my lifts skyrocketed...in fact... I almost caught all my
previous 1RM's.... pretty much where I last left off again strength wise,
but my issue is I didn't lose a single pound in month of October.
In fact I gained weight. And I was... watching what I ate.

Fast forward to Nov2... I just went on Keto. Now feel slow, weak,
sluggish and afraid to get underneath the weights, where as I was
really pumped last week, completeing my 4 or 5 th week of 5x5.

I want to get down to my goal weight and get muscular.

Should I drop the Keto and do 5x5,
or should I drop 5x5 and do Keto?


Thx

[WolfRose7]

Lot to unpack here,
First of all I would never decide whether to train or not based off nutrition goals, training is training, if you have any strength, body composition improvement or even health goals you should probably train in some way regardless of diet choices.

Second 5x5 is a set and rep scheme, I would suggest trying a balanced novice program and sticking with that for a while. Greyskull Lp or Fierce 5 for example.

C. keto has nothing to do with fat loss directly, fat loss is directly a result of calorie intake vs calorie expenditure fad diets don't do anything to change that equation.
If you have a weight loss goal I would suggest finding your base line of maintenance calories, trying to hit a small deficit of 300-400 under that (probably by consistent tracking of food intake).
And not worrying about specific named diets unless you really struggle to control calories within a normal balanced diet, at the very least you need to be fully aware that calories are what matter, not timing/macro/food types etc

[SuffolkPunch]

If you didn't lose weight, you weren't in a calorie deficit. You have to count calories because weight loss is not likely to happen spontanously. Your appetite will make sure of that.

It takes time to adapt to keto but I would only recommend sticking with it if you have reason to believe you have pre-diabetic tendancies. If you can maintain a sustained calorie deficit with a mixed diet, I would definitely prefer that.

[Luclin999]

40 years old, 260lbs... need to lose 90
lbs to get to 170.

I've done Keto in the past and lost weight.
(Gained it all back and then some).

...And right there you have already said why "Keto" isn't going to work for you.

You are obese and if you want to lose the fat and keep it off, then you need to retrain your lifestyle and eating habits into something that you can continue with for literally the rest of your life. For some people, Keto can be a permanent lifestyle but it seems like you aren't one of those people. Instead it looks like you used it as a "Diet plan" to lose some fat and then just turned around and went right back to the eating habits that made you fat in the first place.

You need to set up a calorie deficit for yourself, buy a food scale and learn to weigh/log literally everything that goes into your mouth. Learn just how many calories are in what you have been eating and relearn things like correct portion sizes, eating control and possibly find lower calorie alternatives to some of the foods that you like.

You also need to increase your activity level. Weight training is optimal, so yes re-start 5x5. Also see about increasing your step count each day.

Understand that you won't "get down to your goal weight and get muscular" all at the same time. Muscle isn't really built in a caloric deficit.

Focus on losing the fat, then look at increasing the muscle.

[Tommy W.]

You want to prioritise fatloss over any kind of muscle gain. What you need to strive for is fatloss with maintaining the muscle you have. A proper weight program (5x5 is fine) and at your weight a bigger than normal deficit, say 750-1000 calories a day which you will work up to after starting at a deficit of 500 per day in the event you want to lean out quicker. As you lose fat you'll lessen the deficit as you come closer to the finish line otherwise your cals will be way too low. Understand lessening the deficit doesn't mean raising calories it means not continuing to lower calories as you lean out.

If you keep with a smaller deficit of 500 you'll be dieting for 5 months or more which you may burn out on. Forget KETO as it does nothing special for fatloss. Utilize a diet that you can stick with permanently as weight rebound is a product of losing the fat then going back to your old eating habits.

When you reverse diet you won't be taking in many more calories than when your diet was ending so you want to get your head around not going back to the higher calorie days that got your weight up to where it is