Its Gym Time!

norman_waylon
norman_waylon Posts: 6 Member
edited November 16 in Social Groups
Hi all. As you can see from my discussion title I am to the point in my diet that I need to start hitting the gym. Great thing is a brand new Anytime Fitness is opening up across from my work and I get a 10% discount through my work so I decided its time to step foot inside a gym for the first time in 11 yrs. I know bad me but at least I'm trying lol.

Diet so far. I started out at 314lbs and now I'm at 268 doing low carb (and its a hard diet). But I'm seeing the results. Anyhow after all this rambling. My question is for the gym goers. On the Keto/low carb diet are you using any supplements like protein and pre/post work out? I already take fish oil and a multivitamin. But when it comes to that stuff you never really know what your ingesting as they all say proprietary blend. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • JohnnyLowCarb
    JohnnyLowCarb Posts: 418 Member
    On the Keto/low carb diet are you using any supplements like protein and pre/post work out? I already take fish oil and a multivitamin. But when it comes to that stuff you never really know what your ingesting as they all say proprietary blend. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

    I am using no supplements, strictly the diet plan and letting my cardio sessions speed up the Ketosis. Good Luck To You! Good job.
  • cstehansen
    cstehansen Posts: 1,984 Member
    Not sure how low your carbs are. I am keto and have been for about 6-7 months. I have been going to the gym 5 days a week for many years. If you are keto, you may want to take some salt about 30 minutes before you work out. I know that sounds odd, but there is science behind it. Dr Phinney brought this up in a recent talk he did in Australia. It was something that came from the "Faster" study by Dr Jeff Volek. You can google that to find a few articles about it. It deals with endurance athletes.

    In the past, I was primarily into strength training with some cardio. As a middle aged man, I have transitioned to more cardio. Being keto has helped significantly with endurance. Again, this is something that is explained in Dr Volek's study.

    Unless you are looking to bulk up, you shouldn't need to use any protein supplements. It sounds as though you are still trying to lose weight. Your body breaks down some protein every day and re-purposes most of it (although some is lost through urine and feces and a little tiny bit from hair, nails and dead skin). As you lose weight, you actually need to lose some lean body mass because you need less skin, capillaries, connective tissue, etc. What you would normally have broken down from these areas will get re-purposed to muscle mass if you are working out. The amount of protein involved in this process is greater than what you will eat.

    You do not have to be keto to lose. I lost my weight doing lower carb because I didn't know about keto until after I had lost nearly all I wanted to lose. I decided on this WOE because of diagnosis of T2 diabetes (which is now pre-diabetes without any meds).

    Be prepared that you may see weight loss stop and possibly even some weight gain initially as your body begins the recomp phase where your body fat goes down, but your muscle mass increases. Pay more attention to your size - i.e. waist, neck, or wherever you primarily store fat because those may shrink even though your weight doesn't go down.

    BTW, congrats on your progress thus far.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    Check labdoor.com for any supplements you may be interested in before buying. They buy stuff at random from stores and test it for things like label accuracy, heavy metals, etc.

    There are some truly terrible supps out there, so having a well known third-party testing service out there that isn't behind a paywall is nice
  • WG_Keto
    WG_Keto Posts: 33 Member
    edited February 2017
    I would be careful what it is you do take, as some are pitched towards bulking for body building.
    I take a multi vitamin 3x daily, try to plan my dinner meal a few hours before gym time, with decent protein and fat.
    Then after the workout I eat a small amount of protein(actual meat), for recovery.
    I'm 5'10 243lbs currently. Started at 252lb. I'm working out 5x a week, 3 lifting days with a light cardio between each.
  • mmultanen
    mmultanen Posts: 1,029 Member
    I guess it depends what your goals are. I'm a runner (well, getting it back after too long of a break) I do some body weight work but I wouldn't say I'm a weight lifter or trying to build that much muscle throigh lifting. I don't supplement. However, I do use casein poweder in my coffee occasionally. But thats just a quick breakfast for me not a response to a work out. I do find, I really need to pay attention to salt when I'm running regularly. But I don't time it to work outs, I just make sure im mixing it with my magnesium at night.
  • dulcitonia
    dulcitonia Posts: 278 Member
    I'm a lower carber for many years. I think hydration is the biggest concern for anyone but especially low carbers.
    I recently started strength training myself. Keep us posted on your journey!
  • Be9465
    Be9465 Posts: 36 Member
    As has been stated before supplements are not necessary. My 2 cents though, maybe they help a tiny bit, maybe they don't. For me, I take a multivitamin, preworkout, BCAA'S, and added the Bragg's apple cider vinegar. The preworkout helps me get motivated to get in the gym and workout out as intensely as I can even on days I don't want to, maybe because of the ingredients or maybe because I took something I paid money for to help my workout and don't want to feel like the money was wasted. BCAA'S to keep me energized during workouts, maybe it does or maybe I just like the taste of expensive kool-aid to sip on during my workouts. The apple cider vinegar I take because it tastes horrendous and dieting is supposed to taste bad, well my LCHF food tastes delicious so I get my bad tasting "diet food" from that, and it's supposed to strengthen your immune system and I haven't even had a runny nose the 2 weeks I've been taking it so, there's that. I already get plenty of protein in this WOE so I don't get to drink protein shakes. My view is that even a placebo effect is an effect so if it's the ingredients in the supplements then awesome, if it's all in my head so be it. Either way gains are gains, wins are wins no matter how I get there.
  • crunchketo
    crunchketo Posts: 49 Member
    Your journey sounds inspiring Waylon! Great job starting at the gym. I'm back to working out after a huge absence and feeling those lost years already! Ow! The burn!!
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    But I want to get in the gym habit before I'm to old to care;

    Just stopping by to say good luck and good move getting active. You're never too old to start and never too old to care. Thumbs up!

  • SIMAKRA
    SIMAKRA Posts: 97 Member


    Just stopping by to say good luck and good move getting active. You're never too old to start and never too old to care. Thumbs up!

    [/quote]

    So true. I started at the age of 56
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
    edited March 2017
    You might want to try a little cross-training, *wink*.
    Train the brain and dexterity with Rubik's Cube while doing a 350 lb pause squat....
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=13GwZmcLS68&feature=youtu.be
  • TravellerRay
    TravellerRay Posts: 94 Member
    Hi, I have similar goals to you. I want to lose the fat but also have a body that my partner will like. I believe that strength training is an important part of the mix because it is supposed to boost your metabolism. I do a mix of training and recently added a boxing class.

    I was told to use creatine and have started eating a Maxi Muscle bar before my strength. workout. So far everything is going well.

    Good luck

    Ray
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