Ketogenic diet for health and body comp., not wieght loss

pianogal77

Hi. Any advice for recommended grams of carbs for lowering body fat percentage by working out... but don't need to lose weight. I did the 10 grams carbs a day for nine months. Where I want to be now, but feel low energy. Need more carbs, like 50 a day. Will I stay in ketosis? Thanks!! All advice appreciated.

SideSteel

pianogal77 wrote: »

Hi. Any advice for recommended grams of carbs for lowering body fat percentage by working out... but don't need to lose weight. I did the 10 grams carbs a day for nine months. Where I want to be now, but feel low energy. Need more carbs, like 50 a day. Will I stay in ketosis? Thanks!! All advice appreciated.

Reducing body-fat percentage will largely come from consuming adequate protein and training in such a way to provide a progressively demanding training stimulus with sufficient volume.

And so it's not directly attributed to a specific carbohydrate amount.

If you don't mind my asking, is there a reason your diet needs to remain ketogenic? That's not to say it's bad necessarily, I'm just curious why.

macchiatto

YMMV; some people stay in ketosis at 50 gm day or under. I've eaten keto/LCHF for over a year now and for me (with some health conditions I have) it's had some good benefits. Past the first month I haven't monitored whether I'm in ketosis though, but I do often eat 40-50 gm carbs/day (sometimes more, sometimes less. I tried to stay to 20-30 net for the most part while in weight loss mode).

You might find this helpful:
https://chriskresser.com/the-3-step-process-to-determining-your-ideal-carbohydrate-intake/

psuLemon

What did your fats and protein levels look like? How much sodium are you taking in? Also, the keto diet isn't a weight loss diet specifically, but can have that affect if you are satiated by fat. Have you tried to increase your carb goals?

wimberleybonnette737

Well lately I am experimenting with decreasing fat a bit and increasing protein to try to get my body to burning body fat for energy instead of just using dietary fat. I also lift heavy 5x a week so trying to help preserve/build muscle

wimberleybonnette737

Def agree with watching electrolytes/sodium to make sure you don't bonk or feel cruddy. I am maintaining while eating keto since Nov and still keep carbs at or under 20g net and just fool with fat/protein

trigden1991

wimberleybonnette737 wrote: »

Well lately I am experimenting with decreasing fat a bit and increasing protein to try to get my body to burning body fat for energy instead of just using dietary fat. I also lift heavy 5x a week so trying to help preserve/build muscle

Increasing protein and reducing fat will likely kick you out of ketosis.

Vegplotter

You ought to try considering percentages of protein, fat and carbs. If you've been on a low carb diet you might find you are suffering from tiredness? The British Dietetic Association recomment 50% carbs, 15% protein and no more than 35% fat. Also min 30g fibre per day. This is a balanced diet. A few percentage points more or less isn't a problem, but for long term the closer you are to this balance, the less likely you are to suffer long term damage. Good luck. (By the way you need a balance of carb, protein and fat to build muscles).

wimberleybonnette737

trigden1991 wrote: »

wimberleybonnette737 wrote: »

Well lately I am experimenting with decreasing fat a bit and increasing protein to try to get my body to burning body fat for energy instead of just using dietary fat. I also lift heavy 5x a week so trying to help preserve/build muscle

Increasing protein and reducing fat will likely kick you out of ketosis.

Understood. So far so good in my situation. I know this diet is very situational.