Low carb vs Ketogenic. CICO?

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  • RubinaKochar
    RubinaKochar Posts: 43 Member
    Oh thanks a lot. All of you. :)
  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,219 Member
    jseams1234 wrote: »
    Just to further what others have said, Low carb diets come with one caveat that they always leave out. The moment you start eating a normal amount of carbs again you WILL gain water/glycogen weight back that left from the start of the low carb diet. It is NOT a permanent loss unless you plan on never having a normal amount of carbs again. It is also not stored fat which is what you are trying to lose.

    Yup, it can be very dramatic depending on how big you are and how much muscle mass you have. I was 240# at the peak of my bulk eating an average of 400-500g of carbs a day. When I started my cut I dropped that to about 80-100g of carbs and ended up shedding about 20 pounds in the first two weeks... 30 pounds total since Christmas.

    However, I have no delusions that it was fat I initially lost and I know that as soon as I start ramping up my carbs again it's going to be quite a rebound. ;)

    I know I will gain back water and glycogen mass when and if I start eating a normal carb diet. But why would I gain back the fat I have lost if I'm eating at maintenance?
    It's a genuine question, not a rhetoric argument. :P

    I'm not saying you will gain back the fat. Just the water weight that you lost in the first couple of weeks. For some that can be as much as 15 to 20 pounds of initial weight and only a couple of pounds of actual fat. Some people focus on the scale too much and may only have a goal of, let's say 30 pounds, to lose. Those people lose 30 pounds - go to maintenance, quit the low carb or keto "diet" and up their carb intake and rebound those 20 pounds of water and freak out. You understand what will happen, so the rebound won't surprise you but it catches a lot of people off guard. ;)
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Just to further what others have said, Low carb diets come with one caveat that they always leave out. The moment you start eating a normal amount of carbs again you WILL gain water/glycogen weight back that left from the start of the low carb diet. It is NOT a permanent loss unless you plan on never having a normal amount of carbs again. It is also not stored fat which is what you are trying to lose.

    Everyone says this, but, I ate low carb for over a year and when I added carbs back in, I did not gain that water weight back.

    Maybe that "WILL" should be a "MIGHT"

    Too be clear, after 1 year, you added carbs back, went on maintenance and gained exactly 0 lbs.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited February 2018
    You're still 'doing' CICO regardless of the way you choose to split your macros. One way your deficit is accidental, the other way your deficit is controlled by you. I'd pick the latter every time; I don't like to leave my efforts up to chance.
  • RubinaKochar
    RubinaKochar Posts: 43 Member
    You're still 'doing' CICO regardless of the way you choose to split your macros. One way your deficit is accidental, the other way your deficit is controlled by you. I'd pick the latter every time; I don't like to leave my efforts up to chance.

    Nor do I.
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