newbie here- share your wisdom please :)

gizmik

Hi there! First of all, I have just been on a low carb diet and i have a pretty good number of questions, pardon me please.
I'm 18,female, 5'10 and around 152 now. I have been following balanced diet for more than a 2 months and back then I was as high as 177! People keep saying I look good now and tell me not to go further but I'm not still satisfied with my appearance. I still have quite lot of fat around my thighs and belly pooch. So i decided to give a try to low-carb. It is my 3rd day ( first one did not go so well ) and scale said i lost around 2 pounds- i know it is only water weight and I'm not carried away My ultimate goal weight is around 133- 130, to be precise adding up to a few pounds i will gain immediately after giving up on diet. At 130 and with some toning up, hopefully i will look at my best! Finally, here comes my questions:

-Is it possible for me to achieve this till the end of September? ( This is when I go back to college, LOL )

- People also keep saying by following such diets, i'm at a high risk of losing muscle rather than fat. Is this somewhat true?

- To those that took tests before and after, what is the difference at your body fat percentage? Is the fat loss visible on you? I mean, from the outside?

-Losing my already rare muscle is the lastest thing I wil ever want in my life. Do you think moderate cardio that I have been doing for 1.5 months ( 1 hour on treadmill, 6.3 km, equal to -400 calories, 4 or 5 times a week) will do any good to me? Or should i just cut it off?

- My plan is, maximum 30 grams of carb, 85 grams of protein. I don't exactly count fats, i don't know how to I keep my carbs mostly from wheat bread and fruits. I hope i won't exceed 1100 cals per day. After 2 days this way, i give myself a high carb day where i eat around 90-100 grams carb,keep the protein moderate and fats as low as possible. On these days, i will be exercising more than usual. After this "recovery day" I go back to 2-days-of-low-carb. I've read somewhere that by doing so, one can keep the risk of losing muscle at minumum level. Do you agree?

- Last, but not least, what are the foods only high in fat? I have no problem in the protein part since I'm a cheese and chicken freak! This diet is like a Disneyland for me! I can eat them both forever. But like i said i don't know how many grams of fat i take daily and I' m afraid that i will go into starvation mode and make my metabolism slower because of eating not enough fats. What are the foods that i can eat without adding more to my proteins and carbs?

I hope i don't bother you with all these questions. Thanks in advance!

kiramaniac

-Is it possible for me to achieve this till the end of September? ( This is when I go back to college, LOL )

Maybe - but truthfully, the closer you are to goal, the slower your losses will be.

- People also keep saying by following such diets, i'm at a high risk of losing muscle rather than fat. Is this somewhat true?

That's silly. You will be eating sufficient protein to maintain muscle mass. (that said, if your calories get too low -- 1100? -- you could lose muscle mass).

- To those that took tests before and after, what is the difference at your body fat percentage? Is the fat loss visible on you? I mean, from the outside?

I started at 231 pounds with roughly 51% body fat (roughly 113 pounds muscle mass). My latest body fat # from the scale was 36.5% body fat (114 pounds of muscle mass). Hell yeah, that's visible.

-Losing my already rare muscle is the lastest thing I wil ever want in my life. Do you think moderate cardio that I have been doing for 1.5 months ( 1 hour on treadmill, 6.3 km, equal to -400 calories, 4 or 5 times a week) will do any good to me? Or should i just cut it off?

If muscle mass is your concern, I think you are better served with strength training rather than cardio. Cardio definitely doesn't do anything to help muscle mass. I'm not sure if it's actually detrimental. Someone smarter than me would need to answer this.

- My plan is, maximum 30 grams of carb, 85 grams of protein. I don't exactly count fats, i don't know how to I keep my carbs mostly from wheat bread and fruits. I hope i won't exceed 1100 cals per day. After 2 days this way, i give myself a high carb day where i eat around 90-100 grams carb,keep the protein moderate and fats as low as possible. On these days, i will be exercising more than usual. After this "recovery day" I go back to 2-days-of-low-carb. I've read somewhere that by doing so, one can keep the risk of losing muscle at minumum level. Do you agree?

First, 1100 cals per day seems low.
I'm not familiar with the 2 on, 1 off protocol so can't comment. However, this is not the only way to avoid losing muscle. You do not need to carb up to exercise.

- Last, but not least, what are the foods only high in fat? I have no problem in the protein part since I'm a cheese and chicken freak! This diet is like a Disneyland for me! I can eat them both forever. But like i said i don't know how many grams of fat i take daily and I' m afraid that i will go into starvation mode and make my metabolism slower because of eating not enough fats. What are the foods that i can eat without adding more to my proteins and carbs?

High Fat Foods: Heavy Cream, Cream Cheese, Soft Cheeses (the softer the cheese, the higher the fat); butter, coconut oil, bulletproof coffee (google it or search here on MFP); pecans, almonds, sour cream, fatty cuts of meat, chicken - dark meat with skin; full fat salad dressings; mayo.

The approach you are describing for the 2 days on looks similar to Keto. There's an FAQ here that may be helpful:
http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq

With the 2 on, 1 off regimen you are going to see a lot of yo-yo action on the scale. Basically in the 2 days you are on, you will deplete carbs and glycogen stores see see big swings down. For every gram of glycogen, your body stores 3-4 grams of water. That's where the water weight comes in to play. Then on the day you are eating carbs you are replenishing all that, and adding that water back in. Just be prepared to see those big swings. Again - I'm not familiar with the protocol you are following, so can't comment on its effectiveness. You may want to look for a group here or maybe on reddit that's following that specific approach - they may be able to provide better advice. This sounds a little similar to TKD (targeted ketogenic dieting) and CKD (Cyclical Ketogenic Dieting). The subreddit "ketogains" may be able to provide some info: http://www.reddit.com/r/ketogains/; and their FAQ: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aiHSPoto_YqsNTDvL-g60nytMnyH-CJcCbiAx1IEUYM/edit

A couple of notes.

1 - Drink a LOT of water. I recommend 12-16 (8) oz glasses a day, vs the standard 8 glasses that are identified on MFP. My
personal experience is that with less than 12 glasses I retain water.

2 - Do not be afraid of fat. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF FAT. Fat satiates. I target 70% of my calories from fat, with 25% of calories from protein and 5% from carbs. Standard keto guidelines 65/30/5 (I've also seen 60/35/5).

3 - Try not to load too much protein at one meal, and always have protein with fat. Excess protein can convert to glucose in your body, so that's not desirable.

4 - While following low carb, your body sheds sodium. Sodium deficiency can appear as headaches, dizziness and fatigue (aka the "carb flu"). Once sodium drops too far, the body then starts depleting potassium. Supplement your electrolytes. A cup of broth can be helpful for this.

Good luck!

MermaidTX

WRT not knowing how much fat you're getting, be sure you're logging everything into MFP. You'll be able to see your macros (fat/protein/carbs) easily.

kiramaniac

Just saw that you are 5'10". 1100 calories is not right. Please calculate your TDEE and set a HEALTHY calorie target so you don't damage your metabolism in your quest for healthiness. Always eat at LEAST at your BMR. Otherwise, your BMR will drop and it will be that much more difficult to lose weight - and ever so easy to add weight back on.

I use this site:
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

I actually put in my GOAL weight as my current weight -- this way I know what my calories are to just maintain my current weight. I also enter my info based on sedentary. That way it gives me the calories to eat on days I don't exercise - and I eat back calories on days that I do exercise.

Once you submit your data, you'll get info on your BMR. EAT AT LEAST THIS MANY CALORIES!!!

The table at the bottom is the "Total Daily Energy Expenditure" (TDEE). This is how many calories you can eat to just maintain your current body weight. I take the sedentary number - then subtract 20% to create the calorie deficit.

This is a great older post on BMR and TDEE.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide

I get that you want to lose weight by your deadline. Please do this in a healthy way, so you don't create a lifetime of yo-yo dieting for yourself. Keep your metablism burning so you can keep the weight off in the long term.