Ketogenic Diet

Today I decided that I was going to switch from a High Protein/Moderate Carb/fat diet to Ketogenic Diet to speed up fat loss.
My Macros for the day looks like this.

1850 Calories
51% Fat(107g)
38% Protein(176g)
11% Carbs(50g)

I work out 2 times a day 6 days a week and I weigh 180 +/- 2lbs. Anyone with experience or knowledge about this diet know if I should push that fat intake to 60% or if my current macro ratio is good. I do plan on maintaining the diet until I hit my fat loss goals and have already read the positive and negative research on the diet. WIth that being said I would only like to discuss the diet and not why I should not use this diet.

Replies

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    If you want to discuss the diet, not discuss why others think you shouldn't do it, I'd suggest joining

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/411-low-carber-daily-forum-the-group-

    folks there will be happy to discuss ketogenic diets with you.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Anyone with experience or knowledge about this diet know if I should push that fat intake to 60% or if my current macro ratio is good.

    I did about a year of trying to eat that way. You're going to feel like you're dying trying to work out that hard on so few carbs. And your performance will suffer, drastically.

    Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on your goals.
  • MyTrainerTracy
    MyTrainerTracy Posts: 1 Member
    After 30 years of personal training, I 'd never suggest my clients do that low of carbs. The fats are too high as well. You are risking metabolic damage. Your macros are not going to help you train as the other user mentioned. I'm sure others in the forum are going to give you more info, but you asked and for permanent weight loss, I'd revisit. I wish you luck though!! Fleshing this out is hard!
    I'm happy to help if you have questions.
  • KayNowayJose
    KayNowayJose Posts: 138 Member
    You're welcome to go to the groups and join the 'Keto' group, we would love to have ya!

    This site should help you with your macros:

    http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
  • jhiggi83
    jhiggi83 Posts: 27 Member
    Im probably going to do the diet 3 to 4 months tops. Its just a means to burn off stored body fat quickly. With the military drawdown they are being picky about the little extra body fat I store in my lower abs and love handles. Im not disproportionate but I figure Ill try to burn it off anyway since I like being in the military and If you command thinks you look fat then you are fat despite being in weight standards . I already eat clean so Im not worried about it coming back when I cycle off it
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Im probably going to do the diet 3 to 4 months tops. Its just a means to burn off stored body fat quickly.

    Keto won't do that any better than eating at an equivalent caloric deficit using any of a million other macro ratios. If you want to do keto, go for it - but understand it won't be the keto causing fat loss, it will be the caloric deficit.

    In fact, many people end up gaining fat on keto because certain charlatans out there peddle it as a way of being able to eat as much as you want...grrrrrr...
  • KayNowayJose
    KayNowayJose Posts: 138 Member
    Im probably going to do the diet 3 to 4 months tops. Its just a means to burn off stored body fat quickly.

    Keto won't do that any better than eating at an equivalent caloric deficit using any of a million other macro ratios. If you want to do keto, go for it - but understand it won't be the keto causing fat loss, it will be the caloric deficit.

    In fact, many people end up gaining fat on keto because certain charlatans out there peddle it as a way of being able to eat as much as you want...grrrrrr...

    For the love that's all good in the world.

    OP: "WIth that being said I would only like to discuss the diet and not why I should not use this diet."
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    They aren't separable issues. Especially when people start talking about its raspberry-ketone-like fat-burning properties....
  • KayNowayJose
    KayNowayJose Posts: 138 Member
    Oh and BTW Mr_Knight, I enjoy your new avatar better than the last. I giggled at it upon first reading through this thread....

    ...and now, I realize...it's YOU!
  • KayNowayJose
    KayNowayJose Posts: 138 Member
    They aren't separable issues.

    How about we just agree that you completely dislike the Ketogenic diet and I completely love it and we will forever be ready to fight one another on the topic?
  • fruttibiscotti
    fruttibiscotti Posts: 986 Member
    OP, if you google "nutritional ketosis", you will get a whole load of great information.
  • Stripeness
    Stripeness Posts: 511 Member
    My keto diet was a bit lower carb and lower fat than your current macros. I used it to get from 236 to 223, which is where my MFP ticker starts. I feel it was very helpful for where I was at the time. (Just as you feel it's right for you in your current context)

    HUGE YMMV

    I was medically supervised, as it is important to keep an eye on your kidneys while doing keto. I felt GREAT, right from the get-go. That said, I had colleagues who felt sluggish, got headaches, etc. during their first week or so. They felt good after that, but it was clearly a very individual experience.

    Best wishes for your success!
  • GLH2576
    GLH2576 Posts: 83 Member
    Any "diet" will work. The larger issue is with most people not being able to stick to any diet. If a ketogenic diet is something that you can follow and stay in a calorie deficit while doing the work you need to keep fit then it is a good diet for you. If you cut sugar (all forms), starch (i.e., potatoes, rice, etc) and grains (bread, rolls, pancakes...) and focus eating other fats, meats, and vegetables you'll probably do just fine as long as you don't overeat. If you track what you eat you should be successful; if you guess portions it will be more challenging. Since you seem to have a good reason to stay motivated to lose I expect you will have a better chance than many others. BTW, I do a ketogenic diet but am doing so with the plan on seeing how it impacts my own physical, i.e., BP, cholesterol, etc. after a few months. I've been losing between 0.5 and 1 pound per week with no adverse effects. Given that I am about twice your age and not going to the gym nearly as often as I should, this seems pretty reasonable in terms of a loss to me. The most challenging thing I have come across is with items having more carbs than I had expected and with keeping protein under control. Getting enough good quality fat is less of an issue. I use a higher % of fat, lower carbs than you are using as well.
  • jhiggi83
    jhiggi83 Posts: 27 Member
    Been on the Keto Diet for about 8 days now and could not be happier with it. I now know that I can eat between 1800 and 2100 calories and still loose. I am not tired and hungry all the time like I used to be. While it did affect strength somewhat it did help my run time. Its a sustainable diet because I can eat the food I like as long as I sacrifice cookies and candy but I'll take a chicken wing with hot sauce and real butter over a cookie anyday.
  • fruttibiscotti
    fruttibiscotti Posts: 986 Member
    I hear you. I love it too. This week I've had meals like ribeye steak fried in butter, linguica pork sausage cooked in butter and wine with roasted bell pepper, shepards pie with cauliflower mash (made with loads of butter and cream). And I can have my Lindt dark chocolate treat every day. Oh yeah, loads of bacon for breakfast and heavy cream in my coffee.

    Still feeling great and losing weight after many months.....teehee love it! :drinker:
  • mjudd1990
    mjudd1990 Posts: 219 Member
    Cortisol levels will skyrocket, your kidneys will hate you, your breath/sweat will start to smell like paint thinner, your endurance and strength will tank, you'll be in a foul mood most of the time, and you risk going into a hypoglycemic coma. All this for a six pack. To each their own I suppose. And yes I've done a keto diet before.
  • fruttibiscotti
    fruttibiscotti Posts: 986 Member
    Cortisol levels will skyrocket, your kidneys will hate you, your breath/sweat will start to smell like paint thinner, your endurance and strength will tank, you'll be in a foul mood most of the time, and you risk going into a hypoglycemic coma. All this for a six pack. To each their own I suppose. And yes I've done a keto diet before.

    This is a ridiculous scare tactic. None of what you have written above has occurred to me. Relax.
  • mjudd1990
    mjudd1990 Posts: 219 Member
    Biochemistry isn't a scare tactic my man. Regardless of whether you feel fine now, ketogenesis evolved as a way to keep humans from starving to death temporarily by tapping into fat stores in order to supply your brain with glucose. I don't think the Atkins diet was an intended sequelae of that. Like I said, to each their own, just want people to make educated decisions regarding their health.
  • JoJo__Fit
    JoJo__Fit Posts: 258 Member
    BLAH BLAH BLAH

    Do what makes you happy seriously!!!!!

    I did it for 7 weeks I was super successful, Went from 22% bodyfat to 15.4%, losing 8 lbs. I loved the experience and challenge, while doing Ketogenic. I lost a good amount of fat. :) I was shredded, It never once affected my workout and I was always in a good mood.
    I got blood work done while i was on and everything was perfect. :) I would try to stay away from saturated fats and focus more on the good fats. My skin was glowing because I focused more on salmon & mac oil :)

    I was thinking of doing a 4 week cycle, because I lost a lot of bodyfat fast. I don't want to lose that much either this time around.

    Good Luck
  • jhiggi83
    jhiggi83 Posts: 27 Member
    Cortisol levels will skyrocket, your kidneys will hate you, your breath/sweat will start to smell like paint thinner, your endurance and strength will tank, you'll be in a foul mood most of the time, and you risk going into a hypoglycemic coma. All this for a six pack. To each their own I suppose. And yes I've done a keto diet before.

    So essentially what your saying is that I am going to die from eating foods high in fat with moderate protien and several servings of veggies a day. My caloric intake is 1800-2100 calories a day far from starvation. Lets not forget the ultra endurance athletes that are very successful after becoming Keto Adapted. How did the cavemen ever survive without thier carbs. And Ive experienced none of these side effects you speak of. Yes I bought and read the books written by doctors that have done research in the field.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    So essentially what your saying is that I am going to die from eating foods high in fat with moderate protien and several servings of veggies a day.

    No, that's not what he's saying.

    Try again.
  • laurelobrien
    laurelobrien Posts: 156 Member
    Anyone with experience or knowledge about this diet know if I should push that fat intake to 60% or if my current macro ratio is good.

    I did about a year of trying to eat that way. You're going to feel like you're dying trying to work out that hard on so few carbs. And your performance will suffer, drastically.

    Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on your goals.

    That's simply not true... if you are actually adapted to using ketones, your athletic performance will keep up with that of a carb-eater, or even surpass it in cases of endurance exercises. For a week or two, sure, you're going to feel terrible. It's not healthy or normal for that to persist though.

    MJudd, can you please cite some literature? I have a feeling you're absolutely full of it. Keto is a state that man lived in for a very long time before agriculture, and still lived in up until the late 20th century in many parts of the world (see; inuit populations that ate an 85% fat diet and were normal weights + healthy before being introduced to a western diet). I'm gonna need to see some facts before you throw scary words with no explanation at someone who doesn't know better.

    I've been eating keto for 2 years and my T4 levels + adrenals are completely normalized after an eating disorder ****ed them over. I have low blood pressure, I've increased my squat and deadlift by 100%, haven't had a UTI in 2 years (used to get em monthly), and the only thing that puts me in a foul mood is rainy weather and tripe such as you posted.
  • littlekitty3
    littlekitty3 Posts: 265 Member
    Ketosis is not good for us. It's a back up plan for when glucose (the main fuel) runs out. The body only uses a small portion of it before the rest exit though the urine.

    Anyone trying to throw the Inuit or masaai tribes in this conversation need to do more research.
    Inuit suffer from severe constipation (they even have a god dedicated to farting), osteoporosis, artery damage, and aged prematurely.
    The masaai (which some will throw in because they eat so much meat), um yea...how many of you "primal" followers drink blood? In their later years they convert to a more plant based diet. And I know someone is going to mention how skinny they are, have you heard of malnutrition? They don't have supermarkets there like the rest of us with Internet access. I'm pretty sure if you didn't consume enough calories you'd look that way also.

    But the reason why we go through ketosis is to help in times of starvation. Guess who also go through ketosis? Alcoholics, diabetics (not through insulin) and those who are starving (a.k.a. Not eating enough).

    Just stating the facts here y'all.
  • jhiggi83
    jhiggi83 Posts: 27 Member
    From my first post I stated that I planned on going thru with the diet. I am far from stupid and did my due research , to include reading the book "The Art and science of low carb performance ". I have been on the diet since the 2nd I have not had any of these negative side effects. I like this method of eating, it has crushed my sugar cravings, I feel great and I feel like I can maintain this lifestyle . People can hate on it all they want, it works for me and real research performed by medical doctors says it sustainable. It is now my goal to become keto-adapted.
  • mjudd1990
    mjudd1990 Posts: 219 Member
    I wasn't saying you were going to die by any means. I was merely stating that keto diets purposely place your body into a less efficient, starvation state for the sake of losing body fat. But the fact is if your carb intake is too low and your energy expenditure too high then you will develop hypoglycemia and the possibility of hypoglycemic coma. Keto diets are a quick fix and do not promote lasting weight loss in my opinion. Your body is in starvation mode and your cortisol levels are gonna be high so the minute you slip up/decide to splurge and eat an entire pizza, all of it is going to be stored as fat. And while were on the literature citing battle BS rant could any of you show me a peer reviewed meta-analysis that conclusively shows that purposely throwing your body into ketogenesis for extended periods of time will not adversely affect ones health? And no, saying that Inuits and tribal villagers do it isn't really supporting your claim considering their average life expectancy is like 45.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    I've been eating LCHF for over a year now and I can't imagine ever eating any other way. I love it and my only regret is that I didn't start eating this way sooner. And while I don't specifically aim for ketosis my carbs are often low enough for me to be in ketosis and my health has only improved. For me it's proven to be healthful, sustainable and an absolute life changer.

    If you struggle with overeating or have symptoms of metabolic disorder absolutely give this way of eating a shot -- it's the best thing I've ever done for my health.