Looking for advice on Ketogenic Diet

Aoyoc
Aoyoc Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all! :smile:

I started on a Ketogenic diet about a week ago now and constantly trying to read more about how the diet works. Since I am brand new at this, I have some things I'm confused about and unsure if I am doing this diet correctly. I'd appreciate any information that can be given, suggestions, or anything I'm missing/not doing right?

So far, I have lost 10 lbs in my first week on the diet. I limit my Carbs to 5 to 20g everyday and I haven't had a cheat yet. I drink about a gallon of water a day and my ketostix constantly give moderate reads. I woke up today feeling good and I think i've gotten past the "keto flu" i've read about. I'm taking a 1000mg Coconut Oil supplement softgel twice a day and a multivitamin in the morning.

I noticed when I did 20 minutes of exercise the night before, I woke up this morning and the scale showed that I lost a few pounds. I don't know if that is a related result of putting in exercise?

I am 275 lbs right now and my goal is to be around 240 by October 31st. Is this an attainable goal or will it take longer?

My main question is about fat/protein/calorie macros. I've read that in order to lose fat you have to stay within the macros you set. I used http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ for the following macros:

970 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
18 g Carbohydrates (7%, 72 kcal)
105 g Protein (43%, 420 kcal)
53 g Fat (50%, 478 kcal)

I'm curious if those are reasonable macros or bad ones? I'm also curious how it is possible to eat 105g protein while keeping calories and fat that low?

Thanks

Replies

  • ajax041813
    ajax041813 Posts: 136 Member
    From what I have read, your fat percentage needs to be higher. More healthy fat is going to satiate your appetite making you feel full, and lessen cravings.

    I'm not sure if you can lose that much weight by then. The max that is healthy is 2lbs a week, but that is pretty difficult from what I have read. I would suggest 1lb a week and make a plan for yourself to be able to stick to.

    Great job so far on taking control of your health!
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
    I think your fat percentage is supposed to be at least 70%.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    I think your fat percentage is supposed to be at least 70%.

    Percentages don't so much matter... but 970 cal. is very likely "too low" and is skewing the percentages, since protein requirements remain fixed regardless of how aggressive a calorie deficit you're running. OP, go back to the keto calculator you used and put in a reasonable caloric deficit. As a 26 year old male, I would aim for something more like 1800-2000 calories. 970 is less than a small woman should eat. Also, don't buy any more ketostix - they're basically a waste of money.

    If you want to get some more info on the diet, I'd look at /r/ketogains and /r/keto on reddit. Also, Lyle McDonald's book The Ketogenic Diet is probably the best resource out there.
  • Aoyoc
    Aoyoc Posts: 2
    Thanks for the responses this really helps!!

    @ajax041813 , I'll shoot for 2 lbs a week then if possible, thanks for the info!!
    @eric sg61 , I raised the fat percentage to 69%, hopefully that will work better?


    @parkscs , Okay, I ran the calculator again and plugged in 1600 calories which gives this result;

    49% Deficit
    1600 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
    18 g Carbohydrates (5%, 72 kcal)
    105 g Protein (26%, 420 kcal)
    123 g Fat (69%, 1108 kcal)

    This seems way more attainable and balanced fat/protein wise... which is the right thing I assume?

    Edit: I'm looking at these figures and I'm not sure I can actually hit them, the last couple days I'm waking up in the morning not feeling hungry at all and during the day i'm not getting much hunger. I had to force myself to eat something this morning... Maybe I could lessen the 1600 to 1300 or so?

    This is what I've eaten so far today and I feel content/satisfied/not hungry... is this too low/not enough to get weight loss?
    58g fat
    940 calories
    93.5 protein
    6 carbs
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    It's really not that hard. I'll sometimes hit 1000-1200 calories with just pre-workout and breakfast. A single steak can easily be 1000 calories. The whole "I can't eat 1600 calories!" bit is just silly. Yes, you can.
  • PrimalSasha
    PrimalSasha Posts: 11
    I'd recommend this site and all the info in the right side section if you haven't been there already. The atmosphere there is a lot friendlier as well.

    http://www.reddit.com/r/keto
  • SweatpantsRebellion
    SweatpantsRebellion Posts: 754 Member
    Hi. I've been doing keto for awhile! I agree with your switch to fat at 70%. Fat can be very filling, so sometimes you really don't feel like eating. That being said, I'm wondering how long you've restricted your calories to such a small amount? You may have reduced your appetite because your metabolism is slowing down to accomodate for little food. In the short run, you may make great progress. However, eating so little is going to lead to health issues even if you lose the weight, and isn't part of what's great about losing weight getting healthier? While this is not typical advice one hears when trying to lose weight, you need to eat more. And at this point you're eating so little that you may have to feel a bit stuffed in order to eat more. Your stomach will adjust if you're consistent. Here's a place I'd start for figuring our your proper calorie level.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    That's where I started my journey and I lost weight even though I was scared to go as high as this calculator told me I should. That being said, now that I'm keto I don't always get all the way up to my target according to this calculator, but I definitely try to stay above my BMR, which is 1600ish and I'm a female. With you being a guy, you should definitely be eating more. It would just be awful to get to goal weight and have wrecked your health in the process. It's not worth it!

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