Hey ! Anyone doing a twist on keto ?

trositys
trositys Posts: 2 Member
edited November 2016 in Introduce Yourself
Hey so I've been yo-yo dieting for a while and while I'm currently losing quite a lot of weight I'm not sure if what I'm doing will actually give me the results I want

I'm kind of doing keto, I'm producing ketones naturally and taking the supplement but eating very low carbs 10% and about 60% fat and 30 % protein but on some days it'll be a higher protein level and lower fat

I'm doing 10k worth of cardio runs 3 times a week ( times vary between 48 minutes and 55 minutes ) and upper body weight training twice a week

What I want to do is strip out body fat and put on muscle - which I thought I could do with keto as it burns fat for energy but not muscle

But I think the protein intake could be harming me - with a calorie deficit diet of only 1200 calories could I be harming myself more ?

Any advice is great thanks.

Replies

  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    edited November 2016
    If you want to gain muscle you need to be in a caloric surplus and with weight training. You won't have any gains with 1200 calories a day. And don't forget leg day!!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    You're not gaining anything on 1200 cals
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Wait, what?

    26yo male, eating 1200 Cals/day? Yes, you're doing it wrong.

    Also, keto is one of the hardest diets to build muscle.

    And, at 1200 Cals, you'll be losing muscle.
  • trositys
    trositys Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks for the replies, clearly got the wrong idea about keto - would it not be taking from my body fat % and keeping the current muscle I have so that when I'm around 8% I can then look at eating more and switching to a more weight training schedule

    I don't do leg day as I'm hoping that's covered in the 30k weekly run total ?
  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
    OP, I suggest you check out the following main low-carber daily forum group here in MFP. It's where most of us Ketophiles tend to hang out:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/discussions/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    trositys wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies, clearly got the wrong idea about keto - would it not be taking from my body fat % and keeping the current muscle I have so that when I'm around 8% I can then look at eating more and switching to a more weight training schedule

    I don't do leg day as I'm hoping that's covered in the 30k weekly run total ?

    Your body can only utilize a certain amount of body fat per day and it's directly related to the amount of body fat you have. So if you're eating 1200 calories and your body needs 2000 more calories it has to get that from somewhere. Unless you have 60 pounds of body fat your body will use your lean mass to fill the gap. Along with that your body starts to adjust various chemicals and hormones to try to make you burn less calories.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    How did you come up with 1200 calories? That's really low (appropriate for sedentary, older women). You need to fuel the exercise you are doing. As for the cardio covering leg day, I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but cardio and strength are going to work your muscles in a very different way.

    I suggest upping your calories, and do some reading here to help you ensure that your methods match your goals. What you are doing right now, won't do that.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    edited November 2016
    In all honesty, you couldn't be doing it much more wrong for your stated goals. A massive deficit, lots of cardio (not fueled by adequate calories) and low protein/carb intake (keto diet) is practically a recipe for losing as much muscle mass as possible. It's definitely conceivable to eventually reach your goal of 8% bodyfat - but you're going to lose lots of lean body mass in the process and probably not be happy with the result unless you're intending to look like a human skeleton. The keto diet will also interfere with your strength training because it's not an optimal diet for fueling anaerobic exercise.

    A more reasonable approach would be:

    a) Ditch the keto diet. It's not optimal (or even good) for what you're trying to do.

    b) Establish your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and eat at about a 15-20% deficit from that. If you're going to continue running, factor those calories in and eat at least a portion of them back to fuel your workouts.

    c) Read the first post in this thread and set your macros accordingly.

    c) Get on a solid, well-programmed strength training routine (yes, including legs - running is good for your cardio, but it has different effects upon the muscles than strength training). Check the first post in this thread for a good list of established, professionally designed workout routines. Pick a beginner program and stick with it for a good 6-8 months before you even think about doing more advanced/specialized routines.


    [ETA:] Here's a great example of what can eventually happen when you eat at huge caloric deficits and do lots of cardio: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10478099/no-libido-thinning-hair#latest
  • graneydp
    graneydp Posts: 10 Member
    Actually there are many bodybuilders using a Ketogenic diet to meet there goals. Search Keto on www.bodybuilder.com one link in particular http://www.bodybuilding.com/content/ask-the-expert-panel-ketogenic-diet.html
  • graneydp
    graneydp Posts: 10 Member
    https://www.dietdoctor.com/member/presentations/wilson
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    graneydp wrote: »
    Actually there are many bodybuilders using a Ketogenic diet to meet there goals. Search Keto on www.bodybuilder.com one link in particular http://www.bodybuilding.com/content/ask-the-expert-panel-ketogenic-diet.html

    Most of them are not eating 1200 calories per day like the OP. 1200 calories while exercising is not even close to enough for a male to sustain muscle, much less build it. Doesn't matter what his macros are at that point.
  • kshatriyo
    kshatriyo Posts: 134 Member
    trositys wrote: »
    Hey so I've been yo-yo dieting for a while and while I'm currently losing quite a lot of weight I'm not sure if what I'm doing will actually give me the results I want

    I'm kind of doing keto, I'm producing ketones naturally and taking the supplement but eating very low carbs 10% and about 60% fat and 30 % protein but on some days it'll be a higher protein level and lower fat

    I'm doing 10k worth of cardio runs 3 times a week ( times vary between 48 minutes and 55 minutes ) and upper body weight training twice a week

    What I want to do is strip out body fat and put on muscle - which I thought I could do with keto as it burns fat for energy but not muscle

    But I think the protein intake could be harming me - with a calorie deficit diet of only 1200 calories could I be harming myself more ?

    Any advice is great thanks.

    Without knowing your stats I can just tell you that if you want to lose fat, build muscle and restrict your protein to 1 gram per kg of your goal body weight. So, if you goal body weight were 65kg, you would want to restrict your protein to 65g per day. This ensures no conversion of aminos to glucose. If you are in ketsosis already you might be just over your ideal protein threshold and could consider a body fat scale for best accuracy. The best way to be sure is to monitor the ketones.
  • kshatriyo
    kshatriyo Posts: 134 Member
    edited November 2016
    trositys wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies, clearly got the wrong idea about keto - would it not be taking from my body fat % and keeping the current muscle I have so that when I'm around 8% I can then look at eating more and switching to a more weight training schedule

    I don't do leg day as I'm hoping that's covered in the 30k weekly run total ?

    No, when you go that low in calories you are starving your body because of the intense workouts, which means you are burning muscle too. You need to bump up your calories with fat to ensure this doesn't happen to at least 1400 on days you exercise.

    ETA: What anvilhead said.

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