Low Calories and Keto
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Jdkbs
Posts: 98 Member
Hello,
I am starting a ketogenic diet with macros 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carb.
I am keeping my electrolytes up and feel good. My calories are set to 1500-1600 daily. I get 10000 steps daily as well.
I weigh 219lb, 5'4', 38% bf, 41 year old female.
Will I benefit at all to lower my calories to 800? Should I save this tactic for plateaus?
Anyone else doing these macros with open diaries and advice. Thank you.
I am starting a ketogenic diet with macros 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carb.
I am keeping my electrolytes up and feel good. My calories are set to 1500-1600 daily. I get 10000 steps daily as well.
I weigh 219lb, 5'4', 38% bf, 41 year old female.
Will I benefit at all to lower my calories to 800? Should I save this tactic for plateaus?
Anyone else doing these macros with open diaries and advice. Thank you.
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Replies
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I don't think 800 is good for a long term goal. Seems like to much of a deficit.
One of the ideas behind a Keto diet is your gonna burn a little more fat anyhow, so why go so low?
If you race to the "finish" you may get burnt out along the way.
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Makes sense...racing to the finish has gotten me to this weight. Impatience kills me.1
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You're just starting? I would spend the next 2 weeks not counting calories and just eating until satisfied while keeping within your carb limit. Seriously...eat all the meat...lots of eggs...plenty of cheese...green veggies as you like them. It's hard enough to drop to low carbs...dropping the calories that much would make it hell.
The increased fat will make it easier to feel full longer and once your body is running off of fat, you will likely naturally feel hungry less often and find that you have days that are low calorie without forcing it. And then there will be days you want to eat everything in the world. This way of eating is excellent for learning how to listen to your body.5 -
I might suggest a slight tweak - use grams, not ratios.
1. Net Carbs - ceiling number of grams (like 30 or 40g)
2. Protein - min and max. (like 90-125g - can use keto calculators)
3. Fat - enough so you're not hungry
Source - Phinney & Volek's vids & books,
* New Atkins for a New You
* Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living.
If you haven't stumbled across the LCD Launch Pad, I'd suggest you set aside a few hours and look through this great resource.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10103966/start-here-the-lcd-launch-pad
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Hello,
I am starting a ketogenic diet with macros 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carb.
I am keeping my electrolytes up and feel good. My calories are set to 1500-1600 daily. I get 10000 steps daily as well.
I weigh 219lb, 5'4', 38% bf, 41 year old female.
Will I benefit at all to lower my calories to 800? Should I save this tactic for plateaus?
Anyone else doing these macros with open diaries and advice. Thank you.
I agree with the comment on not counting calories starting out, just cut out the really starchy stuff, like potatoes, pasta, grains, etc. Wait for a plateau before tweaking too much, you want to find foods that work for you, and that you enjoy eating, because you want to keep eating those foods forever, not just till you lose some weight. That is how you will maintain your goal weight.
If you do decide to check calories after a while, going that low daily will probably just slow your metabolism, and it is hard to get it back up once you do that. So no, don't go to 800 cals. for your daily intake from time to time it is fine, even fasting all day is fine. Let your body decide what it can pull from your "portable pantry", you will be hungry more some days than others. So eat when you are hungry, stop when you feel you have eaten enough, and enjoy life without thinking about food all the time.
2 keto dudes have a nice podcast called Starting Keto, you might want to give it a listen.2 -
Thank you fir all the responses.
I'm going to spend some time on the Keto Launchpad as suggested.
Its awesome finding this group of people that are working this lifestyle. ❤3 -
My macros are similar to yours and I'm using a 1500cal limit. I've tried lower, at 1300 per day and found that I was feeling too hungry. What I have used with a reasonable amount of success is a 16/8 daily fasting cycle and occasional fasting days where I will consume less than 600 calories per day. I agree with all the advice you've been given so far though regarding finding your own comfortable levels, especially at the start. I didn't cut the calories until I was stable in ketosis and seemed to settle at the level I'm at and I'm sure that you will do the same.2
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For me, I used a calorie "suggestion". I rarely hit my exact goal and after going back and working out the average, I actually ate close to 100kcals over it. I ended up with 1500 kcals instead of 1420, and still lost weight pretty easily.
I mention it because some days were 2000, others were 1500, and others were under 1000kcal. If I was hungry, I ate more. If I wasn't hungry, I definitely went with THAT feeling and ate less.
Most days were within 300 kcal of 1500 kcal.
Welcome to the group.
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Basically, as everyone has said, use the first bit of time to undo bad habits, and get your head in line. There's plenty of time for VLCDs later, once you've broken the habits that got you fat to begin with.
Also, if you're going to do it at some point, consider looking into a protocol that won't wreck you. 75% fat would be stupid at the 800/day caloric level, for example. You'd end up wanting closer to 60-80% protein, depending upon your LBM at the time. I'd recommend reading The Rapid Fatloss Handbook by Lyle McDonald, three times at least, before you ever consider dropping kcals that low.2
