RUNNING FAT ADAPTED

I'm not keto, so I can't speak to that. But no, you didn't gain 5 lbs of muscle in a month by running. It is pretty difficult for women to build muscle - you would need to be eating in a surplus, and even doing a strict progressive strength training program could maybe gain 1 or 2 lbs of muscle.

Having said that, it could be water weight fluctuations. Or you are eating a little too much. I would start watching your calories and make sure it's not fat that you're putting on. Water weight will come and go naturally.

You might want to join the low carbers group as well https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

if you are gaining weight its either water retention from extra exercise,fat or a combo of the 2. if you gain weight and its not water retention its likely to excess calories. even in keto you can gain weight if you eat more calories than you burn. doesnt matter if its excess carbs(which could be water weight(and glycogen) due to eating excess carbs,or excess fats. any macro can lead to weight gain if eaten in excess

CogentHMS wrote: »

Maybe I can help Johna,
Odds are you are not fat adapted. Especially if you are uncertain about your macros and ketone readings to be sure. I will explain why I feel this way.
For starters, gaining 5 pounds when in ketosis is extremely rare. The hormone insulin is a regulatory hormone for many events in the body, primarily glucose balance within the blood. Once your body hits ketosis this confirms your body is fueled off primarily (not completely) ketones. Unless you consume an excess amounts of carbohydrates and/or sugars you do not produce enough insulin to allow you to store fat and even gain muscle. Insulin is the gate keeper to open the bodies cells to allow storage within them at the cellular level. This does not happen at a noticeable level. Understand that proteins and amino acids and such need to get within the cell to promote muscle growth. It is a must. This is why insulin is abused in the body building world. Insulin injections and steroids makes for massive results but obviously dangerous. Another thing that insulin assists with and helps regulate is water retention within the renal system (kidneys).
Insulin production will retain fluid and the lack of insulin you will excrete. This is why it is at an utmost importance to hydrate and take electrolytes such as sodium, potassium and magnesium. Therefore, I do not feel you have gain muscle and or water if you truly feel you are fat adapted. Although this is in a nut shell I hope this helps.

Yup. Good post CogentHMS and you've made some other great posts on the forum as well. It is appreciated by lots of folks here who don't post or comment on the open forums much. Trust me I know lol. Lot's of lurkers here who talk, share info behind the scenes but not out in the open because of obvious reasons. Sharing your info, experiences and observations with keto would be much better recieved and appreciated in the sub forums on this website in the Low Carb and Keto areas. I wouldn't waste your time debating (arguing) with the small group of people on the forum that you are currently trying to debate (argue with) on the other thread too. Waste of time. Best advice I could give you is to help those that want to be helped and share your own experience with them. If they want to go that route then great. If not that's their own health decision. Results speak from themselves and those that see that, and will listen to and see for themselves can either do something with the info and can go from there or not. Keep doing what your doing being healthy, happy, and positive. No better way to be in my opinion. And help those that want the help.

midwesterner85 wrote: »

If you have only been following keto for 4 weeks, you are not yet fat adapted. You are in the process of becoming fat adapted, but need more time to complete the process.

I really suggest reading The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Phinney and Volek, leading researchers for decades into low carb / keto. This book not only explains the fat adaptation process, but specifically is focused on athletic performance. If you want to run better on keto, read that book.

Yes great read! One of my good buddies has been marathon running cross country on keto this year after getting into the lifestyle. He is doing awesome! And he runs completely fasted before the races and just carries a few fat bombs for later in the races. Funny he tells me that some marathon rules ( think he said biking and triathlons have rules about not being able to take carb packs while racing but fat bombs are allowed There's some videos of this online I remember seeing a few months back when he told me about it.