Keto

favabean1982
favabean1982 Posts: 28 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Two questions about keto:

Is there a definitive answer to how many grams of carbs is the limit? I've heard 20 grams of carbs, 50 grams of carbs, 20 grams of net carbs...thoughts?

I know keto truly is a lifestyle. However, I've known people who do it, for example, during the week and then will have a cheat day with carbs and such before going back onto the clean keto intake after that. Thoughts on this?

Replies

  • KrissFlavored
    KrissFlavored Posts: 327 Member
    I'm confused about why bothering with keto if you're just going to end the week eating a surplus of carbs? In the end you still gotta count calories.. and if you're able to have a "cheat day" of extra carbs, then go back to normal, why not just eat them moderately through the week instead of a big blow out at the end?
  • favabean1982
    favabean1982 Posts: 28 Member
    Oh, I absolutely count calories :-) I was just curious!
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    Bouncing in and out of 'clean keto' for the weekend carb refeed would take a great deal discipline so the carb refeed days don't turn into weeks instead of weekends.

    Bouncing back into ketosis depends on the person. Some may be able to do that within 2-5 days but for others it takes 7 or 8 days or more. Rapidly switching in and out of keto can become a science project. There are oodles of threads about keto, just do a search for 'keto'. There are some keto experts here who will come along shortly.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited May 2020
    There isn't one single upper limit that puts every individual into ketosis. If you are bigger and more active/do more exercise you would be able to eat a lot more carbs than someone smaller/inactive/non-exerciser and remain in ketosis. So no there isn't one definitive or universal number.

    My favourite quote about rules v. guidelines......
    “Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.” - Sir Douglas Bader


    PS - Some people also do TKD or CKD for exercise performance or compliance reasons and eating carbs does not equal "cheating" as it's planned and part of their overall diet....

  • skinnyjingbb
    skinnyjingbb Posts: 127 Member
    Do you want to do cheat days because you really crave carbs? then maybe keto wasn't right for you.
    Some people do carb cycling because they want to build muscle and do lots of weight training. Eating carb help replenish glycogen storage in the muscle.
    Depend on what your goal is, you can set a your own carb limit that suit your body.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    KrissFlavored wrote: »
    I'm confused about why bothering with keto if you're just going to end the week eating a surplus of carbs? In the end you still gotta count calories.. and if you're able to have a "cheat day" of extra carbs, then go back to normal, why not just eat them moderately through the week instead of a big blow out at the end?

    Largely because there are people how are satiated with keto and a cheat meal on the weekend gives them the psychological benefit of still getting foods that aren't so good for their diets. I have done this and have done refeed weekends and its a very effective technique. At the very least, its worth trying because the answer isn't always... Just count calories. For some people that isn't enough. It isnt for me anymore.

    OP, @sijomial is correct. An active male, like me, who exercises regularly will be able to maintain higher levels of carbs than a sedentary women. I personally don't care if i am in ketosis but rather satiated. I will often be between 30-50 net carbs (last two weeks not so much as i had a root canal and increased my carbs a bit). I feel the best when i don't do dirty Keto and my weight loss is much more consistent. Not sure why, but its a data point.

    I haven't done TKD, but rather i do CKD. Every few weeks, i will do an ultra high carb, very low fat (<40g) and higher protein ( >170g). Using this method, i have gone from 178 to 166-168. This is lower than i have ever achieve with just calorie counting (low was 173). I am a bigger meat eater, so this suits me well. I still eat plenty of fiber (veggies, chia, berries) and even Greek yogurt. But again, i have a higher tolerance for carbs.
  • SusannO
    SusannO Posts: 27 Member
    I agree with the posters above that mention working out and building mass and therefore upping their carbs and protein as needed. For those of us that aren't exercisers, I find cheat times can be fun sometimes, especially when traveling, but they do affect my weight. A one-day mild cheat (100g) can sometimes not affect me at all, but once I do 2 days, it takes me a week to get back to where I started, because the carbs cause some water gain. I'm also 50 yo and the younger folk probably bounce back a bit faster than I do.
  • Chillotaku
    Chillotaku Posts: 8 Member
    I've been doing keto off and on for years. I stay under 20 net carbs. Some people like to do total carbs, it really depends. Thomas delauer has a channel on youtube that gives great advice on keto and talks about this.

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