Keto experts: I need clarification ...
Options
ajfitnix
Posts: 4 Member
So, Xg carbs are the LIMIT, Xg fat is the GOAL, and Xg protein is the GOAL? I tried keto before and I was confused on what to eat the most of in a day. I know fat is a main part but I wasn't sure if I am supposed to hit the max. I also know about 20g net carbs is the max but you can go under. Please clarify.
1
Replies
-
All macros tend to MOSTLY be a PREFERENCE unless you're BELOW a MINIMUM necessary for health or ABOVE a REASONABLE MAXimum past which you're taking away from other macros and nutrients.
In order to begin with keto you will probably want to avoid exceeding 20g per day NET carbs (Carb gram - fiber grams) until full induction.
After induction you should be able to increase your net carbs per day. How much will depend in part on your physiology and on your general activity and exercise level (and possibly whether you time the extra carbs around exercise)
Generally protein at a level of about 0.6g to 0.8g per lb of goal weight within the normal weight range is considered suitable to ensure lean mass retention for people who are exercising and are also in a caloric deficit. You can exceed this amount if that's a preference, but you will probably not accrue too many lean mass retention or growth benefits from doing so.
Past that it will probably be related to your preferences. Exceedingly large amounts of protein may, possibly, interfere with keto, though I am unsure how exceedingly large the amounts would have to be.
Our keto guru's, I am sure, will be able to answer you in more detail.
6 -
I had friends who dabbled in it here & there.
The macros are approx 55% to 60% fat, 30% to 35% protein and 5% to 10% carbohydrates.2 -
20g of net carbs is your general limit. Try to hit that or less but a couple grams above before you work out isn’t going to kill you. If you exercise you can go over your protein goal, a lot of people don’t get enough protein.2
-
So, Xg carbs are the LIMIT, Xg fat is the GOAL, and Xg protein is the GOAL? I tried keto before and I was confused on what to eat the most of in a day. I know fat is a main part but I wasn't sure if I am supposed to hit the max. I also know about 20g net carbs is the max but you can go under. Please clarify.
Ultimately it comes down to several key factors; what is going to satiate you the most, what are your goals (weight loss and fitness), how active you are and most importantly do you have a metabolic disorder? A person who is sedentary will be required to restrict carbs more than the active person. The person who is trying to sustain or build muscle should have higher protein than those who don't care about it. Exercise also tends to increase protein goals.
In a general sense, net carbs below 50g. Second, protein should be around 1.5-2.2g/kg of weight (20-30% of calories) and fats are a filler. Regardless of some of the nonsense, more dietary fat isn't better especially if you plan on losing body fat.
So carbs are not to exceed, protein is a goal to meet or exceed and fat is filling. I run 30-40net carb, 2.2g/kg or 1g/lb of protein and the rest is fat (~50-55%). I also spread 30-35g of protein in 3-4 meals to maximize muscle protein synthesis as my goal is to maintain or gain some muscle.
Now, this might be the same kind of answer if you have a metabolic disorder which requires insulin management. I don't have the issue. I only care about the appetite suppression capabilities and craving control. If i have carbs and get out of ketosis, i don't care.
Ps - technically I run CKD. So i have periods where i refeed on carbs. So once every two or three weeks, i consume 400-450g of carbs with very low fat (~40g or less). This helps with performance and most importantly, my sanity.3 -
Depends on your goal. If you want to lose weight:
-Xg carb is the limit (usually people use 20g or 50g)
-Yg protein is a goal (do not skip protein - this is the essential macronutrient. Your body can make its own carbs / glucose and its own fat, but can only make proteins from other proteins).
-Zg fat is a limit. This is adjusted to fill in the difference in calories between the carb and protein amounts and total calorie goal. If you overeat fat, you can maintain or gain weight on keto.
If you want to maintain weight, change the fat amount and make it a target.
If you want to gain weight, increase the fat amount even more and make it a goal / target.
FWIW, I've been maintaining for years on keto carnivore (pretty close to 0g carbs, lots of protein and lots of fat) and I'm pretty active.1 -
20g net carbs is very low even for keto. I keep it below 40g. You need to focus on eating high fat foods, getting enough fat is the challenge. Here is what i eat to give you an idea;
- steak
- Bacon. Rougly 2-3 packs a week (375g each pack). I chop it up and put it into a ceasar salad. I also save the grease to use later
- Lettuce, brocoli, green veggie every day
- 11% fat yogurt with berries every day
- Sunflower seeds, nuts every day
- Chicken wings or thighs. No breast.
- Pork chops
- Roasted sausage with lots of veggies
- Eggs
- Rainbow trout
- bone broth
Im sure theres more but those are on heavy rotation to give you an idea. I’ll also have a cheat day once a week and its usually a whole large pizza. My health and weight has improved significantly since i started keto and OMAD. 65 lbs lost in 6 months. I,ve been holding steady in the last 5 months but I feel my body is still getting stronger.
Good luck to you.5 -
CardinalComb wrote: »20g net carbs is very low even for keto. I keep it below 40g. You need to focus on eating high fat foods, getting enough fat is the challenge. Here is what i eat to give you an idea;
- steak
- Bacon. Rougly 2-3 packs a week (375g each pack). I chop it up and put it into a ceasar salad. I also save the grease to use later
- Lettuce, brocoli, green veggie every day
- 11% fat yogurt with berries every day
- Sunflower seeds, nuts every day
- Chicken wings or thighs. No breast.
- Pork chops
- Roasted sausage with lots of veggies
- Eggs
- Rainbow trout
- bone broth
Im sure theres more but those are on heavy rotation to give you an idea. I’ll also have a cheat day once a week and its usually a whole large pizza. My health and weight has improved significantly since i started keto and OMAD. 65 lbs lost in 6 months. I,ve been holding steady in the last 5 months but I feel my body is still getting stronger.
Good luck to you.
Wrong. Someone trying to lose body fat does not need to "focus on eating high fat foods." To lose body fat, one wants to "eat" (consume for energy) fat from their body rather than dietary fat. This is a common misunderstanding amongst keto dieters and it just keeps getting spread around by people who don't understand how it works. Then we see posts saying, "I am eating keto and keep increasing my fat... I'm now adding 10 lbs. of fat to my coffee everyday and I'm STILL not losing weight! What am I doing wrong?!" Obviously a bit of an exaggeration on amount of fat, but the overall concept is posted regularly on keto discussion boards.8 -
T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »CardinalComb wrote: »20g net carbs is very low even for keto. I keep it below 40g. You need to focus on eating high fat foods, getting enough fat is the challenge. Here is what i eat to give you an idea;
- steak
- Bacon. Rougly 2-3 packs a week (375g each pack). I chop it up and put it into a ceasar salad. I also save the grease to use later
- Lettuce, brocoli, green veggie every day
- 11% fat yogurt with berries every day
- Sunflower seeds, nuts every day
- Chicken wings or thighs. No breast.
- Pork chops
- Roasted sausage with lots of veggies
- Eggs
- Rainbow trout
- bone broth
Im sure theres more but those are on heavy rotation to give you an idea. I’ll also have a cheat day once a week and its usually a whole large pizza. My health and weight has improved significantly since i started keto and OMAD. 65 lbs lost in 6 months. I,ve been holding steady in the last 5 months but I feel my body is still getting stronger.
Good luck to you.
Wrong. Someone trying to lose body fat does not need to "focus on eating high fat foods." To lose body fat, one wants to "eat" (consume for energy) fat from their body rather than dietary fat. This is a common misunderstanding amongst keto dieters and it just keeps getting spread around by people who don't understand how it works. Then we see posts saying, "I am eating keto and keep increasing my fat... I'm now adding 10 lbs. of fat to my coffee everyday and I'm STILL not losing weight! What am I doing wrong?!" Obviously a bit of an exaggeration on amount of fat, but the overall concept is posted regularly on keto discussion boards.
What was so funny, I was really debating last night to include some myths typically found in the keto diet. Eating copious amounts of fat, is the quickest way to not lose weight.6 -
T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »CardinalComb wrote: »20g net carbs is very low even for keto. I keep it below 40g. You need to focus on eating high fat foods, getting enough fat is the challenge. Here is what i eat to give you an idea;
- steak
- Bacon. Rougly 2-3 packs a week (375g each pack). I chop it up and put it into a ceasar salad. I also save the grease to use later
- Lettuce, brocoli, green veggie every day
- 11% fat yogurt with berries every day
- Sunflower seeds, nuts every day
- Chicken wings or thighs. No breast.
- Pork chops
- Roasted sausage with lots of veggies
- Eggs
- Rainbow trout
- bone broth
Im sure theres more but those are on heavy rotation to give you an idea. I’ll also have a cheat day once a week and its usually a whole large pizza. My health and weight has improved significantly since i started keto and OMAD. 65 lbs lost in 6 months. I,ve been holding steady in the last 5 months but I feel my body is still getting stronger.
Good luck to you.
Wrong. Someone trying to lose body fat does not need to "focus on eating high fat foods." To lose body fat, one wants to "eat" (consume for energy) fat from their body rather than dietary fat. This is a common misunderstanding amongst keto dieters and it just keeps getting spread around by people who don't understand how it works. Then we see posts saying, "I am eating keto and keep increasing my fat... I'm now adding 10 lbs. of fat to my coffee everyday and I'm STILL not losing weight! What am I doing wrong?!" Obviously a bit of an exaggeration on amount of fat, but the overall concept is posted regularly on keto discussion boards.
What was so funny, I was really debating last night to include some myths typically found in the keto diet. Eating copious amounts of fat, is the quickest way to not lose weight.
It must be the most common keto myth... eat more fat to lose more body fat is repeated so often that nobody even seems to think it through. The twin myth is that everyone on keto is losing weight no matter how much they eat. I've been in maintenance for years on keto. Some seem to believe that isn't even possible.
Edit to correct: no matter how much they eat7 -
T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »CardinalComb wrote: »20g net carbs is very low even for keto. I keep it below 40g. You need to focus on eating high fat foods, getting enough fat is the challenge. Here is what i eat to give you an idea;
- steak
- Bacon. Rougly 2-3 packs a week (375g each pack). I chop it up and put it into a ceasar salad. I also save the grease to use later
- Lettuce, brocoli, green veggie every day
- 11% fat yogurt with berries every day
- Sunflower seeds, nuts every day
- Chicken wings or thighs. No breast.
- Pork chops
- Roasted sausage with lots of veggies
- Eggs
- Rainbow trout
- bone broth
Im sure theres more but those are on heavy rotation to give you an idea. I’ll also have a cheat day once a week and its usually a whole large pizza. My health and weight has improved significantly since i started keto and OMAD. 65 lbs lost in 6 months. I,ve been holding steady in the last 5 months but I feel my body is still getting stronger.
Good luck to you.
Wrong. Someone trying to lose body fat does not need to "focus on eating high fat foods." To lose body fat, one wants to "eat" (consume for energy) fat from their body rather than dietary fat. This is a common misunderstanding amongst keto dieters and it just keeps getting spread around by people who don't understand how it works. Then we see posts saying, "I am eating keto and keep increasing my fat... I'm now adding 10 lbs. of fat to my coffee everyday and I'm STILL not losing weight! What am I doing wrong?!" Obviously a bit of an exaggeration on amount of fat, but the overall concept is posted regularly on keto discussion boards.
What was so funny, I was really debating last night to include some myths typically found in the keto diet. Eating copious amounts of fat, is the quickest way to not lose weight.
It must be the most common keto myth... eat more fat to lose more body fat is repeated so often that nobody even seems to think it through. The twin myth is that everyone on keto is losing weight no matter how much they lose. I've been in maintenance for years on keto. Some seem to believe that isn't even possible.
I know right. Even crazier when you start to talk keto bulks or people gaining weight on keto (intentional or accidentally). Its why i always advise that when you start, do not start with desserts, fat bombs, or replacement baked goods. Its so easy to add another 400-600 calories from that.4 -
@ajfitnix carbs are a limit, protein is the GOAL, fat is used for satisfaction. I had problems understanding “fat is the lever” which everyone quoted. Be sure to hit you protein macro - a bit over is better than a bit under. I’ve been doing keto for almost 3 years. I count TOTAL CARBS not net and stay below 20g. Lost 50+ pounds, 20# below my WW goal from 2008 and 8# lower than when I graduated high school 52 years ago. I’m 70 years old and feel great!2
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 390 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 922 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions