Weaning away from weight loss

jozal
jozal Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm a 53 yr old male, 5'9” currently 205lbs. Even at my heaviest all my blood tests and medical results remained in the normal zones, so my health is great. I was a college athlete 30+ years ago and weighed 190lbs with 6% BF at that time.

Over the last 9 months I've lost 120lbs with net carbs under 20g/day (all veggies) and protein around 145g. My macros were around 5% carbs, 35% protein and 60% fat.

I have gradually increased my daily exercise habits daily to avoid injury and not kill my spirit to now walking at least 2 miles daily at a moderate pace along with alternating daily 40 mins of high intensity to vigorous circuit training with 40 mins of high intensity to vigorous cardio (rowing, elliptical, running).

I feel great, muscles are returning and I feel full and energized. My body transformation has been amazing and I've seen my resting HR drop from 78bpm to 57bpm and my fitbit estimated VO2 max is now in the 40-44 (very good) range for my age!

My Question:
I'm ready to start adding calories and carbs into my daily diet as I approach my end goal of weighing 195lbs (BMI charts are meaningless for my body type). 3 weeks ago I added 200g of strawberries or raspberries daily and feel great, weight loss has slowed slightly, around 1.5 to 2lbs/week, this brings my daily calories to around 1900 and net carbs around 33g/day.

What should I add next? What would you recommend as a long term net carb daily goal (I'm thinking under 80g net?). What about potatoes? They are probably the only food I have missed on this diet, but I also know I was a potato/starch addict, I'm considering adding some sweet potatoes to minimize glycemic reaction and see how how that goes?

I'm open to any suggestions on how to return to a more normal, although still carb restricted diet as I taper and eventually stop weight loss? At the same time, I'm full right now, so adding a whole bunch of food seems like a chore and I really don't miss carbs, but I do still have to add something like 750 to 1000 calories daily to stop weight loss!
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Answers

  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,967 Member
    I’m a huge fan of sweet potatoes, so that’s an easy one. Also don’t forget all the yummy squashes in season right now!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 36,655 Member
    If you need a lot more calories, but don't want to add a lot more carbs, how about some more of nutrient-dense high-fat foods: Nuts, nut butters, full-fat dairy if you eat dairy (including cheeses), avocados, olive oil, etc.? Maybe some fatty cold-water fish, for the Omega-3s?

    More protein would be OK, too. 145g isn't a huge amount at your size, though it should be adequate. With muscle-challenging exercise in the picture, up to another 50g or so would be OK if you like protein foods, and maybe even have some additional benefits.

    I'm not one to advise you on what would be a reasonable carb goal for you, because I'm one of those "around 50% of calories from carbs" people, eating around 225g+ carbs most days now that I'm in maintenance, mostly carbs from veggies, fruits, and no-sugar-added dairy foods.

    Keep in mind that if you do add more calories, especially if you add more carbs, you'll see a scale jump from added water retention to digest the food, plus more waste on average in your digestive tract. Neither of those things is fat regain, so don't let it mess with your head if that scale jump happens.

    If all your blood tests have been normal even when overweight, and you feel great, I don't really understand why you're so concerned about the glycemic index of white potatoes, especially if consumed in context of a mixed-nutrient meal . . . but if that's what works for you, I'm not criticizing your decisions, either; rather just admitting my own puzzlement.

    Best wishes!
  • jozal
    jozal Posts: 5 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10925427/weaning-away-from-weight-loss

    Update:

    What I ended up doing was slowly adjusting my macros and adding corresponding whole foods, while also adjusting my exercise routines down to what I feel is long term sustainable (HIIT/HIRT 4 or 5 days/wk, 3k 65lb weighted pack hike (Dog Walk) 4 to 7 days/wk and a 5k run/wk. At first with a calorie goal around 2150/day and continued to lose weight so adjusted around 2400/day (mostly Carbonaut bread, nuts, nut butter, hummus) with around 195g protein, 120g fat and 65g to 70g net carbs, 125g ish gross) PLUS cheat days (as 2400cals/day is still a deficit) whenever they happen to come up, I am still committed to logging all my food on cheat days but eat whatever I want without concern. I have maintained 185lbs for 3 months now, sometimes as low as 181 and as high as 189, but I always seem to move back to 185lbs within a week.

    Also, I did a DEXA scan and I would suggest a DEXA scan for anyone that is feeling like they are ready to move to maintenance. The scan told me I was 184.4lbs and 14.1% BF, so pretty darn good, especially for being close to 54 yrs old and starting at around 327lbs! It gave me the confirmation that I needed in order to move on to 2400 cals + cheat days.

    As a side note, my resting HR is now down around 50BPM and my latest VO2 Max was 46.

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,714 Member
    edited April 23

    What made you decide on a ketogenic diet to begin with considering just eating less of the food you were eating will facilitate weight loss.

  • jozal
    jozal Posts: 5 Member

    It's the first diet that made me feel full and energetic plus I'm certain I was addicted to high starch foods and it helped me break that addiction.

    I have learned alot since and IMO there is very little to nothing good that comes from sugar and starches.

    The key to a Keto diet IMO is to eat enough healthy fats, over 60% of your calories from fats! I had no experience with waking up at night hungry, not sleeping or feeling deprived actually once I found the right foods at the right time of day it actually got pretty easy.

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,714 Member
    edited April 24
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48579875#Comment_48579875

    Basically you went from 327lbs to 205 while feeling full and energetic and not deprived? We're you supplementing anything other than maybe creatine, oh, and were you counting calories, just curious. Thanks.

  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 3,298 Member

    I'm maintaining my weight eating what I want, but focusing on eating healthy foods-no fast food- and a quality over quantity mindset...i've been watching the scale and cutting back a bit on beer, butter, and sugar if needed.

    That's the mystery, how to convince anyone to WANT the healthy foods and lifestyle.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 36,655 Member

    I'm so glad to hear you've figured out how to dial in a happy maintenance routine!

    Different people definitely benefit from different approaches to weight loss and subsequently maintenance. IMO, that personalization is key.

    As I mentioned earlier, I was at close to 50% carbs (most from veg/fruit/grain/dairy) all through loss and years of maintenance since, also feeling as you report: Full, energetic, not deprived.

    I feel like there's a lot of pressure from pop culture toward specific eating styles that are supposed to magically work for all. In reality, some of those seem to work for some people, but torpedo others' attempts. IMO, it's finding the right personal approach that comes as close to magic as we're ever going to get. Other people can offer good ideas to try, but we're the only ones who can figure out whether those are a solution for us personally, or not.

    Good show that you're figuring out and it's working for you: Kudos!

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