I’ve been on a ketogenic diet for a while now. 8 months to be exact. I’ve made very significant changes to my overall body composition (I used to be at around 30% body fat, now I’m at around 17% and 200 pounds).
I’ve lost all this body fat and I’ve come to realize that I’m not as muscular as I thought I was. And the last thing I want to do is to gain any fat (yes, I’ve also grown to be a severe carbophobic).
So now I ask: what is the best way to make clean gains? I realize that the weight gain cant be immaculate, but what should my diet/macros/carb timing/cardio look like in order to really minimize fat gain?
stick with the keto if thats been working for you…
or you could:
a) have 30 grams carbs (if you’re gonna stay low) pre/para workout and none the rest of the day
b) have more carbs pre/para workout (CT recently said some thing along the lines of a 200 lb guy should be able to have around 100 grams carbs para workout with out them causing much damage… then of course no carbs the rest of the day
IMO i think you should keep cutting… speaking from experience you will gain fat while putting on muscle so once that happens you will probably cut your mass gaining stage short. think of it this way…
why not get lean (say %12 body fat) then go for putting on muscle. otherwise you may gain a bit of weight and get discouraged then go back to cutting, putting your self right where you started?
Over the 3 years iv’e been seriously eating/training wih weights and boxing, the only way iv’e ever been able to cut is through low carbohydrates. While it is alot easier to add muscle when i do eat some carbs pre/post w/o and i feel that i recover better, iv’e always gained bf quiet quickly.
[quote]K-Man32 wrote:
Only eat carbs before your workout. A protein shake before and after you workout and overall just build some muscle. More muscle=less bodyfat.[/quote]
I have a feeling that you won’t be building much muscle with a diet like this.
OP, see the following thread by CT for help overcoming your fear of carbohydrates.
[quote]K-Man32 wrote:
Only eat carbs before your workout. A protein shake before and after you workout and overall just build some muscle. More muscle=less bodyfat.[/quote]
I have a feeling that you won’t be building much muscle with a diet like this.
OP, see the following thread by CT for help overcoming your fear of carbohydrates.
Good post. You are right…in the years I have been on this site, the guys who approach it that way seem to make the least progress over time if they make much overall at all past beginner gains.
While your diet does need to be individualized based on the progress you make, neither carbs nor insulin are enemies to the guys trying to pack on as much muscle as possible. Insulin is THE most anabolic hormone in relation to building most of that size.
[quote]K-Man32 wrote:
Only eat carbs before your workout. A protein shake before and after you workout and overall just build some muscle. More muscle=less bodyfat.[/quote]
I have a feeling that you won’t be building much muscle with a diet like this.
OP, see the following thread by CT for help overcoming your fear of carbohydrates.
Good post. You are right…in the years I have been on this site, the guys who approach it that way seem to make the least progress over time if they make much overall at all past beginner gains.
While your diet does need to be individualized based on the progress you make, neither carbs nor insulin are enemies to the guys trying to pack on as much muscle as possible. Insulin is THE most anabolic hormone in relation to building most of that size.[/quote]
Just a quick tip, when prof x and ct speak its generally good to listen and i totally agree here.
If you wanna put on muscle you need to put on muscle, as ct says in the post being concerned about bf gains take in around 100g carb peri workout, keep the rest of the day tight and lift HARD and heavy. Use your carb fear to drive your workout and really push yourself. Hope that helps.
I’d phase out of the keto mode, but I 2nd MAF14’s thought about getting lean first.
Why not slowly phase carbs in, but stay in caloric deficit: get your body used to eating carbs again, but continue to cut.
Being skinny sucks, but so does doing all that work to get down to 17%, and then blowing it because you try and muscle-up too soon, and just end up with a wash.
[quote]K-Man32 wrote:
Only eat carbs before your workout. A protein shake before and after you workout and overall just build some muscle. More muscle=less bodyfat.[/quote]
I have a feeling that you won’t be building much muscle with a diet like this.
OP, see the following thread by CT for help overcoming your fear of carbohydrates.
Just use them strategically, I am not saying to fear them. So your saying decreasing insulin sensitivity by spreading them throughout the day is better than front loading before a workout? Hell eat 200g of them before your workout if you want, make up the rest of the the meals with plenty of fat and protein. Not trying to be a dick just my opinion, it works for me maybe not for you.
It really isn’t THAT complicated to accomplish your goals…
Don’t eat complete shit food, at all (aka ice cream, cake, booze, nachos), and keep in-between food to a moderate/small amount of your diet (burgers, pizza, burritos). Eat around 1.5-2 grams protein per lb of bodyweight every day, keep your carbs clean and strategically timed, and keep your fats healthy. Analyze how what you are doing works as the weeks and months go by, and make small adjustments as needed over time.
Judging by this thread so far, I think im going to start implementing some peri-workout carbs. Does starting out at around 50 grams 30 minutes before the workout sound sufficicent? I’ll steadily increase this to 100 depending on how my body reacts.
Also, in general, what should my macro breakdown look like for the rest of the day? Should I steadily increase my calories?
I would say rest of the day low carb high protein, moderate fat. So around 1…5g Protein/lb 85-100g fat from healthy sources, and then just green veggies, maybe a piece of fruit with breakfast or something but really just veggies outside the peri-workout window in terms of carbs.