I have a quick question about ketogenic diets for fat loss as the primary goal, for an overweight person (230 pounds, 5’9). I did a trial run of the ketogenic diet (If you read my previous thread about it) but had to stop because my neurologist has me doing a sleep study because I get chronic headaches and wanted a controlled study based on my previous lifestyle (aka lots of carbs everyday).
Anyways, my question is this. Should an overweight person such as myself simply perform a ketogenic diet (with weight loss and glycogen depletion in the beginning) and just continue not eating carbs for an extended period of time…
Or should I do a cyclical ketogenic diet, where I do a regular keto diet for weekdays then carb load for a weekend with workouts so you can build muscle more efficiently. Then continue the same process the next week.
Of course, I am totally ignorant on this subject and I am basically just regurgitating what I have read on this website and other sites and I don’t know which is better for my goal: primary large amounts of fat loss. On one hand it seems like just doing a ketogenic diet without loading is good but (in my mind at least) it seems like I would not be able to have any muscle mass once the fat is loss.
On the other hand, a cyclical diet makes sense to me because if I was able to build muscle then I could burn even more fat more efficiently. I just know that most people simply just do a continuous keto diet without loading, from what I have read. Some even say not to bother loading because it is simply complicating an already difficult process to do if you have lived your whole life on carbs and you have a larger chance of stopping the lifestyle if you “cheat” on the weekend for the load.
Thank you for reading my long post, and I appreciate any help you can give me. Thank you for your time.
You get used to low carb. You’d body is used to large doses of sugar and essentially sucks at burning fat. Your body will get good at using the fuel you send it, it just takes some time. There are actually studies showing that the brain runs better on ketones than on sugar once adapted.
IMO it depends on a few factors as to whether which diet is the best for someone… activity level (particularly in the weight room), insulin sensitivity, and ‘stubborn’ body fat.
If your insulin sensitivity is shit, it might be a good idea to run a keto diet at least in the short-term. If you are lifting weights, which I assume you are, then I would stay away from the standard keto diet which basically never has you take in ANY carbs. I would instead focus on a targeted keto diet (TKD), or cyclical keto diet (CKD). TKD is where you take in 25-50 high GI carbs around your workout, whereas a CKD as you know is where you have your carbs on the weekend (i.e. Anabolic Diet).
To learn more about how to properly execute one of these diets, I highly suggest getting the e-book The Ketogenic Diet by Lyle McDonald.
I’ve been low carb for 15 months now (approx 60 carbs day, all from vegetables). I lift 4 days a week, run 2-3 days a week, do yoga 2 days a week, and elliptical tabatas 3 days a week. I’ve seen no need for carb refeeds. My energy levels certainly don’t wane from lack of carbs, in fact just the opposite. When I take in too many carbs, my energy levels are all over the place and my performance in the gym suffers as well.
That being said, there are people much brighter than me that advocate carb refeeds or carbs centered around workouts. I would not say a keto diet has prevented me from building muscle. OP, I think you’ll have to play around with things and find out what works best for you.
You don’t need keto to expeditiously go from overweight to healthy weight. Because of this, and your (admitted) ignorance on the subject of human nutrition, you would likely be best served in finding healthful, sustainable diet which you can adhere to long-term. This, in and of itself, will facilitate weight loss provided a proper caloric allotment is set and will additionally help instill positive eating habits that will serve you even after you decide to stop losing weight.
If, down the line, you feel going keto will help you take things “to the next level”, THEN you should feel free to toy around with more “radical” dietary manipulations. But, right now, a diet focused around unrefined products eaten to your taste (meats, nuts, fruits, veggies, whatevsies) will almost certainly be a more suitable transition than the complete 180 you are considering.
If you fall in love with the low/zero carb lifestyle, as some do, feel free to live it after making the change. But, as MOST enjoy keeping a good amount of carbs in their diet, it makes more sense (to me, at least), to work on losing weight while simultaneously instilling healthful habits that you will be MORE LIKELY to adhere to post-diet.
OP: Do you have any of the defining criteria for metabolic syndrome?
The International Diabetes Federation[4] consensus worldwide definition of the metabolic syndrome (2006) is: Central obesity (defined as waist circumference# with ethnicity-specific values) AND any two of the following:
Raised triglycerides: > 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L), or specific treatment for this lipid abnormality
Reduced HDL cholesterol: < 40 mg/dL (1.03 mmol/L) in males, < 50 mg/dL (1.29 mmol/L) in females, or specific treatment for this lipid abnormality
Raised blood pressure (BP): systolic BP > 130 or diastolic BP >85 mm Hg, or treatment of previously diagnosed hypertension
Raised fasting plasma glucose (FPG): >100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L), or previously diagnosed type 2 diabetes
If FPG is >5.6 mmol/L or 100 mg/dL, an oral glucose tolerance test is strongly recommended, but is not necessary to define presence of the syndrome.
If BMI is >30 kg/m², central obesity can be assumed and waist circumference does not need to be measured
[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
OP: Do you have any of the defining criteria for metabolic syndrome?
The International Diabetes Federation[4] consensus worldwide definition of the metabolic syndrome (2006) is: Central obesity (defined as waist circumference# with ethnicity-specific values) AND any two of the following:
Raised triglycerides: > 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L), or specific treatment for this lipid abnormality
Reduced HDL cholesterol: < 40 mg/dL (1.03 mmol/L) in males, < 50 mg/dL (1.29 mmol/L) in females, or specific treatment for this lipid abnormality
Raised blood pressure (BP): systolic BP > 130 or diastolic BP >85 mm Hg, or treatment of previously diagnosed hypertension
Raised fasting plasma glucose (FPG): >100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L), or previously diagnosed type 2 diabetes
If FPG is >5.6 mmol/L or 100 mg/dL, an oral glucose tolerance test is strongly recommended, but is not necessary to define presence of the syndrome.
If BMI is >30 kg/m², central obesity can be assumed and waist circumference does not need to be measured[/quote]
Hi Dr. Pangloss. Here is my latest blood work as of November 2012.
My blood pressure is usually in the 120/95 range, though I am on Inderal for migraine treatment and that reduced my blood pressure and especially my pulse. I have an anxiety disorder and have been told the my blood pressure and pulse raised is because of that from a cardiologist and neurologist. My pulse resting used to be 95-110. I drove myself to the hospital last year because I felt really bad and they rushed me into treatment because my pulse was 200 which is the highest they could measure. They said they didn’t know how I could possibly have made it there. But ever since treatment with benzos and a beta-blocker I haven’t had any issues. My cardiologist also did every possible test short of a catheterization and everything looked great he said. Last week was my lowest resting bp was at 62. Within the last few months its been between 60 and 75 resting.
I hope this information was what you needed. I have other information on my blood work if needed. Thank you for your help.
I was really just looking for areas where my experience mirrored yours and I may have been able to help point you towards some other resources.
I would second PB Andy’s advice about checking out MacDonald’s book as well as his website. There is a ton of info over there. I probably can’t link directly to it, but if you were to Google something like “body recomposition” you could probably find it.