Ketosis and Carb Reactions

Diet and Nutrition
1

Are some people just insanely sensitive to carbs, I know for my I blow up like a fatty when I eat anywhere near “alot”, lately I’ve been trying to recompose my body for the remaining summer without losing too much weight (it’s too early to cut), anyways i’m aiming for ketosis for the first time and well, it’s been a day and a half of 0-50 carbs a day (0 today on a non training day) and it looks like i’ve dropped nearly 2% in bodyfat, not to mention my weight is stabilized. A good buddy of mine who is well educated and expereienced in training says it’s a VERY strange thing, although he notices the change in my physique also there is no real explanation, and I should be “flat” and not see such drmatic results. Does’nt make sense to me.

Also i’m about 195-200 14-15% bf, 6’.

I don’t know what it is but advice and comments are welcomed.

2

You’ve likely just lost water at this point.

3

keep us posted, I want to hear how this turns out

4

[quote]carthagebaseball wrote:
keep us posted, I want to hear how this turns out[/quote]

Will do, i’m gonna get some keto-sticks to see if i’m in ketosis daily…it’s pretty strange.

Although I actually have read of some people being super carb sensitive. In that regard it might make things easier for my goals, pretty much keep every thing the same and adjust carb intake depending on if I want to gain or lose…this should be quite interesting. The day is going on, and it’s typical low carb shit, I feel weak, and tired…I’m gonna start up the Ephedrine Caffeine stack…aright guys see ya.

5

i have tried to get in ketosis and never can

6

[quote]brunottfn wrote:
i have tried to get in ketosis and never can [/quote]

You should be able to if you drop down to zero carbs for a couple of days… ?

Back in the day when I did ketogenic low carbing (yeah, didn’t everyone) I’d start on a friday so I’d transition during the weekend and not be so grumpy at work.

7

Well, I have’nt had carbs in about 3 days. Listen to this shit. My weight has remained the same, I look about 3% leaner, my 2 rep max on bench became my 3 rep max, I added 20lbs to my seated military press and lost only 2 reps (115 for 10 to 135 for 8). This is super strange. I’m not as lethargic as yesterday, no mood swings and I feel rather energetic, I’m eating fuckin everything I can as long as there is no carbs in it.

This includes plain double QP’s from mcdonalds with the bun thrown out. This is absolutley astounding to say the least.

8

Also i’m peeing trace amounts of ketones which is strange.

9

Yup, initial weight loss is almost all water on a low-carb diet. I usually lose 3kg in the first week but 2.5 is water I reckon.

10

[quote]deanosumo wrote:
Yup, initial weight loss is almost all water on a low-carb diet. I usually lose 3kg in the first week but 2.5 is water I reckon.[/quote]

4th day of no carbs, I have’nt lost a lb. Calories are above maintenance though and my body is recomposing at a rather alarming rate. After discussing with my good friend and head trainer at the gym, who has been through it all, he reckons that the strength increases are maybe because I was a bit softer than what my peak performance might be. In other words I may be performing better because I was never at my personal ideal composition.

I may have found my niche, he also said that everyone is different, he suggests I keep no carbs for 2 weeks and keep track of shit, he also told me drop the reps to 5-10 and cut the set volume about 30% to compensate for lack of glycogen. Although he recommends this I don’t feel gassed at all. He is recommending I start trying to drop in 1 hour of very low aerobic capacity energy work. Interesting enough I just read something polquin recommending to people who have a hard time reaching a leaner composition to eat only things that used to run in a field, fly, run, or is green.

After reading his biosignature thingy, I seem to have a real problem with cortisol supression as I seem to hold onto a little pouch of fat on my lower abs. Also when I feel it, it seems I have very large lower abs (they seem to protrude alot) I don’t know if this would cause the fat to look bigger. Anyways, any recomendations are welcomed…

11

I’ve always been curious when reading about anyone going low-carb and eating like the OP of between 0 and 50 grams of carbs a day. Does this take into account account carbs from veggies and fruit? or is it just more of a grain like carb limiting?

12

[quote]Raimisch wrote:
I’ve always been curious when reading about anyone going low-carb and eating like the OP of between 0 and 50 grams of carbs a day. Does this take into account account carbs from veggies and fruit? or is it just more of a grain like carb limiting?[/quote]

A strict low-carb diet absolutely counts the carbs from fruit and veggies. Certainly fruit.

13

Yeah, if you are eating stuff like McD’s without the bun, look out. They can have ketchup and crap which has a fair amount of sugar.

You don’t have a lot of wiggle room for the induction phase!

14

[quote]vroom wrote:
Yeah, if you are eating stuff like McD’s without the bun, look out. They can have ketchup and crap which has a fair amount of sugar.

You don’t have a lot of wiggle room for the induction phase![/quote]

He did say plain… But I agree there isn’t much wiggle room. If you truely want to go low or no carb it’s best to even avoid fruits and veggies, at least at first.

15

Damn,I’m getting cancer just from reading this thread.

16

[quote]eengrms76 wrote:
vroom wrote:
Yeah, if you are eating stuff like McD’s without the bun, look out. They can have ketchup and crap which has a fair amount of sugar.

You don’t have a lot of wiggle room for the induction phase!

He did say plain… But I agree there isn’t much wiggle room. If you truely want to go low or no carb it’s best to even avoid fruits and veggies, at least at first.[/quote]

It’s been that way, the only thing I’ve really had is romaine lettuce maybe once a day. The only incidental carbs may be from like a handful of nuts, or cheese. I eat JUST the patties and cheese on the burgers also…

I seem to be steadily slipping into ketosis. On another note I nearly threw up at the gym today…I have no idea why…but I did…I had to jump in the shower and blast it on cold…taht seems to be the only thing that helps.

17

X-Factor,

A couple things on your post.

For someone to slip into ketosis the ROUGH time it takes is approximately 3-4 days of under 50 grams of carbohydrates. Now this is just an average from what I’ve read and definitely varies from person to person.

As far as your body composition changes, it is from a loss of water in the first week on a very low carbohydrate diet. If it’s fat loss measurements you’re after, use the mirror as a guide because as unless you continue with a very low carbohydrate based diet perpetually (which I would recommend against without any kind of re-feed/CHO load) it will tough to judge what is water loss and what is fat loss with calipers or those Tanita scales.

In terms of strength and fullness, I would be curious as to what your fat intake looks like. If you keep your fat levels have increased, then expect strength to increase with heightened levels of testosterone release. Also, as you continue with this style of eating, your body will compensate by becoming a lot more glycogen sparing when doing activity.

Keep your CHOs around your workouts and make sure to keep your fat levels high. Otherwise, you’re looking at an expensive way to try and stay big and most likely slip into a constant catabolic state.

Good luck,

Sasha

18

X-factor,

i think i’m a lot like you in the carb sensitivity department…i function extremely well on a zero carb diet. i now realize that it is partially due to the neurotransmitters in my brain functioning better, as people with ADD don’t do well with high carb diets. also, i have a hard time with my appetite if i eat a “normal” amount of carbs, whereas i don’t when i eat next to no carbs.

as far as losing tons of weight quickly, i think the other guys explained it well…a simple explanation is that carbohydrates hold water, and not eating carbs decreases water in the cells.

fat loss kicks in once you go into ketosis…this is the ONLY way i’m able to stay in single digit bodyfat levels. one thing i’ll agree with your trainer about is to decrease the volume.

19

[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
X-factor,

i think i’m a lot like you in the carb sensitivity department…i function extremely well on a zero carb diet. i now realize that it is partially due to the neurotransmitters in my brain functioning better, as people with ADD don’t do well with high carb diets. also, i have a hard time with my appetite if i eat a “normal” amount of carbs, whereas i don’t when i eat next to no carbs.

as far as losing tons of weight quickly, i think the other guys explained it well…a simple explanation is that carbohydrates hold water, and not eating carbs decreases water in the cells.

fat loss kicks in once you go into ketosis…this is the ONLY way i’m able to stay in single digit bodyfat levels. one thing i’ll agree with your trainer about is to decrease the volume. [/quote]

Thanks guys,

Sasha, how often do you think a refeed is in order? And how do I do it safely without getting knocked out of ketosis, or going into an insulin induced coma?

And cyco, it’s interesting you said what you did. As I have diagnosed ADD, however I refused to take meds as I felt slow, after basically years of focusing it is no longer a problem, and I advise people to stay off the drugs and LEARN to LEARN, and focus.

I also understand that it takes approximately 2.7g of water to store 1g of glycogen. Thing is weight is down, but only 3lbs, and I think this is because I measured in the evening the other days…i’m gonna check again later and see…I’m not lethargic and am peeing minimum levels of ketones which I’m not worried about because I have alot of water consumption (trying to save my kidneys and liver)…

As for fat i’m just going ape shit to keep the cals up…For instance I had 5 large Omega 3 eggs with 100g of turkey, and 20-30g of 0cho cheddar, scrambled in 3-4 TBSP of Extra virgin Olive oil, and about 1-2 tbsp of low sat fat ranch dressing (2carbs total)

now there is like 50g of protein there and 60 g of fat, and thats just breakfast…I feel really good though…relaxed etc, I was pretty fuckin grumpy yesterday…but i’m aright…workouts are still strong…

20

You can’t avoid coming out of ketosis after a refeed. And there’s no need to. The only way you could would be to just up your calories while keeping the same percentage of macronutrients.