Hello, I’m asking this for a friend who has only been doing Keto for about 5 weeks but also being still fairly new (since 5/24). Both of us are a part of a FB Optimal Keto Living that suggests for weight loss that your grams of fat should be 10g lower than your protein. This is very different from what I’ve been reading in some of the other groups I’m part of.
Can someone clarify? I’ve always thought that we needed a higher amount of “good fats” over our protein.
I don’t recall seeing that there.
I thought that particular group provided a range for fat. For example, there’s a pinned chart there that shows a wide range for someone my size (XXgrams to XXXgrams). I don’t want to post that chart here out of respect for the copyright placed on it. I may have missed it, but I didn’t see anything that says fat should be “10g lower” than daily protein.
I think it is a range, yes which certainly starts at lower than the protein level. I really don’t think you can go wrong with the Dudes’ advice as a really good, solid starting point.
20g or less of carbs - mostly from green leafy veg but also things like dairy, nuts and seeds.
Moderate protein scaled to lean body mass - between 1-1.5g per kg LBM will suit the average person.
Fat to satiety - likely to be higher when you start but will probably diminish over time.
Follow these basic guidelines for a few months and then start tweaking to suit you, how you feel and what you are trying to achieve.
IMO fat will usually be higher than protein, yes. It certainly is for me.
Restricting fat does not really work for people with insulin resistance, so that does not sound like advice that would fit everyone (i.e. most people who are overweight)
You are using fat for energy, so if hungry you should eat more fat. You will be much happier that way, and as your insulin lowers your body will use the extra energy by oncreasing metabolism or lower your intake (hunger) as needed.
I see. I understand the chart is a range. So I think she read that people were not losing until they increased protein and lowered fat. But I think this may have been people who are already fat adapted and have hit a stall. Does that sound right?
Actually, I hit a stall and found that upping fat and calories while keeping protein toward the lower end of my range helped break it. But the thing that I have discovered with keto is that what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for everyone. We all come to keto with different body types, health history, metabolisms, etc. So your friend needs to experiment a bit and find what works for her. However, when experimenting, you want to make sure you give it time. So for example, don’t try upping fats for a day or two and then decide it didn’t work because you didn’t lose anything. You want to look for patterns, which is why tracking is helpful. It was through tracking my macros that I discovered that I had been eating a bit too much protein and too few calories most days, and when I dropped the protein down and upped my calories with fat, then I began to lose again.