Confused about Keto + IF and the effects on BMR

(Ryan) #1

Hi everyone! A little bit about myself. I am 39 years old and morbidly obese, up until 5 weeks ago I had gotten up to 545 pounds and was scheduled for a gastric-sleeve surgery. I had had some short term luck with Keto + IF a year and a half ago, but then my wife and I adopted three little girls and our world got turned upside down. Well I am back and ready to make this a permanent lifestyle " Old Natural Style". I have been back on Keto + IF for almost 5 weeks and have lost 59 LBS ( and I feel awesome), I Fast usually between 18:6 and 20:4 everyday and have a BMR of 3750. I hit my macros religiously everyday and try to maintain less than 20 Carbs. ( Not Net Carbs). I find that I can only consume roughly 1600 to 2100 calories a day and feel satiated 90% of the time. My Ketones usually range between 1.4 and 2.8

My question is if this big of a reduction in calories will lower my BMR? I feel like I am getting conflicting answers from the Keto/IF gurus on the internet.
Also, is it okay to intermittently fast everyday?

(Allie) #2

No it won’t because your body is still getting what it needs from a combination of the food and the stores on your body. And yes, IF every day is OK but try to change it up to keep your body guessing - sometimes I eat twice a day, sometimes once, sometimes I fast for a whole day, and sometimes I can’t get enough food and end up eating about 3000 calories.

Sounds like you’re doing amazingly well :heart:

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #3

Did you cancel this surgery?

+1,000,000 What Allie said is correct.

As you lose weight your caloric needs will decrease and as long as you are burning your own fat you should be good

Congratulations on the adoptions.

(Frank) #4

Agree with everything said so far. What you’re doing is obviously working. Keep doing that with maybe some variations in meal timing thrown in. Your body is loving that jet fuel that it’s finally able to use! Keep educating yourself and it will just make your motivation stronger and the momentum will just carry you forward. You got this!

(mole person) #5

:+1: to all the advice given above. And congratulations, you’ve obviously found the keto groove. As long as you keep your body in ketosis you don’t have to worry about calories or lowering your BMR because your insulin will be perpetually low enough for you body to access your fat stores. You only need to start worrying about those issues when your body fat % gets into the teens (for a man).

Good luck with the rest of your journey and please keep posting you progress here!

(Ryan) #6

Thank you for your feedback.

I told my Doctor that I wanted to hold off on the surgery, to see if I could do this on my own. She agreed and said that I could reschedule it later on, if needed.

(Ryan) #7

Thank you, I will definitely randomize my IF schedule

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

It appears that if the caloric deficit is the result of eating to satiety, there’s no detrimental effect on BMR, because the body is driving the caloric intake. As I understand Dr. Fung, the trouble comes when we eat to a caloric target, which makes the body respond as though to a famine.