Daily macros

(John) #1

I have a couple of questions regarding macros. My daily macros calculate out as follows…
Carbs= 22g
Fat= 137g
Protein = 110g
and calories 1761

I understand that I should focus on staying under 20g of carbs a day and I average about 17-18. However there are times when I exceed my fat intake. Not often. Should I worry about exceeding the fat intake or is it relative to a calorie deficit? In other words, should I not worry about the fat intake as long as I’m exercising to create the calorie defect.

With regards to carbs. Is it detrimental to increase my carb intake by consuming fruits and exceeding my 22g just prior to my workouts? Will the exercise burn the excessive carbs to stay under my recommended daily 22g?

The app I use deducts the calories burned from my workout from my daily intake but the app doesn’t reduce the carb intake based on exercise.

Sorry if these seem elementary but I appreciate the help.

(Terence Dean) #2

What you’re doing with the carbs is right on in terms of staying under 20gs for carbs, protein you should try to keep that as close to 110g as you can without being too picky, that leaves fat for what you can really adjust. I assume you will still be in the adaption phase so at the moment, “eat fat to satiety” is the basic rule. Ignore what the app tells you while you are still in the adaption phase and go over if you are hungry. That’s the only thing you need to worry about. If you find yourself getting hungry eat fat. Following macros in the initial stages can be a bit counter-productive because a person can get too focused on the numbers and struggle with hunger to keep under those numbers.

Excessive or strenuous workouts may hinder your transition so if you are able to dial that back a bit that may help to stop the hunger a bit. They say on average keto adaption takes 6-8 weeks, it can take longer, mine took 12-13 weeks. Otherwise keep it up, you’re doing well.

(Allie) #3

Not at all. Carbs limit, protein goal, fat to satisfy hunger.

(German Ketonian) #4

Eat fat with a bit of protein to sateity and limit the carbs to 20 net grams at first. Amy Berger says that if you limit the carbs, you’re pretty much 90% there already. You’re doing excellent!

After a while you can do some tweaking, upping or lowering the protein/carbs and see where you end up. But for the first couple of weeks, you should stick to what you’re doing.

(John) #5

Today is day 15 for me. I dropped 15 lbs without trying but seemed to have stalled. I didn’t workout for the first 2 weeks. Yesterday I jumped on the treadmill and alternated between walk and sprints for about 30 minutes. I also did some light legs and push-ups. It was a decent struggle. At least it was a noticeable difference from 2 weeks ago. I really haven’t struggled with hunger. Some of the questions I asked were to help my wife. She goes over in her fat and freaks out because she’s focused on the numbers. I tell her to focus mainly on the carbs. and not worry about the fat intake. But the whole satiety thing makes perfect sense. Thanks for the input.

(Terence Dean) #6

Great if you’re not getting hungry between meals that’s a good sign. Its quite natural for your wife to freak out over fat, we’ve been so brain-washed to believe that fat is bad, it’ll raise our cholesterol, and we’re all gonna die of heart failure!! Not on keto you won’t. I’m sure if she follows your lead she’ll do fine. Keep Calm, Keto On! :keto:

(John) #7

If you eat fat to satiety do you still eat protein to goal even if you’re eating more protein than fat, relative to the 75/20/5 rule of thumb?

(Terence Dean) #8

Short answer is yes. The body gets 2/3 of its protein needs from its own existing protein, and less than 1/3 from food so you should not cut back on the protein macro.

Here’s a great link to explain the science: How much protein do you need in nutritional ketosis?

Quote:

‘In a typical day when dietary protein and energy intakes are adequate to maintain lean body mass* (i.e., one is neither gaining nor losing lean tissue), more than two-thirds of the amino acids entering the bloodstream come from breakdown of existing body protein, while less than one-third come from digestion and absorption of dietary protein’.

(German Ketonian) #9

I’d say that depends. In your case as a relatively new guy, yes. But there are other folks out there, such as Bikman and Naiman, who advocate a more protein-heavy diet and want you to pull on the protein lever for sateity. There is controversy about whether fat or protein is more satisfying and satiating. It seems to be subjective, at least to a good degree. so just try it out. You won’t do much harm with neither protein nor fat. Most people on keto tend to go with the fat lever, as there is a chronic fear of gluconeogenesis. But there are too many reasons to not bother with the g-word, unless you’re going absolutely nuts of protein (we’re talking magnitudes greater than what you’re consuming).

(Ken) #10

You have a much greater latitude with macros than what the Nutty Keto calculators show. You can easily eat a 60/35/5% macro and be soundly lipolytic.

(Janet) #11

Very helpful! Thank you!

(Annalee Haley) #12

It looks like the Vista article is using total body weight. I calculate at 0.8 G/Kg based on lean mass, so not far off. Good read, thanks.

(Frank) #13

Yes. In this case your body is utilizing its own fat stores for energy. I have found that the closer I get to my goal weight the more fat I’m eating and getting closer to that classic macro pie. For a long time though, like 4 months, my protein was always higher than my fat.

(Terence Dean) #14

Another article on Protein from the same site.
3 Tips for Protein Consumption on a Low Carb or Ketogenic Diet

(German Ketonian) #15

Another thing to consider: try to switch things up! Use fat as the lever on one day, don’t be afraid of protein the other. The same advice that works for fasting usually can be applied elsewhere. This is also why you shouldn’t track to micromanage your eating, apart from curiosity. Don’t live by macros, but rather be aware what real, whole foods are. There is this wonderful quote by Ben Bikman:

“I became curious about the amount of people that were just making meals out of drinking oils.”

Don’t be like that, if you ask me! Don’t drink oil just to target your macros. Eat real foods :coconut::avocado::fried_egg::poultry_leg::meat_on_bone::bacon::cut_of_meat:

and, if you’re casein-tolerant some :cheese:

and also a little bit of :cucumber::broccoli::green_salad: with good, healthy fats and oils. But fats and oils are condiments, not foods themselves, IMHO, and I am speaking as someone who eats 300+g of it every single day.

(John) #16

Funny you say this. I’ve eaten (drank) olive oil a couple of times to reach my fat macros. Oops! :wink:

(Annalee Haley) #17

Completely agree with Zimon. I don’t worry much about fat macro. I go up on fats when I stall and find myself over eating protein. What small amount of veggies I eat become a fat delivery vehicle. I am one who stalls with over consumption of protein so I really try and keep that macro in check. The only way for me to do that and not have hunger is to make sure I get fats in. My personal macros are set in grams but I try and keep my fat ratio 78-80 percent. Some days I have 900 kcal and some days I have 3000 kcal. I have learned to listen to my hunger cues now that they work properly. Most days I am 1500-1700 which supports my BMR very well. Yesterday was close to 3000 kcals and I am not at all hungry today. Hope this makes sense.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #18

First of all, those percentages are calculated as a percentage of total calories, not total weight. Remember that 1 g of fat = 9 calories, and 1 g of protein = 4 calories. So if you were to eat a 100 g of fat + 100 g of protein, you would be eating 69.23% fat and 30.77% protein (100 * 9 + 100 * 4 = 1300; 900/1300 = 0.6923 and 400/1300 = 0.3077).

But percentages are irrelevant to a ketogenic diet, because 20 g/day of carbohydrate is an absolute limit, and 80 calories is 6% of 1200 calories, 3% of 2400 calories, and 2% of 4200 calories. Exceed your carb limit, and you will produce extra insulin and put on fat.

Likewise, your protein amount should be somewhere around a gram/day/kilo of lean body mass, not a percentage of total calories. As long as you are in the vicinity of your protein target, you are fine. But get too little protein, and you will develop kwashiorkor (i.e., starvation), too much and you will stimulate insulin secretion and put on fat. Way too much, and you could poison yourself with ammonia.

And as for fat, you will get enough total calories if you eat fat to satiety.