Hi…I’ve been doing IF (18:6) and keto for about a month. It has been going fine except lately i’ve been getting really hungry, growly tummy and moody.
I’m guessing i need more fat to hold me . My percentages are around 70-72% fat. What suggestions do you have for more fat considering Im also calorie conscious…I need to lose about 15-20 more lbs.
Because fat is more calorie dense than the other macro nutrients (about 4 calories per gram of protein or carbohydrate compared to 9 calories per gram of fat), The only way to increase your fat without increasing your calories is to decrease your carb or protein intake by quite a bit.
My understanding is that your body is smart. It will adjust to the calories you are taking in. If you are taking in fewer calories by calorie restriction, it will “budget” accordingly and your BMR will be adjusted down. If you calorie restrict, your body prioritizes your needs and lots of things will fall by the wayside. Things like bone density, joint repair, hormone regulation, hair, nail, and skin growth and health, organ repair, mental acuity, etc, etc. I think this is especially true if you don’t get enough healthy fats during those calorie restricted periods.
I have found better success by mixing things up (as suggested by Megan Ramos of IDM and as per Carl’s experiment described in the 2KD’s podcast). If I feast (keeping carbs under 20 grams, hit my protein grams, and eat fat whenever I’m still hungry beyond that), I seem to be giving my body the materials it needs to heal all the damage done over the years I wasn’t feeding it enough. Then, because I’m fat adapted, I can easily add in extended fasts periodically. As per Jason Fung, this doesn’t have the same effect on my BMR as calorie restriction. And I hopefully get the added benefits of autophagy and increased human growth hormone production to aid in repairing my deranged metabolism and damaged body. So,when I end my fasts, I go back to feasting, to keep my body guessing and so it doesn’t get used to any one strategy and decrease my BMR.