Hi, I’m new here and looking for some advice on how much protein is too much (not worrying about stalling weight loss though, as I’m trying to maintain my weight/build muscle) and how to get enough fat in so I don’t inadvertently eat too few calories and lose weight.
Unlike some, I find it very easy to eat a lot of protein. At 5’/1.5m I have around 100g a day, which is about 2.5g/kg total body weight, and from what I’ve read here that seems too much - although going off the ‘art and science of low carbohydrate living’ book it’s at the top end of their acceptable range. Is that alright or should I try to switch some to more fat?
I average 50-60g carbohydrate a day, but still feel like I’m suffering Keto flu a couple of weeks in. Is this too much? Total each day is approximately 1400-1600, which might be too little, but I’m really struggling to get my fat intake over 85g/day (50-60% kcals).
I rely far too much on 90% chocolate to bump up my fat, although berries and double cream is delish too. Im trying to use butter and pesto when stir frying veggies or eggs, but I’m struggling to come up with other ideas to get my fat up.
I really want this to work, but I’m worried I won’t gain the benefits of a ketogenic diet and break my reliance on glucose if I can’t get my fat intake/calories up! Is there any way to estimate how much a 5’ female needs each day? Most calculators way underestimate my requirements and I’d quickly lose weight and feel ill if I followed those.
Formulating a diet for weight maintenance
For your protein intake, you might find this article helpful: https://blog.virtahealth.com/how-much-protein-on-keto/
“Keto flu” is a symptom of low sodium, so increase your salt intake. We need far more salt than the U.S. guidelines recommend, in the first place, and in the second place, the body stops retaining as much sodium when we lower our carbohydrate consumption.
Your carbohydrate limit is individual and will depend on how insulin-resistant you are. On these forums, we recommend keeping your intake under 20 g/day, because it guarantees that practically everyone will become ketotic. Once you are fat-adapted, you can slowly increase your intake to a level that still works for you. I would strongly recommend keeping to 20 g/day during the first couple of months. This will keep your insulin level as low as possible and facilitate metabolic healing.
As far as fat is concerned, the recommendation is “eat fat to satiety.” This means don’t leave the table hungry. If you find yourself needing a snack between meals, snack on fat and eat more fat at your next meal. Fat stimulates insulin the least (carbohydrate stimulates it the most, and protein is in the middle), so it is the safest source of calories. Avoid low fat foods, have bacon with your eggs, choose fatty pieces of meat, make gravy and sauces with double cream, put high fat dressing on your salad (do you like blue cheese?), have some butter on your double Gloucester or Brie, eat full-fat, unsweetened yoghurt, etc. Eat as much real food as you can, and avoid the sorts of food that come with nutritional labels—generally, they are processed crap.
Cooking with butter, tallow, or lard will help you keep your fat up, and I’m with you about the double cream (try it in your coffee, see what you think; probably not so good in tea, but I haven’t tried it). Eating to satiety can feel like dangerously overeating at first, but a few weeks should be enough for your satiety signaling to kick in and limit your appetite to a reasonable level. Remember that, unlike most people on these forums, you don’t have excess fat to burn, so your daily energy must be supplied from your diet. Your body will tell you when you’ve given it enough.
Please keep us updated, keep calm, and keto on! 