How do I keep my metabolic rate up while in Keto?

newbies
fasting
metabolism
(Jeffry Lauder) #1

So I have discovered, and devoured quite a few episodes of 2 keto dudes. There’s some really great information about the metabolic rate and how it relates to longer fasts. Maybe I just haven’t gotten far enough in the show yet, but I am really interested in how the metabolism responds to both intermittent fasting, and more generally, how the presumably lower calorie count maintained on keto affects said rate.
I’ve been on keto for about a month now, and I worry that as I eat less, my body will become more efficient with those calories, and I’ll need to eat even less and so on. I very much appreciate any information you guys can provide, or point me at. Thanks so much.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #2

This would be an incorrect assumption, at least to the extent that the point of keto and/or IF is not to reduce calories. For those who have a good deal of body fat from which to draw energy, once they’ve gotten insulin sufficiently low to make that energy source available, reduced food intake may be an effect of keto. Hopefully, that distinction is clear. The point is not to maintain a “lower calorie count”. The point is to eat fewer foods (i.e. carbs) that stimulate insulin production, and more foods that don’t (i.e. fat) while eating sufficient protein to maintain lean body mass.

[quote=“austinpsycho, post:1, topic:12794”]
I worry that as I eat less, my body will become more efficient with those calories, and I’ll need to eat even less and so on.[/quote]

If you restrict calories, your body doesn’t “become more efficient” per se. It slows your metabolism to compensate. So you may feel cold or sluggish, or other effects. But if you eat a well-formulated ketogenic diet, how much you eat is determined by whether or not you are sated.

You’ll see this formula repeated often, because it is easy to remember, easy for most folks to follow, and it usually works:

  1. No more than 20g of carbs per day (important, not a percentage, but a hard limit of 20g, which will allow most folks to get into ketosis)
  2. Sufficient protein to maintain lean body mass (approx. 0.5-1g per kg of lean body mass)
  3. Fat to sateity.

Don’t worry about calories. And if you’ve only been at this for a month, don’t worry about fasting yet. Keep it simple, and KCKO (Keep Calm and Keto On).

(Brian) #3

It almost seems like most people doing Keto need to fast in order to continue loosing weight. When I was doing “my version” of the Atkins induction diet I definitely felt like I ate more and more often was never hungry and could loose weight as long as I was consistent. I hate food journaling, but for the 8 or 10 days that I did journal I was eating at least a couple of large meals a day and some low carb snacking. Several of those days I had a late night 20 oz rib eye and logged a little over 5000 calories per day and was loosing weight rapidly (didn’t loose on 6000+ cal days) and this is after I had already lost over 100 pounds. BUT now after I started some intermittent fasting and backing down on the protein consumption I feel as if my metabolism has slowed way down and I have to be much more restrictive in how much I eat if I want to loose weight or even hold even. I do Not feel lethargic and I definitely am not cold just seems I have messed up my metabolism like @austinpsycho is concerned about, definitely cheaper I don’t snack during the day and I skip meals but kind of inconvenient and discouraging having to be more restrictive if I don’t want to gain weight say nothing of trying to loose those extra pounds I still need to get rid of.

(Allie) #4

I don’t fast and am still slowly losing fat. Slowly suits me too as there’s not much more to go.

(Cathrine Helle) #5

I’m losing slowly too - 7 kilograms in 6 months. However it has taken less time after I intensified my fasting. Although envious of those who sheds the kilos quickly, I’ve come to terms with the fact that my body doesn’t work like that and needs much more time. I keep track of weight on a weekly basis, and are happy with every gram that’s off, however little :slight_smile:

(Jeffry Lauder) #6

@devhammer, I think @BGdiving did a better job explaining my concern than I did. I feel like I’m noticing a trend towards IF to maintain or continue losing weight as people stay in keto long term. I guess I’m wondering why that is, and if it’s avoidable. My first assumption was that it was related to metabolism in some way. Or are intermittent fasters actually eating the same amount of food, just in a shorter window?

(G. Andrew Duthie) #7

Can’t say that I know definitively why, given that this experience hasn’t been demonstrated to be consistent across keto eaters. There isn’t enough data (at least not that I’ve seen) to say that this is a keto thing as opposed to an n=1 thing for some folks on keto.

My personal n=1 suggests that age may play a role, as it was much easier to quickly lose weight by reducing carbs when I was in my 30s than it is almost 20 years later. It’s also fairly clear to me that the less weight I have left to lose, the harder it is to lose it. Whether this is because, at 20-21% BF, my body is trying to defend those levels, or perhaps simply a matter of changes in hormonal state due to aging, sleep habit changes, etc. is not clear. From what I’ve read, there are likely many factors that play a role, so the best I can do personally is choose a lever to try to tweak, and see if it makes a difference for me.

I think part of the reason that IF has become popular among ketoers is that it is another tool for limiting the secretion of insulin. For some, that may be an effective way to break through plateaus, and for others, it may just be that they simply need to change things up.

For IF (as opposed to extended fasting), the idea is not to reduce caloric intake. So yes, in many cases, IF means consuming all of the food you would normally eat, within a constrained window. The point, again, is not to limit calories, though some people may well find it challenging to eat that much food in a small-ish time window. The point is to limit the amount of time within a given day that your body is producing (or over-producing) insulin, and hence increase the window during which your body has access to stored fat for fuel.

(Dany Bolduc) #8

Calorie restriction (reducing calories to continue loosing weight) will lead to your metabolism slowing down (weight gain in the long run). Bad.

When you fast, fast. When you feast, feast.

Feasting will keep you metabolism up and increasing. This means you have to consume at least as much as you expand… and then some. (That one is intuitive enough)

Fasting also up-regulates your metabolism. Adrenaline is up. Testosterone is up. Growth hormone is up.
(From an evolutionary stand-point, your body is telling you: GO hunt. We’out of food. And it gives you the tools to do it. That is why we’re feeling so energetic while fasting. Not so intuitive, but damn impressive)

(Nancy) #9

So frustrated! Have been doing Keto for 9 weeks. Have been losing slowly, which is fine. Two weeks ago I was on a standstill for 2 weeks. I did a 40 hour fast and that seemed to rev up my metabolism and I lost 3 pounds. I have been working with someone who has lost a lot of weight on keto and has been doing it for over a year. I sent her my fitness pal diary so she could look at it and she said I was eating too few calories and needed to up them by 300 to really get my metabolism going. So I did. Well after 5 days I gained 4 pounds. I have been diligent about carb counting and limiting protein. Very upset. Anyone have ideas?

(KCKO, KCFO) #10

Your body needed that extra. Your friend is correct, make those extra calories from fat, so you are not hungry all the time. Keto is about limiting carbs, eating moderate amounts of protein, and fat to satiety. Listen the the recent 2Dudes’ podcast on satiety.

You can’t gain 4 lbs. of fat in 5 days. Keep calm and keto on.