I wouldn't consider myself a newbie, but I still get confused! Macro Questions

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(Amanda) #1

I know I have asked similar questions before, but I am still having difficulties wrapping my head around the “math” of it all. :crazy_face:

I have been following fairly strict Keto WOE for about nine months now (virtually no replacement foods, mainly whole foods, carbs are mainly from broccoli and zucchini, some dairy like Dubliner cheese and 1-2 oz of pecans 1-2 times per week). I track everything I consume (even when I tell myself that I’m not going to track today, just to give it a try, I end up recording it because I love data). :nerd_face:

I eat OMAD M-F and usually TMAD on the weekends. I’m down 90 lbs and have about 100 to go. I don’t have an exact goal weight; I figure I’ll know I’m at goal weight when I get there. I feel like I have the basics under control, but I am still struggling to wrap my head around my macros post-induction. I have entered the same stats for ten different calculators and got the following results.
Protein 59-81g
Fat 117-227g
Carbs 20-29g (I am usually around 10g net and under 30g total)
Calories 1462-2376

I know that the calculators give you an educated guess/starting point and are not written in stone.

This is where my confusion lies: As I understand it, once you are fat adapted then you should reduce the amount of fat that you are using to promote your system to use stored fat. Protein should be limited (I am fasting to encourage autophagy, I want to limit the excess skin I am bound to have), and net carbs need to be below 20g to restrict insulin production. And calories should not be restricted too much, as not to lower your BMR. So how do I calculate this? When I lower fat, calories are reduced. Carbs are already low but could be lower, I guess. I’ve had a hard time lowering my protein to around 80g. If I go lower than that for more than a few days, I get close to the [spoiler]fuck[/spoiler] it stage and have a protein binge day.

Am I just being stubborn: Wanting my proverbial steak cake and eat it too? I feel like I am overcomplicating this, but it is truly making my head spin.

As an aside: For those who fast, when do you end a fast? I’ve read that you will know when, but how? I’m currently on hour 63 of an impromptu fast. I’m just waiting until I “know”. Any tips?

(John) #2

Just a question - if you have lost 90 pounds in 9 months, why would you not just keep doing what you are doing for 10 more months?

Are you at a stall point?

(Amanda) #3

My weight loss has definitely slowed down since the end of November. Not stalled, but I can’t seem to get below 245 lbs.

(Laurie) #4

We get so much conflicting advice, we can’t follow it all. And we’re not meant to; some things are more appropriate for certain people or certain stages of our journey.

Your carbs seem fine, and lowering protein doesn’t work for you. Why not reduce the fat a bit? Not aggressively, but maybe not worrying about always getting “enough” fat. This will also reduce your calories, but oh well.

Good luck.

(John) #5

Here ya go - do this:
20g carbs
90g protein
130g fat.

(Carl Keller) #6

By trusting your hunger. You can try lowering how much fat you eat and if it doesn’t leave you hungry all the time, then you know your BMR is not going to suffer. Yes it’s going to be less calories but the deficit will be made up by your body fat if you are truly fat adapted.

You can easily go a few days without harming your BMR since it doesn’t constitute a true pattern. So my advice is to go easy on dairy and nuts and maybe eat a little leaner meats and see how your body responds. You can easily increase the fats if you start feeling like crap or constantly cold.

(Amanda) #7

Thanks, @JohnH. I think this is what I needed: just somebody to simplify all the data and noise for me. I will give this a try when I stop fasting. :smile:

(John) #8

I personally like the macro calculator at ketokarma.com/keto-calculator/. I generally go with mid-range Phinney protein levels.

And then I ignore all of that stuff and just kind of eat however makes sense to me.

(John) #9

Using the fasting calculator, I get 0 / 0 / 0.

(Amanda) #10

This is hard to gauge as I teach 7 and 8-year-olds who are continually trying to give me a cold and I live in Alberta where the temp has been around -28C for the past two weeks! Not to mention that the heat was out in my classroom for the past week! :wink:

I was also diagnosed with low thyroid a few weeks ago, so feeling cold is kind of the norm for me.

(Amanda) #11

Cheeky! I like it! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

(Carl Keller) #12

LOL fair point. In that case, if you start feeling fatigued and are constantly hungry, then you know you are not eating enough.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #13

  1. Control Carbohydrate; keep your intake as low as possible. Under 20 grams / day is good.

  2. Prioritize Protein; be sure to get enough. We recommend between 1.0 and 1.5 g/day/kilogram of lean body mass, which translates to about four times that weight of actual meat.

  3. Fill with Fat; those calories you’re no longer getting from carbohydrate? Get them from fat instead. Eat when you are hungry, stop eating when you stop being hungry, and don’t eat again until you’re hungry again.

The low carbohydrate is to keep your insulin low, becuase it’s the fat-storage hormone, and carbohydrate stimulates insulin secretion. The protein is because we have to have it, and we don’t want to be losing muscle mass. There is an instinct for how much protein we need, and you will crave it until you get enough. The fat is to provide energy for the body to do what it needs to do. Eat enough to eliminate hunger between meals. We’re not talking about stuffing yourself to the gills, but rather eating until you’ve had enough. Your stomach will be nowhere near full at that point. Eat to satiety, and your body will set your appetite at a level where it will be able to get all it needs from your food and any excess stored fat you may happen to have.

#14

:rofl: