Hi guys and gals. From the UK here. I’ve been on keto and IF successfully for around 9 months. I’ve lost around 6.5 stone in around 13 months. Happy with my fat loss now, I’m focusing on muscle building. My current life situation only allows me to workout at around 5am for an hour, a mix of cardio and resistance. I fast between 8pm and 12pm the following day, 16/8. Again it fits my life at the moment, so I’m not looking to change. My issues are, I’m reading out post workout and pre workout intakes, to promote, maintain and repair muscle growth. I’m not looking to physically eat anything in this regard. I was reading about amino acids and whey protein etc etc. Could you guys offer any advice as to what I could take to help me? Please and thankyou
Dominic
Keto IF workout
Hi Dominic. Congratulations on your fat loss.
Personally I would be very wary of taking highly processed whey protein shakes which tend to be sweetened to make them more palatable. Firstly you would, by drinking something caloric, be extending your eating window and thereby no longer following your 16:8 plan and secondly the sweetness would always drive me to crave carbohydrates later which would inevitably cause me to gain fat.
There may well be something which works well for you and someone else will no doubt be along with a totally different view point.
What ever you decide to do, this forum is full of wonderful people with loads of experience to draw upon. So, welcome and do continue to let us know how things are going for you.
That processed crap is more aimed at carb burners…
Just eat plenty of meat and you should be fine.
Maybe cut back on the cardio?
Bloody well done on the weight loss!
I disagree about whey/casein powders. They are not necessarily crap. They provide a good source of concentrated dairy protein with all essential amino acids. Many have few or no carbs, generally the non-flavoured varieties, so read labels carefully. Many reputable studies have demonstrated the efficacy of whey and casein protein for muscle maintenance/building. Millions of people use this stuff and if it didn’t work they would not. Google it, for example:
I use keto as a way of avoiding anything that comes from a factory or in a packet.
We all know how “unreliable” “studies” can be. So if you want to ingest factory produced crap then fine… for me no way.
Thankyou for all of the replies people. The encouragement on the weight loss is always welcomed! So thanks also for that. The whey powders interested me as a way to incorporate it into my xylitol almond ‘milkshakes’, as a daily sweet treat. But obviously I don’t want to break My fast. So I thought of amino acid supplement tablets. I feel I’m at that point of being happy with my weight now, just want to tone everything up and work on my core muscles. I’ve taken to eating 2 rice cakes of an evening, to give me energy to workout in the mornings. I also use to take MCT oil. Would MCT oil help in anyway?
Hi Domenic –
You might want to think more about what you want to achieve, such as the muscle growth you mentioned, to help inform your food and eating choices.
If you want to lose weight, then strict keto and fasting is an effective strategy for many people.
On the other hand, if you want to gain muscle, you may need to modify your approach. You’re going to need more protein, and preferably right after a weight training workout, to help optimize protein muscle synthesis (muscle growth and repair.) Which is why whey protein shakes are a good food to consume for body building and muscle growth. The shake protein can be quickly absorbed, plus the few carbs you’ll get from a shake, are actually good for keeping you in an “anabolic” muscle building state. I’d also recommend adding creatine to your shake, or take it daily. Its a great complement to whey protein.
Fasting, I love it and has lots of great health benefits. But you’ll likely find that you’re not going to have as good workouts in a fasted state. Plus, your body also could use the nutrition right after the workout to repair muscle. Consider fasting on your rest days.
I think as you are on your health and fitness journey that you’ll find out what works best for you. Good luck.
That’s awesome! Great feedback, some. Valid points and gives me some food for thought so to speak. Much appreciated 
If you want to work out fasted, do so. Whey or BCAAs will break your fast. Pre- and post-workout nutrition is necessary if you are absolutely looking to maximize your muscle growth, but you can still make some gains using IF. If you just want to stay in shape and continue to lean out, there’s no need to stop IFing.
Then again, you could just time your meals around your training, as I’ve done in the past and have your fasting window for the rest of the day.