Keto since January 5, looking for advice for tweaking things

(Mandy) #21

Haha!

(Chris W) #22

So also not only going to that level but you should be by now fat adapted. Run at those levels for several days until you feel good. If you understand satiety you should eat to just past that for a couple of those days and by the third or fourth day you will have new level. About 2 weeks from now increase the intake of fat by 25% for one or two days, I recommend you try using HWC or something that you can digest easily like that but it will work with animal fat as well its just slower. This will acutallly increase your BMR beyond and this will up your energy expenditure and you will actually really start to both have energy and probably loose weight. Don’t do this for more than a couple days at first if you fast now that would be a good time to start a fast.
Up your salt intake without question I think a lot of your problems are salt related the keto aid will help restore that but you need to have salt in the mix. When you become ketogenic your insulin levels drop and that is what retains your salt and as well makes your BP drop. I had low BP when I started, it went through the floor within 2 weeks, I had to increase salt, but I had issues with regulating potassium as a result as well. So do one thing at a time start with salt.

I add MIO to my water, with lemon, and coconut oil and salt.

(Mandy) #23

@In2steam
Fat adapted? Yep, as much as i can tell without testing. When you say “run those levels for several days”, are you talking calories? Thankfully i do understand satiety, so I’ll up my calories for a few days to make me feel better. But do i keep them elevated, like around the 1500-1600 mark instead of my usual 1300-1400? If that’s the case, I can do that and then up my fat in a couple of weeks by 25% for a couple of days with HWC (heavy whipping cream?) to increase my BMR.

Don’t do which part more than a couple of days? Sorry, I’m a bit confused. Should i fast before starting all of this? I’ve only done IF for 18:6, but never longer, but if you think it’ll help, I’ll sure give it a go! Just need some definite guidance.

As for the salt, I actually sat at the restaurant table and licked salt off my finger tonight! Haha I’ve been at a baseball tournament this weekend and haven’t made it home to get the ingredients for the ketoaide, but will this week.

(Ron) #24

Mandy,
I think that @In2steam meant that after a couple weeks of eating to your upper calorie amount then take two days and eat another 25% more ( ex - 1700 x 25% = 2125) for two days then on the third day begin your fast. You will be boosting your BMR with a burst that will give a higher reaction to your body with more energy and potentially better weight loss when the fast starts.
Hope this explanation might be a little easier to get.:ok_hand:

(Chris W) #25

Yes sorry I should make it more clear.

Eat at maintain levels or don’t eat at all(extended fast) is better advice than calorie restriction after fat adaption. I do this always, I never restrict I eat until satiety under a normal day. There are times it comes out lower but the majority of time I am near protein and above fat.

After you have eaten at maintain levels for several days, it could be a couple weeks does not really matter, increase your fat ingestion by around 25%. I have found it easiest to do with HWC myself. This is a faster acting fat so the results tend to be more noticeable than animal fat but it does the same thing. I do that for around 3 days normally, I have done it for 7 but then I started to gain and I was not able to expend the energy I was bringing in. Much like restriction over intake should not be followed for a extended period. Some of the finer points of this is I normally ingest protein first, wait about an hour then ingest a the boost amount in form of a shake, the later meal of the day is fat centered with less protein. I am eating till full or just slightly past full, in the manner I do this I am slighlty bloated for an hour or so but if you ingest animal fat it does not seem to be as bad although takes longer.

Then return to your maintain macros levels, or normal satiety for several days. I would encourage you to try extended fasting. I thought I could not do it but it was not terrible outside of the 18 hour mark, if you do it correctly you should be sleeping then. I do up my salt intake when I fast and that helps with hunger and being tired. I walked into fasting 24,48 60, after that I have done 80 but thats my limit. I am also very high on the calories end I am when boosting hitting 3900 a day right now and my sustain is 2500-2700 because of my work. I have not done a long EF following this protocol, I also on one day a week been eating a large amount of protien so my weight has been more or less stable although when I am not eating the heavy protien day I am losing weight at 1 pound a day. I weigh 190 ish.

(Candy Lind) #26

Do you have to hit it with a stick blender, or do you just shake it up? Is it a pain to clean your bottle with the CO included?

(Candy Lind) #27

Atta girl! Fast food salt packets are a good thing to keep in your pocket (or your fanny pack or purse, so you don’t sweat them into a blob of papier maché!).

(Diane) #28

I LOVE TrueLemon & TrueLime and use it in my ketoaide for the same reason. I also have the TrueOrange packets but haven’t used them yet, not sure if they have more carbs or not.

(Candy Lind) #29

They are bound to - I never use more that 1/2 pack of the lemon or lime; doubt I’ll try the orange except for a special dessert or fat bomb.

(Diane) #30

I’ve used up to 2 packets per 32 oz bottle (counting the carbs). After reading your posts, I’m gonna try to cut this down, mostly because I don’t drink the bottles all in one go, but sip throughout the day. I’m not sure if the amount of carbs (about 2 grams per bottle) would trigger any insulin response or not.

(Mandy) #31

@In2steam and @mtncntrykid
So here’s the plan as I’m seeing it:

  1. Maintenance cals for about 2 weeks, which is around 1500-1700 cals depending on my activity
  2. 2-3 days of increasing my fat 25%, which would be adding about 33 g of fat per day
  3. Fasting. So this will be my first extended fast. Do you suggest I go 24 hours? Longer? I’ll try to read some posts tonight about EF and see what they say.

Thanks again for all of your help!

(Ron) #32

24 hours is a great goal and when you reach it see how you feel. If everything is ok digestive wise and your not feeling any euphoria then push on and try for 36. Don’t push beyond that for the first EF, there isn’t any hurry.
It sound like a great plan, keep us posted.:+1:

(Chris W) #33

i just shake it up I have 4 64 oz bottles I use, no its not a pain I use the same bottle for several days. I am currently working in a 50 degree area and its pretty much solids with in a hour. I just pour more boiling water in and its fine. If I don’t drink enough of the oil sometimes i get the icing over and by the end of the day I have a few chunks. The lemon does seem to help emulsify it though when I shake it up. If I am adventurous I add some carbonated water to it was well but that does seem to make the salt come out more.

(Mandy) #34

So is there a sort of euphoria when you fast for an extended time? :thinking:

(Ron) #35

This might be a little extreme :face_with_raised_eyebrow: but most adapted people that are experienced fast’ers often talk about higher energy levels, mental clarity, calmness, and just feel much better overall during a fast. I am fairly new to fasting but during my 72hr fasts between day 2 and 3 I definitely feel these symptoms to a degree and am hoping they get stronger as I progress.
In the beginning you will at some point get some symptoms like dizziness or mild headache, etc. These are signs to stop. Typically when you do your next fast these symptoms might be a little later, and the next fast a little later and so on. This is what people are referring to as the fasting muscle and it does take time to build up so don’t push yourself.

(Mandy) #36

That makes sense. I need to read up on fasting because I just can’t seem to get past the mindset that fasting won’t hurt my metabolism. I mean, if 1300 calories is too few and slows my metabolism down, why doesn’t fasting?

(Ron) #37

This might be a good place to start. :nerd_face:

(Diane) #38

Here’s Dr. Jason Fung’s take on calorie reduction vs fasting.

https://idmprogram.com/caloric-reduction-vs-fasting-part-9/

(Mandy) #39

Thanks @mtncntrykid.

(Mandy) #40

Thanks @DiMo.