Maintenance Questions

#1

Hi! So as I approach my goal weight (whoop!), I have been thinking of maintenance strategies.

Firstly, I am considering is expanding my eating window to 4 or 6 hours. I can’t eat more than I am currently do in my OMAD. Since I’ll need to up my calories to achieve maintenance calories - it’ll have to be 2 meals a day. My question is, are there any advantages of a 20 hour fasting period over an 18 hour one. 18:6 is probably more convenient for me but I’ll do a 20:4 if it confers greater benefits in the long term.

Secondly, some people say they up their carbs at maintenance. I honestly don’t have any desire to up carbs. I’m good at a max of 20net. I intend to keep protein moderate at no more than. 1.2g/kg. My question here is, if I make up the rest of my calories by increasing fat, is there any downside to that? My thoughts are that, increasing dietary fat to achieve maintenance calories level should prevent my body from using anymore of my body fat. Is my assumption correct? Thanks.

(Jack Bennett) #2

What you say sounds plausible but there’s not likely to be a “one size fits all” answer. You’ll probably have to try things out, track them, and see what works for you.

(Lazy, Dirty Keto 😝) #3

Yes, this. I’ve been in maintenance mode for a while now (congrats to you for almost being there!)

I still keep my net carbs under 20g a day. I eat more calories and I eat twice a day and usually a coffee in the morning (with HWC). My average day of eating is about 1600 calories, about 60% from fat, 35% from protein, 5% from carbs on an average. Maintaining a weight of 135ish lbs on a 5ft 6in frame.

I usually have a coffee with HWC about 6 am, lunch around 11:30 am (this is typically when I eat most of my calories), and a small dinner around 6 pm. This works for me but as PP said, you’ll have to figure out what works for you. Best of luck and congrats again!

#4

Thanks both.

I think my maintenance calories will be something like 1550. I guess I’ll just start from 20g carbs, 80g max protein and the rest fats…and then go from there.

(mole person) #5

I eat no carbs at all and maintain perfectly well with a high fat diet. My macros are essentially 80/20/0. I’m also eating two, or even sometimes three times a day. Basically, whenever I’m hungry. Although, like yourself, I was OMAD prior to maintenance. I consume about 1600 calories a day and my weight holds steady at about 106 lbs.

With respect to an eating window. Just play it by ear. There is nothing wrong with 18/6 as long as it’s actually keeping you in maintenance.

(Lazy, Dirty Keto 😝) #6

I would suggest not looking at protein as a “max.” Your body needs protein. Look at protein as a minimum, in my opinion. Look at carbs as a “max.” But again, whatever works for you :blush:

#7

If 18/6 is more comfortable, do it. I doubt there is a big difference between 4 and 6 hours and it’s important to feel right. I would just eat whenever I get hungry, it’s the comfortable, simple style and it’s easy to eat just enough but I track anyway so I see if I need to change something.

If you keep your carbs and protein, of course you need to eat more fat, what else? It should be okay but we all have our sweet spot, more like range, some people prefer more protein, some less. 1.2g/kg sounds good if you can do it and feels okay when doing so. You need to find what works for you best, nothing sounds wrong with your idea at all in general.

(mole person) #8

I think for a lot of people there is a max protein. For me, if I start to go over 75 grams I lose a lot of the benefits that I achieve with a ketogenic diet. My weight suffers, my energy and mood suffers, my skin suffers, and I’m hungry all the time. I am at my best between 40 and 60 grams a day.

There is a reason why classic keto advice includes a protein cap. For a lot of people eating high protein begins to simulate eating high carbs. Insulin and blood glucose rise over time.

#9

Thanks everyone.

@beccs Regarding the protein, I’m the same as @Ilana_Rose . I realised a while back I don’t do too well on higher amounts of protein. I guess if making up the calories with fat doesn’t work for my maintenance, maybe Ill try a bit more protein and test myself for ketone levels.

I think I’ll probably start on 20:4 and see how that goes. Or maybe I’ll aim for 20:4 but if I land at 18:6 some days, so be it.

(mole person) #10

@JustMo. When I began carnivore I started by just eating a lot of steak and my protein consumption trended to the 90-120 gram range. I felt pretty bad and was gaining weight very steadily.

Once I vastly increased my fat to protein ratio and got my protein back to the under 60 grams it was on regular keto my weight returned to normal and all my ketogenic NSV’s did as well.

People around here often say that one’s depth of ketosis doesn’t matter. This is upside down to my own experience. I can eat a Mars bar before bed every night and still be in mild ketosis, but my weight will creep up and I’ll get more tired and achey nonetheless. For me it’s not an in or out of ketosis switch. I don’t feel great and lose excess fat at 0.2 mmol of BhB in my blood, in fact I will easily gain weight there. But at 1.8 and above I feel pretty wonderful. My body won’t be at that level however if I eat too much protein.

(Jack Bennett) #11

Protein needs apparently track lean body mass. A smaller (lighter) person won’t need as much as a bigger person.

There’s also a certain dependence on physical activity: a highly active strength athlete will “turn over” his or her protein more rapidly than someone more sedentary.

I suspect that beyond this there is some further biochemical individuality even within rough categories (e.g. not every 70kg CrossFit enthusiast needs the same amount of protein).