More exercise in my life - need direction

(Tomas Hanousek) #1

I need a little bit of help, please. I have been keto about 3.5 moths and it has been fantastic in so many ways. I have graduated to doing one meal a day with a morning fatty coffee and I love this way of living. Prior to keto, I have calorie restricted and cut the carbs as well but it was somewhat messy. Overall, I am 29kg down since end of November of 2017 and I don’t remember feeling this great ever in my adult life. I should point out that more than half of the weight came off on keto. Also, I am down from size 38+ to size 30 being loose now.

Now, as I have heard somewhere, I am no longer ill. In fact, I started to feel so great that I have begun running and walking upping my exercise a lot. I am not overdoing it by any means but it is a lot more than in used to be. I have been running and walking for about 3 weeks now.

I know that most of us don’t count calories and I, too, eat to satiety. However, tracking religiously, I only eat about 1900 kCal a day on most days. This I think would have been fine when I was not active. However, according to my tracking device, I burn anywhere from 2600 kCal to 2900 kCal on any given day.

The issue I have is that I do not feel hungry, apart of the odd day here and there, but I am beginning to feel a little sluggish and tired sometimes. I also notice that my blood pressure can be rather low 95/65.

So, the question really is what do I do with the way I eat and more so how much I eat. I am beginning to feel that I should simply force myself and make a habit of eating more, closer to my expenditure. I do not want to stop with OMAD because it has been fantastic in a way of convenience and I enjoy my great big dinners. I should add that I eat really good quality whole foods and do about 80/15/5 on most days. I am 39 years old just to give it context.

I love my new life and I am definitely hooked don running now, taking small steps building my endurance.

Could anyone give me a hand here, please?

Thank you for all the help I have already received by simply being part fo the community here.

(Duncan Kerridge) #2

Are you still losing / wanting to lose weight?

(Tomas Hanousek) #3

Hi Duncan,
Yes, I am still loosing weight albeit slowly. I am pretty lean compare to what I used to be but I still have a belly fat I want to get rid off. I am not bothered about it coming off quick at this point but I would like to continue seeing changes. I weighted 77.8kg this morning down from 106.5kg last year. I also think that I am gaining muscle as my body feels stronger and my legs are definitely firmer from the running and walking. So, I don’t necessarily want to loose weight but I still want to shed more body fat.
I think is also worth noting that my blood glucose has been pretty low lately, measured 72 mg/dl this morning and it has been in low to mid 70s for last month or so. My ketones have been very high for last month as well, almost always above 6 mmol/L and 7.3 mmol/L (the highest ever) this morning. I should point out that his low glucose and high ketones have been the case ever since I have done 5 day water fast about a month ago. I enjoyed the fast a lot, felt great and super healthy and had no hunger. I terminated it at 5 days because I did not want to push the envelope too far for the first time as I had only done 3 day fast before with fatty coffees in the morning. I’d like to add that I want to do another fast soon but I feel I need to get my everyday in order first as I fear that I have been under eating.

(Duncan Kerridge) #4

You should be pretty well fat adapted at this stage, so your calorie deficit should be being made up by burning body fat - your high ketone readings would point to that being the case. I’d imagine there will come a point where you don’t have enough fat left to power your exercise but if that isn’t the case yet then I’d carry on with what you’re doing. Let your appetite guide you more instead of eating to a calorie limit maybe?

(Tomas Hanousek) #5

Thank you Duncan.
This is where my issue lies. I eat to satiety and yet I have been feeling off last week or so. I reckon I might have felt a little hungry few times but only an inkling.
This is why I reviewed the numbers just to give it another angle.
I know there is a limit to how much my fat can contribute per day and I do not think I have reached its capacity yet, although I am not sure of the numbers. Does 35 kCal per pound of fat sound right?
The bottom line is that something isn’t quite right and I can’t put my finger on it.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #6

You might try increasing your protein a bit, and see if that helps. But by all means, continue eating fat to satiety.

(Tomas Hanousek) #7

Thank you Paul,
I think it is well worth considering. Although, I’ve been getting about 80-100g per day already.
I decided to eat a little more and I’ll increase the protein as well and see how I feel.
I’m very well fat adapted and most things are incredible it is only since I introduced the excercise the things may have started to shift. I reckon it is inevitable and I expected to have to make amends to what and how much I eat. This is the unknown and somewhat outside of my comfort zone.
I will soon have to start thinking of maintenance as well as in approaching the level of leanness I think I want to be at. It will be yet another change to keep me in my toes. The most tricky part is that I feel perfectly satiated with what I’ve been eating and eating more sounds difficult. Mind you, I look forward to more variety and more fat bombs so it’s all good. I knew it was going to come one day :bacon:

(Nathan Toben) #8

I don’t have normally functioning satiety signals so take this with a grain of salt.

I do have a lot of experience with aerobic activity (ultrarunning).

Whereas the keto adage, “eat when hungry, don’t eat when not” is great for people who are not running daily, for you, I would venture into strategic calories after your runs. Not the strict protein shake 10-30 minutes after a workout, akin to individuals doing strength conditioning, but—like you said—you are burning a significant amount of calories on your runs, so in the period afterwords, I would break your fast with a homemade keto protein shake or even a full-on meal. The benefits of OMAD can still be gained on your lighter workout days, but on days when you are asking a lot of your body, I would give it a lot.

I workout 40-60hrs a week while implementing a ketogenic diet. My personal experience is that I benefit from keeping my caloric deficit throughout the first half of the day to a minimum so that I am properly recovering from the compounded fatigue of days, weeks, months of stimulus.

Your progress, by the way, is jaw dropping. Super inspired by your progress.

(Tomas Hanousek) #9

Hey Nathan, thank you for taking the time and your positive comments.
Having been thinking about this for last number of days I find myself in agreement with what you are suggesting. I often run before dinner, so I get a good meal afterwards but I am now sure I had been eating too little. I have consciously eaten more last three days and I do feel better. The fact is, I am still at a small deficit but nowhere near -1000 kCal per day on the day of runs and exercise.
I admire your time spent training and I have my eye on long ultra running too. But like a child, I must learn to walk first. I train only three times a week at the moment trying to build up my aerobic base keeping my heart rate nice and low. I still have to walk good proportion of my circuit in the woods but I see improvements every single time.
I hope to be able to pick your brain in few more months time once I get the basics down. I have a good mate who is helping me and I am learning the technique and everything to come with it but I would like to learn more about endurance and being keto at the same time. Nonetheless, there is time and a lot of runs to get trough first.
I find it funny that I discovered running almost at the age of 40.
Thank you! :wink:

(Nathan Toben) #10

i’m sure i could learn a lot from you as well. not new to running but new to keto and still making tons of mistakes :wink: but so grateful to have found it.

(Tomas Hanousek) #11

I would like to thank you all for chipping in. It is still a little early to say but I think I am beginning to feel better. I have been eating a lot more and I had a little after run eggs and bacon meal today too. There is still a small deficit as far as the calories are concerned but I think it is in a reasonable range now.
I noticed my ketones getting lower which makes me think that I might have been starving :thinking:
Today has been a great day for me. I have done my first 10k run and I feel awesome!
I am getting a dexa scan on Monday to set a benchmark and to see where I am at with my body fat. I plan on having another one in say 6 moths time to see the progress.