So confused


(Steve ) #1

I started keto a few weeks back and started 24hr fasting everyday and consuming all my calories within 2 hours of my workouts. Things have been going well and I’ve dropped 19lbs since starting. Just looking through some macro calculators today and they’ve completely confused me. I’m 6’ 4 and weigh 247lbs, I lift heavy and intense 3 days on 1 day off for 80 minutes a session. Obviously I don’t want to lose muscle mass so protein is important. Some of the calculators are saying carbs 15g Protein 175g and fats 213g total calories 2800 and others have got the protein down as low as 140g and calories as low as 2400. Is 175g protein too much? Surely if I just keep the carbs low, hit the protein macro then fill up on fat it shouldn’t have any bad effect on the keto


(Todd Gamel) #2

So if I understand your question, then yes, if you keep your carb count between 15-20 grams a day, and your protein about 1 - 1.5 grams per kilo of lean body mass, and eat the rest in fat, then you should be fine. I personally shoot for 5% carbs, 25% protein, and 70% fat. Now I only lift every other day, and I am no power lifter, but I have not lost any muscle mass, and have definitely built more muscle. Now depending on your goals you may need to tweek this some.


#3

Do you feel good doing what you are doing now? Are you getting the results you want?

From your opening comments, I would guess the answer to both is “yes”? I wouldn’t mess with what is working for you, especially if you are happy with it food and satiety wise. There is a lot of information out there, much of it conflicting. If you have found a formula that works well for you, keep doing that until it no longer does and then tweak it.

Well done - sounds like you are doing great to me :smiley:


(Steve ) #4

Thank you Daisy, I do feel good and haven’t felt this focused when training for a long time. I’m happy with the results I’ve achieved so far but some days I find myself worrying about the amount of protein I’ve consumed (or not consumed) or trying to force feed the last bit of fat in to match the numbers on MFP. After reading your comment on the other thread I now feel more relaxed about upping my protein a little bit and not worrying so much about the fat. As long as I’m not hungry I’m done eating. Thank you :+1:


(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

Well, the recommendations I’ve seen run from 0.6 g/kg LBM/day to 1.2 g/kg, and perhaps higher if you’re trying to bulk up.

In case you want to know how it’s done, here’s the arithmetic: 247 lbs. = 247/2.2 kg = 112.27 kg. If you were 30% fat, then 112.27 * 0.7 = 78.59 g of protein at 1.0 g/kg. But most protein sources are not all protein, for example, steak is about 25% protein. And so on. . . . Easy, huh? :grinning:

I agree with Daisy that if it’s working for you, don’t fix it. We are discovering that there is a lot more flexibility with the protein than we had thought—and not only that, the experts don’t agree among themselves—so unless you really feel something is not right, don’t sweat it.