What to do when you reach your goal? How to maintain?

(Deja vu) #1

In March 2016 I found my self about 110 LBS over weight and suffering from Sleep apnea and prediabetes. My Doctor recommended a diet and exercise. In highschool I was thin and modertly athletic and I wanted to get close to that again. After trying the Vegan diet for about 3 months and gaining another 20 LBS a friend of mine who was on the Atkins diet told me about Keto. I asked my doctor and he said to try it. Long story short I am now about where I want to be. Im 6’ 3" and 42 years old, my weight goes from about 185-195 depending on the time I weigh my self and how much fluids I drink.

The problem is now that I got where I want to be (weight wise) I find it hard to maintain. Do I keep on the strict diet? Do I add some carbs? My doctor says I need to up my carbs a bit but I now find my self at about 205LBS after adding in some carbs and I feel like crap and need lots of caffeine to keep up.

So I talked to my wife and she told me to find a keto forum and ask so here I am.

(Brian) #2

Maybe adding in more protein and/or fat would allow you to maintain the weight and not give you the crappy feeling you seem to get eating more carbs. (?)

Just curious what kinds of carbs you’re adding back in?

(Deja vu) #3

Small amounts of whole grains and some fruits that are not very keto friendly. I still tried to keep my carb intake at about 15-20% rather than the 5%-10% I was at before.

(Roy D Rushing Jr ) #4

When you say your weight fluctuates between 185 and 195 that seems to indicate that you’re stable at the weight you want when on a ketogenic diet. If that’s the case, then why would you change anything at all? Are you afraid of long term consequences of staying in ketosis for an extended period of time? If so I don’t think that is a valid concern.

I do think that once you’ve reached your goals you can loosen the reins a bit with occasional indulgences. I just don’t think I would do anything approaching reintroducing carbs on a day to day basis.

(Duncan Kerridge) #5

I’m about the same height and weight as you and have been maintaining for about a year now. Just eat keto, don’t worry about how much, your body should happily stay at it’s happy weight.

#6

Typically, the body wants to maintain the setpoint weight. If the setpoint is above our desired weight, it takes effort to maintain. Fortunate, over time we can lower our setpoint.

A year ago, my setpoint was 230 lbs, now it’s about 170. But my current weight is 150. If I don’t watch what I eat, I will gain weight until I’m 170 and it will stabilize there. Eventually, as I continue to maintain, my body will adjust it’s setpoint and then it will take much less effort to maintain my weight.

I try not to let my weight increase by more than 10 lbs. When it does, I fast until it drops below my threshold. By addressing it immediately and not allowing the higher weight to take hold, it comes off quickly.

(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #7

Set a new fitness goal and work towards that. It may mean keeping it keto. It may mean slacking keto a bit and exercising more. Maintenance is another word for working on other projects, like muscle building or toning.

(Wendy) #8

Personally I would not add in wheat, at least not very often. I might indulge a few tines a year at most.

(Omar) #9

My set point on SAD is 95 kg

While on keto my set point is 85 kg

My ideal weight based on my height is 70 kg

My current weight is 77 kg

So keto only will not do it. IF/EF is a must.

(Terence Dean) #10

Hi Dejavu,

You’re still within the recommended range for a male 6’ 3" which is 176-216lbs so it depends a lot on where you feel the most comfortable in my opinion. At what weight do you perform the best in the past? I’m male 58, and 6’ 2" so my range is somewhere between 171-209lbs, for me I feel the strongest at 92 kg (202lb). Once you establish that weight its just a question of eating enough calories to sustain the body’s daily calorific expenditure. Sure some days you may go over but its not difficult to adjust. You are at the stage where I consider the real challenge begins, yes losing the weight was tough perhaps but keeping the weight off is the next big challenge. There are plenty of people here who have been weight-stable for a long time, they can give you better advice than I can.

One thing I will be experimenting with once I get to my goal weight will be testing to see how carbohydrate tolerant my body is. So that is the level at which you can consume carbs but still remain in nutritional ketosis. You may find you will be able to increase your carbs but still reap the benefits of Keto. All the best and Keto on!

#11

The 10 lbs you gained are water, it’s normal. When you begin keto you lose the same 10 lbs the first week or so. I don’t remember why eating carbs make you retain more water, but it’s for the same set of reasons why in keto you had to take more salt than usual.

A lot of posters here go for keto forever, but I am the same as you, I will get out of keto once I have arrived to the goal weight. After a couple of weeks eating “normal”, I would suggest taking a Kraft test, to make a clear assessment on where your insulin is at.

To maintain the weight I count on doing some IF. Also of course I will never never again snack between meals.

(Mike W.) #12

Also a lot of the people here are doing so to fix metabolic derangement not just lose weight. If being in Ketosis makes you healthy why would you stop?

#13

It’s the same as asking: if you took paracetamol because you had a headache and it made you feel good, why don’t you continue taking paracetamol forever even if you don’t have a headache?

Supposed that one doesn’t have IR or hyperinsulinemia any more (and to see if that is the case the Kraft test is perfect) then one can get back to eating some carbs and they won’t have the effect they used to have when insulin was high.
You may say, how does weight loss have anything to do with this? well 50% of the insulin that’s in the system is due to being overweight or obese alone, no matter what you eat. There was a podcast of the 2kd about this, and there’s a video of butterbob on youtube.
For some there are deeper underlying unbalances, for others there is body fat and high insulin and maybe not even IR. When they get back to their natural weight anyway their IR, if it was there to begin with, must be resolved if not their set-weight would be higher. So they can gradually get back to eating carbs possibly keeping the diet healthy, and eventually do some fast every now and then, or IF, to take care that insulin doesn’t go high. And no snacking, like ever.

Actually, come to think, the Kraft test is not even necessary. Being at ideal weight and healthy is enough to prove that the insulin is in place. Then soft IF like 16:8 could take care of underlying tendencies that would have been found by the test, with no need of staying low carb.

#14

This post is very interesting.

Quick question- When re-introducing carbs; are you concerned you are playing with the same thing that caused the original problem?

I feel like carbs (although probably mostly processed foods etc) got me into this mess. When I think about re-introducing; I think I’ll be going down the same road- though the damage may not be as apparent or severe. Not to mention- it may be very difficult to continue to eat healthy while resuming eating carbs. Like the alcoholic who beats addiction; but then entertains the thought of the healthy 1 glass of wine per day.

Thanks! :grinning:

#15

That’s a good question and I think it can only be answered individually, because it depends on why you think you got into the mess first of all and whether you think things would be different this time.

I am optimistic and I think that for most people the cause of the madness was the high insulin more than personal bad choices, so when insulin is down to healthy levels we will not react to triggers in the same way. And if we notice that we do, we can fast for a day or two and reset it all, or take a month or two of keto vacation. Maybe try not to let it go too far, like we did first time around, because we didn’t have the tools and awareness that we now have.

(Wendy) #16

But how many times do people start that and never come back to eating keto? I’ve read so many times. I had lost “so much” on keto and I quit and I gained it back plus more. Also eating keto for me means taking steps to avoid or at least reduce my risks for cancers and parkinsons. The health benefits of eating this way is so much more than just the healthy weight.
It’s just to easy to start down that slippery slope. I haven’t changed my eating and I’m probably at my bodies happy point. I’m not gaining nor continuing to lose. I wouldn’t mind a few more pounds off but no one is looking at me thinking I’m fat.

#17

Yeah but all these benefits are mainly due to low insuline. If you are not hyperinsulinic you don’t need keto and you don’t have much risk of cancer, parkinson or heart attack either. There’s a thread active right now of a poster who’s moving out of keto, after assessing her IR and concluding it’s resolved. I don’t see how that would be anything unsafe.

I am sorry you had to redo it allover again, it must have been maddening. Maybe you left keto too early and your IR wasn’t down enough. Had you arrived at your goal weight? because only then I think there’s the odds that the IR is resolved. A set-weight higher than normal is a marker of IR.

(Ethan) #18

As a prediabetic, you likely had some insulin resistance. You probably still have some. Adding carbs will restart the weight-gaining process.

Did you ask your doctor why you need to add carbs!?

(Roy D Rushing Jr ) #19

If you became insulin resistant once, you can do so again. The body tends to remember the tolerances it has accrued in the past even long after you’ve stopped exposing it to them, so I’d be willing to bet it happens much faster the second time around. Being insulin sensitive isn’t an on/off switch. You can’t “fix” it, and then expect it not to return once you start eating things that cause it again. The most you might be able to buy yourself is a sort of grace period where your body responds to insulin normally, but gradually returns to it’s previous state of insulin resistance.

I think it’s probably a better idea to just remain keto for the forseeable future, but once your weight and health are in a place you like, stop being ultra strict with it. If you want a slice of cake at a birthday party, have it. If you want a few beers on the weekend, have them. Just endeavor to stay in ketosis more than you aren’t in ketosis and I think you could maintain forever with good health and insulin sensitivity.

(Wendy) #20

I was speaking of others though I did do Protein Power when I was in my early 30s and lost weight which came back as time went by.
I am currently at 145 lbs and 5’6. I’ve lost 4" at waist and hips. I picked around 135 as a weight goal but I’m at a healthy weight even now. I dropped from a 16/18 to a size 8. I still believe the weight will return if I regularly increase my carbs. I will avoid wheat, sugar and starch as my regular way of eating and use healthy fats, avoiding vegetable oils.
Will I never have a non keto friendly food, of course not but I plan at this point to continue with what I believe to be the best diet for good health for me.