When on 2mad, would carbs matter much?

(Srinivas A) #1

Hi

Want to know if carbs count matter that much when on 2 meal a day, at 10 am and 5 pm. The carbs we consume may well be digested in between, and may be 50-100g carbs per day may still keep us in maintenance mode. Is this a right understanding? I have been on keto for 2.5 months, and lost around 9 kg (86 kg to 77 kg). Male 43, 5’10, Vegetarian. I am mostly on two meal a day so far. Have no cravings. If I want to maintain my weight, will 2 meal a day work for me, with 50-100g carbs per day?

srinivas

(Nick) #2

I’d bet that if you started having 50 to 100 grams of carbs a day, with two meals, that’d be enough to spike insulin sufficiently to frustrate further lipolysis significantly.

I’d also bet that your “no cravings” will turn into “some cravings” and then “oh my god, get me some more rice” as you run to the fridge at 11:30pm in a mindless hangry rage :wink:

(Brian) #3

It might, it might not. I don’t think there’s any way any of us could tell you the answer to that. You’ll just have to try it and see.

50-100g of carbs a day is still very low carb. For some, especially those who do heavy labor or significant workouts, that level of carbs might even see them remain in ketosis. I suspect for quite a few more average people, though, 100g of carbs would likely kick them out of ketosis at least for a short time.

As a vegetarian, you may be consuming more carbs than someone who’s eating as an omnivore or a carnivore. The more restrictive vegetarians and vegans do tend to eat more carbs as they work towards getting the other macros, especially protein. That’s not necessarily bad, just an observation made by some.

I would also imagine (and I could be wrong) that the quality of the carbs you’re intending to ingest might matter. Are you wanting to eat a few Hershey’s Peanut Butter cups every day and not feel guilty? Probably different than wanting to add a little sweet potato or some beans.

Just the thoughts that come to mind. If you do up the carbs, keep an eye on the scale and how things go overall. If they don’t go quite as well as you hope, you can always drop off the extra carbs again, no need to wait until you’ve added 25 pounds before reacting.

Good luck!

(TJ Borden) #4

As maintenance, quite possible. It really just depends on how metabolically deranged you are, if at all.

Goal weight, with a healthy metabolism, 50-100 should be easy, probsbly even more wouldn’t be an issue if you’re sticking to real food and avoiding processed foods.

If there are still metabolic issues, you might notice cravings and/or weight slowly creep back up. That’s the beauty of n=1, try it and see if it works for you.

(Lonnie Hedley) #5

My response also.

(Srinivas A) #6

Thanks. It feels hopeful.

The reason I am checking this possibility is to include a few more foods in my diet - banana, high fat plain milk, legume sprouts, plain yogurt, etc. Being vegetarian(with dairy) , these additions give me some freedom of my current limitation of choices.
Yes I am avoiding packeted and preserved foods mostly.

#7

Yes indeed - since you are fat-adapted you will likely be able to tolerate 100g total carbs (as per the books The Art & Science of Low Carbohydrate Living by Phinney MD & Volek PhD, and also Protein Power by the Drs Eades, who go even higher). But, it also depends on your metabolic health and extent of derangement, as mentioned.

Personally, as a 50+ year old, I kept my first 6 months of keto very low on the carbs 25-50g total, just to make sure I got over any and all comfort food cravings and was on solid ground. Those cravings (for huge bowls of fried rice, yummy fried wheat breads, potato-based dishes like samosas and chips) went away!

And nowadays, I try to regularly eat a little (2 tblsp) precooked/chilled then refried basmati rice, to feed my microbiome good bacteria in the large intestine to receive the mental health lift it gives, as the gut bacteria fed by ‘resistant starch’ produce HUGE amounts of butyrate, which boosts ketosis and brain nourishment/brain derived neurotrophic factor BDNF.

Also, Jason Fung MD (author of The Diabetes Code, and The Obesity Code) talks about how a small eating window (8 hours or less) tends to make for better carb tolerance due to minimizing insulin surges, compared to the ‘grazing’ style of constant eating and soda drinking that is the typical Standard American Diet/college lifestyle/gym advice.

If you happen to like South Asian veg food - and in case you are not familiar with these resources, here you go:

https://headbangerskitchen.com/category/vegetarian/

("Don't call it calories, call it food") #8

So this it’s something I’ve been meaning to post about for a while. I have been concerned about not eating prebiotics in this early stage of Keto. Did you wait until you were fat adapted to add resistant starch? Or do you think it would be safe to eat one or two tablespoons of cold rice or potato starch in the early weeks? I think I’m about week 7

Sorry for hijacking the thread

(Lonnie Hedley) #9

Do you ever test BG levels? I forget where exactly, but recently I heard/saw/read someone say that when they were testing different foods, banana’s spiked their BG worse than anything else. I think it was an article about CGM’s becoming more mainstream and available for people without diabetes but wanting to keep track of BG levels.

I know people say historically humans had to eat veggies and fruit when meat was unavailable, but they weren’t eating what is currently available. Everything (and I literally mean everything) has been modified to satisfy the widest range of consumers. Bananas are no exception. The current type of banana is heading toward extinction. There is a much hardier version available, but it’s not as sweet, so it’s a harder sell than the current version that tastes like candy.

Sorry about the banana rant, but something to think about if you don’t currently test BG.

#10

I definitely waited till I felt 100% fat-adapted and totally established in my new routines, which for me was 6 months. There was no way I was gonna backslide into a giant bowl of fried rice etc - it had to be viable as a restricted supplement rather than a side dish lol.