keto diet questions

[Arti]

HI there : Ok, after a seris of bad diets (not eating and too much cardio) i lost 10 pounds (probably muscle) last summer, now having come back from uni with an extra 15 pounds (of fat not muscle) ( i am 5'4 , 120 pounds but high body fat % - ).
I have had success with the keto diet and am doing it again right now (day 3)
My percentages are 70%fat and 30% protein ... eating clean rotein shakes, egg whites, flax oil, peanuts, lettuce and some cheese,( about 1100 cals) and I drink about 1.5 gallons of water. I do 20 mins cardio a day and lift weights to maintain my muscle that i have. I want to lose my excess body fat right now ( for the summer) and then build muscle slowly at the same time. I am doing atkins style for next 4 weeks after which i will move to ckd/tkd ... I know my stats show that i am slim, and I am but its not a comfortable 'slim' as i want to have a lower body fat to increase my self esteem.
So my questions are:
1) am i doing it right? and how much can i expect to lose weekly? I only want to lose about 15 pounds of fat and then gain it back after in the form of muscle)
2) what should i have post workout to eat and how long after should i wait to eat?
3) and finally my most important question is : do calories count ... are they in the end the point to fat loss? In the end are they all that counts?
4) if i did drink only protein ( about 100 grams a day) for 1 day a week would that make any difference? ie: how can i speed the process up ... =)

thanks for any help, i really would appreciate any constructive critisms ...

 

[MS]

1) Are you doing it 'right'? Dunno. Are you trying to lose 15lbs of fat, or just 15lbs. As I'm sure you know, a lot of the weight lost in the first few eeks will merely be glycogen/water so it will come right back on as soon as you stop dieting. But as long as you are aware of that, then go for it. How will you monitor your fat-loss? I also think your cals are a little low. I know you're in a hurry, but too much weight loss too fast is not good for your long term metabolism. Aim for at least 1200 cals IMHO.

2) Once you're in ketosis it doesn't matter when you eat relative to you workouts. Some people like to slug down some whey protein, but you run the risk of losing ketosis if you do this. Trial and error is the only way to know. If you're in a hurry to drop the fat, then I would just eat ordinary high fat meals all the time.

3) Calories definitely count. The beauty of Atkin's type diets is that they curb your appetite so it's easier to stick to below maintanance caloric intake.

4) Definitely do not have very low cal protein only day. A keto diet is not the sort of diet to be mixing and matching. Stick to the plan. The best way to speed up the process is by increasing your cardio while maintaining weight training. The addition of a thermogenic can also be quite helpful.

good luck and don't forget to build some MUSCLE when it's all over.

 

[Rockaho]

While on a keto diet I loose about 2lbs. a week of fat. The past feew weeks the scales have stopped dead in their tracks but the bf keeps droping. You are a bit smaller than me so I don't think you should expect to see 2 lb. a week of fat loss unless you are doing some serious cardio. At the end of Jan. I weighed 212 and now I way 178. As far as protein knocking you out of ketosis, everyone is diffrent. I have yet to have protein knock me out of ketosis, so I do a 50/50 on protein/fat intake. I vary my calorie intake from week to week and from day to day. I do a low cal week and a higher cal week. On lifting days I eat more than I do on non lifting days. On a high cal week on a lifting day I have around 3000 cals. On a low cal week non lifting day I have around 1800 - 2000 cals. And I always have a 40 gr. protein shake within 45 min. of leaving the gym. This may not be the best plan but it works for me and I'm comfortable with it. It may take you a month or two to find out what works well for you. You gotta pay close attention to what your body is telling you, keep your water intake high and consistant. Water gains and losses can fool you into thinking you are doing somthing your not ie. loosing or gaining weight, fat, muscle. Good Luck.

 

[MS]

Apologies Arti, I kinda skimmed your post a little quickly the first time through and just saw CKD/TKD. I didn't notice that you were going straight keto for the first month. That being the case you can afford to eat more protein once you're in ketosis as Rockaho said. But you may still want to keep the protein intake lowish for the first week until you've established stable ketosis. but also like Rockaho said, you may have to play around with things to optimize it for your goals.

 

[Rockaho]

Let me correct myself. I previously said that I have never had protein knock me out of ketosis. That is a 50/50 protein/fat diet has not knocked me out of ketosis. I have done higher than 50% protein and got knocked out. Sorry if I misled anyone.

 

[Rockaho]

Let me correct myself. I previously said that I have never had protein knock me out of ketosis. That is a 50/50 protein/fat diet has not knocked me out of ketosis. I have done higher than 50% protein and got knocked out. Sorry if I misled anyone.

 

[MS]

Rockaho, I assume you mean 50% protein calories rather 50% of your total grams? Just checking because sometimes it's a little unclear. Either way i see no prob with that much protein as long as you're active enough and your body is already ketogenic enough to minimize gluconeogenesis.

 

[Rockaho]

10-4 calories not grams.