Quote:
Originally Posted by JP10
Not saying I didn't see any results from Keto, but energy was down in the gym so it was tough to get as good as a workout that I would on carbs.
So going back to what I put in bold, does that mean if my caloric intake is 3000 calories, with an extensive amount of carbs, that my metabolic set point would be at 3000?
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yeah, the downside to keto is less energy in the gym (because once you burn through your muscle and liver glycogen your liver has to mobilize fat) - though many claim the actual muscle gains are = or > and the overall lifestyle wins, but obviously it's a super individual thing. Plus to really get metabolically settled I think it takes at least 6 months, and to get "medically" settled can take 2 years (i.e., your testing all comes back in range).
Plus when it comes to "weight" we gotta remember that every gram of carb needs X grams of water - this is the "water weight". So people that go on keto immediately pee out all that water as their body burns up those carbs and dumps the water. When I first did keto I lost 10 lbs in 2 days!
If you live near a major city you probably can find a sports clinic that'll do a Dexascan on you for like $150. This is important if you're experimenting with diet because a series will tell you three big things:
* How much muscle do you really have? Are you actually gaining? How much and from what where?
* How much body fat do you have?
* How much visceral fat do you have?
The last one is really important because even ripped dudes can have super low "pinchable" fat, but high visceral fat, the kind around your organs behind your abs that comes from eating too many carbs. This is the deadly fat - it's likely the cause of the skinny-fitness-nut-who-had-a-heart attack stories.
Anyway, on the metabolic set point, yes our bodies like to maintain the weight we're at so if we overeat a little the body turns up the furnace and if we undereat a little the body taps into fat stores. It's why people with a fairly set caloric intake can have that big Thanksgiving meal and not have additional fat a week later.
Resetting a low set point is really tough: you gotta overeat and gain fat to reset. it can be managed but it can be tricky, which is why keto is so much easier for most people, and why the Biggest Loser people always gain back their weight.
To lose body fat, most are usually better off keeping their calories fairly normal and switching to keto.