My Initial Keto Nutrition Plan

Okay so lets have a look below. This is my daily Keto Nutrition plan to begin with. This is based on foods that fit the Keto profile and taking from the profile foods I enjoy. Everybody's Keto nutrition plan will be different. I will make adjustments and add some recipes as I go but it will still work out to the same macros at the end of each day. And yes - your eyes aren't deceiving you. Bacon is permitted while doing Keto!

As you can see. I wont exactly be starving as with my plan I get to enjoy 4 decent sized meals per day and a couple snacks. This is based on my lifestyle and my existing eating habits. I don't believe in flipping everything upside down when trying to lose weight or change nutrition plans this just leads to unreasonable expectations of maintaining a plan in the long run. There is no need to starve your self when trying to slim down. You shouldn't need to turn your life upside down in order to make a nutrition plan work. Keto is really not all that restrictive and there are many food choices to select from these below are just based on my taste buds.

Keto Plan – 2400 calories

Breakfast
2 Large or Jumbo Eggs
¼ Costco avocado
2 slices thick cut bacon

Morning Snack
Quest Protein Powder shake with water

Lunch
Chicken Breast 6 oz.
2 Cups Green Veg (i.e. Broccoli, Asparagus, Spinach, Cauliflower)
¼ Costco Avocado

Afternoon Snack
Chorizo Sausage 2 oz.

Dinner
¼ Costco Avocado
Salmon 6 oz. or Fish 8 oz. or lean (80/20) ground beef 5 oz.
2 Cups Green Veg (i.e. broccoli, Asparagus, Spinach, Cauliflower )

Late evening Meal
4 slices thick cut bacon
2 Large or Jumbo Eggs

A few Things before I get started going all Keto! – Lets Plan this out!

Okay so as stated in previous posts I am going keto in order to take on a personal experiment pertaining to how Keto will work for me and my goals. One of these goals will be to reduce body fat.

First I need to know a few things in order to set some benchmarks and track my progress. Let’s have a look.

1   What is my current body fat percentage? Accurately measuring body fat is quite difficult unless you have access to a dexa scan machine or someone who really has a lot of experience manually taking body fat measurements with calipers. I don’t have access to a dexa scan machine but I do have access to someone who is very experienced and can use calipers to measure my body fat. I will also use an electronic hand held device that isn’t quite as accurate but will still provide me with some good indicators of progress or lack thereof. I will measure my body fat just before I start on the Keto.

2   Next I need to know my starting  body weight which is 205 lbs

3   Then I need to calculate my TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
I will use an online calculator for this which gathers some info such as my gender, age, height, weight, activity level, exercise regime.

The TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the amount of calories that your body will burn in a 24-hour period. It factors in your sleep, work, exercise, and normal daily activity.

I have tried a few different TDEE calculators and I get different results from each due to the fact they use different formulas etc. I am going to base my TDEE on the low side of 2800 Calories per day. This simply means that in order to maintain my current weight and not gain or lose weight I would need to continue eating 2800 calories per day.

4    Now that I have my TDEE I need to decide on how much of a calorie deficit I am willing to run in order to lose the body fat. Typically in order to lose weight the calorie deficit range is 300 to 500 calories below your TDEE. I am going to go middle of the range and am choosing to go with a 400 calorie deficit.

5.       So now I simply take my TDEE of 2800 and subtract 400 and viola my daily calorie intake goal is 2400!

The next step is to create a Keto meal plan based on the 2400 calories– stay tuned for this.

Dave Does Keto

Keto is coming to Dave in 34 Days.......

 

 

Keto Adapting and The Keto Flu!

Our bodies have simply adjusted to the intake of carbs and the sugar contained within carbs we eat. When we cut out these carbs the body fights back. We feel tired, fatigued, irritable or even run into "brain fog" when carbs get too low.
Keto flu is the name given to a set of symptoms some people experience when first starting keto. It’s not actually a flu and definitely not contagious, but it can become quite tiring. Keto flu symptoms are very similar to that of your regular flu and can last anywhere from a day to a few weeks! You may experience

• fatigue
• headaches
• cough
• sniffles
• irritability
• nausea

Many people who experience these symptoms in the beginning of their ketogenic diet will believe the diet is to blame and carbs are good after all. Ironically, seeing these symptoms is a sign that you were very dependent on carbohydrates! Your body is going through withdrawal carbs and sugar loaded foods.

Readjusting to Fat

Headaches and fatigue can come from the sudden drop in carbs. When our bodies are used to using carbs for energy, it takes a little bit of time to readjust to using fat. This is the process of becoming keto adapted! It usually takes a person anywhere from 2-5 days to enter ketosis. When carbs are limited to under 50g (depending on the person, but textbooks seem to agree on this number) the body starts to break down fatty acids in ketones, which the brain then uses for fuel. This doesn’t mean they’re keto adapted though.

Becoming Keto Adapted

Becoming keto adapted means your body is now readily and easily converting those fatty acids you’re eating into ketones. In the beginning, the body may not be well equipped to convert. We all have fat converting enzymes, but the amount of them drastically increases when keto adapted. This is another cause of fatigue in the beginning of a keto diet, or during a keto flu: your body is building up the reserves to start running on fat (creating more enzymes to more efficiently burn fat).

I have experienced "brain fog before from going low carb and it was very, very unpleasant to say the least and lasted  about 4 weeks so in order to prevent experiencing the keto flu I have been slowly reducing carbs from my diet for the past several weeks and have been introducing more fats so that when I do switch to "full Keto mode" I can minimize my chances of experiencing the Keto Flu. - Time will tell.

Why Do Keto?

The Background Stuff

I have plenty of experience running low carb diets but during these low carb diets I ran medium to low carbs, high protein and low fat. My experience and those of many I have consulted are that running low carb diets play havoc with your energy levels and when you are "cutting" for a competition or trying to get at or maintain a body-fat percentage below 10 % this can be very difficult both physically and mentally. In our typical western culture diets our bodies have become reliant or almost addicted in a way to carbohydrates and the sugar contained within the carbohydrates.

Typical Bodybuilder Macros Chart

There are of course those that would argue this fact but scientifically speaking our bodies do not actually require carbs to survive as they are not considered essential.Our bodies do however require fats and protein to survive. This  is not to say our muscles do not require glycogen. absolutely they do! Especially from a sports performance perspective glycogen is very critical
So this is where things really get tricky. Carbs provide glycogen and muscle require glycogen  Your body cannot convert fats directly into muscle-ready glycogen. However, through a series of metabolic processes that result from conditions of depleted carbohydrates, it is possible for stored fats to be broken down into glucose, which can then be converted into glycogen. But carbohydrates are immediately and easily converted into glucose, so metabolizing them is the most efficient way for your body to produce glycogen.

A Ketogenic Diet is Great, But Is it Right For Dave?

A ketogenic diet can be great for people who are overweight, diabetic or looking to improve their metabolic health.
It may be less suitable for elite athletes or those wishing to add large amounts of muscle or weight.
And, as with any diet, it will only work if you are consistent and stick with it in the long-term.

So this will be the key for me. Can I add and or maintain lean muscle mass while running a keto diet?

This will be a new experience for me and a new journey. My intent with this blog is to not only track and journal my experience running a keto diet from a fitness enthusiasts perspective but to learn and share my new found keto knowledge with whomever would like to come along for the ride.

The Plan

I plan on running a high protein keto diet for 16 weeks or 112 days
Start Date: Mon Aug 29 
Finish Date: Sun  Dec 18

The Goal

My goal is 3 fold:
#1) I am currently running in "off season" mode. Meaning I have been putting on weight. As I write this I am at 207 lbs. My goal is to come in at 185 lbs by the end of the 16 weeks. I have chosen 185 lbs, not arbitrarily but  because this is a weight that I typically look and feel my best. It is the weight at which I am comfortable in my  own skin, if that makes sense?
# 2)  Feel better and healthier overall while during this leaning out phase.
# 3) Maintain lean muscle mass - I do not want to sacrifice hard earned muscle for a number on a scale. So my goal is to keep my "gains". 

In future posts as Aug 29 nears I will be posting details of my nutrition plan going over the foods I will be eating including my macros (macro-nutrients). How many calories I am consuming, How much of a calorie deficit I will be running etc.

What is Keto?

Alright so first off what is Keto?
Keto is short for Ketogenic or Ketosis

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that offers many health benefits.
It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake, and replacing it with fat. The reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis.
When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.

Different Types of Ketogenic Diets

There are several versions of the ketogenic diet, including:

• Standard ketogenic diet (SKD): This is a very low-carb, moderate-protein and high-fat diet. It typically contains 75% fat, 20% protein and only 5% carbs.
  
  
• Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD): This diet involves periods of higher-carb refeeds, such as 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high-carb days.
• Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): This diet allows you to add carbs around workouts.
• High-protein ketogenic diet: This is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein The ratio is often 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs.

For my purposes I will be following a High-protein ketogenic diet as I require the extra protein to help sustain muscle mass.