Actual photo of Chad basking in the afterglow
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@Mike
Just curious, how many carbs do you allot yourself per day ?
Not tracking this week, but shoot for 25 if I’m on it. I don’t panic if more, or try to sneak em in pre workout
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Welp, still no peetones 
. And my weight appears to slowly be trending up, which is not my immediate goal (I’m really trying to find my baseline macros on keto for a few weeks before I begin my weight gain). I suspect I will need to drop my protein down to 1g per lb of lean body mass, which will be around 140g. I’m also trying out intermittent fasting starting today ~18/6 - 17/7. I’ve been reading that I’m probably okay having a bulletproof coffee (1 tbsp butter or mct) in the morning without impacting the fast too much. So I’ll keep that to get me through the morning.
My biggest concern is how I will be able to eat all my 2640 calories 2640 calories (220 f, 140 p, 25 c), though. I’m going to prep my lunch with the intention of hitting about half of those (1300 calorie lunch???), which will be interesting. According to “Doctor” Berg, when you go into intermittent fasting, you get more efficient at preserving protein, thus requiring even less. So maybe I’ll need less food?
Ugh, so many variables!
Been thinking about this, because it’s my struggle too.
Hour 0: 30g protein
Hour 2: 30g protein
Hour 4: 30g protein
Hour 6: 30g protein
Hour 8: 30g protein, kitchen’s closed
Problem is, by hours 4 and 6, I don’t care to eat more protein though, so that’s where I fall apart and the protein number drops too low. This is probably because my first two meals are too big, so back to MyFitnessPal for real I go
I think it’s more like, “Ketones are leucine sparing”. Not sure if it’s the fasting itself or the BHB itself, which should be circulating when fasting.
I personally agree. What kills me is when I throw in artificial sweeteners, I crave more sweets afterward and don’t want to stop. But without that… if this is a way to sneak in an extra 100-150 calories, it could be worth it.
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Almost a week and a half in keto plus 5 days of 18-6 intermittent fasting, and still no “peetones”. I suspect that during my 7 month shred for the competition this June (48 lb cut) may have made my mitochondria enough fat-adapted to have me ready to use all the ketones I’m generating…therefore not registering ketones in my piss. However at this point, my energy is coming from somewhere, and it certainly ain’t carbs 
. Blood ketone tester would be the best way to go, but I don’t feel like shelling out the $50-60 (plus $1 per test).
Update on IF. Definitely harder to be comfortable hitting my 2700-2800 on an 18-6, as @Mike mentioned. Upon quite a bit of reading (and some common sense), I need to treat my fat intake as the following:
- Food for energy (duh)
- Reduce insulin spike when consuming protein (inevitable)
- A means for carrying me through my fast
That third point is a bit of a revelation to me; only eat what fat I need to keep me satiated. To keep in ketosis, the actual ratio of protein to fat is irrelevant (within reason) if you keep carbs very low. With that in mind, I’m going to try the following:
- Get my protein to what my body needs. I was doing .8-.9 g protein per lb this week, which can’t be good for bodybuilding, bulking, “lean gains”. Ideally I think I should be at least 1.2, but I’ll try 1 for now. I’m going to up my protein, say 140 g (1 g per lb lean body mass from DXA scan) protein.
- Ensure my protein sources are fatty or at least complimented with fatty food. But not sweat the fat numbers. As long as carbs are low, it really shouldn’t matter too much.
- Make my dinner (before fast) extra fatty to carry me through my 18-hour fast.
We’ll see how it goes!
After my little revelation. I googled “keto burning protein or fat”, and found this excellent article indicating that protein does not knock you out of ketosis. Might be a case of confirmation bias, but meh
Update…Another interesting article on protein and ketosis. Yeah, it’s from a site called wheyflavor.com, but the article references a couple studies to help back up its statements.
http://www.wheyflavor.com/whey-protein-on-keto-diet/
What do y’all think…
- Did 7 months of shredding make me fat-burning adapted before I started keto?
- If I have energy, could I be in keto without registering on the pee strips?
- Does protein really knock you out of ketosis?
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Wait, you’re testing for ketones through your urine? If so, stop as it’s accuracy is terrible. You need a blood glucose and ketone meter like a GlucoRX
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Why do IF if it’s hard for you
Spread out your meals as that has far More benefits to MPS (muscle protein synthesis)
IF isn’t magic it’s just a preference , at the end of the day you should do what’s best for your lifestyle.
If energy isn’t tanking or performance isn’t lacking then stick with keto if it is I would switch gears
My 2cents listen to your body and how you feel in and out of the gym. For me I get flat very fast,
I get cold shivers on keto and my performance and energy tanks
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It’s not “so hard” for me. I only said it is harder to hit my macros (as Mike mentioned). Keto and IF are new for me. Chances are I’m doing everything right. But I still wanted to ask the questions above, both for my benefit and for the benefit of others who may want to explore keto/IF. 
Heh, I should refresh folks as to why I’m doing all this:
- I’m doing keto to support my wife. Makes her life easier if we are on the same diet. She is seeing great results, and I want to make it as easy for her as possible. This thread actually started as asking questions when my wife got started a few months ago.
- I’m doing IF for my health.
- I’m not doing keto/IF to improve my bodybuilding. I’m am attempting to make bodybuilding work while doing keto/IF. I know very well that I won’t build strength and muscle as quickly, but quick gains aren’t my goal.
I have plenty of energy of performance…never really felt a loss or a “flu”, actually. This week, even with IF, I have a fair amount more energy (not this amazing euphoric energy and focus folks talk about). I’m drinking about half the caffeine during the day, and I have good energy and even “pumps” at the gym.
Agreed, everybody’s different. I also bulked and shredded just fine without keto and IF.
Again, this is new, I’m overcommunicating and asking lots of questions to strike up a conversation. It’s something that I’m excited about; come on, biohacking is fun stuff! If it comes across as me saying things are “too hard” or whatever, that’s my bad, lol.
It’s only been a couple weeks. I plan to give more updates (probably less frequently) as things come along.
Yeah, too cheap for the blood tester. The more I read about the peetone tests, they probably won’t work on someone who is athletic and [probably] already adapted to fat-burning. I figure that as long as I have good energy, I’m doing something right! 
Fasting itself is, via autophagy I believe. The body recycles protein allot more during fasting then it does normally which is why bears still have a large amount of muscle mass post hibernation.
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I’ve always thought this. I mean, if you beta-oxidized fat all that time…
Yes. Those measure acetoacetate. Seems dependent on lots of people. Dom D’Agostino’s been in ketosis forever and uses them successfully still as a nice little morning benchmark. Because he said that, I ordered some myself on days I don’t want to throw money at blood strips. But some people get very efficient and don’t throw off acetoacetate, I guess. Being the ripped and efficient mofo you are, maybe you are one such person!
Does for me. Lower ketone numbers anytime I pig out on a huge meat meal the night before 
…and Chadd is kinda a bear!!!
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LOL I think you’ve been in ketosis nearly this entire time!! No wonder why you’re so smart!
Nice reflection 
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Hey @Mike. Let me know if you are going to be doing more blood ketone and glucose experiments. I’d be up for participating! Might even be able to get the wife in on it too 
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Checking in with and update. Several weeks into keo, and 2 weeks with 17-7/18-6 intermittent fasting every day. Here are my observations:
- Pumps: Good vasodilation during my workouts. My veins are HUGE during my workouts. I also get decent pumps. No carbs, no Citrulline.
- Don’t necessarily have more energy on keto, but I have consistent energy throughout the day. No lows before/after meals or whatever. This includes workouts, consistent energy, no “high” and “low” days at the gym.
- Intermittent fasting is easy. Hunger pangs are there, but that’s about it. Up to 23-hour fast (twice so far) without issue. I don’t feel controlled by my food. I used to get nauseous when I skipped breakfast. Not anymore! No sugar lows either!
- Only poop once per day. Very solid poops, too. But I seem to get a bout of diarrhea once per week.
- Drink a lot less water (less than a gallon, versus around two per day)
- No film on my teeth. My teeth have never felt cleaner.
Totally digging this! Stay tuned 
Hmm, that’s one I’ve never heard, but makes sense. Good update!
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This is key for me. When I’m doing it right, there’s no afternoon slump for the first time in my life
Feels good to be free!!
Accidentally overdoing the MCT Oil? MCT can blow some people up
Glad you’re enjoying. TODAY I finally started counting macros again, for real. So yes, I’m going to be rolling into some tests soon!
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