down to 10% but i have questions

[smalltime7]

so june 8th I started low carb then on june 21 I started a keto diet I was 13.7 and have dropped to 10% I dont appear to be losing any muscle but the fat seems to be going I have only been doing cardio one day a week could I bump this to 4-5 times a week and get a faster result 10% was my goal but I am not happy with the way it looks so I am thinking I should shoot for 7-8% and see how it looks.

[gbrice75]

I hate you just for doing cardio once/week and dropping to 10%!!!

Seriously though - if you're at 10% and don't like the way it looks, you're probably not at 10%. How about posting up a pic so we can guess? Some of us are pretty decent at it.

[Times Roman]

I hate you just for doing cardio once/week and dropping to 10%!!!

Seriously though - if you're at 10% and don't like the way it looks, you're probably not at 10%. How about posting up a pic so we can guess? Some of us are pretty decent at it.

agreed! 10% is respectable (wish I could get to 10%!!!), and with cardio only once a week? Wow! Adding cardio would certainly help you achieve your goals quicker

[sean_holland]

10% is quite shredded, if your at 10% then it would be easy to distinguish with a few current (well lit) pictures.

[gbrice75]

Agreed with both of the above. And I hear you Times, I wish I could get to 10% too! Seems to elude me no matter what I do.

[smalltime7]

I will try to post a pic but I i had them test it this morning and thats what they said. you have to understand my diet has been crazy strict. even if I am slightly higher than what the calipers said I am going to start cardio. I wonder if seven days a week will be to much?

[gbrice75]

I will try to post a pic but I i had them test it this morning and thats what they said. you have to understand my diet has been crazy strict. even if I am slightly higher than what the calipers said I am going to start cardio. I wonder if seven days a week will be to much?

Don't jump from 1 day to 7 days bro. Start with 3, see where that takes you, add a 4th and so on until you find your 'sweet spot'.

[smalltime7]

k will do. in your pic what % are you? you look pretty lean.

[sean_holland]

He looks to be about 14% in his avatar pic...but its kinda small so it could be anywhere between 13-16%.

No one is calling you a liar, we just like to look at men's bodies lol

I also wouldn't advise going from 1 to 7 days a week. Maybe 3 days a week to start and give yourself 3-5 weeks to determine if that is sufficient. Then emend it as you go from there.

[smalltime7]

lol sean no i dont think your calling me a liar. I need to bring my camera home from my office tomorrow and get some pics.

[Damienm05]

Congrats on the fat loss man. Regardless of % - you've obviously made great strides quickly.
As for the cardio, step it up to 3-4 days at 60 minutes, 65% of max hr - around the 120 bpm range to ensure you're not losing muscle (keto, remember, no glycogen). In another 3 weeks, go to 5-6 days and keep it there if you really wanna get shredded.

[gbrice75]

k will do. in your pic what % are you? you look pretty lean.

Sean is spot on, i'm right around 14% in the avy. I was unhappy with 14% at the time of that pic; God, I wish I was 14% now!

[smalltime7]

Damien thanks for the encouragement I know what I want to look like before I begin to bulk so I guess the % doesnt really matter I will step up the cardio and continue to pee on the keto stix to keep it going.

[sean_holland]

Sean is spot on, i'm right around 14% in the avy. I was unhappy with 14% at the time of that pic; God, I wish I was 14% now!

Yeah, you look real good in the avatar (no homo). But I've seen your threads/responses and I can totally relate with the damn BF climbing as soon as you take your eye off the ball for a minute. I stay have to stay very clean or I suffer the same fate.

[gbrice75]

Yeah, you look real good in the avatar (no homo). But I've seen your threads/responses and I can totally relate with the damn BF climbing as soon as you take your eye off the ball for a minute. I stay have to stay very clean or I suffer the same fate.

Thanks bro! Apparantly I suffer that fate even when staying very clean!!! I just add bodyfat like nothing else, it's unbelivable. I feel like because of this, I will never be able to add mass. I may be able to get really cut, but I'm just going to look really skinny, which I hate!

[Damienm05]

As I recall, you lost a lot of fat not long ago. Your bmr isn't gonna be anywhere close to that of someone who's always been lean and active. Just subtract a few hundred when you calculate it in planning your next diet. That, or get big. It will take longer to gain but eventually you'll be up to speed. I went through the same thing.

[gbrice75]

True, I dropped from 255lbs to an all time low of 177lbs. I guess my BMR and/or TDEE is really low. I was eating at 3000 calories for a while but the fat was just piling on. This sucks!

[Damienm05]

I went from 270 to 190 and had a calculated TDEE of 3700. Sure enough, I was putting on fat eating 500 below that once I came off my crash diet. I went back down to 2300 and upped it by 100 every week until I was at my TDEE, which by that time was supposedly 3900 due to added LBM (yes, I added tons of LBM at a "deficit" because after years of being stocky and eating only 3 unhealthy meals per day, my body was overjoyed just to get 6-8 very small clean meals with protein and grew like a mo'****a).
I came off my keto diet three weeks ago, gradually upped the carbs and now, I pack down the cals to the tune of 4200 daily and am maintaining ~10% - I do do cardio 7 days however. But the point is, I feel your pain and overcame it with the method above. Just baby steps. If it takes 6 months for you to get to where you can eat sufficiently without worrying about getting fatter, that's well worth not having to always fluctuate and reconsider things.

[gbrice75]

I went from 270 to 190 and had a calculated TDEE of 3700. Sure enough, I was putting on fat eating 500 below that once I came off my crash diet. I went back down to 2300 and upped it by 100 every week until I was at my TDEE, which by that time was supposedly 3900 due to added LBM (yes, I added tons of LBM at a "deficit" because after years of being stocky and eating only 3 unhealthy meals per day, my body was overjoyed just to get 6-8 very small clean meals with protein and grew like a mo'****a).
I came off my keto diet three weeks ago, gradually upped the carbs and now, I pack down the cals to the tune of 4200 daily and am maintaining ~10% - I do do cardio 7 days however. But the point is, I feel your pain and overcame it with the method above. Just baby steps. If it takes 6 months for you to get to where you can eat sufficiently without worrying about getting fatter, that's well worth not having to always fluctuate and reconsider things.

I agree with your last statement 100%. While I was cutting, I was eating at 2000 calories/day (actually went as low as 1800 for a month) - yes I lost weight, but I think I was also losing LBM - I was just looking very skinny and STILL had alot of blubber. It's weird - I eat at a deficit, keep the fat and lose muscle. Eat at a surplus - maintain the muscle and gain fat! NOT FAIR!!!

I do like your method though; what was the point of upping it 100 calories every week until you reached maintenance, and how did you know that you reached your maintenance?

PS - still waiting to see your progress pics!

[Damienm05]

I agree with your last statement 100%. While I was cutting, I was eating at 2000 calories/day (actually went as low as 1800 for a month) - yes I lost weight, but I think I was also losing LBM - I was just looking very skinny and STILL had alot of blubber. It's weird - I eat at a deficit, keep the fat and lose muscle. Eat at a surplus - maintain the muscle and gain fat! NOT FAIR!!! The first few months sucks cuz the fat goes away in all the places u didn't mind it first. bastards.

I do like your method though; what was the point of upping it 100 calories every week until you reached maintenance, and how did you know that you reached your maintenance? Just because my metabolism had clearly been damaged by my crash diet. I wanted to get it back up to speed. So i added 100 cals weekly, being very anal, no cheating until I was at my calculated tdee (yes, the one that was getting me fat when I went from 1600 cals right to it). I just knew that until I went off to culinary school, I'd always had no trouble staying lean, so, I was noobish and simply trusted the formula the guy's on here gave me rather than trial and error, factoring in my activity level. Worked fine. Turns out that when fed properly and with time to adjust, my metabolism is actually pretty strong.

PS - still waiting to see your progress pics!
After this cycle. But no before pics - i looked like a strong version of kenny powers from eastbound and down at 270!

hahaha

[gbrice75]

I should try your method.... hopefully that'll work for me. I'd also be throwing clen + keto in the mix, shouldn't hurt!

Nice bro, I went to culinary school as well!

[Damienm05]

Clen + keto negated the bf gain I told you about during my injury rehab in April/may. Down 4% between June 2nd and 29th. Try it - just be strong and don't constantly worry about a lack of energy and loss of lbm - invest 4 weeks for a better bodybuilding future.

Nice. I had a great time at NECI. Just wish the actual career had turned out better. Now I just train clients and Bartend - such is life.

[smalltime7]

maybe i should toss in some clen ?

[gbrice75]

Clen + keto negated the bf gain I told you about during my injury rehab in April/may. Down 4% between June 2nd and 29th. Try it - just be strong and don't constantly worry about a lack of energy and loss of lbm - invest 4 weeks for a better bodybuilding future.

Nice. I had a great time at NECI. Just wish the actual career had turned out better. Now I just train clients and Bartend - such is life.

4% in a month? WTF dude, you're a machine! I know it'll take me alot longer than 4 weeks, I have the metabolism of a glacier. How long can one run clen straight with the addition of keto? Normally it's 2 weeks on, 2 off but with Keto I know you can go longer.

Smalltime7, i'm really sorry for hijacking your thread bro. Damien, if you see this let's take it to PM.

[gbrice75]

maybe i should toss in some clen?

I don't see how it could hurt.

[smalltime7]

here is a current pic not a very good one but the caliper says 10%

[smalltime7]

another

[gbrice75]

Definitely not 10%. Not bad though... hard to tell for sure from that angle.

[Damienm05]

Definitely not 10%. Not bad though... hard to tell for sure from that angel.

x2. looking good though, no homo. Lats/obliques look thick

[shortybrolick]

Need better pics bro thats a crappy angle.. looking thick tho

[smalltime7]

thanks I will keeping on the ketosis till I see what I want. I will post more in a couple weeks.

[jester4710]

Looking pretty diesel but definately not 10%

[Noles12]

From that angle i would put you at at least 15%

[smalltime7]

well how much BF should I be dropping per week in ketosis I have leaned up alot from what I was maybe I need to re evaluate the fat intake? and lower it a bit.

[Damienm05]

You want enough fat to get your body into a fat-burning mode but not enough to the point where having a caloric deficit is impossible. Also, eating a lot of bacon and cheese and guacamole, rotisserie chickens and shit will have you holding a lot of water as opposed to just oils/nuts.

You can lose 4-5 lbs per week on keto with everything dialed in perfectly (deficit) and cardio - 3 of which are surely fat. I shoot for a 60/40 fat/pro ratio. So assuming you're getting the standard 200g pro (1g per lb of body weight), I'd do 120g fat. That's a pretty healthy deficit.