Originally Posted by
alexkorbutiak
I am very interested in trying a CKD and have done a lot of reading on these forums, but I still have a few questions or concepts I am not fully understanding...
1) What is the exact purpose and results of the carb-up / refeed? I understand that it is to put the glycogen back into your muscles to give you energy and stamina for good pumps at the beginning of the week. Now, does the carb-up remove you from ketosis completely or do like the first X amount of carb grams get converted to muscle glycogen and you're back to fats for energy? or do you get taken back to square one? Once you carb up, is it the same process to get back into a deep state of ketosis as it was initially to enter it or is it easier to re-adjust? It took your body a few days to get used to ketosis, does it take it a few days to get used to carbs again?
You already answered your own question in regards to the purpose of the carb refeed. As far as the ketosis question - yes, the carb up will most definitely knock you out of ketosis within 1/2 hour or so of consuming the first carb meal. It is the same process to get back into ketosis - just stop eating carbs, bring fats back up. However, alot of people like to use glucose disposal agents to quickly drop blood glucose levels, effectively throwing you into ketosis much quicker. This will ensure you spend a longer time in ketosis rather then in transition for another 2 days after a carb up. It does not take your body any time to get used to carbs as glucose is the body's preferred fuel source, so whenever it's present your body will happily switch right back to burning it as it's primary fuel
2) What is the main difference between the CKD and a Dave Palumbo style diet? Will both of these diets enter you into a state of ketosis or is one a better style of diet for fat burning? I understand the ratios are almost switched: ie 65% fats / 30% protein for CKD and 65% protein / 30% fats for Palumbo style.
There are people more qualified than myself to answer this as i've only run a CKD, however in my opinion CKD is very cumbersome and rigid, especially the carb ups. With the Palumbo diet, it's MUCH more straight forward, you don't have to follow any special workout routines, and the carb up isn't like a science experiment. Both diets can be effective if done right, but I believe Palumbo's is much easier to stick with. You may preserve LBM better on Palumbo as well since protein is much higher.
3) How do you lose fat on a ketosis diet? As my understanding of thermodynamics goes, fat loss is a result of more energy expended than inputed. So I understand that it is a deficit of calories that would cause the weight loss. SO how is it that it makes a difference on the type of fuel the body uses that produces a greater result (ie ketones vs glycogen). If your eating 500 calories less on a Carb diet how is it any different than eating 500 calories less on a Ketonic diet? Is it because of instead of using glycogen on a carb-filled diet to make up the deficit, the body now uses the stored supply of fatty tissue directly, instead of first the glycogen then the fat when glycogen isn't present anymore?
Good question. Your right about the caloric deficit being the biggest factor. There are people who have run keto diets and stayed the same, or even GAINED fat because they didn't pay attention to calories. You can't just eat indiscriminatly just because you drop carbs out of your diet. However, on a keto diet you are forcing your body to actually make the switch to a fat burning metabolism vs. a glycogen/glucose burning type. So yes the body will use keytones as it's primary fuel instead of glucose, but it's also more likely to dip into bodyfat stores since fat is now the only fuel source. This is especially true during cardio sessions on a keto diet (I would stick with pretty low intensity though).
I hope these questions make sense and aren't totally stupid. I am relatively new to this and would very much appreciate any input.
Thanks in advance.
