Hit A Wall!!!

[falco21]

Ok well I have come in contact with the dreaded wall!! I started out at 249 and am now around 209-210. I have lost all this weight doing Insanity until I needed surgery on my shoulder. I am currently breezing through therapy and almost 100% again, but I can not lift. Right now I am running 3 times a week in the morning fasted for 40 minutes. Give or take 4-5 miles.

For this whole time I have stuck with a keto diet and have had awesome results as one can see. I feel as if I hit a wall now! I can not seem to lose that last fat I still have. I figured I would need to get off keto and maybe start a more balanced diet? Any help would be greatly accepted!! Here is the sample diet I have been on and have lost all this weight on.

(6 Foot 2 Inches, 209 lbs., around 17% body fat as estimated by pictures)

Calories/Fat/Carbs/Protein

"Breakfast:
8:00 am" 2 Eggs With Cheese and 3 Strips Of Turkey Bacon 289/19/4/22

"Snack:
10:00 am" 4 Slices of Hard Salami With Cream Cheese 352/31/2/14

"Lunch:
12:00 pm" Chicken Breast 110/2.5/0/23

"Cardio:
2:00 pm"

"Post-Workout:
3:00 pm" 2 Scoops Protein Powder and Water 280/4/8/52

"Dinner:
5:00 pm" Salad With Ranch, Broccoli, and Carrots 342/28/2/1

"Snack:
7:00 pm" 2 Mozzarella Cheese Sticks and A Handful of Walnuts 370/28/2/19

Totasl: 1743/112.5/18/131

[Turkish Juicer]

Your diet is a poor representative of keto primarily because;

1. It involves too much processed food sources like Salami, Turkey Bacon, Cream Cheese, Ranch, Mozzarella Cheese Sticks and etc. when you could actually get your daily needs of fat and protein from much more valuable sources like Salmon/Tuna/Tilapia, Lean Beef/Lamb/Bison, Olive Oil/Flax Seed Oil/Almonds and etc.

2. It lacks the protein for daily needs of a 210 pound male adult who torches his muscles with accelerated cardio EOD for 40 mins. I am positive you are also burning a whole a lot of muscle during those cardio sessions with your daily consumption of 112.5/18/131 Fat/CHO/PRO ratio.

3. Last two meals do not even include any anabolic protein. Why is that? I have previously talked to Palumbo about the keto diet and this is not what he advices his clients. Are you sure you have a full understanding of the keto diet?

[gbrice75]

^ ^ I agree with every point TJ made here. Congrats on your progress so far, but it's definitely time to change things up. You can't expect to keep doing the same thing and get consistent results forever. As your body composition changes, you diet will need to be modified along with it.

First, why are you only doing cardio 3x a week? I'd be shooting for 5x, bare minimum. Introducing carbs back into your diet may not be a bad idea, but DO IT SLOWLY! I don't know how long you've been running keto, but adding carbs too quickly could result in MORE bodyfat stored.

Get your protein up ASAP, i'd recommend at least 250g based on your stats. That's about 1.5g/lb of LBM. Maybe start with carbs at 50g/day, and bring fats down accordingly. I'd suggest getting most of your carbs from fiberous/veggie sources at first.

[falco21]

Well that's why I asked here. I figured I was doing it wrong. I mean it had been working and I was losing the fat, but the points stated are correct, I was probably torching muscle. That's why I'm trying to change it up. I am currently living in a dorm room in college as a full time student and I don't have access to expensive foods, so I can't really get what I wanted. Money is extremely tight for me. I have been doing this diet for about a month now, and have felt great! My energy and everything has increased dramatically. Should I continue with a much more balanced and nutritious keto diet? Or should I bring my carbs up? I like doing keto. It feels great doing it.

[falco21]

Here's the Palumbo diet I found. Is this the one your talking about Turkish Juicer?


MEAL #1 6 whole eggs (OMEGA-3 EGGS )

MEAL #2 SHAKE: 50g Whey Protein with 1 tablespoon of All Natural Peanut butter

MEAL #3 "Lean Protein Meal": 8 oz chicken with 1 tb macadamia nut oil

MEAL #4 SHAKE: 50g Whey Protein with 1 tablespoons of All Natural Peanut butter

MEAL #5 6 whole eggs (OMEGA-3 EGGS )

MEAL #6 SHAKE: 50g Whey with 1 tablespoon all natural peanut butter

[gbrice75]

If you feel good on keto and think it's working for you, then I say stick with it. Yes, I would change it up to be a healthier diet, and the above is from the Palumbo diet. Keep in mind you'll need to adjust it to fit your caloric needs - that diet is just a sample and more about food choices rather than quantity.

[falco21]

Ok yea then I will definitely stick to keto. It's the diet that I have seen the most results with. So I'm going to basically switch it up a little for me. I am getting ready to go to therapy now for my shoulder so I will look at it when I come back and move things around. I really appreciate it guys. One reason why I love this board =)

[Turkish Juicer]

I am glad you guys sorted it out.

I have personally nothing against keto and I know for a fact that it works very well for some people, however, I have seen a lot of misleading practices of it. Processed food for daily protein and fat intake are generally the most practiced abuses of the keto diet IMO and I am sure Palumbo is also aware of it (not that he ever advices it in the first place).

[falco21]

So basically I found the diet for a 200lb man. I will follow this to the T and see how it turns out. I read everywhere that it is a great diet to burn the fat off. Everyone seems to have awesome results from it. Also, for cardio, I will do 40 minutes on the treadmill at about 6.0mph, that way I use fat as energy and not muscle, 5 days a week. Here is the diet.

Calories/Fat/Carbs/Protein

MEAL #1
5 whole eggs and 3 Slices of Turkey Bacon 475/29.5/5/41

MEAL #2
SHAKE: 50g Whey Protein with 1 tablespoon of All Natural Peanut Butter (no sugar) 375/12/11/55.5

MEAL #3
"Lean Protein Meal": 8oz chicken with 1/4-cup Almonds 310/15.5/3/30

MEAL #4
SHAKE: 50g Whey Protein with 1 tablespoons of All Natural Peanut Butter (no sugar added) 375/12/11/55.5

MEAL #5/
"Fatty Protein Meal": 8oz 80/20 Lean Beef and a green salad (no tomatoes, carrots, or red peppers) with 1 tablespoon of Olive oil 700/60/0/38

MEAL #6
SHAKE: 50g Whey with 1 tablespoon all natural Peanut Butter 375/12/11/55.5

TOTALS: 2610/141/41/275.5

[gbrice75]

Give it a go and keep us posted with your progress. I'd make meal 2 or 4 real food instead of a shake though. Keep the shake for PWO meal. Make Meal 6 Casein protein

[falco21]

Ok I will probably change those meals around. I will definitely keep you posted on the progress. According to Palumbo this diet will take about 3-4 days to enter ketosis. He also goes on to say that one day a week should have a cheat meal to raise glycogen levels, the last meal of that day to avoid cheating again. When should I start this cheat meal? And what should that meal consist of? He never stated what and when.

[gbrice75]

Ok I will probably change those meals around. I will definitely keep you posted on the progress. According to Palumbo this diet will take about 3-4 days to enter ketosis. He also goes on to say that one day a week should have a cheat meal to raise glycogen levels, the last meal of that day to avoid cheating again. When should I start this cheat meal? And what should that meal consist of? He never stated what and when.

Best time for this meal IMO is a night before a really intense workout... such as legs. You'll at least put some of that meal to good use.

Obviously it would be best to keep the cheat meal clean; a big bowl of whole grain pasta w/ chicken, beef, or seafood... or a big serving of brown rice with meat... basically a protein/carb meal, keeping fats very low in that meal.

[falco21]

Ok then that's what I'll do. I'll have that cheat meal the day before my legs workout. Also since it takes about 3-4 days to to get my body into keto, should I wait a couple weeks and stay in keto before I do this cheat meal?

[falco21]

Well I started the diet today. Had meals 1-3 and just finished eating the 80/20 lean beef. About to go to the cafeteria here at school and have a salad with olive and oil. I also am planning on going for a run for 20 minutes and ride the bike for another 20 after dinner. I think I might skip the last protein shake. I feel like I have eaten enough, but then again maybe I should have it since it is after my cardio session. Any thoughts?

[falco21]

Just biked for 20 minutes and ran for another 20. Felt awesome!! So far so good. We'll see how it continues.

According to livestrong.com:

Calorie Goal: 2042
Calories Consumed: 1912
Calories Burned: 552
Net Calories: 1359

[Turkish Juicer]

I think I might skip the last protein shake. I feel like I have eaten enough, but then again maybe I should have it since it is after my cardio session. Any thoughts?

You are better off having the shake after your cardio session, as long as the idea here is to burn fat and maintain muscle as much as possible.

Although, science shows us that preworkout supplementation fights catabolism better than postworkout. In this case, you may want to drink your whey concentrate 1 hr before your cardio session. If whey isolate is what you have, 30 mins. before workout.

Nonetheless, you are better off with more protein than vice versa.

[Turkish Juicer]

Well I started the diet today. Had meals 1-3 and just finished eating the 80/20 lean beef. About to go to the cafeteria here at school and have a salad with olive and oil.

I prefer 90/10 lean beef. I am not suggesting that 20% of fat in beef is the mother of all evils unlike the ongoing popular belief (especially in the States for a while) but it is wiser to get your fatty acids from a source like olive oil in your salad for a variety of reasons. I would increase the amount of olive oil in my salad and decrase the amount of fat in my beef.

[Turkish Juicer]

Ok then that's what I'll do. I'll have that cheat meal the day before my legs workout. Also since it takes about 3-4 days to to get my body into keto, should I wait a couple weeks and stay in keto before I do this cheat meal?

I personally waited for two weeks before starting the cheat meal routine in my keto diet, simply because that is how I wanted to experiement with my body. I wanted to see for how long I physically and physcologically can handle breaking into a very old habit of eating carbs ED. I broke down by the end of second weeks, as one may imagine...

Carbing up the day before your leg workout would be wise choice for scheduling your cheat meal IMO. Also, I do not recommend doing cardio the day after your leg workout for obvious reasons. Take a day off from training the next day and give your legs a time to rest...

[gbrice75]

I prefer 90/10 lean beef. I am not suggesting that 20% of fat in beef is the mother of all evils unlike the ongoing popular belief (especially in the States for a while) but it is wiser to get your fatty acids from a source like olive oil in your salad for a variety of reasons. I would increase the amount of olive oil in my salad and decrase the amount of fat in my beef.

90/10 is still way too high for me personally. I'd rather get my fat from nuts, oils, avacado, etc. 95/5 is what I go with. However, some saturated fat is good and necessary in a healthy diet, especially where weight training is concerned.

[Turkish Juicer]

90/10 is still way too high for me personally. I'd rather get my fat from nuts, oils, avacado, etc. 95/5 is what I go with. However, some saturated fat is good and necessary in a healthy diet, especially where weight training is concerned.

Agreed.

[falco21]

Thank you guys for all the input. I was looking for something a little less like 90/10, but the store by me only had 80/20. Next time I go, I will ask if they have something less than that. Also, how does the cardio portion and the calories look? Am I doing enough cardio if I do that every day? And are my calories right where I need them to be? I had an issue with eating too little, I think that's why I hit that wall before.