3 ms·

Congrats on the lifestyle change! Were you overeating before? I've heard a lot of anecdotal stuff about keto and magical side effects, but I really wonder if i

Congrats on the lifestyle change! Were you overeating before? I've heard a lot of anecdotal stuff about keto and magical side effects, but I really wonder if it's effects are from losing weight/eating a better balanced diet. In my experience it's really easy to overeat with carbs. Sugar in particular gives me crazy cravings.

glastra 9y ago
No, I wasn't. This is part of a progression I started 2 years ago. I was a hardcore case of skinny-fat ever since I was a kid. In other words, my BMI has always been normal, although my body fat % was probably through the roof (small frame, no muscle at all, quite a bit of fat). First I started a "future food" liquid diet (Queal) together with running 5K 3 times a week. The change in diet (I was eating mostly precooked and fast-food) and the exercise worked pretty well. Then I switched to other future food providers, but I was finding it difficult to gain muscle while not gaining fat. As it turns out, it's all in the macros. Most Soylent-like products are catered towards sedentary people who come from very crappy diets, or who don't mind having a less-than-ideal diet for convenience. At one point I was already almost doing my own DIY powders (using one commercial brand as a base and adding my own fat and protein, to keep the carbs low). Then, after 3 or 4 months reading and researching the ketogenic diet, I decided to go all in and start my own DIY ketogenic powdered food diet. I enjoy tinkering with pretty much everything, so coming up with a proper formula and tweaking it was and still is an amazing experience for me. I encourage you to at least give keto a try. It's true that "whole food" keto is a bit hard, and it's also hard to keep track of all the micronutrients you need and where to get them. Either way, the benefits are incredible. Apologies for the lengthy response. Edit: Oh, sorry for not addressing one of your points. Actually, the amazing increase in brain function is felt quite early into the diet, when no weight loss (other than water encased in glycogen) has happened yet.
- ElatedOwl 9y ago
  I've always been fascinated by things like Soylent, prepackaged food is so much easier but is either insanely expensive or insanely unhealthy. How cost effective is your DIY powder? My main turn off of keto is the higher grocery bills... carbs are so much cheaper. >I was finding it difficult to gain muscle while not gaining fat. If you're doing some kind of strength program, once you squeeze out your noob gains your progress will stall pretty hard unless you're eating a caloric surplus. It's an insanely frustrating dilemma: do I want to get stronger and fatter or lose some weight and get more muscle definition?
  - glastra 9y ago
    I am eating a calorie surplus* and losing body fat in the process. Keto + IF means my body is fasted / burning fat N hours a day, and spends the other 24-N repairing and building new tissue. My body of course prefers to burn fat during the fasted period as I have no serum insulin, so there is no catabolism of muscle to provide energy. In other words, calorie counting alone is pretty much useless. Regarding my DIY, it's around 90 €/month for 2000 kcal with 90 g protein, 28 g fiber and all micronutrients covered. Of course, I'm from Spain, where EVOO is dirt cheap, and it accounts for all of my non-protein calories. *: Or, rather, not a deficit. Calorie deficit/surplus stops making sense once you take hormone regulation and fasted/fed state into account.

glastra 9y ago

No, I wasn't. This is part of a progression I started 2 years ago. I was a hardcore case of skinny-fat ever since I was a kid. In other words, my BMI has always been normal, although my body fat % was probably through the roof (small frame, no muscle at all, quite a bit of fat). First I started a "future food" liquid diet (Queal) together with running 5K 3 times a week. The change in diet (I was eating mostly precooked and fast-food) and the exercise worked pretty well. Then I switched to other future food providers, but I was finding it difficult to gain muscle while not gaining fat. As it turns out, it's all in the macros. Most Soylent-like products are catered towards sedentary people who come from very crappy diets, or who don't mind having a less-than-ideal diet for convenience. At one point I was already almost doing my own DIY powders (using one commercial brand as a base and adding my own fat and protein, to keep the carbs low). Then, after 3 or 4 months reading and researching the ketogenic diet, I decided to go all in and start my own DIY ketogenic powdered food diet. I enjoy tinkering with pretty much everything, so coming up with a proper formula and tweaking it was and still is an amazing experience for me. I encourage you to at least give keto a try. It's true that "whole food" keto is a bit hard, and it's also hard to keep track of all the micronutrients you need and where to get them. Either way, the benefits are incredible. Apologies for the lengthy response. Edit: Oh, sorry for not addressing one of your points. Actually, the amazing increase in brain function is felt quite early into the diet, when no weight loss (other than water encased in glycogen) has happened yet.

ElatedOwl 9y ago
I've always been fascinated by things like Soylent, prepackaged food is so much easier but is either insanely expensive or insanely unhealthy. How cost effective is your DIY powder? My main turn off of keto is the higher grocery bills... carbs are so much cheaper. >I was finding it difficult to gain muscle while not gaining fat. If you're doing some kind of strength program, once you squeeze out your noob gains your progress will stall pretty hard unless you're eating a caloric surplus. It's an insanely frustrating dilemma: do I want to get stronger and fatter or lose some weight and get more muscle definition?
- glastra 9y ago
  I am eating a calorie surplus* and losing body fat in the process. Keto + IF means my body is fasted / burning fat N hours a day, and spends the other 24-N repairing and building new tissue. My body of course prefers to burn fat during the fasted period as I have no serum insulin, so there is no catabolism of muscle to provide energy. In other words, calorie counting alone is pretty much useless. Regarding my DIY, it's around 90 €/month for 2000 kcal with 90 g protein, 28 g fiber and all micronutrients covered. Of course, I'm from Spain, where EVOO is dirt cheap, and it accounts for all of my non-protein calories. *: Or, rather, not a deficit. Calorie deficit/surplus stops making sense once you take hormone regulation and fasted/fed state into account.