Has anyone tried the ketogenic diet?

J

ji_mestone

New Member
Long-time HSTer/forum stalker, first time poster here.

I just spent the last 2 hours reading whatever I could find on this, including some of Lyle McDonald's book on the subject. I'm curious about your personal experience with the diet. For no reason other than sheer curiosity I like to try different diets just to change things up, but to be honest, even after reading all the science behind it, eating that much fat just scares me to death. Mostly because I think about how much time on the treadmill it'd take to burn all that fat.

How did it go? How long did you do it? Did you experience any negative side effects? What was your initial body fat percentage and what was it when you ended the diet? What was you sample meal plan for the day? Overall, would you recommend it?

Also, I couldn't find anything on BF% ranges in which this diet is most effect, so I'm wondering if it would do me any good since I'm already at a pretty low BF% (6% at 195 lbs).

Thanks a lot for the input!
 
Ketogenice diet is working great for me for short term weight loss.I have involved in weight lifting added to this, is Ketogenice diet which keeps me fit and healthy.
 
If you are at 6% already you need to go either with Lyle M's UD 2 or Clarence Bass' approach, depending on what works for you. Also, don't stay that low for long or you will trash your hormones over time. I prefer a middle of the road between these 2, UD 2 is a bit harsh for more than 1 or 2 cycles
 
Yup, at 6% or lower, I'd go with the Clarence Bass, long, slow, easy approach. "Harsh" is a kind word for UD2.
 
Hi ji_mestone,

Firstly, I have to say that I like to experiement with different diets too. To get a feel of what works and what doesnt. It always makes more sense when giving people advice if you've actually experienced what you're talking about.

I experiemented with the metabolic/anabolic diet (ketogenic) back in 2009 for about 3 months. My overall results were great/noticeable fat loss, and that it was quite an 'enjoyable' diet to do, as it was all about eating meat and fat! I find carbs can be boring!
Anyway, over the 3 months, I lost about 2 stone (28lb). Mostly bodyfat, though I did lose some muscle and shape too. I couldnt accurately measure my bf at the time, so I relied on scales and the mirror.
The issue with the fats, is that you should be eating 'good' fats, like fish oils and coconut oil, primarily.

I dont think I could have bulked up on this diet particularly well, despite claims that it can be used as a bulking diet, on some websites/interviews. Firstly, at my bwt, I would need a huge amount of cals, which would be difficult to maintain without carbs, and secondly, I understand that carbs are pretty important when it comes to building muscle. Better than ketones apparently?

I also found I had a lack of energy in the gym without the carbs. I fatigued much quicker and didnt have the stamina for a long session (by long, I mean over half an hour) I noticed that my strength was going down too. I struggled with my rep maxs.

So, overall, a good way to burn bf, especially quite quickly. This is the basis of a rapid fat loss diet.
However, if you are already at around 6%, as the others have said here, you dont really need to go much/any lower? And a ketogenic diet is maybe too fast to do this?
I am currently trying Intermittent Fasting - again, good for fat loss, but not so easy for bulking - and having noticeable improvement.
This is a 'life style' diet, so might be worth looking at, if you're interested? Certainly worth experimenting with.

Regards

Brix
 
I eat low carb and I stay Leeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnn :)

I dont have a scale so I cant weigh myself... not sure if its good for bulking. I feel tired during my wednesday and friday workouts ex... i try a new RM on friday, cant get it. I wait and try it again on monday and i get it.... im thinking of eating carbs on m,w, and fridays. Dont wanna get fat though... carbs make me bloat
 
i went from around 7% body fat to around 5% in under a month, eating as much as i wanted and its a pretty easy diet to follow. i did TKD which meant preworkout i would take in 30 or so carbs. besides those carbs my diet ratio was basically 65/30/5. side effects of getting into ketosis include mood swings, fatigue, weakness, etc and i wouldnt recommend doing it for long periods of time. its great to cut fat tho

your grocery list will basically be meats, fish (all though itll lack in calories), eggs, veggies, and not much else lol. i use to make alot of angus burgers, 12 thick patties for 15 bucks and easy to cook. biggest tip = get low carb ketcup and 0 caloire drink mix
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top