Day off Keto Diet

[woodswise]

I have been on a keto diet for a month and lost 15-18lbs.

I have been staying below 50g carbs, except the occasional slip up and on those days I have been below 100g carbs.

Today I took a day off and had some serious carbs.

I am planning to stay on keto for another 8 weeks.

Do any of you guys who do keto, take a day off occasionally. Is it a good idea, or not?

 

[chapel8]

I do keto diet on weekdays. Carbs are between 50-100g per day. And most of it is from post-workout meal. Daily calorie intake is around 2100-2300. I'm 188cm and weight 110kg. I've lost 5kg in 6 weeks.
On weekends I eat normal foods but try to keep my protein intake high with meats and shakes. Carbs could go as high as 1000g. I also don't workout on weekends. I only workout on weekdays. 1hr weights followed by 30mins cardio.
So far I'm satisfied with my progress but I feel that I am also loosing muscle size along with fat. But I plan to continue on this until I reach my target weight of 98kg.
And to answer your question, yes, it's good to have some days off as your body would just soak in those carbs especially if u also workout on that day.
Thanks

 

[GiantSlayer]

I have been on a keto diet for a month and lost 15-18lbs.

I have been staying below 50g carbs, except the occasional slip up and on those days I have been below 100g carbs.

Today I took a day off and had some serious carbs.

I am planning to stay on keto for another 8 weeks.

Do any of you guys who do keto, take a day off occasionally. Is it a good idea, or not?

It takes a few days for your body to return to ketogenesis after a cheat. That being said, a cheat once a week would be inefficient whereas you lose a good portion of the week returning to keto. Once a month is more like it but the benefit is only a mental or emotional one. If you are the type that needs to reward themselves or can not live without certain snacks then cheating may help your moral in the long run. Personally once I get the taste of carbs I start craving it. I'm better off not cheating in the first place.

 

[IronInsanity]

For a better version of keto for bodybuilding purposes, try CKD (cyclical ketogenic diet). Sounds like you're just doing Atkins.

 

[woodswise]

It takes a few days for your body to return to ketogenesis after a cheat. That being said, a cheat once a week would be inefficient whereas you lose a good portion of the week returning to keto. Once a month is more like it but the benefit is only a mental or emotional one. If you are the type that needs to reward themselves or can not live without certain snacks then cheating may help your moral in the long run. Personally once I get the taste of carbs I start craving it. I'm better off not cheating in the first place.

Thanks for the excellent post!

I have been having these dreams where I stuff my face with carbs (cookies, fruit, etc. that I "find" in random places -- the side of the road, while on a walk, etc.). And after a month of being pretty good, I really felt some craving yesterday morning after an especially intense dream. So I figured a cheat day was in order. I kept it pretty clean (ate sweetened yogurt, a granola bar, etc.) until the end of the day when I had a small ice cream cone. Otherwise I ate my normal food. I guess I was rewarding myself for the good work so far, and to help reinforce that I am not going to randomly cheat the rest of the time . . .

We'll see if it works or not.

 

[woodswise]

I do keto diet on weekdays. Carbs are between 50-100g per day. And most of it is from post-workout meal. Daily calorie intake is around 2100-2300. I'm 188cm and weight 110kg. I've lost 5kg in 6 weeks.
On weekends I eat normal foods but try to keep my protein intake high with meats and shakes. Carbs could go as high as 1000g. I also don't workout on weekends. I only workout on weekdays. 1hr weights followed by 30mins cardio.
So far I'm satisfied with my progress but I feel that I am also loosing muscle size along with fat. But I plan to continue on this until I reach my target weight of 98kg.
And to answer your question, yes, it's good to have some days off as your body would just soak in those carbs especially if u also workout on that day.
Thanks

My trainer (who I have never found to be wrong -- and I keep checking) tells me you're not on a keto diet unless you go low carb (below 50g and preferably below 30g) and stay there for at least a week. The first time I tried keto, I was below 100g but not below 50, and I felt horrible the whole time. Do you find that you feel bad doing your keto diet?

Regardless if you're in a Kcal defecit you will lose weight. You have lost a decent amount so far. How long do you plan to continue? Good luck with the rest of your diet, bud!.

For a better version of keto for bodybuilding purposes, try CKD (cyclical ketogenic diet). Sounds like you're just doing Atkins.

Thanks for the post. I have read about those and I'll take another look. Whaddya think, sounds to me like Chapel8 is doing a cyclical keto diet?

 

[SugarFree]

I take one day off a week and think its great for dieting purposes. As someone who gets frequent bodpod and dexa bodyfat tests done I can see the actual results to this are benificial. Besides getting a free cheat day you are refilling your bodies glycogen levels which will help prevent muscle loss and the the limited time insulin spike is great for promoting some muscle growth. Enjoy your cheat day and make use of the filled glycogen levels and lift heavy the next day.

 

[woodswise]

I take one day off a week and think its great for dieting purposes. As someone who gets frequent bodpod and dexa bodyfat tests done I can see the actual results to this are benificial. Besides getting a free cheat day you are refilling your bodies glycogen levels which will help prevent muscle loss and the the limited time insulin spike is great for promoting some muscle growth. Enjoy your cheat day and make use of the filled glycogen levels and lift heavy the next day.

When I was dieting while on carbs, I took one day a week off. It really helped with recharging my body and keeping me on track for the diet.

But while on a keto diet (a true keto diet, not cycling keto), it takes 3 or 4 days to get back into ketogenesis, that's why you can't have a cheat day once a week while on keto. I am thinking once a month is about right.