Protein Intake Recommendations For Exercising On Keto
In the most recent International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand on diets and body composition, the researchers reported that a protein intake of 1.4-2 g per kilogram or 0.6-.9 grams per pound of lean body mass is ideal for athletes and others who exercise regularly.
If you are highly active and/or trying to lose weight, then you may benefit the most from eating around 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass . This will help preserve muscle mass and promote fat loss.
Keto athletes will also benefit from higher protein intakes because their bodies will use the excess protein to provide their muscles with the glucose that they need by using a process called gluconeogenesis. However, if your goal is to get into deeper levels of ketosis, then it is best to divide your protein intake evenly between meals while eating a bit more protein after your workout to boost recovery .
The best protein sources on the ketogenic diet are:
- Low-carb protein powders
Heres a quick recap of our protein recommendations:
If you are trying to gain or maintain muscle and improve exercise performance while on a ketogenic diet:
- Eat around 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass
If you are trying to lose fat and maintain muscle:
To figure out how these numbers play into the rest of your ketogenic diet, use our keto calculator. It will provide you with the information you need to find out if you are eating enough protein and calories.
Exercise Improves Insulin Sensitivity
Unfortunately, for many of us, insulin sensitivity decreases as we age and many of us become less active.
Inactive people are more likely to have elevated levels of blood glucose. They tend to have higher levels of insulin secretion over the course of a day and as result have excess body fat.
This is also the first step on the way to metabolic syndrome and may lead to pre-diabetes. Or ultimately diabetes.
And unfortunately in todays world, these problems are no longer limited to older people. Insulin sensitivity and resistance starts younger and younger.
Exercise, especially weight bearing, anaerobic activity has been shown to improve the efficiency of insulin in response to blood glucose.
When following a ketogenic diet, blood glucose levels and glycogen stores are lowered.
This supports the body to better handle small bursts of glucose either from ingesting them or produced through the krebs cycle.
How Keto Diets Affect Energy Levels
As we mentioned earlier, the whole point of the keto diet is to encourage your body to enter into a state of ketosis.
Whats ketosis again?
Well, to put it in its most basic terms, ketosis is the process of your body turning from a sugar burner to a fat burner.
Okay, so how does that relate to the question of does keto work without exercise?
Its directly related!
The way your body transforms nutrition into energy drastically affects how you lose weight.
And, as were about to find out, this is the key as to why keto is a fantastic tool for weight-loss, but a problematic nutrition programme if your undergoing intense training.
Read Also: What I Can And Can’t Eat On Keto
More Fat = Fewer Symptoms
Increasing salt and fluid intake usually resolves most of the keto flu side effects. However, if you continue feeling poorly after following those recommendations, try eating more fat.
Due to decades of misinformation about fat being unhealthy, fat phobia is common among people who are new to low-carb eating.13 But if you sharply cut back on carbs without upping your fat intake, your body will think it is starving. Youll feel tired, hungry and miserable.14
A well-balanced keto diet includes enough fat to ensure youre not hungry after a meal, can go for several hours without eating, and have ample energy.
Be sure to increase your intake of fat at the start of your keto journey until your body adapts to using fat and ketones for most of its energy needs. Once youre fat adapted, let your appetite guide you in cutting back on fat a bit and seeing how much you need to feel satisfied.
In short: When in doubt, add butter or other fat to your food. And check out our top 10 tips for boosting fat intake. You can also follow our keto recipes, which have enough fat in relation to carbs and protein.
A Shock To Your System
During your first week on keto, your goal is to force your body to switch energy systems.
For the whole of your life, youve been operating with a glucose-based energy system that relies on carbohydrates for fuel.
But now you are asking your body to flick the switch to a fat-based energy system that uses fat for energy.
That fat will come from the foods you eat and from the fat that is stored on your body.
Thats asking a whole lot from your body.
So, it should come as no surprise that, during the transition phase, its going to go through some pain.
You are probably going to feel like crap!
Also Check: What Cheese Can You Eat On Keto
Exercising/training Is Not For Everybody
Should you decide not to train, or even exercise on a semi-regular or regular basis, then that is fine too. Exercising can be an effective tool for accelerating weight loss, but as long as you introduce calorie deficits, or even better, intermittent/extended/prolonged fasting, weight loss will follow naturally. Listen to your body and make your own decisions to suit your lifestyle.
What Should I Eat On The Targeted Ketogenic Diet
The healthiest way to get your carbs on the targeted keto diet is to consume fruit, dairy, and whole-grain foods. Fruits contain fructose. Dairy contains lactose. Whole grains contain glucose. When consumed in moderation, you may also get your carbs from dextrose, which is found in food and beverage products for “athletes.”
To get your recommended daily allowance of fat calories, cook your food in vegetable oils that are high in omega-6 linoleic acid. Monounsaturated fats come from nuts, palm oil, olive oil, and avocados. Polyunsaturated fats come from nuts and fish. You can also get protein from nuts and fish as well as red meat and poultry.
Also Check: Keto Mac And Cheese Recipes
What Is The Ketogenic Diet
The ketogenic diet is a very high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. It was originally used as a medical diet to manage epilepsy seizures in children. This diet forces the body to use fat as the main energy source instead of carbohydrates.
When you eat carbohydrates, they are converted to glucose molecules, which are then used for energy and brain function. However, if no carbohydrates are available, then the liver converts fat molecules into ketone bodies to replace the function of glucose.
Consuming a very little amount of carbohydrates for an extended time elevates the level of ketones in the bloodstream, which is known as the state of ketosis. Epilepsy patients experience fewer seizures when they are in ketosis . However, in recent years, the ketogenic diet has been promoted as a solution to weight problems.
Working Out On Keto Could Help You Reach Your Body Composition Goals
“Studies have shown that ketogenic diets coupled with moderate-intensity exercise can positively affect one’s body composition,” says Chelsea Axe, D.C., C.S.C.S., fitness expert at DrAxe.com. “They have shown that ketogenic diets enhance the body’s ability to burn fat, both at rest and during low- to moderate-exercise intensities, so your weight-loss efforts may be maximized while training in these zones.” A 2011 study published in the Journal of Endocrinology found that a ketogenic diet increased hepatic growth hormone , which can improve strength and youthfulness. Though the study was done in rats and thus can’t be translated directly into human results, this is definitely a promising finding when talking about keto and exericse. (
Read Also: Is Watermelon Ok On Keto
Are You Getting Ready To Start A Keto Diet
Good for you!
I absolutely believe that we all deserve to be Healthy & Happy.
Most of us have failed in the past, because we started with a bad plan and bad advice. With that starting point, it should be no surprise that bad results were the outcome.
When planning how to start a Keto Diet, you are doing a lot of research and its easy to get overwhelmed.
There is so much information on the internet regarding the Keto Diet, ketones, ketosis, and the history of the ketogenic diet.
Its so easy for the process of starting a ketogenic diet to seem insanely complex and confusing.
Starting Keto Doesnt have to be Complex or Confusing.
Many keto beginners suffer from paralysis-by-analysis and I dont blame them.
Thats why I created The Rules of Keto Beginners Guide to give you the basic keto rules all in one place. If you follow these rules youll easily crush keto and change your story.
P.S. If you want a super simple plan to start a Keto Diet, check out my No Cook Keot Meal Plan which is the easiest way to start keto.
You May Feel Like Your Gas Pedal Doesnt Work As Well Especially At First
As your body becomes keto-adapted, it begins to train itself to burn fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. Initially, that process may leave you feeling less energized than usual when it comes to working out.
Some research findings suggest that athletes have been successful in increasing their ability to use fat as a fuel source, according to Nitin K. Sethi, MD, an associate professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, who began studying the effects of the keto diet on human performance because one of its original purposes was to treat epilepsy.
Dr. Sethi cites a small study published in July 2017 in Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. While athletes on a high-fat diet experienced reduced energy initially, the athletes experienced a return of higher levels later on, especially during exercise, he says.
Sethi cautions that the athletes in the study had more difficulties undertaking higher intensity forms of exercise.
Read Also: Can You Eat Sugar Free Candy On Keto
Ease Into Your Workout Routine
Though exercise is the perfect complement to the keto diet, that doesnt mean you should force yourself to work out if you dont feel good.
When you start keto, your body goes through a significant metabolic adjustment phase where your body is switching from burning glucose as its primary fuel source to ketones. This adjustment is called the keto flu and while each person is different, the average adjustment period can take anywhere from one to three weeks.
While working out can actually help to ease the symptoms of the keto flu, your first few workouts might feel sluggish and more challenging than usual.
This is a normal part of the process, so listen to your body, scale your workouts accordingly, and know that it gets easier and more enjoyable once your body adjusts to ketosis!
Will The Targeted Keto Diet Actually Make Me A Better Athlete
A lot of research indicates that being in a fasted state makes incredible feats of athleticism easier. Take, for instance, marathoners. They “hit a wall,” because they run out of stored glycogen and they’re not fat-adapted. Many of the world’s most successful marathoners find it easier to be fat-adapted than to consume carbs on their 26.2-mile run.
Read Also: Whole 30 Diet Vs Keto
It May Be Tougher To Boost Performance When It Comes To High
The majority of high intensity exercise activity that requires short, intense bursts of energy is powered by the carbohydrates you eat. The human body stores carbohydrates in the muscle cells as muscle glycogen. That muscle glycogen becomes an immediate fuel source for your body when you do any sort of activity that periodically requires intense movement, including strength training, sprinting, and other sports.
If youre on the keto diet, your body is burning fat for energy rather than carbohydrates . As a fuel source, that fat isnt as easily burned as carbohydrates, so the process is overall less efficient, Galpin explains.
The result is that the keto diet tends to limit performance during high-intensity workouts, while lower-intensity workouts may be less affected.
One small study that followed 42 healthy adults after they spent six weeks on the ketogenic diet found that the participants performance in endurance capacity and peak power dropped. The data was published in February 2017 in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism.
Galpin says he wouldnt recommend the diet as a means to improve performance. Its not going to be any better for physical performance than the standard diet, he says.
RELATED: What to Eat Before and After You Work Out
How Much Should I Exercise On A Keto Diet
While on the Keto diet, you should strive to build up to 3-5 times a week, incorporating a combination of cardio and weight training. Youll want to do moderate to low-intensity exercises like jogging, cycling, circuit training, or swimming that keeps your heart rate at about 70% of your maximum heart rate to burn fat.
Also Check: Is Cheese Good For Keto
You Might Need To Rethink Your Favorite Hiit Workouts
“Studies have shown that diets high in a specific macronutrient like fat promote an increased ability to utilize that macronutrient as fuel,” says Axe. “However, during high-intensity exercise, the body shifts to use glycogen as fuel regardless of your macronutrient ratio intake.” As you’ll remember from earlier, glycogen stores are fueled by carbs, which means if you’re not eating many of them, higher-intensity exercise performance can be compromised. “Instead, moderate intensity exercise is ideal for optimizing the body’s fat-burning potential,” says Axe. Because of this, athletes and exercisers who are doing intense workouts like CrossFit or HIIT are better off doing keto in their off-season or when they’re less focused on performance and more focused on body composition improvements.
Make Sure Youre Eating Enough
How you fuel yourself matters when living an active lifestyle, and fueling yourself correctly on keto is no exception.
When engaging in a consistent exercise routine, its essential to nourish your body with quality foods to properly fuel your workouts, help you develop lean muscle mass, and support a fast recovery time.
Unfortunately, its common to overlook micronutrients on the heavily macro-focused keto diet. To help you get your daily nutrients in, MCT oil, fresh fish, omega 3, avocado, and quality meats are some examples of healthy options that offer your body clean fats, important vitamins, and minerals to help you feel your best.
Read Also: Keto Desserts To Buy Online
Working Out On Keto: A Complete Guide
It’s tempting, when starting a new diet, to plunge head-first into everything at once. You want to lose weight as quickly as possible, so you stock up on all your new diet foods and plan to hit the gym hard every day until you reach your goal. While this might feel right to you, it’s really the worst way to start any new weight loss plan including the keto diet.The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet plan that, if done correctly, turns your body into a fat-burning machine. After days of eating this way, your body makes the switch from burning glucose to burning ketones for fuel. Combining exercise with the keto diet will maximize the health benefits and weight loss benefits of the keto diet while still maintaining lean body mass. Exercise helps maintain blood sugar levels and improves insulin sensitivity, all of which helps increase the efficacy of the keto diet. The problem is, your muscles use glucose when performing certain types of exercise.So how do you exercise on the keto diet? What’s the best way to accelerate fat loss if exercising the way you’re used to isn’t going to work? Let’s discuss the effects of the keto diet on your exercise performance, what to keep in mind when launching an exercise plan alongside the keto diet, and how to get the results you want in the gym.
Opt For Strength Training Over Hiit Workouts
Aerobic exercise is the best type of workouts when on the keto diet. This includes strength training, yoga, and stability training.
Heres why: the body uses fat as its primary energy source during lower-intensity aerobic workouts, and since the body is fat-adapted while in a state of ketosis, youll reap even more weight loss benefits.
Unlike aerobic exercise that uses fat as energy, anaerobic exercises require large bursts of fuel from glycogen . On the other hand, anaerobic exercise like CrossFit, sprinting, and HIIT require glycogen to fuel the body, which a low-carb and low-sugar keto diet isnt suited for.
A recent study from Saint Louis University studied the effect of physical performance in 16 men and women who were in ketosis. They ultimately found that keto diet significantly decreased performance in anaerobic exercises due to their low glycogen levels.
In other words, you can still do HIIT workouts on keto, but you’ll likely feel more sluggish which can ultimately result in decreased performance.
Recommended Reading: Can I Drink Diet Coke On Keto
I Am Enjoying The Food
I actually enjoy the food I am eating on Keto. A lot of people talk about how they hate eating so much greasy, fatty food news flash, youre not eating the right food!! This is where educating yourself is so important.
You can eat a greasy, bun-less cheeseburger from a fast food restaurant and technically have it fit in your macros, but its not good for you food. Its not high quality meat, the cheese is over processed, and its likely cooked in vegetable oil which is not healthy.
For lunch, I had a spinach salad with goat cheese and a french vinaigrette and some macadamia nuts. My meal had 48 grams of fat, 12 grams of protein, and about 3 grams of net carbs. Its important to eat good, whole food on the Keto diet!!