After Stagnating 0n My Gains I Took a Week Off: Results
Below are my most recent graphs. On all three, you can see a short flat area where the numbers do not change. This flat spot is where I took a break and ate some carbs.
Some works on Keto say that one should cycle back into carbohydrates once in a while. I decided to do this since my weight graph looked so good, moving from 226 to 211. But then it started going back up.
Body fat and lean tissue continued in the right direction for a while, but they both stagnated. So I decided to “cycle.” Plus, it was fun to eat a few carbs.
Overall, these graphs show moderate weight (fat) loss, but it is acceptable. The main thing is that my lean mass (muscle, tendons, and bone) is increasing very slowly.
As I have mentioned, and this is critical, most diets, and even exercise programs used on diets, actually burn anywhere from 40-50% of the lost weight from muscle.
There are scientific reasons for this, but a simplified and maybe not exact scientific explanation is that your brain perceives a diet as starvation. When starving, the brain lowers your metabolism, meaning you burn fewer calories per day than before the diet. Muscle burns most of your daily caloric needs, so the body burns up muscle. On top of that, most aerobic exercise encourages this process.
On the other hand, short-duration High-Intensity Weight Training (HIT) does the opposite. It encourages your body to maintain muscle even as you lose fat. I cover this here in more detail. And if you want an external reference, try this one.
The external article is very well written, but I do not believe the author realizes that short HIT training is easier on the body and results in better muscle retention.
As to "cycling into carbs on a Keto Diet
I ate some but didn’t gorge. I am also experimenting to see which is worse for my body fat loss; gluten or dairy. I have a sneaking suspicion that one, or both, are far worse than just carbs alone. Of course, this is also something to consider when “cycling,” but Keto should become a way of life if that is your choice of eating pattern.
I was 100% Vegan twice in my life for years. I did lose weight,
but I also lost muscle. Getting enough protein to maintain muscle while dieting on a Vegan program is challenging.
Vegan or not is your choice or something in between. Just ensure you get enough protein and know that there are NO “magic” protein powders, supplements, or foods regarding weight loss. If there was even ONE, it would be worldwide news and sold everywhere. They don’t exist.
How do I know? Besides falling victim to dozens in my early years, the above line, repeated here, is proof: “If there was even ONE, it would be worldwide news and sold everywhere.” And we would not have an obesity problem in the western world!
Happy 4th of July!
