How do you feel when you're in ketosis? page 6

[gopintos]

The LC macros just make it easier to live on less calories while not feeling white knuckle hunger. You still have to control your intake. I gained weight initially on low carb too. I figured out there was a totally simple explanation. I was eating too much food.

I haven't seen your threads on calories, but I agree, and sometimes I think I was too low for too long. It was very easy to keep calories in check and it was easy to be under 1200 so I had to try to start watching that. I track everything & in no way taking in too much food. And it was very easy to fast for 18, 24, even some 48 also, making average calories even lower.

I just seem to do better when I keep fat under 60g.

I may be finding that it might be a calorie thing in that I need to eat at least X amount to lose weight, and anything below that is counterproductive. Still working on that part.

Just continuing my ramble, as I was just thinking, I dont think it was too low of calories either, because I can lose when I fast, and I can lose when I do a certain "mono-food" fast for a few days. Might have mostly been water, not sure, but the difference is, I gain it back when I come off the fast and went back to high fat. I kept it off when I came off the mono fast and had changed my macros around. I kept losing when I came off my fast and went into my first mono fast for a couple of days.

Just yakking.

[canuck416]

Its interesting to read all the perspectives, it reinforces my belief in finding what works for each individual. My belief is that the body has a natural body weight and fat set point that it is constantly striving for and our diets and lifestyle keep putting up road blocks. I've been primal since March and reached what I believe is my body weight and fat set point ( 10% body fat,168 lbs - started at 213 lbs) after 6 months. Initially I cut way back on what I would typically do for exercise, basically just sprinting and doing body weight exercises a few times a week outside. Recently I've got back into the gym and started lifting again because I like the way it makes me feel and wanted to sculp my body with some increased muscle. Since getting back in the gym I've added 5 lbs of muscle and reduced my body fat so that I look more defined. I have experimented with VLC and IF and tracked calories daily. Currently I track calories once every couple of weeks just to see where I'm at and really don't focus on my macros. This thread peaked my interest and I decide to track macros for a few days and it seems I typically eat between 60 and 125 gms of Carbs a day and feel fantastic. I can go long periods without eating, train with intensity and sleep well. If my carb count gets below 60 carbs for a couple of days I start hearing complaints about my breath. I can tell when my wife hands my some breath mints!

[Gorbag]

My belief is that the body has a natural body weight and fat set point that it is constantly striving for and our diets and lifestyle keep putting up road blocks.

There are no "natural bodyweight", but the body seeks homeostasis, to be in balance! Your body loves to be fat though, since getting fat protect against famines and periods with lesser food, and it hates losing the fat, no matter how much you have of it, and will do everything possible to try to keep on to it. This comes more and more into focus when getting leaner, more hunger pangs, water retentions and other metabolic tricks that your body will play out...

[SJW2]

There are no "natural bodyweight", but the body seeks homeostasis, to be in balance! Your body loves to be fat though, since getting fat protect against famines and periods with lesser food, and it hates losing the fat, no matter how much you have of it, and will do everything possible to try to keep on to it. This comes more and more into focus when getting leaner, more hunger pangs, water retentions and other metabolic tricks that your body will play out...

This invokes the thrifty gene hypothesis which seems to be largely discarded by the scientific community.

I think leptin resistance is the issue here. When one is leptin resistant, the brain perceives a certain level of starvation, even despite obesity. The trick is to restore leptin sensitivity, which seems to go together with restoring insulin sensitivity. As far as I can tell, the best way to do this is via a LC approach combined with resistance training and some aerobic to improve insulin sensitivity. Leptin and insulin bind to the same receptors in the hypothalamus. If your brain perceives starvation despite abundant fat reserves, it's going to be hard to lose weight.

[ChocoTaco369]

I feel the same, except I can't run as fast or lift as much and my pulse is lower.

[paleo-bunny]

120? Maybe I need some damn ketostix. Not that I really care if I am in or if I am out, but I did not start to feel human again until I bumped it up to over 50. I have a few days of 150 & occasionally more, but most of the time I am somewhere in the middle, hoovering around 100. I thinking increasing my protein helped me with that human thing. I don't think I was too low, but I did increase it slightly.

I average 120-150 carbs but don't count strictly. I have hypermobile joints so I burn more glycogen than average for my size just through minimal daily activities and the energy required by postural muscles.

Like you, I find protein more beneficial than fat (especially for healthy levels of neurotranmitters involved in the gut-brain axis). My weight loss is very strongly proportional to activity level. My experiments with decreasing low-level cardio stalled my weight loss, exactly as anticipated, so I'm going to restore my low-level cardio back to previous levels. Also I have upped my strength training which I intend to keep up as I am getting good results re: improved core strength.