Keto Diets

[one idiot]

Do any of you do the keto diet when preparing for a comp? If yes, please explain why.

 

[homonunculus]

I do...

Mr Idiot (sorry - its your handle, man ),

Please be more specific if you could. I do a cyclical ketogenic diet b/c:

It is easy to follow
It makes it easy to get the required protein
Ketosis inhibits my appetite
I'm happy with the results I have gotten as far as conditioning

Is there a specific criticism of ketogenic diets that you were hoping would come up?...

-Randy

 

[Hypertrophyguy]

Idiot, (sorry)
Well I think the only way you can know for sure is to give it a go yourself. I personally did not like it I did a 5 minimal carbs 2 day carb load.
I absolutely hated it as I had very bad carb cravings I would sleep like 16 hours a day just so I didn't have to put up with them.
however as homonunculus stated yes it was easy to get in protein and it was nice now and then to be able to eat fattier foods than normal, fat goes along way for satisfaction.

another thing I liked was the whole time you are basically honing yoru skills on carbing up so you know what to take and when and when to drop your water for a show.

Over all I think it is effective but i basically was completely miserable the whole time and it hindered my workouts A LOT. I think my problem was I ran it for 12 weeks which REALLY starts to wear on you so I would recommend running it for 6-8 weeks..
I always hate to recommend MORE of anything but I think if you used the right pharmaceuticals to combat cravings as well as the lethargy It would work well.

take not* I have only done 3 shows and done a CKG diet ONCE so take this for what it is homonunculus may have a better way of running this but this is just my $.02

 

[homonunculus]

Good points, HTG!

Few more thoughts:

Tolerance for low carbs varies a great deal from what I've seen. I know people who low-carb and feel better in ketosis - literally they would rather be ketotic (they like the ketone-buzz) than eating carbs. I also know people who never really adapt to low / no carbs. They just constantly crave carbs. Many people will fell like shit for the first couple weeks, and then seem to get over the hump.

I have done cyclical ketogenic diets nearly every way I can think:

5 on / 2 off

Carbs 1/2 of a the day 3x/ week on training days only:

4 on / 3 off

5 on / 2 off w/ a "carb-spike" (8hr carb-up) during the middle of the week.

4 on / 1 off / 4 on / 3 off

etc.

I always plan on taking time off the diet as I diet in for a show. Right now, I am doing 3 weeks keto (5on / 2 off), 1 week maintenance kcal (low fat w/ EFA's, 15kcal / lb), 3 wk keto, etc...

Tolerance to the diet is really a very mental thing, I've found. If the week were 10 days long, going for 8 days in ketosis would not be so bad. BUT, anyone who has done the 5 keto / 2 carb standard (bodyopus, etc.) rotation knows that the last day before carbing up is the hardest - you are anticipating the carbs.

For those w/ carb cravings, I recommend doing more frequent carb-ups or even 1 carb meal after training (only). If you know you only have to go 3 days before a carb up, its not as tough as if you have to wait 5. Also, knowing that you have a week "off" the diet coming up is helpful mentally. I do the week off for the rebound effect (I'll gain some muscle during that time) as well as to re-set my thyroid metabolism. This works well, too, if you have an important week at work, etc. when you want to be able to eat more normally and not be as drained from the diet.

-Randy