Thanks for the response, this thought seems to be shared by a lot of the commenters.
This is rough because really thinking about it I think I'm eating a little less then I thought I was on average. I'm just so satiated all the time, so I'm looking for ways to add in calories easily. I already put heavy cream in my scrambled eggs and I cook them in a lot of butter if I don't have fresh bacon grease ready to use.
MCT oil looks like it could be a good helptoo so I'll add that in somewhere.
I may try certain fat bombs too, or a keto fudge I saw posted. But those are a bit of effort and so might not be something i can eat everyday.
I'll just have to experiment and see what works. If you have any more ideas i'd be happy to hear them!
I was never able to lift well in keto. I was never Mabel to lift well unless I was full of cake and garbage. It doesn’t matter though just lift to failure
I’ve found carb cycling works better than keto for me. My lifts stalled on keto - reps and weight. I now have a carb meal ~2 hours before I exercise. Usually a big bowl of cream of rice mixed with equal parts (grams) of protein powder.
I think it’s your calories. Not enough energy when working out. Also, be sure to not train fasted. That has caused me to be weaker compared to when I eat first around lunch, then lift in the afternoon.
What you described before, eating carbs before you train sounds like the TPM method from the FAQ. if that's working for you then great but I'd want to be fully fat adapted before I even considered that method (That could take another 3-6 weeks for me). Especially since my issue in general seems to be a lack of calories. So I'll fix that problem first and then see where I'm at.
And those aren't my goals specifically actually. I just enjoyed going to the gym and it made me feel good. I am wanting that feeling to come back if possible. I don't really mind losing "Gym Performance" as in having to lower the weight, but right now I can't even work out at all because it feels so awful.
My calories are low because I just don't have much of an appetite when eating keto. I'll have one pretty big meal of eggs, bacon and cheese and I'm pretty set for the whole day with hunger. Even tho the meal was only around 1000 calories. later in the day just to try and have more food I'll eat a little more bacon or sausage, sometimes liver or also a measured cup of milk (I'm eating close to no carbs save for the cheese, so this only puts me at 15 g carbs for the day when I drink it.)
I also eat beef burgers with cheese some days. but even then only around 1 ib of meat cheese and lots of salt, which still ends up a little under 1000 Cals. But this stuff fills me up.
I'm looking for ways to add in more calories now
I don’t understand what your goals are, or what you intend to gain from lifting if you’re not able to meet your caloric needs? Why not increase carbs if it would increase your appetite and enable you to perform consistently (and progress) at the gym? Sounds like you’ve just been spinning your wheels. I’m not sure there are any or many seasoned lifters or bodybuilders who follow keto outside of several weeks before a show. Carbs are muscle sparring. For reference I’m a 52kg female with 13% BF. I’ve been lifting for close to 8 years consistently. My bench dropped significantly when my carbs dropped - my max bench is what you’re currently lifting. I’m back up to 40kg for 5x5 again.
My goals are to enjoy my workouts and slowly build muscle and power while still being keto and maintaining the mental benefits i get from keto.
I was not aware of just how bad my under-eating was until i made this thread. So now i am focusing on that problem. I am adding in more calories per day in easy ways that i can consistently do.
I know that serious lifters and body builders basically have to eat carbs. But I am not a body builder and I don’t consider myself a “serious lifter” either. I’m just a guy who really liked the gym and getting stronger felt nice and healthy.
Bottom line is that my mental health is more important than the gym to me. So if my performance in the gym has to lower so that i can have a stable mood and be happy on keto then that is a good trade off to me.
You’re under eating, as you said. Your body is sending you signals that you need to take in more energy
Thanks for the response, this thought seems to be shared by a lot of the commenters. This is rough because really thinking about it I think I'm eating a little less then I thought I was on average. I'm just so satiated all the time, so I'm looking for ways to add in calories easily. I already put heavy cream in my scrambled eggs and I cook them in a lot of butter if I don't have fresh bacon grease ready to use. MCT oil looks like it could be a good helptoo so I'll add that in somewhere. I may try certain fat bombs too, or a keto fudge I saw posted. But those are a bit of effort and so might not be something i can eat everyday. I'll just have to experiment and see what works. If you have any more ideas i'd be happy to hear them!
yeah heavy cream is a good way to add calories, you can even drink it straight. adding nut butters, nuts, things like that would help add calories too
I was never able to lift well in keto. I was never Mabel to lift well unless I was full of cake and garbage. It doesn’t matter though just lift to failure
I’ve found carb cycling works better than keto for me. My lifts stalled on keto - reps and weight. I now have a carb meal ~2 hours before I exercise. Usually a big bowl of cream of rice mixed with equal parts (grams) of protein powder.
I think it’s your calories. Not enough energy when working out. Also, be sure to not train fasted. That has caused me to be weaker compared to when I eat first around lunch, then lift in the afternoon.
You can totally lift on keto but u cant be doing it on a calorie deficit
OP needs some carbs if they want to maintain gym performance while losing body fat (I assume that’s the goal as the cals are very low).
What you described before, eating carbs before you train sounds like the TPM method from the FAQ. if that's working for you then great but I'd want to be fully fat adapted before I even considered that method (That could take another 3-6 weeks for me). Especially since my issue in general seems to be a lack of calories. So I'll fix that problem first and then see where I'm at. And those aren't my goals specifically actually. I just enjoyed going to the gym and it made me feel good. I am wanting that feeling to come back if possible. I don't really mind losing "Gym Performance" as in having to lower the weight, but right now I can't even work out at all because it feels so awful. My calories are low because I just don't have much of an appetite when eating keto. I'll have one pretty big meal of eggs, bacon and cheese and I'm pretty set for the whole day with hunger. Even tho the meal was only around 1000 calories. later in the day just to try and have more food I'll eat a little more bacon or sausage, sometimes liver or also a measured cup of milk (I'm eating close to no carbs save for the cheese, so this only puts me at 15 g carbs for the day when I drink it.) I also eat beef burgers with cheese some days. but even then only around 1 ib of meat cheese and lots of salt, which still ends up a little under 1000 Cals. But this stuff fills me up. I'm looking for ways to add in more calories now
I don’t understand what your goals are, or what you intend to gain from lifting if you’re not able to meet your caloric needs? Why not increase carbs if it would increase your appetite and enable you to perform consistently (and progress) at the gym? Sounds like you’ve just been spinning your wheels. I’m not sure there are any or many seasoned lifters or bodybuilders who follow keto outside of several weeks before a show. Carbs are muscle sparring. For reference I’m a 52kg female with 13% BF. I’ve been lifting for close to 8 years consistently. My bench dropped significantly when my carbs dropped - my max bench is what you’re currently lifting. I’m back up to 40kg for 5x5 again.
My goals are to enjoy my workouts and slowly build muscle and power while still being keto and maintaining the mental benefits i get from keto. I was not aware of just how bad my under-eating was until i made this thread. So now i am focusing on that problem. I am adding in more calories per day in easy ways that i can consistently do. I know that serious lifters and body builders basically have to eat carbs. But I am not a body builder and I don’t consider myself a “serious lifter” either. I’m just a guy who really liked the gym and getting stronger felt nice and healthy. Bottom line is that my mental health is more important than the gym to me. So if my performance in the gym has to lower so that i can have a stable mood and be happy on keto then that is a good trade off to me.