I’ve been on the keto diet since March of 2018, in that time I’ve dropped a massive amount of weight, from my heaviest 250lbs lost. I’m tired of Keto, I’m doing longer rides and have some races and feel like it’s time to switch back to carbs.
In keto I was targeting 1800-2000 calories with a 70/25/5% split of fats, protein, and carbs. I have no idea what I should be targeting for macros on a non keto diet, especially one high in good carbs.
I’m fairly comfortable tweaking my calorie intake based on feel, and adjusting my protien based on muscle mass measurements on my Withings BodyComp+ scale. The things I have no idea about are timing of eating, complex carbs vs simple carbs, white vs brown rice, that kind of stuff.
Food fatigue isn’t an issue, I can happily eat the same thing every day, every meal for weeks on end. I plan to prep, weigh and plan out pretty much everything from now on.
Any suggestions on macro goals or a meal plan to switch over to high carb low fat?
I attached a screenshot of my last weigh in with my body composition if that helps any.
@chrisq
Congratulations on a significant life change. That’s a strong measure of discipline.
As you transition back to carbs you will get a body recomposition due to the water associated with glycogen so don’t freak when you start eating carbs and your BW pops up.
The biggest change will be that instead of carbs as your lever, fat will become the main controller for total caloric content. If you are fueling with carbs on the order of 40-50% calories and you are maintaining adequate protein then your fat will need to go down. I’m pretty happy at 40-50% calories from carbs and about 150-200 grams protein. As my training load goes up I expect to increase the carbs. I did keto before and I have to say training is much better on carbs.
Search the forum for the threads on macros , there are a bunch of good discussions.
I tapered. I’d add a grapefruit or banana to breakfast. Then on workout days I’d eat a sweet potato for lunch (cook a batch of them on Sunday- lasts the week) . Pretty soon I didn’t feel bad about eating carbs. I track my calories as I’m trying to maintain a small daily deficit but hit my protein and carb targets.
I’ve found that I can still easily do a fasted ride or go low carb on a day if I want. This is the idea of carb periodization. This may also work for you. All depends on the intensity of your workouts. Another forum reader @Rizzi suggested this website Sigma Nutrition . It has articles on carb periodization.
