Maintaining Your Goal Weight: Sustaining Keto Success

Maintaining your goal weight is harder than losing weight. To maintain your goal weight on keto, you need to make a plan in advance for weight maintenance. You can continue with keto but eat a little more food, or you can switch to a low-carb (but not keto) paleo diet. You can also experiment with intermittent fasting, or switch your focus from fat loss to muscle gain.

Keep on keto, but eat more food

Maintaining Your Goal Weight on Keto

If you feel great on keto and don't ever want to quit, you don't have to! The keto diet is safe for the long term, and there's no need to come out of ketosis. If you want to stay on keto but don't want to lose any more weight, the solution is to eat a little more fat and protein than you were eating before, without increasing your carb intake enough to get out of ketosis.

Weight loss, keto or otherwise, is all about a calorie deficit. If you are taking in as many calories as you use, you won't lose weight. The trick is to find the perfect amount of food for your height, weight, and activity level. This is different for everyone and can't be predicted by a generic online calculator.

The benefit of this approach is that there's no risk of extra carbs causing new or more cravings. Many people find that if they start eating more carbs, all the blood sugar highs and lows come back, along with sugar cravings. By staying on keto, you can prevent this problem altogether.

How to do it

• Gradually increase your calorie intake: Take the number of calories you were eating to lose weight and slowly add back in 100 calories or so for a few weeks until you stop losing weight. This method is called 'reverse dieting'.
• Don't increase your carbs: Keep your carb intake low enough to stay in ketosis. If you want to experiment with raising your carbs, do so gradually. Try a couple of weeks at 25-30 grams of carbs and see how your body responds.
• Add more protein: Eating more protein will help you feel fuller and preserve muscle mass.
• Monitor your weight: If you start to gain weight, cut back on calories or carbs.

Other tips for maintaining your goal weight on keto

• Switch from fat loss to muscle gain: This isn't technically weight maintenance, as you'll be gaining weight slowly and intentionally. Building muscle improves metabolic flexibility, strengthens your bones, and reduces the long-term risk of type 2 diabetes.
• Transition to low-carb (but not keto) paleo: Your carb limit for active weight loss may be stricter than what you need for maintenance. On paleo, you can increase your carb intake from extra veggies and still avoid treats or baked goods.
• Experiment with intermittent fasting: This strategy can help you feel more relaxed about eating while maintaining weight. You can try eating normally 5-6 days a week with 1-2 days of total fasting, or eating in a 6-10 hour window every day.

Switch from fat loss to muscle gain

Once you've reached your goal weight, you might want to switch from fat loss to muscle gain. This isn't weight maintenance per se, as it involves slowly and intentionally putting on weight in the form of muscle mass. This approach improves metabolic flexibility, strengthens bones, and reduces the long-term risk of type 2 diabetes.

To build muscle, you'll need to do some form of resistance training, such as powerlifting, weightlifting, body pump classes, or bodyweight conditioning. You'll also need to ensure you're consuming enough calories and protein to support muscle growth.

• Determine your calorie intake: To build muscle, you need to consistently consume more calories than you burn. Calculate your maintenance calories (the number of calories you need to consume per day to stay at the same weight) by weighing yourself at least three times a week and recording your food intake over that period. When building muscle, it's recommended to increase your calorie intake by about 15% above your maintenance calories.
• Eat plenty of protein: Protein is essential for building muscle. Most studies suggest consuming 0.7-0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.6-2.0 grams per kg) for optimal muscle growth. Some studies indicate that consuming up to 2 grams per kilogram of body weight is safe and may make it easier to gain lean muscle mass.
• Track your carb intake: To stay in ketosis, restrict your carb intake to less than 50 grams per day. Timing your carb intake around your workouts can be beneficial for performance. This strategy is known as the targeted keto diet.
• Increase your fat intake: After accounting for protein and carbs, the rest of your diet should come from fat. Both protein and carbs provide 4 calories per gram, while fat provides 9.
• Consider supplements: While not necessary, supplements can help you build muscle. If you're struggling to meet your protein goals, consider a protein powder supplement such as whey, casein, pea, or hemp protein. Creatine and caffeine supplements can also enhance gym performance.
• Get enough sleep: Proper sleep is crucial for muscle gain and exercise performance.
• Be patient: If you're new to keto, you may experience an initial drop in strength and performance. This is normal and temporary, as your body is adapting to using ketones for fuel.

Remember, building muscle on keto may be challenging due to the high satiety of the diet, which can make it harder to consume enough calories. Ensure you're consuming enough food and consider using a calorie calculator to help you estimate your needs.

Transition to low-carb, but not keto

Transitioning from keto to a low-carb but non-keto diet can be a good way to maintain your goal weight. Here are some tips for making this transition successfully:

Firstly, it is important to understand the difference between simple and complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are nutrient-dense and higher in fibre, which means they take longer to digest. They include whole, unprocessed foods such as vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, leafy greens, and fruits. On the other hand, simple carbohydrates are short chains of sugar molecules that absorb quickly and can cause a spike in blood sugar and increased hunger. These include table sugar, sugar syrups, soda, candy, and other highly processed foods. When reintroducing carbohydrates, it is best to focus on complex carbohydrates.

Registered dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick recommends focusing on carbs that are high in protein and fibre. She suggests bean-based pasta, crackers with seeds, or sprouted bread. Kirkpatrick also recommends increasing your carb intake gradually, such as by 10 grams per day, and allowing a few weeks for your body to adjust. This slow transition will help you avoid unpleasant symptoms such as bloating, blood sugar spikes, and increased hunger.

You can also experiment with different levels of carb intake to find what works for you. Some people may find they can increase their carb limit without regaining weight, especially if they are getting their carbs from extra vegetables. However, be cautious as increasing carbs may also bring back cravings. If you want to ensure you stay on track, you could try sticking to Paleo foods, which tend to be nutrient-dense and fibre-rich, making them less tempting to overeat.

Remember, weight maintenance is a lifelong journey, and it's important to find an approach that is sustainable for you and your lifestyle.

Experiment with intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is a strategy to help you maintain your goal weight on keto. It helps you deal with the feeling of "I've worked so hard! Now I deserve to relax!".

Intermittent fasting involves eating only during a specific window, but you have a lot more freedom with your meals during that window. For most people, the shorter eating window naturally limits the amount of food that they eat. Instead of weighing or measuring food to restrict portions, they can just follow the clock. This is psychologically easier for some people, since when you do eat, you get to feast.

There are several options for how to implement intermittent fasting:

• Eat normally 5-6 days a week with 1-2 days of total fasting
• Eat in a 6-10 hour window every day (for example, noon to 8 pm), but not at any other time of day. Your eating window can be early in the day (breakfast and lunch, but no dinner) or late in the day (lunch and dinner, but no breakfast). Choose whatever you prefer.

You can combine intermittent fasting with maintenance keto, muscle-gaining keto, or a low-carb paleo diet, depending on what works well for you.

Gradually increase your carb intake

Once you have reached your goal weight, you may be wondering if you should stick to the keto diet or go back to eating carbs. The answer depends on your personal preferences and health goals. Here are some tips to help you gradually increase your carb intake while maintaining your goal weight:

• Don't stop counting carbs – Continue tracking your carb intake as you introduce more carbs to your diet. For the first week, add an extra 10 grams of carbohydrates per day, choosing healthy sources such as whole grains, beans, fruits, and starchy vegetables. Monitor your weight and how you feel, and adjust accordingly.
• Find your desired carb range – The ideal number of carbs varies from person to person, depending on factors like activity levels and personal goals. Aim for a carb intake that allows you to eat a diverse range of foods without feeling restricted while maintaining your weight and overall well-being. Consider consulting a registered dietitian to determine the best carb range for your needs.
• Increase your protein intake – Lean proteins such as beans, tofu, chicken, fish, and lean red meat can help you take advantage of the thermic effect of food. The thermic effect refers to the number of calories required to digest food. It takes about 20-30% of the calories in protein to digest it, compared to only 5-10% for carbohydrates.
• Choose healthy carbs – When increasing your carb intake, opt for nutrient-dense, fibre-rich carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. These foods provide essential vitamins, minerals, and fibre, which are important for maintaining a balanced and healthy diet.
• Be mindful of portion sizes – Even when choosing healthy carbs, remember to practise portion control. Foods like whole-grain bread, brown rice, and sweet potatoes can quickly add up in terms of carb content. Keep portion sizes in mind to avoid exceeding your desired carb range.
• Avoid highly processed carbs – Highly processed and refined carbohydrates, such as sugary desserts, breakfast cereals with added sugars, sugary drinks, and processed meats, are typically high in calories, sodium, sugar, and saturated fat. These foods are less likely to provide essential nutrients and may contribute to weight gain.
• Listen to your body – Pay attention to how your body responds to the gradual increase in carb intake. If you start to feel unwell or experience weight gain, adjust your carb intake accordingly. Remember that everyone's body is unique, and you may need to experiment to find the right balance for your needs.
• Consider other dietary approaches – If you find that increasing your carb intake is not working for you, consider exploring other dietary approaches, such as paleo or Mediterranean diets, which can offer a balance between including carbs and maintaining a healthy weight.

Remember, the key to maintaining your goal weight is finding an approach that works best for your body and your individual needs. It may take some time and experimentation to find the right balance of carbs, but by gradually increasing your carb intake and monitoring your body's response, you can make informed adjustments to your diet.

Frequently asked questions