Keto Goal Weight: What's Next?

So, you've reached your goal weight on the keto diet — congratulations! Now what? Maintaining your current weight can be more difficult than getting there, due to environmental temptations and old habits. You could try a different low-carb diet, or stick with keto but eat a little more food. You could also switch your focus to muscle gain, or experiment with intermittent fasting. The important thing is to make a plan in advance for weight maintenance as an ongoing commitment.

Maintain weight with an online calorie calculator

Maintaining your weight after reaching your goal can be challenging. It's important to remember that your body weight will fluctuate, and that's normal. So, don't panic if you gain a pound or two; it's expected. However, if you find yourself gaining more weight, it's time to cut back.

Online calorie calculators can be a helpful tool for weight maintenance. These calculators estimate the number of calories and macronutrients you should consume daily to maintain your current weight. They consider factors such as age, gender, height, weight, and activity level.

• Determine your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is the number of calories your body burns at rest. You can use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the revised Harris-Benedict Equation, or the Katch-McArdle Formula to calculate your BMR. These formulas consider your weight, height, age, and body fat percentage.
• Calculate your daily calorie needs: Multiply your BMR by an activity factor that reflects your daily activity level. For example, if you have a sedentary lifestyle, you can multiply your BMR by 1.2. This will give you an estimate of how many calories you need to consume daily to maintain your current weight.
• Use an online calorie calculator: Input your information, such as age, gender, current weight, height, and activity level, into a reliable online calorie calculator. It will provide you with a breakdown of the number of calories and the ratio of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) you should consume to maintain your weight.
• Adjust your calorie intake: If you find yourself gaining weight, you may need to reduce your calorie intake slightly. Conversely, if you're losing weight, you can increase your calorie consumption. It's crucial to make these adjustments gradually, adding or reducing calories in small increments to find the right balance for your body.
• Monitor your progress: Weigh yourself regularly and take body measurements to track your progress. Additionally, consider taking measurements over more extended periods, such as weekly, as weight can fluctuate daily due to factors like water intake and the time of day. Weighing yourself consistently, such as every morning before breakfast, will provide a more accurate picture of your weight maintenance.
• Be mindful of your macronutrient intake: While calories are essential, the type of calories you consume also matters. Ensure you're getting an adequate ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats. For example, if you decide to increase your fat intake, opt for healthy fats like avocados, nuts, and olive oil.
• Combine with intermittent fasting: Intermittent fasting can be a useful strategy when used in conjunction with calorie counting. It involves abstaining from food for a prescribed period and then eating during a selected window. This approach can make you feel more in control and allow you to feast during your eating window.
• Consult a professional: While online calorie calculators can provide guidance, consulting a doctor or a registered dietitian can offer more individualized advice. They can consider your specific health status, goals, and nutritional needs to provide a more tailored plan.

Remember, maintaining your weight is a lifelong commitment, and it's essential to be patient and consistent. Everyone's body is unique, so finding what works for you through experimentation is crucial.

Try a different low-carb diet

If you're looking to take a break from the ketogenic diet, there are several other low-carb diets to consider. While switching to a different low-carb diet will likely knock you out of ketosis, keeping your carbohydrate intake low will allow you to continue reaping the benefits of a low-carb diet. Here are some alternative low-carb diets to try:

• Low-Carbohydrate Paleo Diet: This diet combines the principles of the paleo diet with a focus on low carbohydrate intake. It emphasises the consumption of nutrient-dense foods, such as vegetables, fruits, lean meats, and healthy fats, while excluding grains, legumes, dairy, and processed foods.
• Low-Carb, High-Fat (LCHF) Diet: The LCHF diet is a popular approach that involves minimising carbohydrate consumption and increasing the intake of healthy fats and moderate amounts of protein. This diet promotes the use of fats as the primary energy source, which can aid in weight loss and improve overall health.
• Low-Carbohydrate Mediterranean Diet: This diet combines the traditional Mediterranean diet with low-carb principles. It emphasises the consumption of healthy fats, such as olive oil, fish, and nuts, as well as an abundance of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. This diet is known for its cardiovascular benefits and overall health advantages.

When transitioning to a different low-carb diet, it is important to monitor your carbohydrate intake and overall calorie consumption. Additionally, pay attention to how your body responds to the new diet, as everyone's experience may vary. Remember, the key to maintaining your goal weight is to make a plan in advance and think about weight maintenance as an ongoing commitment.

Focus on building muscle

If you're looking to focus on building muscle after reaching your goal weight on keto, there are several strategies you can implement. Here are some detailed guidelines to help you effectively build muscle while maintaining your keto lifestyle:

Calorie Intake

To build muscle, you need to consistently consume more calories than you burn. Determine your maintenance calories, which is the number of calories you need to consume daily to stay at your current weight. You can do this by weighing yourself at least three times a week and recording your food intake with a calorie-tracking app. Once you have your maintenance calories, increase your calorie intake by about 15% to support muscle growth. For example, if your maintenance calories are 2,000 per day, aim for 2,300 calories per day to build muscle. Remember to adjust your calorie intake monthly to account for changes in your weight.

Protein Intake

Protein is essential for building muscle as it is the building block of muscles. Most studies recommend consuming 0.7–0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight. On a keto diet, this may translate to getting 15-20% of your total calories from protein. Focus on high-quality protein sources that contain all nine essential amino acids, especially the muscle-building amino acid leucine. Examples include eggs, whole-fat milk, Greek yogurt, cheese, chicken, turkey, beef, fish, and seafood.

Carb Intake

To stay in ketosis, it's crucial to restrict your carb intake. Typically, this means consuming fewer than 50 grams of carbs per day. You can try a targeted keto approach by timing your carb intake around your workouts to enhance exercise performance. If you're struggling with your workouts, consider this strategy to give you an extra boost.

Fat Intake

Fat is a primary fuel source on the keto diet, so it's important to monitor your fat intake. After accounting for your protein and carb needs, fat should make up the rest of your daily calorie intake. For example, if you're consuming 2,300 calories and have allocated 110 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbs, the remaining 1,660 calories can come from fat (approximately 185 grams).

Resistance Training

While nutrition is crucial, resistance training is equally important for building muscle. Incorporate resistance exercises such as squats, bench presses, pull-ups, and push-ups into your weekly workouts. Aim for resistance training at least twice a week, as this has been shown to be more effective for promoting muscle growth than training once a week. If you're new to resistance training, consider hiring a personal trainer to ensure proper form and maximize your results.

Supplements

Although not necessary, supplements can aid your muscle-building journey. If you're falling short of your daily protein goals, consider using a protein powder supplement such as whey, casein, pea, or hemp protein. Additionally, creatine monohydrate supplements have been shown to improve gym performance and lead to increased muscle gain. Remember that keto may deplete your body's levels of sodium, potassium, and magnesium, so consider supplementing with these minerals or including foods rich in them, such as dark leafy greens, nuts, seeds, and avocados.

Tips for Success

• Be patient, as you may experience an initial drop in strength and performance while your body adapts to the diet.
• Track your carb intake to ensure you're staying within the recommended range for ketosis.
• Prepare for potential side effects like the "keto flu," which may include symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, irritability, and insomnia during the initial phase of the diet.
• Watch out for hidden carbs in beverages and condiments.
• Regularly test your ketone levels using keto strips or a keto breath test to ensure you're in ketosis.
• Get plenty of sleep, as it is crucial for muscle gain and exercise performance.

Transition to low-carb paleo

Transitioning to a low-carb paleo diet is a great option for those who have reached their goal weight on keto. Here are some detailed instructions on how to make the transition:

Understanding the Difference

The fundamental difference between a low-carb diet and a paleo diet is their underlying goal. A low-carb diet, like keto, primarily aims to minimize carbohydrate intake, usually for weight loss. On the other hand, the paleo diet focuses on nutritional choices that align with our evolutionary history. While you can do a low-carb version of paleo, simply cutting carbs does not make a diet paleo. Paleo is about a holistic set of food choices, not just carb restriction.

You might consider switching from keto to paleo if:

• You initially went on keto to lose weight, but it stopped working or you've reached a plateau.
• You successfully lost weight but now want to address other health issues, such as acne.
• You went on keto to resolve a health issue, but it hasn't completely cleared up.
• Your workouts have suffered due to the restrictions of keto.
• You constantly feel hungry, grumpy, miserable, or low-energy on keto.
• (For women) Keto has negatively impacted your period or fertility.

What to Change:

Remove:

• All grains, even tiny amounts in things like soy sauce.
• All legumes, even low-carb ones like soy.
• All vegetable or seed oils, including canola, rapeseed, peanut, and soybean oil. Instead, use animal fat, olive oil, coconut oil, and other healthy plant fats for cooking.
• All artificial sweeteners and low-carb processed foods.

Add:

• Sweet and white potatoes.
• Fruit, including starchy fruit like bananas and plantains.

How to Make the Transition:

• Add carbs slowly. Don't suddenly start eating large amounts of carbs.
• Replace some of the fat in your meals with more carbohydrate-dense foods. For example, have a banana on the side instead of a big pile of cheese on your salad, or swap an avocado for a sweet potato at dinner.
• Eating carbs with fat and protein will help minimize any blood sugar issues and allow you to slowly adjust to a higher carb intake.

What to Expect:

In the First Week or Two:

• Water weight gain of 3-5 pounds—don't panic, this is normal and not fat!
• Energy changes: you may experience higher energy and mood, nervous energy or restlessness, strange energy highs and crashes, feeling physically warmer, or a combination of these.
• Hunger changes: you may feel more or less hungry, and your meals may seem too big as carbs are less energy-dense than fat.
• Other changes: some people experience digestive changes or a period of adjustment, while others have no issues.

Long-Term Benefits of Paleo:

• Paleo allows for more flexibility in food choices and makes it easier to obtain a wide array of nutrients.
• It encourages an overall healthy lifestyle, including exercise and mindfulness practices.
• Paleo is generally easier to maintain long-term and is less socially isolating.

Experiment with intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is a strategy to help you maintain your goal weight and avoid falling back into old eating habits. It is also a way to relax and feel a little more laid-back about eating during weight maintenance. Intermittent fasting involves eating only during a specific window, with more freedom to feast during that window. The compression of the eating window naturally limits the amount of food eaten, so instead of weighing or measuring food to restrict portions, you can just follow the clock. This approach is psychologically easier for some people, as when you do eat, you get to feast.

There are a few options for how to implement intermittent fasting:

• Eating normally for 5-6 days a week, with 1-2 days of total fasting
• Eating in a 6-10 hour window every day, but not at any other time (for example, from noon to 8 pm)
• Combining intermittent fasting with maintenance keto, muscle-gaining keto, or low-carb paleo

Intermittent fasting can be a good way to maintain your weight loss results and give you a little more flexibility with your eating habits.

Frequently asked questions