Figuring out Your Cyclical Ketogenic Diet Needs

The cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD) is a great low-carb diet to aid in fat loss while maintaining and building muscle mass! Most diets result in muscle and fat loss, causing many active people to become unhappy with their results.

The most important part of CKD is to figure out what your macronutrient needs are. Below is an easy way to calculate your protein, fat, and carbohydrate needs for both the keto phase as well as the carb phase!

As a side note, some people feel they need to take fiber supplements due to not getting enough leafy green vegetables (no carrots, corn, or other starchy vegetables!) in their daily diet. Fiber carbs do not count towards your diet, unless you personally want to count their calories. I recommend Metamucil powder but beware of any non-fiber carbs! They do count!

I also recommend drinking a low carb, preferably NO carb, protein shake as a PWO snack.

Keto Phase: Sunday AM - Friday PM
Carb Phase: Friday Post PM Workout - Saturday at Midnight

Keto Phase Calculations:
**These calculations require your lean mass weight (LMW) or an accurate body fat (BF) % calculation
 Total Calories Needed = (15 x Total Body Weight) - 500
 **Total Calories should be recalculated every week due to weight loss

LMW = Total Body Weight x (100%-BF%)

g Protein/day = 1g x LMW
cal Protein/day = g Protein x 4

g Carbs/day = 20g
cal Carbs/day = g Cal x 4 = 80 Carb Cal

cal Fat/day = Total Cal - Protein Cal - 80 Carb Cal
g Fat/day = Fat Cal / 9
(After a while on CKD, if you reach a weight loss plateau cut a few (5-10) grams of fat until you start to lose weight again.)

Carb Phase Calculations:
PWO FN = Consume 50 g carbs and finish rest of day requirements as necessary

**The following must be recalculated every week due to weight loss
Total Cal (from previous calculations) = # Calories for Saturday
.8/total lb bodyweight = g Protein/Saturday = g P x 4 = P calories
.5/total lb bodyweight = g Fat/Saturday = g F x 9 = F calories
(Total Cal - P Cal - F Cal) / 4 = g Carbs/Saturday = g C x 4 = C calories

Click here for an example of the above calculations with "real" numbers!