Author: Sevi Rutgrink - Keto Coaching

When you start your ketogenic lifestyle you usually follow personal macros at a moderate deficit on your TDEE. You will also hear the advice to never eat below your BMR. Are you a bit confused about the difference between the two? Then read on.

What is BMR?

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of calories your body burns at rest. They are the calories you would burn if you did absolutely nothing but lie down for 24 hours. These calories are used to breathe, keep your heart beating, make your blood circulate, digest your food, and for delivering their nutrients to cells. Your BMR is calculated through a proper keto macro calculator. It uses a formula consisting of your height, weight, bodyfat%, age, and gender.

If you look at the image below of my own maintenance macros, you can see my BMR (red arrowed) is 1234 calories. As you can imagine, eating below my BMR can not be good for my health. Not being able to support my body’s basic functions will eventually lead to my whole sytem to fall apart.

What is TDEE?

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) consists of your BMR PLUS the calories your body burns daily while working, playing and exercising. You can again find this number by using the same macro calculator and then have the calculator add an activity level factor to it. The levels of activity range from sedentary, lightly active, moderately active to very active. Always make sure the calculator you use includes your activity level. This helps you to compare your TDEE to your BMR.

If you look again at the image below you can see my TDEE (green arrowed). This calculator calls it, ‘calories to consume’, and it is 1628 calories. Those are the calories I need to eat to sustain my body’s basic functions AND to give me the energy to go about my daily business.

So what do I pay attention to?

When you have your TDEE number, you have all the information you need to set your weight goals. Generally speaking:

• to gain weight you will need to eat above TDEE
• to maintain weight you will need to eat at TDEE
• to lose weight you will need to eat below TDEE

A proper calculator will show the exact surplus (for weight gain) or deficit (for weight loss). For a healthy weight loss I always advise to choose a small to moderate deficit on your TDEE at most.

Keep in mind though these are just general guidelines. For someone who has a prior history of crash dieting and chronic caloric restriction I usually advise at first to eat at TDEE or even above. A damaged metabolism always needs to be repaired before healthy weight loss can be considered.

Do you have any questions about this? Feel free to contact me:

‘Why do you always insist that I reach my protein macro everyday? What makes it so important?’ A common question with a very simple answer, so read on!

In order to build muscle you need what are known as branch chain amino acids. One of those BCAA’s is called leucine. Leucine helps improve muscle growth better than all the others types. But there is a catch: there is a threshold you need to reach before this amino acid can actually work.

A threshold?

Leucine is an essential amino acid and is found in protein sources such as egg whites and animal protein. Leucine stimulates muscle growth by activating a muscle building pathway called mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin). Elevated leucine levels alert mTOR that there are sufficient nutrients and amino acids for muscle building. If you do not have enough leucine in your body, mTOR gets disabled. And this makes it extremely important that you reach the leucine threshold if you want to help your muscles grow.

So how do I do this?

In order for your body to utilize this muscle-building power of leucine, you have to consume enough of it. Your body absorbs 100% of the amino acids we consume. But only a very small percentage of that actually goes to muscle building: other organs and muscles in our bodies also require amino acids.

When you eat protein, amino acids are distributed through your digestive tract to your liver, kidneys, cardiac and smooth muscles, but also to tissues like the skin. To reach a leucine threshold, where the amount of amino acids you consume are used to synthesise skeletal muscles instead of being delegated to the rest of the body, you need to make sure you are consuming enough protein with a high leucine content at one time.

And does this change as I age?

The older you get it becomes more necessary to consume higher concentrations of leucine in order to get the benefits. This is because when you are younger you are more sensitive to the mTOR pathway. As you age you get less sensitive.

It also seems that once you have reached your personal leucine threshold there is a so-called ‘refractory period’. The body must use the amino acids it already has before it can begin to use more as it enters the body. To achieve this threshold and to make sure you are getting the most out of your nutrients, it seems to be best to eat a larger amount of protein in one meal, and then ‘replenish’ your body with protein after four to five hours instead of constantly eating small amounts of protein throughout the day.

How much leucine are we talking about?

The amount of leucine contained in a protein needed to achieve this threshold, according to current research, is between 26 and 41 percent leucine, or 3.2- 4.4 gram. For reference: a 4.7oz steak will provide you with this amount of leucine, as will 5 large eggs.

So there you have it! Do you have any questions about this? You can contact me here:

Today someone asked me why I advise against peanut butter for the keto lifestyle. It is made of nuts, right? And aren’t nuts okay to eat on keto? Well, not quite. You see, the peanut is not a nut at all, but a legume. And legumes in general are best avoided, and not just because of their higher carb count.

Legumes are rich in saponins, lectins, phytates and trypsin inhibitors, the so-called ‘anti-nutrients’. These are natural components of the plant that are designed to protect it from consumption by insects and other predators, but for humans as well they can cause problems with the correct absorption of good nutrients.

All plants (including grains, nuts and seeds) have saponins and lectins, but they are usually concentrated in the seeds. And beans are the seeds.

So why is this bad?

Legumes can be problematic for the human body for a number of reasons. They are difficult to digest and also have the potential to feed the bad bacteria in our stomach. Because of their interaction with our intestinal barrier, they can even create holes in the surface of the membranes of our digestive tract, making our intestinal cells permeable. This is also called leaky gut.

Leaky gut?

Leaky gut occurs when the cells that form the close bond between the intestinal walls are damaged. Then molecules that normally can’t get into the body can be let through. This then causes inflammation.

Furthermore, other anti-nutrients, such as phytic acid, bind to minerals and then make it difficult to absorb them. Phytic acid inhibits the digestive enzymes amylase, trypsin and pepsin.

In short, legumes, and this includes peanut butter, do not belong in a well formulated keto diet. But don’t worry: real nuts and nut butters are perfectly fine to eat in moderation.

Would you like to learn which foods are suitable for keto? Take a look here:

People say that the keto lifestyle is dangerous for me because my brain needs dietary carbohydrates to function. So now I am worried: are they right?

This is a very common question and trust me, you have nothing to worry about!

Let me start by saying that keto does not mean ‘zero carbs’. A correctly formulated basic ketogenic diet always contains between 20-30 grams of net carbohydrates. Which accounts for a whole lot of vegetables and even some low carb fruits. So if you want the variety and taste of vegetables there is nothing to worry about.

But even if you were to eat zero carbs, as is common for example on the carnivore lifestyle, you need to remember there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. Yes, you heard me correctly:

there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate

A very common misconception is that the body, but specifically the brain, needs carbohydrates to function. However, besides for some basic metabolic functions that need glucose exclusively, our bodies are build to either use glucose OR ketones for energy. The body actually has those two options. And guess what: glucose is the less efficient of the two.

As long as you eat sufficient protein your body can produce glucose all by itself for the few metabolic functions that need it. This process is called gluconeogenesis. It is the transformation of non-carbohydrate sources (such as amino acids from protein and fatty acids from fat) into glucose. Pretty clever, right?

So again: there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. Human beings can thrive on a zero carb diet provided they eat sufficient protein and healthy fats.

Don’t feel like going zero carb? There is absolutely no need to. Just make sure you keep following a properly formulated basic ketogenic diet and enjoy your veggies!

Stress is always part of everyday life: making sure you finish your work on time, taking care of the family, a busy schedule, it is all considered ‘normal’ stress. Chronic or severe stress, however, is a completely different issue and can seriously affect both health and weight loss.

Chronic stress causes your cortisol to rise. And unfortunately, it also raises your blood sugar and lowers your ketone levels. And to counteract these chronically elevated blood sugar levels, your body will start producing more insulin. When that happens, fat burning becomes a real problem.
With that in mind, reducing your stress level is important and in my practice this is also one of the key factors I work on with my clients. Sometimes talking alone really helps to cope with severe stress and this is why I am always available on a daily basis.

Certain supplements also help cope with stress, such as:

• Phosphatidylserine
• Ashwagandha
• Ginseng
• Maca
• Green tea extract
• Omega 3 fatty acids
• L-theanine
• 5-HTP

But try to make these changes too:

• meditation techniques; you can take Zen meditation classes, but meditation can of course be done anytime, anywhere and there are plenty of apps that can help. Many of my clients use Headspace or InsightTimer;
• chronic cardio increases your cortisol level. So skip daily running and try resistance training, Pilates, yoga or HIIT instead;
• monitor your magnesium; the recommended daily intake is 300 – 500 mg;
• take a break from social media and turn off your electronics, especially in the evening; invest your down time in real social interaction or plan relaxing activities such as walking, reading or a creative hobby; being outside for at least half an hour a day is recommended anyway for the much-needed production of vitamin D3;
• get a good night’s sleep, you really will be much better able to cope with stress. Good sleep hygiene is therefore important: go to bed early, preferably at the same time every night, get up at the same time every day and make sure your bedroom is a quiet, dark and cool space.

Are you on a keto lifestyle but stuck with your weight loss? Book a coach call now: together we can come up with a good strategy!