What happens if I lower carbs and raise fat?
Jams009
Posts: 345 Member
I currently have my fat intake set at 0.35g per lb of lbm. Protein at 1g per lb of lbm and the rest of my calorie intake is made up of carbs.
I am sometimes finding this amount of fat to be quite restrictive in terms of what foods I can eat. It is probably my most restrictive macro at the moment and a lot of the treats that I used to enjoy are difficult to fit in without fairly rigorous planning.
My question is; what would happen if I lowered my carb intake and proportionally raised my fat intake? Making sure my overall calorie intake was the same. This would bring me above 0.35g per lb of lbm. I would probably only do this on certain days, but I’m also interested in what the effects would be if it was a permanent increase.
I understand I would probably lose some food volume, since fat is more calorie dense, but would it affect my body composition/performance etc. at all?
What is the reasoning behind setting it at 0.35g per lb of lbm?
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Stats/goals/training/other;
Stats:
28, M, 5’5, 143lb, ~10 -12%bf
Goals:
I’m currently transitioning to a bulk after an initial cut. I’m waiting to see how my body reacts to bulking before setting specific interim goals, but eventually I’d like to get back up to 180lb+ ~10%, like I was in my teens.
Training:
Typical 3 day hypertrophy/bro split (p/l/p) focusing on compound exercises + free weights, 3 sets X 10 reps of 5-6 exercises per session, a little bit of moderate cardio (10-15min).
Other info:
I’m 1 year into training after a 6+ year break, but only just start tracking my macros 2 months ago. I've just finished an initial cut and I'm currently transitioning into a bulk by keeping protein and fat at the same level and increasing carbs gradually to put myself in a surplus. I’m expecting to be in a surplus in the next few weeks. I’m thinking about lowering protein to 0.8g per lb of lbm once I have been in a surplus for a while and have seen some growth.
I am sometimes finding this amount of fat to be quite restrictive in terms of what foods I can eat. It is probably my most restrictive macro at the moment and a lot of the treats that I used to enjoy are difficult to fit in without fairly rigorous planning.
My question is; what would happen if I lowered my carb intake and proportionally raised my fat intake? Making sure my overall calorie intake was the same. This would bring me above 0.35g per lb of lbm. I would probably only do this on certain days, but I’m also interested in what the effects would be if it was a permanent increase.
I understand I would probably lose some food volume, since fat is more calorie dense, but would it affect my body composition/performance etc. at all?
What is the reasoning behind setting it at 0.35g per lb of lbm?
---
Stats/goals/training/other;
Stats:
28, M, 5’5, 143lb, ~10 -12%bf
Goals:
I’m currently transitioning to a bulk after an initial cut. I’m waiting to see how my body reacts to bulking before setting specific interim goals, but eventually I’d like to get back up to 180lb+ ~10%, like I was in my teens.
Training:
Typical 3 day hypertrophy/bro split (p/l/p) focusing on compound exercises + free weights, 3 sets X 10 reps of 5-6 exercises per session, a little bit of moderate cardio (10-15min).
Other info:
I’m 1 year into training after a 6+ year break, but only just start tracking my macros 2 months ago. I've just finished an initial cut and I'm currently transitioning into a bulk by keeping protein and fat at the same level and increasing carbs gradually to put myself in a surplus. I’m expecting to be in a surplus in the next few weeks. I’m thinking about lowering protein to 0.8g per lb of lbm once I have been in a surplus for a while and have seen some growth.
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Replies
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It's my understanding that the 0.35g fat and 0.8g protein per pound are considered minimums. Anything more and the resulting carb intake is personal preference.0
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_benjammin wrote: »It's my understanding that the 0.35g fat and 0.8g protein per pound are considered minimums. Anything more and the resulting carb intake is personal preference.
This is correct, per the "setting your macros" post.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1Remember, protein and fats are minimums and so do not worry about going over on these, . . . .
ETA: fix quote.0 -
Ah... that makes perfect sense. Thanks!0
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Yep, just to elaborate you generally want to make sure you're getting sufficient EFAs and you do that by consuming a mix of fat sources and keeping your total fat intake reasonable.
It would take me a while to dig up the references used to conclude that .35g/lb is a good lower end -- this stems from a handful of studies that Emma Leigh compiled on bb.com.
For the record, Alan suggests .4g/lb goal weight as a lower limit and that's probably also context dependent.
At any rate though, you can definitely exceed your current fat intake in exchange for carbohydrate. You would expect to lose water weight initially as carbs come down.
As long as you:
a) Are able to better adhere to your diet by bumping fats slightly in exchange for carbs.
and
b) Do not suffer any performance issues from carbs coming down
then I'd consider it a smart move to make.
You should always pay attention to personal preference and performance and right now it sounds like you're saying that your preference would be to have slightly more fat in your diet.
Give it a shot.
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Awesome. I didn't realise that it was a minimum level; I thought it was the optimum.
Yeah I'd much prefer some more fats, and for some reason I always seem to have a worse workout when I've had lots of carbs during the day, which I don't really understand. I'll experiment a bit more now and see if I can find a better balance; thanks again.
Is lower water retention likely to have any adverse effects?0
This discussion has been closed.