High fat or high carb

LuckyMe2017

So I have been experimenting with 40/30/30 through my macros. Started with 40 carbs, which was fine but felt I needed to lower it due to the low carb hype. Moved to 40 fats, but have eating between 40-50. For some reason I am tempted to do low fat or high fat and couldn't keep it down to 40. I was going to try 40 proteins then determine which works best for me, but I simply don't think I can reach 40 proteins through foods I eat. I get close to 30 with lean protein for dinner and a bar a some point during the day.

So, I am wondering if my carbs or proteins have to make up a larger portion of my diet, which should I put at 40%? I am 182 pounds and seeking to loose weight. I am doing 8-10 miles walking/jogging per week and a little lifting with a 40 pound dumbbell set.

IFBBRich

It is really hard to say every ones body responds differently. Personally I use 40/40/20 when cutting for a show. Protein, Carbs, Fats. I need the carbs for energy to get through my workouts. I would definitely not put 40% of cals/day from fats.

Curtruns

I use a 20/50/30 ratio of protein/carbs/fats. Those are general guidelines though and I frequently deviate up to 5%. I know that many of the Kenyan runners have a diet that is only 10% protein and it is hard to make an argument that their performance suffers as a result. For what it's worth, here is an article on the proper balance.
http://livestrong.com/article/300129-the-best-ratio-of-carbs-protein-fat/

lemurcat12

Percentages are a somewhat weird way to measure, as total calories make such a difference. For example, the Kenyan runners obviously do tons of cardio, so 10% protein for them is nothing like 10% protein for a more sedentary person on a calorie-restricted diet.

I've gone from about 33.3% of each to 40-30-30 (40% carbs) when working out more, to 50-25-25 (which I'm trying now, when at a higher goal and exercising a lot still, as anything more than 25% protein gives me a gram number that is way more than I need and I don't like eating more than 50-55 grams of fat). As others have said, the trick is to just experiment and find what works best for you.

LuckyMe2017

Funny you guys mention Kenyans. My husband is one of them but not a runner. He's the odd child.
Anyway, thanks for your input. I decided to try 35/35/30 c/f/p to try to lower my fats a little.
I will try to keep my proteins up to help preserve muscles for now but will probably settle on 45/30/25 which is doable long term if I really watch my carbs and fats and am intentional about eating proteins with each meal.

tmdalton849

i am doing a ketogenic diet at the moment, and aim for macros of 80f/15p/5c and have been hitting pretty close to that (my ratios on the pie chart here look a bit off becaise it doesn't calculate net carbs).

entering week three right now, and feel fabulous. my body responds well to low carb. i have great energy again (was tired the past couple weeks while adapting), sleeping well, and though i haven't weighed since i began, my clothes are fitting much more loosely.

LuckyMe2017

tmdalton849 wrote: »

i am doing a ketogenic diet at the moment, and aim for macros of 80f/15p/5c and have been hitting pretty close to that (my ratios on the pie chart here look a bit off becaise it doesn't calculate net carbs).

entering week three right now, and feel fabulous. my body responds well to low carb. i have great energy again (was tired the past couple weeks while adapting), sleeping well, and though i haven't weighed since i began, my clothes are fitting much more loosely.

I was reading that your body needs fat to burn fat, so I was okay with trying out 40% fat, but I would have to drop some weight before I consider something drastic like 80 fat.
Although, thanks for sharing.

tmdalton849

MidwaysT wrote: »

tmdalton849 wrote: »

i am doing a ketogenic diet at the moment, and aim for macros of 80f/15p/5c and have been hitting pretty close to that (my ratios on the pie chart here look a bit off becaise it doesn't calculate net carbs).

entering week three right now, and feel fabulous. my body responds well to low carb. i have great energy again (was tired the past couple weeks while adapting), sleeping well, and though i haven't weighed since i began, my clothes are fitting much more loosely.

I was reading that your body needs fat to burn fat, so I was okay with trying out 40% fat, but I would have to drop some weight before I consider something drastic like 80 fat.
Although, thanks for sharing.

i finally got a chance to weigh - have lost over 10 lbs in 3 weeks (was eating pretty low carb paleo before this). (: some is likely water weight, but not all.

low carb high fat may not be for everyone, but i feel fantastic!

LuckyMe2017

Congrats and thanks for sharing.

HeySwoleSister

I'm secretly hoping that someone comes out with a "High Fat/High Carb" diet. Cause I seriously could go to town on that one.

Sorry protein, I'm just not that in to you. If only it weren't so abundantly clear that I need you. ~sigh~

stevieedge2015

tmdalton849 wrote: »

MidwaysT wrote: »

tmdalton849 wrote: »

i am doing a ketogenic diet at the moment, and aim for macros of 80f/15p/5c and have been hitting pretty close to that (my ratios on the pie chart here look a bit off becaise it doesn't calculate net carbs).

entering week three right now, and feel fabulous. my body responds well to low carb. i have great energy again (was tired the past couple weeks while adapting), sleeping well, and though i haven't weighed since i began, my clothes are fitting much more loosely.

I was reading that your body needs fat to burn fat, so I was okay with trying out 40% fat, but I would have to drop some weight before I consider something drastic like 80 fat.
Although, thanks for sharing.

i finally got a chance to weigh - have lost over 10 lbs in 3 weeks (was eating pretty low carb paleo before this). (: some is likely water weight, but not all.

low carb high fat may not be for everyone, but i feel fantastic!

I'm down 6lbs in 2ish weeks - felt like crap for the first week but feeling fab now! My skin has cleared up already, usually at this time of month I develop big cystic spots on my jaw and chin, but no sign of them now. Good luck with whatever you decide

LuckyMe2017

EWJLang wrote: »

I'm secretly hoping that someone comes out with a "High Fat/High Carb" diet. Cause I seriously could go to town on that one.

Sorry protein, I'm just not that in to you. If only it weren't so abundantly clear that I need you. ~sigh~

My sentiments. Unfortunately I don't know if I buy CICO. I think what we put into our bodies/proportions matter, especially if one wants to lose weight efficiently.

HeySwoleSister

MidwaysT wrote: »

EWJLang wrote: »

I'm secretly hoping that someone comes out with a "High Fat/High Carb" diet. Cause I seriously could go to town on that one.

Sorry protein, I'm just not that in to you. If only it weren't so abundantly clear that I need you. ~sigh~

My sentiments. Unfortunately I don't know if I buy CICO. I think what we put into our bodies/proportions matter, especially if one wants to lose weight efficiently.

How is that not CICO.

Calorie reduction is what causes weight loss.
Your comfort will be the number one reason to pay attention to macros (barring medical conditions, of course)
Keeping protein up will benefit certain body composition goals

If you fight the Law of Thermodynamics, the Law will Win. It was just too many syllables to fit in the song, that's all.

Unknown

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LuckyMe2017

Confused about these last comments. Anyway, I know that weight loss comes from having a calorie deficit. However, I think that the proportion of nutrients we eat plays a role in how efficiently the weight loss occurs.

Mr_Knight

MidwaysT wrote: »

Confused about these last comments. Anyway, I know that weight loss comes from having a calorie deficit. However, I think that the proportion of nutrients we eat plays a role in how efficiently the weight loss occurs.

I don't know what that second sentence means. What do you mean by "efficiently"?

LuckyMe2017

If one has a balance of macros that the body "likes", the body will burn fat more optimally.
I think eventually the body will adapt to whatever, but maybe there is a sweet spot.

cwolfman13

MidwaysT wrote: »

So I have been experimenting with 40/30/30 through my macros. Started with 40 carbs, which was fine but felt I needed to lower it due to the low carb hype. Moved to 40 fats, but have eating between 40-50. For some reason I am tempted to do low fat or high fat and couldn't keep it down to 40. I was going to try 40 proteins then determine which works best for me, but I simply don't think I can reach 40 proteins through foods I eat. I get close to 30 with lean protein for dinner and a bar a some point during the day.

So, I am wondering if my carbs or proteins have to make up a larger portion of my diet, which should I put at 40%? I am 182 pounds and seeking to loose weight. I am doing 8-10 miles walking/jogging per week and a little lifting with a 40 pound dumbbell set.

Do what you will, but outside of a medical condition, "low carb" is pretty much hype...you can eat carbs and lose weight. Also, 40% carbs in a calorie restricted diet is usually a pretty moderate carbohydrate intake...40/30/30 is known as "the zone" or "zone dieting". and it's a fairly common ratio in a calorie restriction.

When I'm in a cut I eat around 225 grams of carbs per day and cut just fine...personally speaking, the "low carb hype" as you say is annoying...there are lots of carbohydrates that are loaded with kick *kitten* nutrition. It's a bunch of fear mongering silliness.

Unknown

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amusedmonkey

The best macros are the macros you can sustain. If I were you I would see how much protein I can comfortably eat every day (trial and error) and set that, eat for a few days at the highest protein you can comfortably handle and see where your carbs and fat fall naturally on most days and set that.

amusedmonkey

MidwaysT wrote: »

EWJLang wrote: »

I'm secretly hoping that someone comes out with a "High Fat/High Carb" diet. Cause I seriously could go to town on that one.

Sorry protein, I'm just not that in to you. If only it weren't so abundantly clear that I need you. ~sigh~

My sentiments. Unfortunately I don't know if I buy CICO. I think what we put into our bodies/proportions matter, especially if one wants to lose weight efficiently.

More than 90 pounds gone with an average of 40-60 grams of protein a day (10-15%). Facts speak louder than beliefs.

Mr_Knight

MidwaysT wrote: »

If one has a balance of macros that the body "likes", the body will burn fat more optimally.

I don't know what that means, either. Can you explain this using terms that aren't subjective?

OMADZombie

I've done both. High carb made me feel wonderful, but I lost no weight. High fat made me feel like dog crap, but I lost weight. Now I just eat one meal a day and eat whatever I want (up to my calorie goal) and that is working wonderfully. I feel good and am losing weight. Everyone is different, experiment! Good luck.

RockstarWilson

My personal experience...

I am extreme low carb, 5% if i try. I dont expevt anyone to do it like me...because i do it outside of the fad guidelines, back how it started in the early 20th Century. The diet involves a lot of dairy and meat, so it requires a tough stomach.

With higher carbs, macros set to 40C/40P/20F, I typically eat more meals during the day. I will snack often, and run out of calories in the end, and have to make a choice to overeat or go hungry. I also farted a lot, and bowel movements were irregular.

With higher fat, my bm's are super regular, I dont get gas. I never snack, I eat one meal a day, with a kicker, sometimes two meals. Most days lately I have been going an entire day with just hwc in my coffee.

High fat (and very low carb) for me pretty much eliminates overeating. Sometimes I eat right at maintenance, sometimes I am 500-1000 calories below that. But very rarely do I eat enough to gain poundage, and if I do, it is limited and isolated. Newton addition comes from CICO, and this diet helps with that. Plenty of other benefits too...

sijomial

I don't like percentages as my calorie goal and calorie needs vary far too much day to day.

130g protein as a minimum but I try for slightly higher.
65g of fat as a minimum but a fairly flexible goal.
Carbs wherever they happen to fall within my calorie allowance

Unless I'm doing a long cycle then it's roughly 60g of carbs per HOUR. Low carb really wouldn't suit me.

lemurcat12

MidwaysT wrote: »

If one has a balance of macros that the body "likes", the body will burn fat more optimally.
I think eventually the body will adapt to whatever, but maybe there is a sweet spot.

This sounds to me like hoping there's some way around the need for a calorie deficit or way to lose super fast. The calorie deficit is what matters.

However, people differ as to what macro balance they feel best on and that's going to matter for whether your particular deficit is sustainable for you (you aren't hungry) and for whether you have the energy to be active and the like. I expect for most people it's more of a range or multiple possibilities than a sweet spot, though.