Lower carb or lower fat for reduction in body fat %

SGSmallman

So this is an interesting one and open to all ideas and suggestions. Who has had success having a lower carb diet and who's hit the lower fats?

Me personally i currently have 45% carb, 35% protein and 20% fat. I've had different people say different things but.

I thought about switching it up and having 40% carb, 40% protein and 20% fat OR 30% carb, 45% protein and 25% fat

For me it's about losing that body fat %

Thoughts please.

as an fyi on my training

Lifting sessions 3 X a week
Spin 4 X a week
Circuit/ boot camp 2 X a week
Combat & balance 1 each X a week

SideSteel

Rather than thinking about which individual macronutrient to reduce I would instead read this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

jacksonpt

IMO, body fat % is less about low carb/fat and more about high protein. Assuming total cals stay the same, increasing protein will necessarily cause a reduction in carbs and/or fat. As for which to reduce...

Fat has a number of benefits to the body, while carbs are really only a source of easy energy. If I HAD to go low in one of htem, I'd go low carb.

And on a side note... "low" is a relative term. I wouldn't go crazy low in anything, ever, period.

highervibes

IMO, body fat % is less about low carb/fat and more about high protein. Assuming total cals stay the same, increasing protein will necessarily cause a reduction in carbs and/or fat. As for which to reduce...

Fat has a number of benefits to the body, while carbs are really only a source of easy energy. If I HAD to go low in one of htem, I'd go low carb.

This.

SGSmallman

Rather than thinking about which individual macronutrient to reduce I would instead read this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Interesting read. Based on this my protein levels are spot on for my LBM and i need to raise my good fats a little higher.

MY overall concern was now i'm hitting my TDEE deficit numbers correctly as i was previously too low I've been maintaining my weight/ inches so hoping that this now kicks the fat loss again.

Cheers

samanthajade124

Definitely following this thread. With the 32lbs I've lost my body fat has gone down about 6% but I definitely want it to keep going down.

ahmadfahmy

So this is an interesting one and open to all ideas and suggestions. Who has had success having a lower carb diet and who's hit the lower fats?

Me personally i currently have 45% carb, 35% protein and 20% fat. I've had different people say different things but.

I thought about switching it up and having 40% carb, 40% protein and 20% fat OR 30% carb, 45% protein and 25% fat

For me it's about losing that body fat %

Thoughts please.

as an fyi on my training

Lifting sessions 3 X a week
Spin 4 X a week
Circuit/ boot camp 2 X a week
Combat & balance 1 each X a week

The only time your diet composition would matter is if youre are 10% or less bodyfat.

SideSteel

So this is an interesting one and open to all ideas and suggestions. Who has had success having a lower carb diet and who's hit the lower fats?

Me personally i currently have 45% carb, 35% protein and 20% fat. I've had different people say different things but.

I thought about switching it up and having 40% carb, 40% protein and 20% fat OR 30% carb, 45% protein and 25% fat

For me it's about losing that body fat %

Thoughts please.

as an fyi on my training

Lifting sessions 3 X a week
Spin 4 X a week
Circuit/ boot camp 2 X a week
Combat & balance 1 each X a week

The only time your diet composition would matter is if youre are 10% or less bodyfat.

This is quite incorrect.

ahmadfahmy

So this is an interesting one and open to all ideas and suggestions. Who has had success having a lower carb diet and who's hit the lower fats?

Me personally i currently have 45% carb, 35% protein and 20% fat. I've had different people say different things but.

I thought about switching it up and having 40% carb, 40% protein and 20% fat OR 30% carb, 45% protein and 25% fat

For me it's about losing that body fat %

Thoughts please.

as an fyi on my training

Lifting sessions 3 X a week
Spin 4 X a week
Circuit/ boot camp 2 X a week
Combat & balance 1 each X a week

The only time your diet composition would matter is if youre are 10% or less bodyfat.

This is quite incorrect.

Really? So if you eat at a caloric deficit using a 40-40-20 split as opposed to 50-25-25 it would actually make a difference when youre over 10% bf? Pls explain

bcattoes

I am set at 50/25/25 (c/p/f) but have trouble keeping my fat that low and my carbs that high. I'm usually pretty close on protein and spot on when averaged. On average I eat 33% fat, 37% carbs and 25% protein, 5% wine.

I have lowered my BF% into the fitness zone with this diet though. I really need to work on lower my fat intake. Fat just tastes so good!!

jacksonpt

I am set at 50/25/25 (c/p/f) but have trouble keeping my fat that low and my carbs that high. I'm usually pretty close on protein and spot on when averaged. On average I eat 33% fat, 37% carbs and 25% protein, 5% wine.

I have lowered my BF% into the fitness zone with this diet though. I really need to work on lower my fat intake. Fat just tastes so good!!

Then why not increase fats and decrease carbs?

SideSteel

So this is an interesting one and open to all ideas and suggestions. Who has had success having a lower carb diet and who's hit the lower fats?

Me personally i currently have 45% carb, 35% protein and 20% fat. I've had different people say different things but.

I thought about switching it up and having 40% carb, 40% protein and 20% fat OR 30% carb, 45% protein and 25% fat

For me it's about losing that body fat %

Thoughts please.

as an fyi on my training

Lifting sessions 3 X a week
Spin 4 X a week
Circuit/ boot camp 2 X a week
Combat & balance 1 each X a week

The only time your diet composition would matter is if youre are 10% or less bodyfat.

This is quite incorrect.

Really? So if you eat at a caloric deficit using a 40-40-20 split as opposed to 50-25-25 it would actually make a difference when youre over 10% bf? Pls explain

I'm happy to address the above but it's somewhat of an aside to your statement.

Your original statement was this:

The only time your diet composition would matter is if youre are 10% or less bodyfat.

You are saying that diet composition is entirely irrelevant unless you are 10% or under in bodyfat. I could very very easily show you diets that are of reasonable total caloric intake that are drastically deficient in macro or micronutrients and this can be problematic at ANY bodyfat level.

Now that being said, it IS true that minor differences in macronutrient composition are going to be more important the leaner you get, but it is certainly NOT true that "it doesn't matter at all until you're 10%". These are entirely different statements. (And 10% is a very specific number).

As to your immediate question, I could point you to potential differences but I'd first need to know the total caloric intake of the individual, their activity and their bodyfat level and even then, these would be potential differences. Obviously the smaller the difference in macros the less of an impact this would have on various metrics.

When you only provide a percentage, it tells me next to nothing about the intake without knowing the above.

bcattoes

I am set at 50/25/25 (c/p/f) but have trouble keeping my fat that low and my carbs that high. I'm usually pretty close on protein and spot on when averaged. On average I eat 33% fat, 37% carbs and 25% protein, 5% wine.

I have lowered my BF% into the fitness zone with this diet though. I really need to work on lower my fat intake. Fat just tastes so good!!

Then why not increase fats and decrease carbs?

Hmm, that is a good question. I'm not a "if it fits my macros" eater (obviously) and fat has a lot of calories. I don't try to eat so much fat I just really love things like hummus, nuts, peanut butter and olive oil. The only macro I try to pay close attention to is protein because I tend to not eat enough if I don't.