Low carbs or low fats?
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what are your goals OP?0
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wilsonm2014 wrote: »Stevencloser, "A different macro breakdown isn't really going to change the rate of your fat loss." It will. At mid 20's its easier for anyone to really eat what they want and not worry too much about it. When you get older the teaching of P/F/C makes a difference. Go check out T-Nation.com and read some of the blogs and articles.
hmmm so you are saying you can eat in a surplus, tweak macros, and lose weight??
sorry, does not work that way.
calorie deficit for weight loss
micro/macro adherence for body comp….0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »LolaKarwowski wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »A different macro breakdown isn't really going to change the rate of your fat loss. So just go with what you'd prefer. Remember though that you need a certain minimum of fat you shouldn't go under.
Newbie Question: If the bolded is true, how come so many bikini competitors change their macro %'s like crazy in order to look a certain way for a competition?
when you cut back on carbs, you lose a lot of water...so a lot of people who go into such a competition will cut carbs for that purpose...same for people that need to do weigh ins for a fight or wrestling or other competitive event.
It has nothing to do with actually dropping fat...you're just dropping water...as soon as you up your carbs again, you retain that water again and replenish your glycogen stores.
macro ratios are far more important to performance than weight (fat) loss. 40/30/30 is referred to as the "zone" or zone diet...it's a common approach for cutting and provides for a well balanced nutrient profile...I'm a big fan of the good old fashioned balanced diet.
I couldn't and wouldn't use the zone in maintenance though...for me, protein would be over the top. Generally speaking, I keep protein and fat fairly static and let carbs be my flex.
This makes SO much sense. Thank you for explaining!what are your goals OP?
To be 15-20% body fat If I'm being specific.You are at perfect macros for fat loss in my opinion. I wouldn't switch them up unless you just want to. Won't make much of a difference.
I'm starting to think the same.0 -
OP - if you want to get to 15-20% body fat then you need to keep eating in a calorie deficit, lifting/working out, and have strict adherence to micros/macros/calorie intake.
A slight tweak to your macros is not really going to do much and a 40/30/30 split is pretty standard. You may want to try and look at it from a grams perspective which would be .6 to .85 grams of protein per pound of body weight; .45 grams of fat per pound of body weight, and fill in the rest with carbs…
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I picked lower carbs...and for me that's about 50% of my diet as opposed to 80% when I was obese.
My macro balance today is about 20% protein...50% carb...and 30% fat.
As mentioned, in times past, the overload of carbs rocketed my calories while reducing overall nutrition which wrecked my health. I'll never go back to that.
Actually, I think your current balance is fine.
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Macros have zero effect on fat loss. Competitors tweak macros before a show to manipulate their water levels. Hence, dropping carbs during "peak week" and carbing up before a show. Also some are just making it unnecessarily complicated-just like people do for weightloss.
15% body fat is pretty low. Keep lifting, and keep at your recomp. Eat enough protein and the rest is preference. Give it time.0 -
I go low fat. I have to do that. Given the choice, I'd eat more fat in my diet, but I'd never go low carb by choice and am not sure I'd do it even if my life depended on it.0
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Macros have zero effect on fat loss. Competitors tweak macros before a show to manipulate their water levels. Hence, dropping carbs during "peak week" and carbing up before a show. Also some are just making it unnecessarily complicated-just like people do for weightloss.
15% body fat is pretty low. Keep lifting, and keep at your recomp. Eat enough protein and the rest is preference. Give it time.
Looks like I'll be keeping everything the same. I had no idea how much effort + dedication went into getting your body fat % that low. Thank you all for your informative answers. I've learned so much!
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LolaKarwowski wrote: »Macros have zero effect on fat loss. Competitors tweak macros before a show to manipulate their water levels. Hence, dropping carbs during "peak week" and carbing up before a show. Also some are just making it unnecessarily complicated-just like people do for weightloss.
15% body fat is pretty low. Keep lifting, and keep at your recomp. Eat enough protein and the rest is preference. Give it time.
Looks like I'll be keeping everything the same. I had no idea how much effort + dedication went into getting your body fat % that low. Thank you all for your informative answers. I've learned so much!
The lower you want to go the tougher it gets...
Also 15% is really low for a female ...0 -
A new study just came out and is being reported on that low fat is actually better than low carb in terms of shedding more body fat. I'm not sure about the validity of all of this and would be interested in seeing these results duplicated elsewhere but it might be worth looking into.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33905745
If true, it seems that the low carb craze is not the most effective in accomplishing what most of us want - a healthier body mainly through the loss of body fat.
In the article they do highlight that any sort of strict diet can be difficult to maintain and, of course, losing weight through a moderate calorie deficit is a great thing to do, regardless. But if your goal is to get more fat off - low carb may not be the way to go.0 -
A new study just came out and is being reported on that low fat is actually better than low carb in terms of shedding more body fat. I'm not sure about the validity of all of this and would be interested in seeing these results duplicated elsewhere but it might be worth looking into.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33905745
If true, it seems that the low carb craze is not the most effective in accomplishing what most of us want - a healthier body mainly through the loss of body fat.
In the article they do highlight that any sort of strict diet can be difficult to maintain and, of course, losing weight through a moderate calorie deficit is a great thing to do, regardless. But if your goal is to get more fat off - low carb may not be the way to go.
The study actually doesn't say that.
First rule: never trust what a news article says about any "new study". Ever.0 -
LolaKarwowski wrote: »Macros have zero effect on fat loss. Competitors tweak macros before a show to manipulate their water levels. Hence, dropping carbs during "peak week" and carbing up before a show. Also some are just making it unnecessarily complicated-just like people do for weightloss.
15% body fat is pretty low. Keep lifting, and keep at your recomp. Eat enough protein and the rest is preference. Give it time.
Looks like I'll be keeping everything the same. I had no idea how much effort + dedication went into getting your body fat % that low. Thank you all for your informative answers. I've learned so much!
like everyone else here, I think you're doing a pretty good job with your macros. I kind of had the same initial success when I dropped 20 pounds.
Now I'm focusing on lifting more which will add strength and thus help burn more fat.
But look how much you've already lost! Stay patient, if you're see the results (albeit slower), I say stick with it.0 -
stevencloser wrote: »A new study just came out and is being reported on that low fat is actually better than low carb in terms of shedding more body fat. I'm not sure about the validity of all of this and would be interested in seeing these results duplicated elsewhere but it might be worth looking into.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33905745
If true, it seems that the low carb craze is not the most effective in accomplishing what most of us want - a healthier body mainly through the loss of body fat.
In the article they do highlight that any sort of strict diet can be difficult to maintain and, of course, losing weight through a moderate calorie deficit is a great thing to do, regardless. But if your goal is to get more fat off - low carb may not be the way to go.
The study actually doesn't say that.
First rule: never trust what a news article says about any "new study". Ever.
Then what does the study say? I'm trying to understand but what is your understanding of it?
And if you could, please link me to the study itself? I tried searching for it but could only find all the reports from different sources saying this.
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It takes a lot of effort for women to see abs. That being said, I'm going the low carb route. I do Keto, 20 grams of carbs or less daily. Im in a similar boat as you...roughly 135 - prob around 23% body fat, the last 10lbs just don't want to come off...or I don't want to hit the gym that hard.
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In short, it showed that you can lose fat without touching your carb macro (which some people claim is necessary). The low fat diet did indeed lose more fat, but that was within expected differences, and they said that over the long term, they should even out.stevencloser wrote: »A new study just came out and is being reported on that low fat is actually better than low carb in terms of shedding more body fat. I'm not sure about the validity of all of this and would be interested in seeing these results duplicated elsewhere but it might be worth looking into.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33905745
If true, it seems that the low carb craze is not the most effective in accomplishing what most of us want - a healthier body mainly through the loss of body fat.
In the article they do highlight that any sort of strict diet can be difficult to maintain and, of course, losing weight through a moderate calorie deficit is a great thing to do, regardless. But if your goal is to get more fat off - low carb may not be the way to go.
The study actually doesn't say that.
First rule: never trust what a news article says about any "new study". Ever.
Then what does the study say? I'm trying to understand but what is your understanding of it?
And if you could, please link me to the study itself? I tried searching for it but could only find all the reports from different sources saying this.
I can't link the study because I'm not at my PC right now, but there's at least two threads about it somewhere here.
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stevencloser wrote: »
In short, it showed that you can lose fat without touching your carb macro (which some people claim is necessary). The low fat diet did indeed lose more fat, but that was within expected differences, and they said that over the long term, they should even out.stevencloser wrote: »A new study just came out and is being reported on that low fat is actually better than low carb in terms of shedding more body fat. I'm not sure about the validity of all of this and would be interested in seeing these results duplicated elsewhere but it might be worth looking into.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33905745
If true, it seems that the low carb craze is not the most effective in accomplishing what most of us want - a healthier body mainly through the loss of body fat.
In the article they do highlight that any sort of strict diet can be difficult to maintain and, of course, losing weight through a moderate calorie deficit is a great thing to do, regardless. But if your goal is to get more fat off - low carb may not be the way to go.
The study actually doesn't say that.
First rule: never trust what a news article says about any "new study". Ever.
Then what does the study say? I'm trying to understand but what is your understanding of it?
And if you could, please link me to the study itself? I tried searching for it but could only find all the reports from different sources saying this.
I can't link the study because I'm not at my PC right now, but there's at least two threads about it somewhere here.
Right. Well then that is in line with a good portion of what I said. So it may not be that low fat is better for you but that, at the very least, low carb is not something that is particularly beneficial.0 -
great job! Looks like you have had a lot of success already.
I wouldn't worry too much about ratios as long as your energy levels are good. There's a whole lot more to food than macros. Just recently I did a quick survey of research on this topic (causes of increased waist circumference/methods of decreasing waist circumference) and found that some of the best results reported were from: 1) consistent weight training, 2) increasing activity in general, 3) reducing/eliminating consumption of fatty meats, soft drinks, cigarettes, and alcohol. Sorry--I didn't write down the articles and I didn't spend a lot of time on them either--I recall a couple were from Spain, but that's about it.
and, just from experience (since I'm a woman, my body likes to be about 120 lbs and I have been below 18% bf a number of times) the times in my life that I saw the most "ab" (and least muffin top) were 1) when I was lifting heavy and consistently (all weight training, no cardio), 2) when I was training for a half marathon (all cardio, no weight training), and 3) during the summers when I was riding my bike 20+ miles per day, 5 days a week. I was pretty much eating whatever when doing the half training and biking, and ate a bit more protein during the weight lifting--but nothing excessive. When I tried to up protein intake to more than .8 grams / kg of body weight I felt awful.0 -
Study itself:
http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(15)00350-2
Thread discussing the study:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10234055/low-carb-diet-has-been-debunked/p1
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