Low Carb Backfire?
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I'm getting 100g+ of protein a day. Last year I was doing 150g+ and thought that was the issue for gaining weight even though I know protein burns fat. So I've stayed around 100g the last month.
MFP tracking ....
Calorie avg 1100-1300
Protein avg: 95-145g
Carb avg: 90-120g
Fat avg: 25-45g
AND a gallon of water a day
A typical low carb dieter eats much more fat than you're eating. While your diet isn't all that "low carb", I wouldn't limit fat quite so much. (and I'd eat more calories).
If you ate a burger and a bun, and more carbs than you've been eating, then you probably retained a few LBS of water.
And no, protein doesn't burn fat.0 -
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@Ang108
You seem to equate a calorie deficit with eating nothing!
OP could be new to training, with an adequate protein intake and a plentiful supply of energy (fat) to make up for a modest calorie deficit for all you know,
Saying gains are limited to a few ounces is based on what exactly?[/quote]
I did not say what you think you read/understood. To gain muscle we need more energy than maintenance level calories and that energy comes from extra food intake. That is why weight lifters talk about " bulking ". That is when they eat more ( sometimes a little bit, sometimes more than that ), because the extra energy and nutrition is needed to build muscle.
The " cut " cycle ( when losing fat ) is done by eating at a caloric deficit. It is science that during a deficit cycle gaining muscle is not possible.
As I mentioned in my previous post. a tiny muscle gain can be achieved by absolute newcomers to exercise, which is called as I did in my post " beginner's gain ". For women this is due to their hormonal make-up much more difficult to do than for man. In general it is more difficult for women to gain muscle, because of hormones.
Saying gains are limited to a few ounces is based on what exactly?
Maybe this will not be satisfactory for you, but my opinion is based on my 40 year plus career in the field of nutrition with two MA degrees ( one in Nutrition & Disease Prevention and the other in Nutrition and Humanitarian Aid ) and my personal experience as a formerly ( I am going on 70 now and had to give up ) competitive weight lifter and contact over 15 years plus years in the gym with very dedicated and knowledgeable lifters and of course studying and reading, books and things like that...:o).
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Rule of thumb: Anytime you lose/gain large amounts of weight that fast, it's water not fat. And we don't really care about water weight. It comes and goes. We want fat loss! That comes from a consistent calorie deficit.
It's likely your original huge losses are in part water weight. Then you regain some of it, which is to be expected.
ETA: I think OP is confusing protein with muscle. As stated protein does not burn fat. However, our muscles (which are built with protein) burn more fat in an hour than fat does. That said, our bodies do not store extra protein as muscles the way it stores extra calories as fat. The only way to get extra protein stores is to build muscles. This very hard to do it you are eating at a calorie deficit and not weight lifting.0 -
@Ang108[
You seem to equate a calorie deficit with eating nothing!
OP could be new to training, with an adequate protein intake and a plentiful supply of energy (fat) to make up for a modest calorie deficit for all you know,
Saying gains are limited to a few ounces is based on what exactly?[/quote]
I did not say what you think you read/understood. To gain muscle we need more energy than maintenance level calories and that energy comes from extra food intake. That is why weight lifters talk about " bulking ". That is when they eat more ( sometimes a little bit, sometimes more than that ), because the extra energy and nutrition is needed to build muscle.
The " cut " cycle ( when losing fat ) is done by eating at a caloric deficit. It is science that during a deficit cycle gaining muscle is not possible.
As I mentioned in my previous post. a tiny muscle gain can be achieved by absolute newcomers to exercise, which is called as I did in my post " beginner's gain ". For women this is due to their hormonal make-up much more difficult to do than for man. In general it is more difficult for women to gain muscle, because of hormones.
Saying gains are limited to a few ounces is based on what exactly?
Maybe this will not be satisfactory for you, but my opinion is based on my 40 year plus career in the field of nutrition with two MA degrees ( one in Nutrition & Disease Prevention and the other in Nutrition and Humanitarian Aid ) and my personal experience as a formerly ( I am going on 70 now and had to give up ) competitive weight lifter and contact over 15 years plus years in the gym with very dedicated and knowledgeable lifters and of course studying and reading, books and things like that...:o).
[/quote]
Sorry you are plain wrong to equate ordinary people to competitive weight lifters.
There is no magic switch that gets thrown at TDEE minus 1 to prevent muscle gain.
Bulk/cut cycles are absolutely not the only way to gain muscle.
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@Ang108[
You seem to equate a calorie deficit with eating nothing!
OP could be new to training, with an adequate protein intake and a plentiful supply of energy (fat) to make up for a modest calorie deficit for all you know,
Saying gains are limited to a few ounces is based on what exactly?
I did not say what you think you read/understood. To gain muscle we need more energy than maintenance level calories and that energy comes from extra food intake. That is why weight lifters talk about " bulking ". That is when they eat more ( sometimes a little bit, sometimes more than that ), because the extra energy and nutrition is needed to build muscle.
The " cut " cycle ( when losing fat ) is done by eating at a caloric deficit. It is science that during a deficit cycle gaining muscle is not possible.
As I mentioned in my previous post. a tiny muscle gain can be achieved by absolute newcomers to exercise, which is called as I did in my post " beginner's gain ". For women this is due to their hormonal make-up much more difficult to do than for man. In general it is more difficult for women to gain muscle, because of hormones.
Saying gains are limited to a few ounces is based on what exactly?
Maybe this will not be satisfactory for you, but my opinion is based on my 40 year plus career in the field of nutrition with two MA degrees ( one in Nutrition & Disease Prevention and the other in Nutrition and Humanitarian Aid ) and my personal experience as a formerly ( I am going on 70 now and had to give up ) competitive weight lifter and contact over 15 years plus years in the gym with very dedicated and knowledgeable lifters and of course studying and reading, books and things like that...:o).
[/quote]
Sorry you are plain wrong to equate ordinary people to competitive weight lifters.
There is no magic switch that gets thrown at TDEE minus 1 to prevent muscle gain.
Bulk/cut cycles are absolutely not the only way to gain muscle.
[/quote]
Careful, I said this before and you should have seen the post and all the flags I got after.
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jennifer_417 wrote: »I'm really curious what makes a turkey burger a 'clean' food as opposed to a hamburger?
Really? Turkey has less fat overall and is leaner
my grocery store sells 85% ground turkey and 93% ground turkey...and they also sell 85% ground beef and 93% ground beef.
so...which is leaner, 93% ground turkey or 93% ground beef?
also, dietary fat doesn't make something "clean" or "dirty"...dietary fat is an essential macro-nutrient.
sometimes i'm just straight up baffled by the lack of even rudimentary knowledge of nutrition.0 -
Thanks for all the feedback and the back/forth on details. I am pretty much down to my weight a week ago but guess I need to find the balance to have a 'cheat day' and not gain 10 lbs of water weight.
I am teetering between doing a calorie deficit and eating more protein to gain muscle and loose weight (as Josh notes).
I'm not new to working out or eating healthy ... it is a balanced science of knowing what works for YOUR body as I would guess everyone could agree on, right?!?!?
Any suggestions on finding a balance between having a cheat day and paying a week for it in loosing water weight I appreciate the suggestions to try. Thanks!!
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Thanks for all the feedback and the back/forth on details. I am pretty much down to my weight a week ago but guess I need to find the balance to have a 'cheat day' and not gain 10 lbs of water weight.
I am teetering between doing a calorie deficit and eating more protein to gain muscle and loose weight (as Josh notes).
I'm not new to working out or eating healthy ... it is a balanced science of knowing what works for YOUR body as I would guess everyone could agree on, right?!?!?
Any suggestions on finding a balance between having a cheat day and paying a week for it in loosing water weight I appreciate the suggestions to try. Thanks!!
That's the problem with low carbing... if you have a cheat day, you're most likely gonna eat carbs and then kick yourself out of ketosis and gain back water weight.
Here's my suggestion
Stop low carbing0 -
Low carbing only worked for me after I was able to leave living on carbs cold turkey. 11 months later I still eat <50 carbs daily because staying in nutritional ketosis manages my pain better than any NSAID over the past 40 years.
I agree someone is going to have to have a serious concern and what to reduce/prevent risk of like diabetes, stroke, cancer (as in my case), heartattack, Parkinson, Alzheimer's, high blood pressure, etc or they will never be willing to give up living on mainly carbs.
I find LCHF works very well if it is 'worked' very well. Normal healthy people should be able to manage weight just by eating less food in general, not just by limiting carbs.0 -
I feel like its instilled in me rice, pasta, sweet potatoes are bad for you even small amounts.
What's the right balance to eat them or other carbs so this doesn't happen?0 -
I personally follow and love LCHF, but cheat days are not possible without the trade-off of a big pop on the scale. That whole "hydrate" part of carbs, and all that. I can do a treat or a cheat meal, but not a whole cheat day. Or if I do, I know what the scale will look like for a few days.0
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I feel like its instilled in me rice, pasta, sweet potatoes are bad for you even small amounts.
What's the right balance to eat them or other carbs so this doesn't happen?
@sheryl792 that is a good question but personally I never found a good answer.
After I learned medically speaking dietary carbs are not required by humans to have good health (protein and fats are NOT optional food sources however for human health) I cut mine carbs from any source to <50 grams daily.
While some parts of the body does require some carbs the body makes all we need from protein.
11 months ago I cut out food containing sugar and/or grains in hoping to manage my pain without Rx Meds. After 30 days my pain was under good control and continues to be under control.
After 40 years of abusing carbs I could not taper off carbs so had to wind up going off carbs cold turkey. It was a hellish two weeks but am glad I did.
Some have not issues with carbs but I do. I do not know why but once I found out they were not required for health and cut them out now my health is better than 20 years ago when I was 44.
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I've been maintaining my weight while eating fewer grams of carbs, generally around 90 to 130 grams, not low enough for ketosis, but low enough enough to keep my blood sugar tests in the low to mid perfect range.0
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Fat doesn't make you gain fat. Carbs don't make you gain fat. Protein timing doesn't matter and is unsubstantiated in anything but bro science. You can't gain weight by eating too little, ask any starving person who looks like a skeleton. (You can do lasting damage to your body though) If you ate above your carb intake chances are you also consumed the sodium that those carbs came with. Drink more water, do a couple good cardio sessions and you'll see the weight dissapear.0
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IsaackGMOON wrote: »
You are right, its EXCESS carbs that are unhealthy.
When you get a metabolic disorder, then you know you were eating excess carbs.
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I feel like its instilled in me rice, pasta, sweet potatoes are bad for you even small amounts.
What's the right balance to eat them or other carbs so this doesn't happen?
Sweet Potatoes are one of the healthiest foods you can eat, often included in the list of super foods. Sometimes things we learned along the way about nutrition don't quite fit the facts.
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Yeah, I was as misguided until a few months ago. Now, I eat potatoes, lentils, beans, whole grain pasta, brown rice, oatmeal, fruits I'd never have touched before (like mangoes, bananas etc) etc. I also put regular sugar in my beverages and homemade juices/smoothies. My diet is now 75-80% carbs because I keep fat low. And I've lost 26 lbs while increasing carbs along the way(down to 126 today). My fasting blood glucose in July was 70 (Normal range is 65-99).I feel like its instilled in me rice, pasta, sweet potatoes are bad for you even small amounts.
What's the right balance to eat them or other carbs so this doesn't happen?
Sweet Potatoes are one of the healthiest foods you can eat, often included in the list of super foods. Sometimes things we learned along the way about nutrition don't quite fit the facts.
You can't prevent this from happening. It's just biology. You can't escape it. 1 gram of glycogen carries with it 3 grams of water. A healthy adult can store 400g in the liver and 100g in muscle cells. You go low carb you deplete glycogen, you drop water weight and vice versa.I feel like its instilled in me rice, pasta, sweet potatoes are bad for you even small amounts.
What's the right balance to eat them or other carbs so this doesn't happen?
Rice and pasta (esp whole grain) and sweet potatoes as well as other carbs from whole foods, are good for you. Eat them if you like them. Ignore the water weight which is meaningless and focus on FAT loss.0 -
Sweet potatoes are actually better for you than regular potatoes. They are also naturally tastier--in my opinion--so they don't require all the extra 'stuff' that cuts into your daily allowance of calories. Seriously, cinnamon and the barest smear of butter and you are good to go.
(Just saying.)
Additionally, there is copious research data out there to support the pro-sweet potato vs. regular jacket potato. If you are having issues with potatoes (general) then it could be because they are akin to the nightshade family and you may have a sensitivity. Hope this helps, and don't lose focus. You're still trying to improve even with a minor setback (and that is a HUGE factor in success).0 -
I think you might need to take a step back and assess why you want to do low carb, and is it worth it to you. List out the pros and cons. You can lose weight well doing low carb, or full carb. Whatever you choose, you need to make sure it fits your wants, needs, and lifestyle well. And that it's something you can sustain for the rest of your life. Whatever you do to lose the weight, you need to be able to do forever to keep if off .0
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