Question regarding calories intake

Weight loss comes down to eating fewer calories than you burn. If you go over one macronutrient but are within your calories, you're fine. And many people will look at their fat/protein goals as minimums to reach rather than maximums to stay under.

It's calories that make people lose or gain weight. Not fat. Not carbs. Not the time of day you eat. Etc. If you make a list of all the things people swear cause weight gain, well, they can't all be right.

filbo132 wrote: »

So if I bulk, the samething applies, meaning it's the calories that make me fat, not the fat per say...the fat simply plays with my mood or how my body feels, right? I am asking this, because is always the category I fail on most days...sometimes not by much, but on others, I go way overboard.

Correct. Fat is calorically dense compared to protein and carbs. Hence you can eat less of them. 7cal per gram of fat 4cal per gram of protein and carbs. Some people find fat very satiating, some not so much. Personally I try to hit my protein goal for the day first then let fats and carbs fall where they will as long as I stay under my total calorie ceiling.

filbo132 wrote: »

so I know carbs fuel the body (especially if you workout), but fat does what exactly if you are under your calories?

Fat is required for some of your bodily functions. If you stopped eating carbs, or didn't eat more than a few grams per day, your body would switch to using fat for energy; it's very flexible like that.

filbo132 wrote: »

Good, so basically in the end calories and protein (in my case it is since I workout) are the two things that are important for me. As long I achieve both goals, it doesn't matter where I get fats and carbs.

Exactly. The other things I track in my diary are fiber, calcium and iron. I'm more worried about meeting those micronutrients than I am carbs or fat.

filbo132 wrote: »

Perfect, this answers my question, my main problem is I tend to eat low carbs, not because I want to eat low carbs, but because other than bread, it's a hassle to cook other carbs sources like sweet potato, rice, etc...

If eating low carb isn't a problem for you, and is convenient, then you don't need to change it.

I don't know that much about weight lifting (you mentioned a bulk) but on the cardio side of things, your body learns to get most of its energy from fat as you get fitter. And then carbs are mostly used for high intensity stuff. Like, you can ride a bike up a hill and burn mostly fat, but if you want to race a bike up a hill, that's mostly glycogen, from carbs.

Anyway, here's what I do for a lot of my carbs.

A bag (12 oz) and a half frozen raspberries
Spoonful of peanut butter
Protein powder
Mostly cover with milk (2%)

All that in a blender 'til it's like sorbet, then enjoy. It's really delicious. Lot of calories, too, you could go without the peanut butter if you want. Great after a long or really intense ride.

filbo132 wrote: »

wilsoncl6 wrote: »

filbo132 wrote: »

Good, so basically in the end calories and protein (in my case it is since I workout) are the two things that are important for me. As long I achieve both goals, it doesn't matter where I get fats and carbs.

Carbs are good to have to fuel your workouts and muscle growth, along with protein. Your body doesn't care where your calories come from but it's only able to break down certain things for energy at certain rates. Carbs are the quickest, then fats and then proteins. Fats are necessary to balance your hormones and bodily functions, as well as provide a secondary energy source. If you eat low carb, you'll have a harder time doing high intensity workouts but it may not matter as much if you're only doing moderate exercise. Look at fats and proteins a micronutrients you're trying to achieve for the day. You'd much rather go over on those two than carbs as it takes longer for your body to break down those than carbs and both has less calories per gram than carbs.

I get carbs, but not as much as I see other bodybuilders get, I mean 300-400g of carbs per day like some people do is just insane for my body.

It's not that insane when you are bulking, especially considering carbs signal protein synthesis through the release of insulin. During a cut, carbs are muscle sparring for the same reason.