We had a health/exercise thread somewhere last week but I think it died or fell off - so I'll start a new one.
Anyway, I'm looking for a little dieting advice.
I've read countless articles and other literature but a lot of it is conflicting and some sources aren't always as trustworthy.
I've been considering switching to a low-carb diet (I realize "low-carb" is vague...). I don't think I want to mess with no carbs and ketosis because I just don't think it's possible and I think my protein intake or having a few drinks on a weekend will keep knocking my body out of it and render it less effective or even pointless.
I only weigh about 185 - I'm not overweight at all, but I do still want to get in better shape and if I could burn off that little layer of abdominal fat before the weather gets warm, I'd be thrilled. I let my diet get a little out of whack over the last couple months and want to get back on track.
I can easily keep my carbs under 100g a day if I choose to but I'm worried about confusing my body by going low carb yet not having enough fat for energy to be pulled from and in turn, having no energy or feeling like crap.
You can fall into a complete K-hole reading about this shit - there are a billion articles and a lot of people say different things.
Some say to have low carb days, moderate carb days and a high carb day - others say to stick with low carb, others say not to do it at all.
Ultimately, I'd like to weigh about 190 but I'd also like to cut my BF% a little bit in the process. I realize adding muscle and burning fat simultaneously is like the white whale of health and it's nearly impossible to do in conjunction.
Any suggestions for how I should divvy up my macros? I know I need to take in ~1g of protein per lb of body weight - so I'm aiming for 180-200g of protein per day. But then I have to figure how how to balance carbs and fats.
TL;DR - but I'd appreciate any advice!
1) I quit sugar a month before going on the diet which made the transition much easier.
2) For those weekend nights when I imbibe I drink Tanqueray and Diet Tonic. That cuts out an easy 900 calories going to the Diet Tonic
3) It's easy on Keto to eat badly but still be in ketosis. What I mean by that is you can overdue the Fats aspect of it. IE: Eating Bacon/Cheese/Butter/Red Meat/or processed meats too much so watch out for that
4) I eat Salmon every day, usually with eggs or in salad for lunch
5) I use Riced Broccoli/Cauliflower as a replacement for Rice/Potatoes/Beans
6) I also have been doing intermittent fasting 3-4 times a week
7) I use big leaf lettuce in place of bread for sandwiches. Hardees also has a Low-Carb option for any of their burgers that use lettuce
8) Get a spiralizer to make noodles out of Zuccinni or Squash
For some reason, this has not been a hard diet for me to stay on. I think the key was quitting Sugar first
Yeah that's called "Intermittent Fasting"
It also allows you to still have those drinks on the weekends, provided it’s during your feeding window.
So lets assume you are working out regularly, a traditional combo of cardio and strength training. Say 3-4 days a week, 90 min a pop.
The old fashioned ratio of 40-30-30 is actually a terrific guideline. Of course there are different kinds of fats and carbs, so lumping them together under a # is erroneous. As well the usual reminders to avoid processed foods, cook as much at home as you can and limit empty calories (booze) all do apply.
If you want to try specific regimens like zig-zagging your carbs or intermittent fasting, there is evidence those absolutely can work. Its just trickier to intergrate them into a standard 9-5.
In the end our metabolisms all react differently to ingested energy (food) so try out a few "diets" and see which one fits your lifestyle best.
I was actually doing that before I started considering switching to low carb instead.
My problem wasn't the part where I didn't eat for 16 hours, it was that I simply didn't have the appetite to consume as much food as I needed to within the 8 hour window.
So I'd wind up only taking in like 100g of protein and probably not enough cals, either - so if I had stayed on that, I think I would have just lost weight AND muscle, which I don't want.
I could probably do it if I was a little more organized, but it's still hard for me to figure out.
montana...
You mentioned the one thing that I kind of worry about with a keto diet, which is that such a huge% of my diet would be red meats and cheeses - I can't see that being a good long-term approach.
But it does sound like it will work if it's done the right way with a better food balance.
Supposedly too much protein will knock your body out of ketosis, though - so I'm not sure how that works if you're trying to maintain muscle mass or even build it.
So lets assume you are working out regularly, a traditional combo of cardio and strength training. Say 3-4 days a week, 90 min a pop.
The old fashioned ratio of 40-30-30 is actually a terrific guideline. Of course there are different kinds of fats and carbs, so lumping them together under a # is erroneous. As well the usual reminders to avoid processed foods, cook as much at home as you can and limit empty calories (booze) all do apply.
If you want to try specific regimens like zig-zagging your carbs or intermittent fasting, there is evidence those absolutely can work. Its just trickier to intergrate them into a standard 9-5.
In the end our metabolisms all react differently to ingested energy (food) so try out a few "diets" and see which one fits your lifestyle best.
In the end, you're right - I feel like I am trying to overcomplicate this way too much when it should probably be simple.
I have literally never been overweight in my life. So, I'm really not worried about getting "fat" because whatever I've been doing all these years has worked reasonably well.
I just hate the idea of spinning my wheels in the mud where I'm not taking in enough cals to see gym results or am taking in too much and can never achieve looking more "cut"
Something's gotta give.
I'm basically at my desired weight already - I just want to burn some of the fat off without losing muscle mass. But it's hard to do those things in concert (which I think you and I briefly discussed the other day on the other thread)
I was actually doing that before I started considering switching to low carb instead.
My problem wasn't the part where I didn't eat for 16 hours, it was that I simply didn't have the appetite to consume as much food as I needed to within the 8 hour window.
So I'd wind up only taking in like 100g of protein and probably not enough cals, either - so if I had stayed on that, I think I would have just lost weight AND muscle, which I don't want.
I could probably do it if I was a little more organized, but it's still hard for me to figure out.
montana...
You mentioned the one thing that I kind of worry about with a keto diet, which is that such a huge% of my diet would be red meats and cheeses - I can't see that being a good long-term approach.
But it does sound like it will work if it's done the right way with a better food balance.
Supposedly too much protein will knock your body out of ketosis, though - so I'm not sure how that works if you're trying to maintain muscle mass or even build it.
You have to balance the Fats and the Protein. I eat a Red Meat twice a week, Chicken 3-4 nights (lots of rotisseries), 1-2 I do a Zuccinni pasta dish, the salmon provides both the fat and the protein in the morning and I then have a salad with an Avocado for lunch sometimes put Tuna in it also.
I have found that you actually get fuller faster and my portions have shrunk as I've gone on. Just stay away from the Sausage, Bacon, Hot Dogs, Salami, and be rational about Dairy (I almost completely eat nothing but Feta and Goat Cheese now) and your fine
Quote:
as I gather spending hours reading about glycemic indices and measuring ketones is no ones idea of fun.
So lets assume you are working out regularly, a traditional combo of cardio and strength training. Say 3-4 days a week, 90 min a pop.
The old fashioned ratio of 40-30-30 is actually a terrific guideline. Of course there are different kinds of fats and carbs, so lumping them together under a # is erroneous. As well the usual reminders to avoid processed foods, cook as much at home as you can and limit empty calories (booze) all do apply.
If you want to try specific regimens like zig-zagging your carbs or intermittent fasting, there is evidence those absolutely can work. Its just trickier to intergrate them into a standard 9-5.
In the end our metabolisms all react differently to ingested energy (food) so try out a few "diets" and see which one fits your lifestyle best.
In the end, you're right - I feel like I am trying to overcomplicate this way too much when it should probably be simple.
I have literally never been overweight in my life. So, I'm really not worried about getting "fat" because whatever I've been doing all these years has worked reasonably well.
I just hate the idea of spinning my wheels in the mud where I'm not taking in enough cals to see gym results or am taking in too much and can never achieve looking more "cut"
Something's gotta give.
I'm basically at my desired weight already - I just want to burn some of the fat off without losing muscle mass. But it's hard to do those things in concert (which I think you and I briefly discussed the other day on the other thread)
keep in mind also that one's caloric needs will be different on different days. put just as much gas in the car as you need to complete the drive in front of you. Learning how much is the key and comes with experience. there will be some trial and error in all of this. Again to keep it simple, think of food as fuel along with a couple of treats per week.
Today, for example...
I had 3 eggs with spinach and some american cheese earlier
Got my workout in this afternoon and had a protein shake when I finished up - 50g whey mixed w 1 cup of milk, 2 tbsp of peanut butter and a bunch of ice
Chicken and veggies for dinner
So, it's 8pm and I'm sitting at roughly 60g of carbs and 130g of protein, I haven't calculated my fats, which is my mistake.
If I had to guess, I'd say I'm somewhere around 70g of fat between everything I've eaten + the coconut oil I put in my coffee.
Basically I need to find room for ~50g of additional protein. Half of which I can get from a Casein shake I have before bed.
Thanks, Bill - I agree with you. Everything in moderation seems to work in many facets of life.
I'm sure I am overanalyzing things (that's what I do...)
But this time of year always makes me want to re-think my dieting/exercise strategy while it's cold out because now is the time to get moving if I want to be in better shape for the summer.
Absolutely.. it's just very hard.
Artificial sweeteners are easier for me to avoid. Processed foods are harder.. I love cheese.
But for my coffee, I usually use organic creamer, stevia, and coconut oil.
But this time of year always makes me want to re-think my dieting/exercise strategy while it's cold out because now is the time to get moving if I want to be in better shape for the summer.
We have different objectives- I'm just hoping to be around for the summer, lol. You should be fine as long as you don't go to any extreme.
I really like Robb Wolf's work. His books and his podcast are all fantastic.
Link - ( New Window )
That was actually one of the resources I read earlier - there's definitely a lot of good info there.
Cutting out white bread and rice is easy for me - I literally haven't had white bread since I was young. All of the bread I've bought for the last 10+ years has been whole grain.
I love meats and cheeses - that's why the low carb/keto diets are so appealing to me - but I feel like it has to be bad for your heart to load up on those foods and have them be such a large percentage of the diet. So, I don't want that either.
I tihnk it's just macro management.
I already know that my protein intake needs to be between 180-200g per day. I just have to figure out how to balance my fats and carbs.
Link - ( New Window )
Thanks for the info - appreciated.
Let me frame my question this way...
Can it still be beneficial to cut down carbs even if I'm not eliminating them or putting my body into ketosis?
Say, just as an example, that before, my typical carb intake was something like 275g per day, but now, I am limiting myself to 100g or less (I'm probably not even that far over 50 today)
Essentially, what I'd really be doing is flipping the percentage of fat and carbs out of my calories.
But I'm not sure if my body will pull from fat stores or burn fat for energy if my carb intake is over 50g/day.
In turn, I'm worried that if I'm not pulling energy from fat stores, but my carb intake is too low, I'm just going to be shot and not have energy.
Thanks!
The one think I am good about is what I drink.
Well, at least when it comes to non-alcoholic beverages.
I drink nothing but water and coffee on normal days. And I use stevia and a little bit of cream in my coffee - no sugar or heavy sweeteners/extra stuff, etc.
Thanks for that information, doctor.
This is correct, and if my primary goal was to lose weight, it would be easier for me.
It's just a bit more complicated for me given what I'm trying to do. I don't really want to lose weight - I want to burn a little bit of fat without sacrificing lean muscle to do it, which is obviously very hard to do simultaneously.
Thanks for that Link, good info out there done in a very simple way
This is only true to a certain point. There is a huge difference in a day of eating 2000 Calories of processed foods, carbs, etc compared to a day of 2000 Calories of whole foods/low carbs. You can burn all the calories you want but it's the quality of the calories that will get you healthy and on the right track.