first of all hi, 1st time on these forums posting although i have gained a lot of powerful insight from them! thank you!
now, problem at hand is i have plateaued after 9 stone of weight loss over 15 months…i feel im getting fitter, but i am not seeing the results. down at around 18% bodyfat now so i understand it will slow down…but that wont stop me trying to squeeze extra out by being really anal with planning and calculations!
if what im about to post is too much to handle/be bothered with/time to take, then no need to post, but if you are bored at the office then please peruse this and see if it seems right ;]
The carb cycling codex @
http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=811783
gave the following formulae:
BMR = 66 + (13.7xKGweight) + (5xCMheight) - (6.8xage)
my multiplier - moderate exercise (once daily - 1.6) so:
Cal/day = BMRx1.6
target = weight loss so:
0.8xCal/day = Fatloss Cal/day
Moderate Day:
protein = 1.5g/pound bodyweight
carbs = 1.25/pound bodyweight
(carbs+prot)x4 = prot+carb calintake
Fatloss Cal/day - prot+carb cal intake = fat cal/day
fatcal/day divided by 9 = fatgram/day
it also said that high days should have a 25% mark up on carbs and low days the opposite so:
im 202 pounds, 24 years old, 6 foot 1 inch, daily exercise (interval training or bodyweight exercise for 30 and 50 mins respectively on alternating days)
the above calcs gave me 2668 cals/day
and this table:
Prot Carb Fat
High = 303g 316g 50g
mod = 303g 253g 50g
low = 303g 190g 50g
mean%= (50) (41.75) (8.2)
low, mod, high regard 2 low intensity, 2 mod intensity and 2 high intensity days in 1 week(in terms of workouts/acitivity).
this is the crux of my difficulty. ive spent along time recently reading these and other forums and 42% carbs with only 8% fat seems wrong.
factors effecting this:
- i see a big debate between high carb and high fat diets for the purpose of weight loss while maintaining muscle (and small gains in muscle)…the high fat side is the one i lean to.
- most people seem to lean towards low carb, including Christian Thibaudeau (whose codex i based the above on)
yet the results of this process leaves me with 41% which i would regard as quite a high mean carb amount for a diet. - the only thing that could explain the above is
a) my calcs are wrong somehow
b) the "cycle’ and when you eat the constituent parts (fat and carbs) reverses general thinking on diet and allows the high carb allotment because of the post workout focus on their consumption in order to maintain/grow muscle.
most of the time i see people quoting a 40%prot, 30%carb, 30%fat diet…which seems more realistic to me.
my aims are to go from 18% to 13% body fat, and the codex is recommended for long term muscle and fat level control.
so my questions are:
- have i used/read the codex info correctly?
- does the cycle technique really make up for such low fat and high carb intakes for weight loss purposes?
- should i accept the science or should i follow the same plan with a tweak to 40/30/30 calorie composition and apply the same eating/workout/cycle science to this?
thanks for your time and patience, only make a fuss because i feel that at this stage getting it wrong on this fundimental level will either leave me a skinny weakling, make me put weight back on or best case scenario, stay on plateau!