[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Ok, I swear I’m not doing this just to be difficult. But the whole ‘lower your carbs. up fats while cutting’ works for some, but not others. I tried that and ended up NEVER getting as lean as I did using higher carbs. I think it works for some, and definitely don’t be ‘afraid’ of fats. But also don’t be ‘afraid’ of carbs just because your cutting. If you hit the protein and fat minimums, it’s probably not going to matter if you use a higher carb, higher fat, or moderate carb/fat distribution in reality. You need to just find what works for you.
DoubleDuce is a dude who does REALLY well with higher fats and almost no carbs, as did MODOK years ago. I do much better higher carbs and lowish fats, and so does Ryanxc on here. All of us have gotten pretty lean. So figure out what works for you, but don’t just drop carbs just because you think a macro breakdown of 150C/250P/200F is better than 300C/250P/130F because low carb = more fat loss. Do what suits your physiological and psychological preferences, but nothing else really matters. [/quote]
I’d point out a couple of things. I agree, plenty of people stay lean with high carbs. And even further, for someone who is very insulin sensitive there is little difference in low carb vs low fat. However, there are a large number of people that because they’ve burned out glucose for energy pathways, do far far far better on high fat diets. I also think high fat low carb diets will work for the vast majority of people. The catch is that you have to make your body learn to run on fat. For an insulin sensitive person whose body is using sugar well, they will see a big drop on in energy and performance for a time while they adjust, which is something most aren’t willing go through, so they add carbs back in. But for someone whose body isn’t using sugar well, there really isn’t a big drop of in energy (because they are feeding their body sugar it can’t use well so their energy already sucks), and as their body adapts, energy/focus/performance begin to increase. These are the people you are talking about doing well on high fat. Or at least, that’s my theory.
Spidey, I don’t know how pudgy you ever got, but looking at the pictures of the OP, I’m willing to bet he isn’t using sugar well. And for the record, if you are lean/insulin sensitive and preforming/looking like you want, then it probably doesn’t make sense to change to high fat.
But the other thing to consider is health. I eat the way I do now for health reasons. Specifically for heart health. Carbs are largely the driver for cancer and heart disease. Again, for someone with insulin sensitive with lower blood sugar levels, it probably isn’t a big deal either way, but it’s something to think about.
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I think we are in agreement mostly. I think constant insulin spikes aren’t ideal. I initially felt I didn’t handle carbs well, but managing and controlling my intake of them helped me a lot My first meal or two during the day are carbless, and high in fat. I’ve had a lot of success with carb cycling, CBL, and IF in that regard.
I do think periods of ‘lower’ carbs can help one with kind of ‘resetting’ their insulin sensitivity. However, I also don’t think 'fat = insulin insensitive" if that makes sense. My point to him was just find what works, and don’t get caught up in making an ‘ideal’ macro plan, and simply starting somewhere and making adjustments as he goes. Like he said he’d start with certain macros, and people are like “lower the carbs”. I just don’t think it’s necessary at this point for him to worry about, at least not yet. [/quote]
Completely fair. And I was really responding to his statement about chicken breast and 1% milk. It seems by nature (due to the misinformation of the past couple decades) when people try to cut calories they start cutting fat, and I think that is generally a mistake. It many times means you cut out nutrients, decrease satiety/increase hunger, and increase questionable ingredients. Low fat products are, by nature, more highly processes, lower in any fat soluble vitamins, and often include sketchy replacement ingredients (like trans fat).
Definitely experiment and find what works and more importantly is sustainable for you. BUT, plenty of people can lose fat by eating very high fat diets and for a large number of people, it works much better. To the point some people almost can’t lose fat while consuming carbs.
Back when I was tracking everything and losing weight I was generally at about 60-70% of my calories from fat. I should be around that nowadays to, but I don’t really count. I more wanted to note that “do what works” may mean really high fat and he shouldn’t be scared of that.