Those plans told me I did not need to worry about reducing my intake of protein and/or fats therefore you are correct, however
After I lost the weight on Darden’s reduced calorie…last year I decided to do an experiment on myself, I went from a high carb low fat and protein to low carb high fat and protein and intermittent fasting and kept the calories the same…guess what, within a month I gained 12 lbs…so I went back to high carb and lost the weight again
Everything else in my life stayed the same
Don’t know what else to say about it
Good on you Dave. You clearly put in the effort. I’m glad it’s still going well. Those damn loaded stretches are still hell, right!?
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Haha no amount of protein or carbs or fat makes those damn loaded stretches any easier! And I think that’s an important point. Especially for muscle growth, you need to bust your ass in your training to get premier results, and the dietary considerations really come second. But supplying yourself with ample protein gives you the bricks with which your body can build.
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Mike Mentzer spoke on the subject of the glucose-alanine cycle.
Quote:
There’s an amino acid contained in your muscle tissue called alanine that is broken down and sent to your liver and turned into glucose. That’s why carbohydrates are called ‘protein sparing.’ Carbs spare your protein from being used for energy.
End Quote
Dietary carbohydrates spare the proteins in YOUR muscles from being shuttled into the glucose-alanine cycle for glucose production. High intensity training uses glucose for intense muscular contractions.
Of the 3 macronutrients, only protein has a nitrogen molecule. The body excretes excess nitrogen. The digestion of proteins from the diet results in excess amino acids with the accompanying nitrogen molecules. In the liver these amino acids are deaminated to form ammonia. Ammonia is toxic and so it is immediately converted to urea for safe excretion. Ammonia raises the pH of body fluids. The formation of ammonia requires energy in the form of ATP and large quantities of water to dilute it out of a biological system. Precious energy is used to convert protein to be useful in the Krebs cycle.
Funny thing is how eccentric resistance training causes muscle damage leading to protein restructuring and production, and nitrogen being shuttled off to the liver. This requires time and energy. To be proven is if eccentrics are optimal for long term training. Grist for the mill!
Could be a couple things:
You gained some muscle, which weighs more than fat, or since fat is 9 cal/g and protein and carbs are 4 cal/g you simply miscalculated your intake.
Mostly though - I’m a big proponent of lots of different macro splits working, so if it works for you and keeps you at a healthy weight and feeling good, you should disregard the noise (myself included) and live life.
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