Proper Way to Eat Low Carb?

Diet and Nutrition
1

I’m wanting to do the low carb diet to reduce my bf%, I’ve read quite a few different articles recommending carb cycling, eating .25 carbs per pound of weight…etc in one article, then 1 or 1.25 in another… and i’m sort of confused which to follow, on top of that I read that you should eat them before and after your workout and so on. So I’m looking to find which is the proper way to eat low carb to lower bf%.

Here’s what I’ve been doing the past couple weeks
breakfast - 1-2 servings of oatmeal, 1 scoop whey, 1c skim milk
snack - cottage cheese and fruit or nuts(almonds), maybe protien bar or shake w/ water and 3g fish oil
lunch - spinach leaf salad with broccoli and cauliflower can of tuna or chicken and a vinaigrette dressing + 2-3g fish oil
snack - cottage cheese and fruit or nuts(almonds), maybe protien bar or shake

preworkout meal - protein shake or bar, maybe apple or banana too, but I don’t eat this before every workout, just if i’m feeling hungry

dinner - usually fish or chicken breast or steak/lean beef and green veggies, sometimes rice or potatoes too
before bed - protein shake and maybe 1 tblspoon or 2 of natural peanut butter + fish oil.

that’s more or less been the diet…minor variations, but overll that’s pretty accurate over the past week or so.

Do i need to modify this approach and/or what i’m eating, eat more/less carbs based on weight? is carb cycling a better approach in your opinion?

weight is approx 185, bf% is low teens. My goal would be to get very lean, 5-7% and maintain as much LBM, then from there work on a slow/steady bulk.

and on another note, what do most people consider a proper amount of cardio when on low-carb diets? I don’t want to over do it, but I dont’ want to under do it either.
thank you

2

If you want to utilize a low carb diet remove these items from your plan:

Oatmeal
Potatoes ( especially at night )
Rice

Your fruit could stay but I would limit it to breakfast. Vegetables should be the main carb source through the day since it’s mostly fibrous. Your big shot of carbs should only come PWO.

cueball

3

thanks for the reply cueball, is PWO pre or post workout? and any guidelines to follow in terms of total carbs to eat for the day?

1 Like
4

PWO = Post workout.

5

[quote]petiot wrote:
thanks for the reply cueball, is PWO pre or post workout? and any guidelines to follow in terms of total carbs to eat for the day?[/quote]

Some would say under 100g, some under 50g. For me under 50g has been relatively easy to do and have gotten good results. Also, when you do this you need to be sure you are taking in quality fats to be used as an energy source.

cueball

6

I should mention that a lot of people don’t count their PWO carbs in their daily intake. So if you were to stick to 30g-50g during the day and had another 30g-50g PWO, that should be OK. Unless you start to see fat gain and/or your fat loss stalls. But if all you eat is veggies then have 50g carbs PWO, you should be good.

cueball

8

When I do the low carb, I only keep carns at 2 points in my day:

1- bowl of oatmeal w/ breakfast (need some fiber in the morning, and its all complex carbs anyway)

2- 20-40g simple sugars PWO for insulin spike and cotrisol control

Rest of the day, I try to stay as close to zero as possible, supplementing with fish oils, and BCAAs mid workout.

S

9

Any reason why you want to go low carb to reduce your bodyfat?

Speaking from experience on low carb diets, you’ll want to maintain the big picture. Sure you might mobilize body fat more efficiently IN THE BEGINNING, but once your thyroid drops, you become irritable, your libido drops, and your workout intensity suffers, what then?

11

[quote]ovalpline wrote:
Any reason why you want to go low carb to reduce your bodyfat?

Speaking from experience on low carb diets, you’ll want to maintain the big picture. Sure you might mobilize body fat more efficiently IN THE BEGINNING, but once your thyroid drops, you become irritable, your libido drops, and your workout intensity suffers, what then?[/quote]

What’s the answer to reducing bodyfat then?

12

THe answer to reducing bodyfat is to understand your insulin sensitivity. ANyone who says it’s ALWAYS one way or the other dosn’t udnerstand why either works in the first place :slight_smile:

The key to Kane’s comment is when he said ‘speaking from experience’. That’s his experience. If I were to speak from MY experience, I’d push the low carb/controlled keto approach. You need to see what works for you. I find that most people who are sedentary, except for weight training do better with controlled or limited carb intake.

S

13

[quote]ovalpline wrote:
Any reason why you want to go low carb to reduce your bodyfat?

Speaking from experience on low carb diets, you’ll want to maintain the big picture. Sure you might mobilize body fat more efficiently IN THE BEGINNING, but once your thyroid drops, you become irritable, your libido drops, and your workout intensity suffers, what then?[/quote]

Out of curiosity, what was your fat intake like during your low carb diet? I’ve been using a low carb approach for about 6 months, and my libido is better now than it was before I started. I attribute this to ample amounts of fats of all kinds during this diet.

Also, if he were to use an AD approach and refeed carbs on weekends, this will help with overall gym intensity.

cueball

15

[quote]Spry wrote:
ovalpline wrote:
Any reason why you want to go low carb to reduce your bodyfat?

Speaking from experience on low carb diets, you’ll want to maintain the big picture. Sure you might mobilize body fat more efficiently IN THE BEGINNING, but once your thyroid drops, you become irritable, your libido drops, and your workout intensity suffers, what then?

What’s the answer to reducing bodyfat then?[/quote]

Exercise and submaintenance calories.

16

[quote]cueball wrote:
ovalpline wrote:
Any reason why you want to go low carb to reduce your bodyfat?

Speaking from experience on low carb diets, you’ll want to maintain the big picture. Sure you might mobilize body fat more efficiently IN THE BEGINNING, but once your thyroid drops, you become irritable, your libido drops, and your workout intensity suffers, what then?

Out of curiosity, what was your fat intake like during your low carb diet? I’ve been using a low carb approach for about 6 months, and my libido is better now than it was before I started. I attribute this to ample amounts of fats of all kinds during this diet.

Also, if he were to use an AD approach and refeed carbs on weekends, this will help with overall gym intensity.

cueball[/quote]

I’ve done the AD… twice. It’s a decent cutting diet but I think it shows diminished returns. Sure, so do all diets. But with stubborn fat at low BF %, issues arise.

17

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
THe answer to reducing bodyfat is to understand your insulin sensitivity. ANyone who says it’s ALWAYS one way or the other dosn’t udnerstand why either works in the first place :slight_smile: [/quote]

Ummm… no. The answer to reducing bodyfat is exercise and submaintenance calories. People like to talk about things like insulin sensitivity because they read some article on T-Nation. Being well-read and being educated are two separate things.

With that said, metabolism is under complete genetic control and individual differences exist. People just need to know that human biological evolution has undergone extensive natural selection for genomes that can most efficiently store body fat. From here, they need to recognize that exercise and controlled calorie diets are the solution.

18

[quote]ovalpline wrote:
The Mighty Stu wrote:
THe answer to reducing bodyfat is to understand your insulin sensitivity. ANyone who says it’s ALWAYS one way or the other dosn’t udnerstand why either works in the first place :slight_smile:

Ummm… no. The answer to reducing bodyfat is exercise and submaintenance calories. People like to talk about things like insulin sensitivity because they read some article on T-Nation. Being well-read and being educated are two separate things.

With that said, metabolism is under complete genetic control and individual differences exist. People just need to know that human biological evolution has undergone extensive natural selection for genomes that can most efficiently store body fat. From here, they need to recognize that exercise and controlled calorie diets are the solution.[/quote]

And some people like to talk out of their ass trying to sound really smart. What Stu said is spot on.

cueball

19

[quote]cueball wrote:
ovalpline wrote:
The Mighty Stu wrote:
THe answer to reducing bodyfat is to understand your insulin sensitivity. ANyone who says it’s ALWAYS one way or the other dosn’t udnerstand why either works in the first place :slight_smile:

Ummm… no. The answer to reducing bodyfat is exercise and submaintenance calories. People like to talk about things like insulin sensitivity because they read some article on T-Nation. Being well-read and being educated are two separate things.

With that said, metabolism is under complete genetic control and individual differences exist. People just need to know that human biological evolution has undergone extensive natural selection for genomes that can most efficiently store body fat. From here, they need to recognize that exercise and controlled calorie diets are the solution.

And some people like to talk out of their ass trying to sound really smart. What Stu said is spot on.

cueball[/quote]

lol talk out of my ass. You’re offended because you’re on the AD and I said issues arise with that diet.

Listen, for people who have actually been educated in biological sciences and who have read studies on leptin and insulin, the conclusions that a lot of these experts give kind of make you scratch your head.

I’m not knocking cueball or Stu (shit, my name is Stu and that just seems blasphemous), I actually agree with the comment on insulin sensitivity. However, it’s far too limited thinking. First off, barring an isolated few case examples, leptin and insulin resistance is THE RESULT and NOT THE CAUSE of fatness. Secondly, insulin and leptin have a complex, but deeply connected interaction. That’s not to say that I think you need to eat a SHIT TON of carbs at any given sitting, but steady low-moderate insulin levels are important.

Look, I can go on, but it really doesn’t matter. The only real point here is that your body wants to get fat and it’s an issue that is traced back in to deep evolutionary time.

I feel compelled to tell you that I have a MA in Biological Anthropology and my thesis touched on obesity. And sure, this may not matter to you; I’m still just some online fuckhead. Heck, I agree. However, I also feel compelled to tell you that, as per the topic of the thread, the proper way to eat low carb should NOT be ketogenic. And, yes, again it’s my opinion, but I’d also steer from the AD as well.

20

[quote]ovalpline wrote:
lol talk out of my ass. You’re offended because you’re on the AD and I said issues arise with that diet.

Listen, for people who have actually been educated in biological sciences and who have read studies on leptin and insulin, the conclusions that a lot of these experts give kind of make you scratch your head.

I’m not knocking cueball or Stu (shit, my name is Stu and that just seems blasphemous), I actually agree with the comment on insulin sensitivity. However, it’s far too limited thinking. First off, barring an isolated few case examples, leptin and insulin resistance is THE RESULT and NOT THE CAUSE of fatness. Secondly, insulin and leptin have a complex, but deeply connected interaction. That’s not to say that I think you need to eat a SHIT TON of carbs at any given sitting, but steady low-moderate insulin levels are important.

Look, I can go on, but it really doesn’t matter. The only real point here is that your body wants to get fat and it’s an issue that is traced back in to deep evolutionary time.

I feel compelled to tell you that I have a MA in Biological Anthropology and my thesis touched on obesity. And sure, this may not matter to you; I’m still just some online fuckhead. Heck, I agree. However, I also feel compelled to tell you that, as per the topic of the thread, the proper way to eat low carb should NOT be ketogenic. And, yes, again it’s my opinion, but I’d also steer from the AD as well.[/quote]

Actually I’m not offended at all. It’s worked for me and I experienced none of the “symptoms” you described. Maybe you did so it’s not for you.

Second, I don’t care what my body is TRYING to do, (put on fat as you say) that doesn’t mean a low carb approach won’t work because it does. You go on to say, and I quote, “but steady low-moderate insulin levels are important.” What do you think a low carb diet achieves? A low, steady insulin level.

You also contradict youself with this statement: the proper way to eat low carb should NOT be ketogenic. Low carb IS ketogenic. However, the big risk for ketogenic diets is to the kidneys with prolonged periods of low carbs. The AD, however, has carb refeeds every weekend, breaking any prolonged period to reload the muscles to be burned later.

It doesn’t matter what kind of book learnin’ you got. If something works, it works.

cueball

21

[quote]ovalpline wrote:
The Mighty Stu wrote:
THe answer to reducing bodyfat is to understand your insulin sensitivity. ANyone who says it’s ALWAYS one way or the other dosn’t udnerstand why either works in the first place :slight_smile:

Ummm… no. The answer to reducing bodyfat is exercise and submaintenance calories. People like to talk about things like insulin sensitivity because they read some article on T-Nation. Being well-read and being educated are two separate things.

With that said, metabolism is under complete genetic control and individual differences exist. People just need to know that human biological evolution has undergone extensive natural selection for genomes that can most efficiently store body fat. From here, they need to recognize that exercise and controlled calorie diets are the solution.[/quote]

It’s disturbing that you recognize the genetic control of metabolism that exists, and then blanket human biochemistry with the antiquated statement “exercise and controlled calorie diets are the solution” you really invalidated yourself in that statement I think.

22

As a former track runner who would live off of a high carb diet, now a bodybuilder who has to watch his macronutrients more than his calories, I find it difficult to buy into the ‘metabolism is genetic’ theory.

I will agree that there are many people who read a few articles and throw around big words, and there are also people with real schooling behind them (although there exists so much out of date and frankly, incorrect information being touted in many schools). Neither category guanrentees a decent physique though.

THere are people who have no clue what they are doing diet and training wise yet still look great, people who study every little thing they can and look like crap, and finally, people who for the most part understand a decent amount, and are actually able to put that information to productive use (I’d like to think I’m in this last category -lol).

ANY DIET will eventually stop yielding results. I’ve always maintained that there are 2 great truths in bodybuilding…
1- ANything NEW (diet or training wise) will create some sort of change (sometimes positive, sometimes negative) for a while
2- Nothing will yield results for long before the body adapts.

I think there’s been enough study and writing by people ‘in the know’ (not biologists, but strength coaches and the like) to show that a calorie is not a calorie. Meaning? It’s not just about eating submaintenance amounts of calories to lose weight. If that were true, you could eat a low amount of nothing but carbs for weeks on end. You might lose weight, but you’d look like shit. When I cut, I don’t even count calories, merely adjust my macro breakdown , and every 5 days, throw in a refeed to prevent adaptation.

I also do ZERO CARDIO so as to hold onto as much LBM as I can (This works FOR ME! not guarenteeing it will for everyone). I’ve taken loads of courses in kinesiology, sports medicine, all sorts of stuff (real college classes, not the ACE classes), but in my real world experience, it doesn’t always translate. I can’t tell you how many doctors or nutritionists honestly don’t know the first thing about losing fat.

The final analysis should simply be one of each individual trying different approaches to see what works. EVeryone is different (didnt I say something like this earlier?), and what works for me may not work for you. OR, what works for you this year, may not work as well 5 years down the line. Are carbs bad? of course not, we just eat way too many of them because they’re easy to access, mostly cheap, and give us a little boost of energy.

I think Jack Lalane said not to eat anything that wasn’t around for the cavemen. That would basically leave protein sources from meat, and vegetables. Not a bad diet if you think about it.

Oh yeah, nice to see that this thread hasn’t turned nasty yet -lol. EVerytime an intellectual conversation starts, one guys throws a ‘look at my credentials’ shot and all shit breaks loose. COngrats on the MA Oval, but unless people see you walk the walk, it doesn’t impress too many people (got two Masters myself, and neither one contributed to my build)

S

23

[quote]cueball wrote:
Actually I’m not offended at all. It’s worked for me and I experienced none of the “symptoms” you described. Maybe you did so it’s not for you. [/quote]

Good. Sincerely meant no offense. Again, I do recognize that metabolism is completely under genetic control and individual variation does exist.

I really didn’t intend to say that low carb doesn’t work. I just don’t think it’s sustainable for most people, even with weekly carb-ups, etc. Yes, I did get symptoms. Yes, others do as well. And yes, others don’t. But brain reward circuitry, neurotransmitter levels (like serotonin), etc all create a huge drive to eat carbs.

I also recognize that all macros have effects on insulin levels. The combo of fat and protein really dampens the insulinemic effect though. Low insulin affects neuropeptide Y, which directly affects adipose-negative feedback signals, which lowers leptin, etc. I’m not saying it’s a one-to-one systematic relationship among all the hormones in the body. Anything having to do with insulin and leptin is complex.

My point here is sustainability. How long have you been on the AD? I was on it twice. Ever wonder why so many don’t last on it?

There are several definitions of low carb. Under one gram per pound of body weight, under 100, under 50, under 30… Low carb is not necessarily ketogenic; diets are seen as low carb as juxtaposed to a standard high carb diet that simply means reductions in carb. lol I know, it’s stupid, arbitrary, and technical.

This is a fact and it hasn’t escaped me. I really don’t intend to come off holier than thou. I know you said you weren’t offended, but I really want to reiterate that I am not attacking you.