Started by ausswe, February 20, 2013 · 38 Replies · 9,201 Views
Hej hej!
Just wondering if it is okay to almost completely cut fat from my diet while trying to lose weight?
Obviously ill still get a little bit of fat from meat but seeing as the meat ill be eating is kangaroo and poultry it's almost nothing.
I'm not interested in being big jus strong. I don't want to lose any strength and I'm wondering if I cut all the fat, will my body just use my own fat reserves and how will it affect my strength gains?
God no. You need a certain amount of EFA's. Make sure you get them, at the very least. Studies show that it is a very bad idea to go under 20% fat OR over 60% carbs in your diet.
Okay good to know!! Maybe ill add some seafood for fat then. Would 20%. Calories from fat from seafood be sufficient enough?
Also why is it bad to go user 20% fat or over 60% carbs?
Also keep in mind fat is required for ample hormone production and response. Dropping fat too low will cause a 1/3rd drop in testosterone levels.
Nope, not ok. Fats are an essential part of the diet.
It's a common misconception to think that eating fats causes the body to store fat. In fact, there's no direct relation between fat consumption and fat storage. From a simplified perspective, your body manufactures and stores fat when it takes in more energy than it uses: body fat is just an energy storage mechanism. You get energy from all three macronutrients: proteins, carbs and fats. So even if you're eating little to no fat, your body fat can still increase dramatically if you pig out on protein and carbs. There is literally nothing to be gained from cutting only fats from your diet, and a lot to be lost.
Since body fat is a form of energy storage, you have to get your body to burn through its energy stores if you want to lose fat. This means consuming less energy than you use. The first thing you should cut out of your diet is anything containing refined sugar: those are empty calories with no nutritional value other than energy. Refined grains are similarly poor nutrition. Butter and vegetable oil aren't particularly healthy fats, so cutting down on those is a good idea.
ausswe said:Okay good to know!! Maybe ill add some seafood for fat then. Would 20%. Calories from fat from seafood be sufficient enough?
Also why is it bad to go user 20% fat or over 60% carbs?
Sorry sir, PubMed is your friend 
I think it is very important to read on this for yourself.
Okay will do. The reason I ask this is because my calorie intake has been lower than it should be for a month now but my body composition seems to be at a stand still even though I'm training 5 times a week f1 and 4 times a week climbing. I just eat vegetables meat milk and the odd bit of fruit. It seems the only time I have successfully lost weight was when I was running a lot. Doesn't seem that anything else works for me
Have you plotted your activities and meals in nutritiming? You may see issues there that are not apparent to you until you see them on a graph. The smart phone app is the cheapest way to go, as far as I know.
I have been using nutritiming for a while now an have been quite strict with intake and timing especially quality of food although I have occasionally had some chips when I couldn't get enough calories for the day
ausswe said:Okay will do. The reason I ask this is because my calorie intake has been lower than it should be for a month now but my body composition seems to be at a stand still even though I'm training 5 times a week f1 and 4 times a week climbing. I just eat vegetables meat milk and the odd bit of fruit. It seems the only time I have successfully lost weight was when I was running a lot. Doesn't seem that anything else works for me
You could also not be recovering. More does not mean better. If you do not recover your body will not get leaner.
I've been training for a while so I have an idea when I need to recover. For example I switched to a 3 day training week this week instead of 5 days because I didn't get enough sleep and could feel I needed more time. Other than that though I feel myself handling the exercise well and getting stronger each week.
Just have to say I really appreciate all the replies in helping me figure this out
Nic Branson said:You could also not be recovering. More does not mean better. If you do not recover your body will not get leaner.
Yeah but you'd still be losing weight if you were at a calorie deficit. It's just some of it would be muscle.
I thought maybe my metabolic rate has decreased from previous long term low calorie intake And perhaps my calorie needs aren't a high as what I've calculated ?
I have had quite a bit of stress lately could that affect te weight loss that much?
ausswe said:I thought maybe my metabolic rate has decreased from previous long term low calorie intake And perhaps my calorie needs aren't a high as what I've calculated ?
If you're not losing any weight and your intake has consistently been below your calculated usage, your calculated usage is probably too high.
ausswe said:I have had quite a bit of stress lately could that affect te weight loss that much?
Yes. Fat gain is a common response to high amounts of stress.
Hari_Seldon said:Yeah but you'd still be losing weight if you were at a calorie deficit. It's just some of it would be muscle.
Depends on the deficit that is not always true as stress from both traning and life can impact storage. If this was over say 6 months then certainly. In short term you end up with muscles loss and fat gain with minimal weight shifts.
I used the Harris benedict equation to calculate my bmr and then found the average of several different calculations I used to figure out my energy usage during exercise. I have been eating more than 600 calories less than what I calculated a day. I would think even if I overc calculated 600 calories less should still cover it. (Not eating more than 600 calories less on purpose, I am just forced to in my current situation)
ausswe said:I have been using nutritiming for a while now an have been quite strict with intake and timing especially quality of food although I have occasionally had some chips when I couldn't get enough calories for the day
So, the one major issue I have with nutritiming is that it does not correctly calculate high intensity work, because it doesn't do METs.
If you have been consistently undereating, your metabolism can be depressed by up to 25%. There's a good reason why you don't want to severely restrict calories! It lowers your thyroid hormone levels, which makes it hard to lose fat.
Stress is HUGE! You definitely want to do everything within your power to reduce stress as much as possible. Cortisol is incredibly powerful.
I can't consult you on this, I just don't have the time, but I recommend seeing a professional and evaluating things more fully.
What kind of professional would I see about this? And yea it sucks about the earlier long term low calorie intake but I didn't have a choice at the time and from what I understand it isn't reversible.
ausswe said:I used the Harris benedict equation to calculate my bmr and then found the average of several different calculations I used to figure out my energy usage during exercise. I have been eating more than 600 calories less than what I calculated a day. I would think even if I overc calculated 600 calories less should still cover it. (Not eating more than 600 calories less on purpose, I am just forced to in my current situation)
That's not good. You want to stay in the -200 to -300 range. It works better, though it is obviously slower than a larger deficit for gross weight loss.
Technically -400 is ok, but that's the lower limit and I find that it's best to keep yourself at a slightly more moderate deficit. Long term results are much more important than short term results.
You can fix it, endocrine changes take time and patience is all. Most people are impatient. Trust me, having sat at 1000 calories under maintenance before for months I can attest.
ausswe said:What kind of professional would I see about this? And yea it sucks about the earlier long term low calorie intake but I didn't have a choice at the time and from what I understand it isn't reversible.
Nonsense! It's reversible, but will take a number of months. Thyroid hormone does rise, in response to a proper diet, but does so slowly. Frequent meals along with physical activity is important.
A registered dietician is who you would see in the US. I don't know what the equivalent is in Sweden, but you want to try and see someone who has experience with athletes.
Ok I'll look for a dietician who specialises with athletes then see what they have to say.... Good to hear about it being reversible. Who would have thought eating could be so difficult to understand... Feels like it shoul be a simple as eat when hungry and eat lots of veggies some different meats
simple eating is for commuter people, but your training to be a sports car. this type of thinking has made me suffer metabolically for years and only recently has been addressed to accomodate itself to the type of performance i am currently doing. having people like Josh around and lurking around the forums for new things to try is always a fun thing to do as well aside from reading organic chemistry 