Sport Calories vs Macros???

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petsudeh

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Hi all,

Age 30
Male
168 lbs 5'8"
6 meals per day mixture of good carbs and proteins

Here's the question:

I have been following the Body For Life plan and just dropped by this site and have been curious how many calories I have been eating. My BMR - 20% is 2269 Cal/day.

One of my typical days calorie intake following BFL was only 1800 Cal.

So I have started counting my calories to get up to about 2269 and have found that to be quite easy but not to keep the Macros where they should be. It seems that my carbs are always really high and my fat is really low.

Is it more important to keep the daily calories on target or to keep the macro %...I am having a hard time figuring out how to do both.

Thanks for any insights!

Eric
 
Calories are the most important. but the macros can play a large role in how fast and how easily you lose the weight, and how much of that weight was pure fat.

By the way..if you are trying to lose weight, it would be easier if you lower your carb intake, and never mix carbs with protein, and if you do, make sure that there are some good fats in your meal.
 
amp89 said:
he means never mix carbs with fat, not carbs with protein, but some would debate this.
Click to expand...

No, it is Carbs and protein.

If you eat carbs and protein together the insulin spike is huge, when you combine fat to a meal it slows down digestion and provides a more appropriate insulin release

If your going to eat protein + carbs, put some good fats in there to lower the insilun release.
 
Phate, do you have any literature to support that? I would think that protein would lower the insulin release, since it takes longer to digest.
 
I read it from the "Cut Diet"


I have no solid proof, just what i've read. Though I have also read another site saying complex carbs + protein is good. So not 100% sure.
 
hm, I am pretty confused on the whole insulin thing. Why would it be bad to get some insulin going with some protein? The insulin will transport the protein no?
 
I am still confused on the whole insulin issue. Insulin resistance is a bad thing, right?

Wouldn't it be good in a way, though, because you wouldn't get insulin spikes? And without the insulin you wouldn't store fat?

Obviously I am missing something very key here, but I don't know what it is.
 
Carbs help the body synthesize the protein. If you want to make sure you are not getting insulin spikes, consult the glycemic index.

petsudeh, are you trying to gain mass, lose fat or both with maintaining your weight? That will help determine which is more important to focus on. Also, at what level do you want to perform at during your day and workouts?
 
Well. I am confused now

I've read multiple sites saying carbs + protein = bad, and others that say the opposite..

If anyone finds any studies..let me know
 
Sorry for correcting you Phate if thats what you meant. It was just that the only things I have read on this website, other websites, and some books are that you should either hit all macros in one meal, or start off the day with carb/protein meals, and finish the day with fat/protein meals. And der the link worked for me on Safari.
 
realworksuks said:
I am still confused on the whole insulin issue. Insulin resistance is a bad thing, right?

Wouldn't it be good in a way, though, because you wouldn't get insulin spikes? And without the insulin you wouldn't store fat?
Click to expand...

Insulin, made by your pancreas, tells your muscle and fat cells to accept glucose from your blood (the glucose was put in your blood by your digestive system after you eat a meal containing carbohydrates). In insulin resistance, which is a mark of type II diabetes, the muscle and fat cells require much more insulin than normal before they accept glucose from your blood. This forces your pancreas to pump out more insulin to get your muscle and fat cells to accept glucose from your blood. If the insulin resistance is so high that the pancreas cannot make enough insulin to force the muscle and fat cells to accept the glucose from the blood, uncontrolled blood sugar results in type II diabetes.

Choosing slow digesting carbohydrates most of the time reduces the amount of glucose going in at one time (for the same total amount of carbohydrate). 50g of carbohydrate from lentils enters the blood at a much slower rate (over a greater amount of time) than 50g of carbohydrate from white bread, for example. This means a smaller insulin spike is needed to get the muscles and fat to accept the glucose from the lentils compared to the white bread.

Insulin resistance is typically increased by lack of exercise and excess body fat. Genetic factors play a role in how easily it occurs for a given lack of exercise and amount of excess body fat. Note that muscles become more insulin sensitive during and immediately after a hard workout, so fast digesting carbohydrates are sometimes eaten at those times in order to carbo-load for upcoming endurance events. However, choosing slow digesting carbohydrates is generally preferred for health reasons at other times.

Glycemic index lists can show which carbohydrates are fast or slow digesting by themselves. However, combining foods with non-carbohydrate foods (e.g. fat, protein, fiber, water) can affect how fast or slow digesting the carbohydrates will be. Note also that the amount of carbohydrate matters in the glycemic load -- carrots have a high glycemic index, but do not have that much carbohydrates, so would not be much of a concern with respect to insulin spikes when eaten in normal amounts.

You can look up glycemic index and glycemic load of various foods at .
 
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Phate, if you will google John Berardi, he has plenty to say on the subject. You can also check out Lyle McDonald's site He's not necessarily a P+F or P+C or P-C+F or other combination of nutrient set up guys. However, is he for lowering carbs when trying to go on a 'cut'.

What the others have said is true, consuming protein with carbs will help to blunt the insulin response. This is even furthered when you take into consideration of carbs with fiber.
 
Arobe said:
Carbs help the body synthesize the protein. If you want to make sure you are not getting insulin spikes, consult the glycemic index.

petsudeh, are you trying to gain mass, lose fat or both with maintaining your weight? That will help determine which is more important to focus on. Also, at what level do you want to perform at during your day and workouts?
Click to expand...


I am trying to gain mass and lose fat. I have been using a calorie counter at Daily Plate.com and actually discovered an error last night from the site that was throwing off my numbers. The cottage cheese was listed as having about 200g of carbs per serving! I think that I'll have a fighting chance at keeping track now! Thanks
 
Phate89 THANKS-- for the cut diet book.. interesting!!
 
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