Sport Fat or Calories?

Sport Fitness
H

Herzog

0
In trying to trim up, which of the two should I be more concerned about from an intake-wise standpoint?

Wondering b/c whereas a lot of the chicken I'm eating is low in fat/high in protein, it still has a lot of cals. So I try to burn at leat 400-500 cals (according to the stairstepper) each morning via my cardio workout, it almost seems meaningless if I turn right back around and feed that many into my meal(s).
 
Honest answer: BOTH + protein and carbs.

This is a copy/paste from a John Berardi article which you should read in its entirety here: Complete Idiots Guide to Dieting by Dr. John Berardi


Counting Calories and Reading Food Labels

The only way you can be certain of the energy you are consuming daily is by counting the calories you ingest. Now, I know that may seem like a hassle, but it's really not all that difficult. Just follow along and you'll quickly realize the below is a very simple, yet very effective method to track your energy intake.

First, we need to talk about the three primary sources from where we consume our daily energy: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. These are known as the macronutrients. Their caloric value is as follows:

Protein: 4 cal/g
Carbohydrates: 4 cal/g
Fat: 9 cal/g

As you can see, a gram of fat contains just over twice the energy of both protein and carbohydrates. Because of this and the false belief that consuming fat leads to accumulation of body fat, fat has been labeled as a dietary evil. Despite its negative connotation, substantial fat intake is necessary to promote optimal hormone levels, central nervous system function, and overall health. Consumption of certain fats have even been correlated to a loss in fat mass! Therefore, regardless of your goal, I recommend that fats compose 25% of your daily calories.

Let's take, for example, John. John weighs 185 lbs and is 10% body fat, therefore his LBM is 185 x .90 or 166.5 lbs. To calculate John's daily caloric needs, we multiply this number by 12 and get approximately 2000 calories daily. As mentioned earlier 25% of these calories will be derived from fat. 2000 x .25 = 500 calories from fat. Since fat is 9 cal/g, you simply divide the total calories from fat by 9 to give you your daily gram total. For John, this would be 500/9 or ~56 grams of fat daily.

Now, I also recommend that individuals consume 1.25g of protein per lb of lean body mass to promote recovery from workouts and retention of LBM. We already established that John's LBM is 166.5 lbs. Now, to get his daily protein intake, we simply multiply his LBM by 1.25, which equals roughly 208g of protein daily. Since protein is 4 cal/g, John will be consuming 832 calories (208g of protein x 4cal/g) from protein daily.

NOTE: An easy way to access your body fat is via skinfold calipers. I recommend the digital skinfold calipers by FatTrack; it’s a worthy investment considering you'll need to frequently track your body fat percentage. Also, by learning how to take these measurements yourself, you get the most accurate reading. This is because you use the same measurer (you), the same calipers (yours), and the same method (3-site) every time you measure.

The last macronutrient to calculate is carbohydrates. This is done by simply subtracting the calories already accounted for by fat and protein from the daily total. 2000 (daily total) – 832 (calories from protein) – 500 (calories from fat) = 668 calories from carbohydrates. Since carbohydrates are 4 cal/g, this individual will be consuming 167g (668/4) of carbohydrates daily.

Now we have established John's daily gram needs for each macronutrient. Here they are again:

Protein: 208g
Carbohydrates: 167g
Fat: 56g

The cool thing about converting everything to grams is that you no longer have to worry about counting calories (see, I told you I'd make this simple). You simply count the grams of each macronutrient you consume. This makes things even easier considering the way our food labels are organized.

DM
 
Herzog said:
So it's more complex than the "expend more than you intake" stuff I've been reading?
Click to expand...

No, not really.

Fat, protein, carbs...they all contain calories. Find a ratio of them that allows you to shed fat while keeping lean muscle mass.

A typical carbs%, protien%, fat% caloric split is: 40/30/30 or 40/35/25

Definitely don't go below 20% of calories from fat.

Eat right, eat 500 calories less than you need for maintenance, do your cardio and add some resistance training, and the fat will shed itself.
 
ya, a bit.

unless your a pro athlete or you have a compleate psyco passion for it, then it wont be too hard.

If you can find a plan that suits you, then find foods you like within the plan, you can eat well and not get bored of it.
 
Takes more time keeping a log than it is "complex" or "difficult".

Think of all your food as having some caloric value per gram which is listed below.

Protein: 4 cal/g
Carbohydrates: 4 cal/g
Fat: 9 cal/g

Now when you examine your labels look at these 3 components or "macro nutrients".

Example: 1 scoop Low-Carb Grow! (now called Metabolic Drive) has the following macro nutrients listed on the label:
Protein: 20g
Carbs: 3g
Fat: 2g

So, the following is true of our caloric intake:

Protein: 20g * 4 cal/g = 80 calories
Carbs: 3g * 4 cal/g = 12 calories
Fat: 2g * 9 cal/g = 18 calories

In this example the caloric split is as follows:
Protein 73%/ Carbs 11%/ Fat 16% for a total of 110 calories (and 100%).

The trick is to figure out what your total daily calorie consumption should be then make the Protein/Carb/Fat % equal those calories for the day.

Hope this was not any more confusing. To recap...it's more time consuming to keep a log than it is "complex". Most won't do it that's why most complain about not meeting their fitness goals.

In Health,
DM
 
So if I'm supposed to take about 2000 cals per day in order to lose weight, what if I only take in about 1500? Is the recommended intake per day mandatory?

In other words......does fewer cals = greater weight loss? Or should I do whatever I can to hit the 2000?
 
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