• Carbs For Fat Loss


    by Obi Obadike Bodybuilding.com

    Q I'm trying to lose fat.
    Do you have any tips for carb intake?

    Your understanding of how carbs work and when you should eat them will be fundamental to attaining your low-fat physique. You can definitely keep carbs in your diet and burn that unwanted fat, but you'll need a solid plan. Let's hit the basics first.

    Carbohydrates are an essential macronutrient. They are your body's preferred energy source, and they're a great source of fuel for any physical activity you might do during the day. But, if you don't use carbs the right way at the right times, they can add an enormous amount of fat to your body.

    Here's the right way to eat carbs and stick to your goals:

    1/
    Wakey, Wakey:
    Eggs and Oatmeal!

    It's best to consume carbs in the morning when your body is calorie-deprived from sleeping. Your glucose tolerance is typically at its highest during the morning, so having breakfast with a big portion of your daily carb intake is very important.

    Complex, slow-absorbing carbs like oatmeal are great choices for a delicious, nutritious breakfast.

    2/
    Need a Good Finisher?
    Eat Carbs
    It's also a great choice to consume your carbs right after you work out. Your body is ready and primed to suck up the carbs for recovery and energy replenishment.

    Fast-absorbing carbs like fruits, fruit juices, and honey contain simple sugars that are great to have roughly 1 hour after you train. If you go by the numbers, I would shoot for 40 to 60 grams of post-workout carbs.

    3/
    Cancel Your Nightly
    Bowl of Chips
    Unless you do a late-night gym session, avoid eating carbs at night. My rule is that, generally, you shouldn't eat carbs after 7 p.m. If you consume carbs when your body isn't doing enough physical activity to burn them, then your body will just store them as fat.

    4/
    Don't Put All Your Carbs
    In One Basket

    Your complex and fibrous carbs like legumes, whole grains, and veggies should be spread out evenly throughout your meals. That means you should eat veggies with all of your meals except breakfast.

    Don't eat all of your daily carbs in one sitting. Instead, spread them out over small portions to keep your energy high and your body fueled.

    Source: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ask-...loss-tips.html
    Comments 61 Comments
    1. EasyEJL's Avatar
      EasyEJL -
      Originally Posted by AaronJP1 View Post
      Well I respect your answers cause your avi tells all.

      EJ, people like carbs right? Sometimes it's hard to escape...
      Still what makes you think you burn it off? glycogen reserves are glycogen reserves. If you don't eat the carbs earlier in the day, what you eat later in the day will go primarily towards filling the glycogen reserves. So burning it off or not burning it off is pretty irrelevant.
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      Originally Posted by EasyEJL View Post

      Still what makes you think you burn it off? glycogen reserves are glycogen reserves. If you don't eat the carbs earlier in the day, what you eat later in the day will go primarily towards filling the glycogen reserves. So burning it off or not burning it off is pretty irrelevant.
      Well I never expiremented with it, I am though and I'm just trying to get ideas man, their are many theories.
    1. EasyEJL's Avatar
      EasyEJL -
      Sorry if I sounded negative, I was mostly trying to prompt you down the path of thinking about it critically. Your body has the ability to store some amount of excess aminos as muscle, a fairly unlimited amount of fatty acid into fat cells, and a limited amount of glycogen in the glycogen reserves. Your body doesn't respond super rapidly to any of the above, it takes hours to days to make a significant difference. The glycogen reserves are the fastest of them though. And thats sort of why evening carbs make more sense. Your body can go through the day using the glycogen reserves, and then you refill them later in the day. Done the reverse you go through the night with your glycogen reserves low which along with the low physical activity means not much in fatty acids is being released from fat cells. So what fuel is the body more likely to use? Proteins.

      The primary scientific evidenc showing morning carbs to be beneficial over later in the day carbs is psychological. People eating a larger amount of carbs in the morning as a dessert (not oatmeal but something sweet) psychologically can easier avoid sweets later in the day as they feel they've already got their "fix" in.

      The thing with there being many theories is that most of them have no scientific backing, just the repeated mantra of years of bros saying it.
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      Originally Posted by EasyEJL View Post
      Sorry if I sounded negative, I was mostly trying to prompt you down the path of thinking about it critically. Your body has the ability to store some amount of excess aminos as muscle, a fairly unlimited amount of fatty acid into fat cells, and a limited amount of glycogen in the glycogen reserves. Your body doesn't respond super rapidly to any of the above, it takes hours to days to make a significant difference. The glycogen reserves are the fastest of them though. And thats sort of why evening carbs make more sense. Your body can go through the day using the glycogen reserves, and then you refill them later in the day. Done the reverse you go through the night with your glycogen reserves low which along with the low physical activity means not much in fatty acids is being released from fat cells. So what fuel is the body more likely to use? Proteins.

      The primary scientific evidenc showing morning carbs to be beneficial over later in the day carbs is psychological. People eating a larger amount of carbs in the morning as a dessert (not oatmeal but something sweet) psychologically can easier avoid sweets later in the day as they feel they've already got their "fix" in.

      The thing with there being many theories is that most of them have no scientific backing, just the repeated mantra of years of bros saying it.
      Yeah I've heard that too, cake in the AM lol...

      So you're saying carbs are better in the night?
    1. EasyEJL's Avatar
      EasyEJL -
      Originally Posted by AaronJP1 View Post
      Yeah I've heard that too, cake in the AM lol...

      So you're saying carbs are better in the night?
      science makes it look that way for sure.
    1. hvactech's Avatar
      hvactech -
      that was an interesting study, i havent had sweet potatoes or brown rice or wheat pasta in forever...i beleive carbs are an individual process and more of a mental setback for most
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      Originally Posted by hvactech View Post
      that was an interesting study, i havent had sweet potatoes or brown rice or wheat pasta in forever...i beleive carbs are an individual process and more of a mental setback for most
      What do u mean mental set back?
    1. hvactech's Avatar
      hvactech -
      Originally Posted by AaronJP1 View Post
      What do u mean mental set back?
      basically the average thought process, im a bigger guy for my height and if i tell 5 guys thats carbs arent good after 6pm and to only eat wheat and grains every 3 hours to get as "big" as me i can bet that 4 outa the 5 guys will do it just because i told them to...
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      Originally Posted by hvactech View Post

      basically the average thought process, im a bigger guy for my height and if i tell 5 guys thats carbs arent good after 6pm and to only eat wheat and grains every 3 hours to get as "big" as me i can bet that 4 outa the 5 guys will do it just because i told them to...
      lmao...
      Look I'm just trying to figure out what works, and it boils down to trial an errors
    1. EasyEJL's Avatar
      EasyEJL -
      Originally Posted by AaronJP1 View Post
      lmao...
      Look I'm just trying to figure out what works, and it boils down to trial an errors

      sort of, and sort of not. The problem with trial and error is you can do the less optimal thing long enough and hard enough, and still seem to get results. So you'd say "it works" because you don't realize how much simpler it might be another way. You can put a screw in to hold two pieces of wood with a hammer, but that doesn't make the hammer the optimal tool for the job.
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      Originally Posted by EasyEJL View Post

      sort of, and sort of not. The problem with trial and error is you can do the less optimal thing long enough and hard enough, and still seem to get results. So you'd say "it works" because you don't realize how much simpler it might be another way. You can put a screw in to hold two pieces of wood with a hammer, but that doesn't make the hammer the optimal tool for the job.
      True.
      So how do u use carbs?
    1. EasyEJL's Avatar
      EasyEJL -
      Just as a luxury/treat item. Average day is probably under 40g carbs. On a normal day I dont eat anything that the primary source of calories is carbohydrates. Green vegetables, nuts, salad dressings is about all of where they come from.

      But then Saturday I had a rough workout plus was moody so I had a whole wheat bagel, later a piece of gingerbread, and a few cookies. And dinner I had some barilla plus pasta. Still probably under 200g for the day
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      Do u believe the GI or carbs is important or irrelevant?
    1. EasyEJL's Avatar
      EasyEJL -
      Originally Posted by AaronJP1 View Post
      Do u believe the GI or carbs is important or irrelevant?
      if you eat lots of carbs (300+ a day) and spread them out, then GI matters. If you eat a small amount of carbs primarily at one or 2 meals then it probably doesn't matter
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      I'm sure you guys can understand my confusion.
      I'm trying wrap my head around people and these diets they follow.
      The 40/30/30 diet and low carb.
      Essentially do u think low carb people are losin weight because less calories (less carbs), what would happen if they replaced all those cals with protein and ate the same amount of calories.

      I probably sound like a fool, I'm just wondering how one person zone diet can work and a low carb, the only out come can be calories.
    1. EasyEJL's Avatar
      EasyEJL -
      Originally Posted by AaronJP1 View Post
      I'm sure you guys can understand my confusion.
      I'm trying wrap my head around people and these diets they follow.
      The 40/30/30 diet and low carb.
      Essentially do u think low carb people are losin weight because less calories (less carbs), what would happen if they replaced all those cals with protein and ate the same amount of calories.

      I probably sound like a fool, I'm just wondering how one person zone diet can work and a low carb, the only out come can be calories.
      well, long term, its not that simple. A person who takes in lots of carbs is more likely to be less insulin sensitive. So even at the same calories they are more likely to add fat. So replacing the calories with proteins would still end up with some fat loss.

      My average non workout day of eating is around 250g protein, 30-40g carbs, and around 100-120g fats. So calorically its 1000/160/1080. or 45/7/48. Workout days, a little more carbs + protein frequently so more like 275pro/150carb/100fat for 1100/600/900 for 2600 or a 42/23/35.
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      Originally Posted by EasyEJL View Post

      well, long term, its not that simple. A person who takes in lots of carbs is more likely to be less insulin sensitive. So even at the same calories they are more likely to add fat. So replacing the calories with proteins would still end up with some fat loss.

      My average non workout day of eating is around 250g protein, 30-40g carbs, and around 100-120g fats. So calorically its 1000/160/1080. or 45/7/48. Workout days, a little more carbs + protein frequently so more like 275pro/150carb/100fat for 1100/600/900 for 2600 or a 42/23/35.
      Only way to see what works is experiment I guess.... To be honest I don't want to cut carbs or go low as 50g even or less...
      I do want to stay under 150g though. Just my main focus will be clean carbs....
    1. EasyEJL's Avatar
      EasyEJL -
      Originally Posted by AaronJP1 View Post
      Only way to see what works is experiment I guess.... To be honest I don't want to cut carbs or go low as 50g even or less...
      I do want to stay under 150g though. Just my main focus will be clean carbs....
      What I think you'd find is that after you are regularly below 200, and potentially move the carbs to just 1 or 2 meals out of the day

      (http://anabolicminds.com/forum/conte...-way-eat-1082/)

      you'll find that going below 50 isn't a big deal anymore. Its generally an insulin sensitivity issue or pattern of high blood sugar that makes you feel like crap when you go too low.
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      Originally Posted by EasyEJL View Post

      What I think you'd find is that after you are regularly below 200, and potentially move the carbs to just 1 or 2 meals out of the day

      (http://anabolicminds.com/forum/conte...-way-eat-1082/)

      you'll find that going below 50 isn't a big deal anymore. Its generally an insulin sensitivity issue or pattern of high blood sugar that makes you feel like crap when you go too low.
      Guess I'll start their 150g a day :)
    1. AaronJP1's Avatar
      AaronJP1 -
      From that page you told me to read, it seems to make sense. A lot of people stated no 6 meals a day is not needed. This put the same value on carbs earlier in the day and veggies at night though.