Are calories important or are enough protein & carbs enough to grow?

AllesNurImage

New member
Let’s say I’d need
100g protein & 200g carbs daily.
So to grow you would eat 500-1000 calories surplus.
What would happen if you would eat the same calories as you do or even less sometimes but still get your daily protein & carbs? Would you still grow & gain weight ?
 
You may likely get some different opinions on this.

The average amount of calories that one consumes is their baseline to look the way they look now.

To lose weight, one wants to be in a deficit.
To gain weight, one wants to be in a surplus.

Calories are important, but the breakdown of what those calories are is also very important.
It is the proper macros that will have a tremendous influence on what you gain/lose and how it affects body-composition.

If I understand your question correctly, you're asking what would happen if you kept your calories around the same but had a better breakdown of macros in the same calories?

If so, the answer to that is that some people may notice some recomposition benefits and some people wouldn't notice as much. A person just starting out and not really in shape is likely to notice a better difference. Someone that is already in pretty good shape likely wouldn't notice as much of a difference by doing this.

For example:
If I'm eating 3,000 calories per day of pizza and junk food and I decide to change that to 3000 calories of complex carbs and protein and cut out sugars, then yes, for me, I would notice a difference in body-composition as I would both lean out and build some muscle.

BUT it would likely not be as fast as if I were focused solely on one thing or the other and intentionally doing a surplus or a deficit.

I hope that helps.

Btw... I'm a walking example of this because I've mentioned openly in the past that I do not count calories. I set limits for protein and carbs based on my goals at the time, but I don't count things right down to the calories bc it drives me insane and makes me fixate and obsess on it too much and I'll wind up saying screw it and stop even trying.
 
sns8778 said:
You may likely get some different opinions on this.

The average amount of calories that one consumes is their baseline to look the way they look now.

To lose weight, one wants to be in a deficit.
To gain weight, one wants to be in a surplus.

Calories are important, but the breakdown of what those calories are is also very important.
It is the proper macros that will have a tremendous influence on what you gain/lose and how it affects body-composition.

If I understand your question correctly, you're asking what would happen if you kept your calories around the same but had a better breakdown of macros in the same calories?

If so, the answer to that is that some people may notice some recomposition benefits and some people wouldn't notice as much. A person just starting out and not really in shape is likely to notice a better difference. Someone that is already in pretty good shape likely wouldn't notice as much of a difference by doing this.

For example:
If I'm eating 3,000 calories per day of pizza and junk food and I decide to change that to 3000 calories of complex carbs and protein and cut out sugars, then yes, for me, I would notice a difference in body-composition as I would both lean out and build some muscle.

BUT it would likely not be as fast as if I were focused solely on one thing or the other and intentionally doing a surplus or a deficit.

I hope that helps.

Btw... I'm a walking example of this because I've mentioned openly in the past that I do not count calories. I set limits for protein and carbs based on my goals at the time, but I don't count things right down to the calories bc it drives me insane and makes me fixate and obsess on it too much and I'll wind up saying screw it and stop even trying.
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yes this was exactly my question because I thought it wouldn’t make no sense for me to get the extra 1000 calories if they are simply just trash. I dont want to count these damn calories but start to eat pretty good and get my daily amount of protein & carbs from good food..
 
sns8778 said:
You may likely get some different opinions on this.

The average amount of calories that one consumes is their baseline to look the way they look now.

To lose weight, one wants to be in a deficit.
To gain weight, one wants to be in a surplus.

Calories are important, but the breakdown of what those calories are is also very important.
It is the proper macros that will have a tremendous influence on what you gain/lose and how it affects body-composition.

If I understand your question correctly, you're asking what would happen if you kept your calories around the same but had a better breakdown of macros in the same calories?

If so, the answer to that is that some people may notice some recomposition benefits and some people wouldn't notice as much. A person just starting out and not really in shape is likely to notice a better difference. Someone that is already in pretty good shape likely wouldn't notice as much of a difference by doing this.

For example:
If I'm eating 3,000 calories per day of pizza and junk food and I decide to change that to 3000 calories of complex carbs and protein and cut out sugars, then yes, for me, I would notice a difference in body-composition as I would both lean out and build some muscle.

BUT it would likely not be as fast as if I were focused solely on one thing or the other and intentionally doing a surplus or a deficit.

I hope that helps.

Btw... I'm a walking example of this because I've mentioned openly in the past that I do not count calories. I set limits for protein and carbs based on my goals at the time, but I don't count things right down to the calories bc it drives me insane and makes me fixate and obsess on it too much and I'll wind up saying screw it and stop even trying.
Click to expand...

When talking recomp, would I stay the same weight or could I maybe gain weight due to building up muscle? Even though I am not more calories that I should ?
 
AllesNurImage said:
yes this was exactly my question because I thought it wouldn’t make no sense for me to get the extra 1000 calories if they are simply just trash. I dont want to count these damn calories but start to eat pretty good and get my daily amount of protein & carbs from good food..
Click to expand...

You are correct. The only people that really can get away with the calories for the sake of calories are people that have super high metabolisms and just need to get more calories in general bc their body is burning them anyway, and even then they would still need to make sure they were getting enough protein and complex carbs,.

A lot of the guys here love to train and they love counting their calories and macros - and I respect that and wish that I was that way, but I'm not, and I used to drive myself nuts trying to make myself do that and be that way. It always resulted in me getting frustrated and saying to heck with it and hurt my consistency and desire to even try.

When I'm dieting to lose fat, I set a minimum protein intake and a maximum carb intake for the day, but I don't count exact calories or count carbs and proteins exactly.

When I'm trying to build and grow, I set a minimum protein and complex carb intake and I make sure I get that, but I don't count it out as exacts.

AllesNurImage said:
When talking recomp, would I stay the same weight or could I maybe gain weight due to building up muscle? Even though I am not more calories that I should ?
Click to expand...

There's a saying that muscle weighs more than fat - that's not literal because 1 lb. is 1 lb., but what it means is that losing 1 lb. of fat is generally considered more obvious than gaining 1 lb. of muscle. So in the sense of a recomp regimen, you could gain weight on the scale from building muscle and still notice fat loss in your appearance even if the scale doesn't move. Likewise, you may lose weight on the scale but not lose as much as you visibly look like you are bc you're building muscle at the same time.

The concept of cutting and bulking are more of a bodybuilding lifestyle whereas the idea of what I think you're talking about is more the mindset of a healthier lifestyle and long term goals and results.

I can relate bc that's more my way of doing it too. I'll get frustrated sometimes and do a quick cut and try to lose a lot of fat fast - but that's because I've talked openly about how I struggle with depression and I'm a depression eater, so I do go through spells at times where my eating will get out of control. So when I start back right, sometimes I'll do a quick cut kind of as a reset to get back on track.

If you need help with supplements, I'll be glad to help. But for what you're trying to do, things that stand out to me GlycoPhase, Recomp20, and Lean Edge.

GlycoPhase is a GDA that helps your carbs go towards building muscle and losing fat, rather than being stored as fat.

Recomp20, just as it sounds, is specifically for recomp and helps build muscle and lose fat.

Lean Edge is great for when/if you want to focus on fat loss while doing this.

Here are some links for if you or anyone reading wants to learn more about those:

GlycoPhase:

Recomp20:

Lean Edge:
 
sns8778 said:
Calories are important, but the breakdown of what those calories are is also very important.
It is the proper macros that will have a tremendous influence on what you gain/lose and how it affects body-composition.

... I set limits for protein and carbs based on my goals at the time, but I don't count things right down to the calories bc it drives me insane and makes me fixate and obsess on it too much and I'll wind up saying screw it and stop even trying.
Click to expand...

I set limit for carbs, and make sure I am getting enough healthy fat. For me, carbs above about 35 or 40 grams just throws everything off.
 
Beau said:
I set limit for carbs, and make sure I am getting enough healthy fat. For me, carbs above about 35 or 40 grams just throws everything off.
Click to expand...

That's why I always emphasize that everyone is different and its about finding what works best for us as individuals.

I definitely lose fat faster at low carbs but I feel absolute terrible, but I know some people that feel great with low carbs.

I don't feel good when I take in a lot of sugar, but I need complex carbs like brown rice to function at my best. When my carb intake is too low, I'm useless at work and working out - brain fog, lack of motivation, moody, tired all the time, etc.

I think that something about low carbs doesn't go well with my autoimmune condition - but I know some people with autoimmune conditions that low carbs helps. For me, low sugar helps but not low carb in general.

It's great that you've found what works best for you and what helps you feel the best.
 
When routine hits hard, all I can keep track of is my protein intake and estimated total calories. If routine allows it, it is cool to count calories and macros somewhat precisely, but consistency about protein and calories matters the most, imo.
Those little classic tweaks are also helpful: want to lower your carb intake for a while? Ingest them around your workout etc
And I say that assuming you'll end up having enough fats in your diet... I have no trouble at all having some lol. I really don't mind if in some days my fat intake is higher than my carb intake and vice-versa. It may lightly affect performance at the gym (especially if carbs are too low) but routine is already stressful enough.
Count protein and calories and be happy
 
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sns8778 said:
To lose weight, one wants to be in a deficit.
To gain weight, one wants to be in a surplus.

Calories are important, but the breakdown of what those calories are is also very important.
Click to expand...

Steve really broke it down perfectly IMO. especially with the order of priority:

calories based on goals > macros based on goals.
You're not going to grow on 500 calories a day and you're not going to lose weight on 10,000 calories a day.

Layne talks about this ad nauseum. In that recent podcast with Huberman they touched on it again. Keto, fasting, high carb, low carb, whatever diet a person ends up on, it ends up being the caloric deficit vs the caloric surplus. they got into discussion of the twinkie professor as well. Invalid Link Removed
 
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