Why are carbs so important? I tried raising my carbs. I was eating a 1300 calorie diet with about 1300 calories and 180P/90c/28F. Myweight was 177. I barely lost anything. I have since lowered my carbs, and now I'm losing the weight. (10 lbs.). I'm not hungry at all. I eat low fat also. I've always wanted to compete in a Figure Comp., but could never get the weight off. Once I get to my goal of 145 lbs., and add more carbs in, will I balloon back up?

Mary Ann

so you are 177 and taking in only 1300 cals?

And by raising carbs, you mean "up" to 90 grams per day?

There is no doubt a keto diet will work to lose "weight." I just dont believe in it for the bodybuilder/figure/fitness person.

Your metabolism is in the dumper, taking in only 1300 cals at 177 and eating only 90 grams carbs and not losing weight. The women I help diet are around 120 and they take in more calories and carbs than that.

The first thing is to fix the metabolism. How do you do that? you eat! What is your bodyfat level.

But to directly answer your question why are carbs important? They supply energy, they are protein sparing, they hydrate the cell and a hydrated cell is an anabolic cell and they keep the muscle tissue full and allow for strength (energy again).

What is your training routine and what is your cardio schedule.

I eat more carbs on prep than others, but I also do more cardio. Its low intensity designed to targe fat and not muscle. Some dont want to put in the time so they starve themselves, thats an approach too I guess, but it ends up in a slow metabolism...

Post your stats, current diet and training routine, we can try to get your right.

Like J said you can lose weight going low carb, but eventually you'll need to spike it or your metabolism is gonna hit the dumps. Plus how have your workouts been? I would feel like absolute **** with only 90 carbs or less, but thats me.

I have been lifting 2 or 3 times a week. I was doing cardio daily, doing HIIT, but I developed Plantar facitis.I was also lifting (at that time) 6 days a week. It's so severe that the Dr. is considering putting a boot on to immobilize it. I started at 177 42% BF. In doing the exercise and cardio with a very clean diet I lost 10 lbs. scale weight. Since the PF, I have slowed down considerably on cardio, and my weight crept up to 172. Since cutting some of the carbs, I am starting to lose the weight again. Currently 167 but not sure of BF%. Someday I want to enter a Figure Comp. If I can get my weight down to where it is actually doable, will adding more carbs make me gain the weight back?

OK, first I actually used to suffer from PF, they gave me inserts for my shoes and basically said I had to deal with it. I had cortizone injected into the bottoms, it didnt do much.

You really should get the trigger point manual book by Travell. There are areas on the calf that cause this, most notably tight muscle fibers in the back of the lower calf. I work the trigger point areas and my PF went away, more docs should be trained in trigger points, they are too quick to prescribe rather than treat the muscles....look into it.

Training only 2 x per week is not enough. At a minimum do 4 x per week. I like Mon/Tue off Weds Thurs/Fri off Sat/Sun.

Cardio try some low intensity out of bed before you eat and after training.

Do you train to failure, are you pushing yourself? really pushing yourself? Are you a novice at weight training. These are all variables...

you are carrying 74 lbs of fat and 102 lean by my calcs. Your protein is WAY to high for that lean mass.

Id recommend 125P/98CHO/20 fats on non training days, 125P/140cho/20 fats on training days, rotate these, train 4 x per week, add two cardio sessions a day, you will drop and drop consistently. These numbers are based on your lean mass which is pretty low at 102 lbs.

Eat 6 meals a day, spread the carbs evenly over the 6 along with the protein, at 20 grams of fat I dont think youll need to add any fats above and beyond what is in your meats and carbs like oats etc.

Protein: eggs, lean 99% turkey, 96% lean beef, chicken, top roun and Muscle Provider or UMP.
carbs: oats, brown rice, yams, white potato

Good Luck.....

If you've been on a low carb high fat/protein diet with weekly carb ups what is the best way to go back to a more moderate carb and lower fat diet?

quote:

Originally posted by mamaj:
If you've been on a low carb high fat/protein diet with weekly carb ups what is the best way to go back to a more moderate carb and lower fat diet?

A good way to get back to the kind of diet you describe is to add in carbs when they are needed most by the metabolism. Number 1; first thing in the morning, Number 2; post-workout. Add in a bowl of oatmeal with your breakfast, and add in some form of quality carb post workout. Try doing 6oz. Beef and 1-1.5 cups cooked brown rice... Or do like J and do 6oz Sirloin and 7oz. White potato.

When your body has adapted to these two major feedings, you can start adding in some more here and there with your pre-workout meals also. Depending on how many meals you take in, you disperse your carbs over the course of 85% of your meals. Generally, you don't want to do it before bed, although that theory is now in quesiton! Good luck.