Low Carb, high Fat, high Protein diet?

[Sherriperoni]

Has anyone had experience with a low carb, high fat, high protein diet?

I recently have had two people (both with very lean and muscular bodies) tell me that the only way they were able to cut their belly fat was by switching to a low carb, high fat diet with the majority of the carbs revolving around workouts (like normal).

Does this work? Is it something to consider? What are the cons?

I'm currently at 40%P, 35%C, 25%F. Maybe I should change to 40%P, 35%F, 25%C to start??

 

[PillarofBalance]

Yes you can lose fat on a keto diet so long as cals stay below maintenance. At 9 calories per gram that can be tough to do as the meals are smaller however the fats are pretty filling.

This has nothing to do with belly fat though. There is no way to spot reduce fat. They lost it from all over the body but stuck with it long enough.

I have ran a keto several times and probably never will again. I just don't see the need in limiting food choices. There are others who prefer it as almost a lifestyle choice. Up to you.

A keto diet though is typically 60% fat 35% protein and 5% carbs if any.

 

[shortz]

Couldn't have said it better than PoB. Calories will always be king, and macros will always be in second place. The key to losing fat, by far, is eating fewer calories, regardless of your method.

You could always give it a shot, but after doing MANY diets, I ended up as lean as I am in my avatar by eating 300g of carbs EOD. I carb cycled because I didn't like the water weight from eating lots of carbs every day. I have done keto diets in the past and never got this lean, and it was because of one major reason; I was still eating too much.

 

[GiantSlayer]

Maybe because I love carbs but, I have a hard time cutting when carbs are in my diet. I'm a long term believer in keto.

 

[shortz]

Maybe because I love carbs but, I have a hard time cutting when carbs are in my diet. I'm a long term believer in keto.

I know of some people that just need to do certain things to "get in the zone". It's sometimes just a preference or a mental thing. Nothing wrong with that. We do vary from body to body as well. Some folks need more/less protein, some need more/less carbs. It can be done whichever way you want, you just need to be in a deficit, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[PillarofBalance]

Maybe because I love carbs but, I have a hard time cutting when carbs are in my diet. I'm a long term believer in keto.

I hear you... I was successful in leaning up on keto mostly because I am a cookie monster. I can't eat two cookies. I eat the package. The struggle is real bro

But my training suffers. I require pretty significant volume to get stronger. I kept running out of gas in the gym. I would rather be chubby and strong.

 

[BrotherIron]

My wife, SS, does very well with low carb, high proteins and fats. She's also not a bber. She's a BJJ grappler and PLer.

 

[sassy69]

A big point is to define what "low carbs" means. If you go ultra low, a la keto diet, you need to do the refeeds, and also be sure you're getting good quality & enough fats in there. If you're doing low carb, but not low enough to go into ketosis, I would call it more of a carb cycle and you need, again, to have a decent refeed on your schedule. Otherwise you just eventually stall out and look flat because your body has burned all the readily available energy sources (carbs) while not having switched all the way over to using ketones as the energy source.

RE: Keto diets - I've tried them myself but lost muscle over time, they work great for some people, not everyone. I'd say if you are talking "low carb", as low as < 30 g of starchy carb / day and you are committed and know what you are doing, if keto diets work for you, there's phase in your transformation for them. I have a friend who does strict keto during the week and his weekends are "whatever" - works great for him, his body, his work schedule and his lifestyle. It doesn't always work well for everyone because of the strictness of the diet and critical importance of the refeeds.

For most people I'd probably recommend more of a carb rotation type of diet, where for ex, there are starchy carbs in Meal 1 (e.g. oats) + protein, and the rest of the day is protein + fats with a weekly cheat meal inserted. A more dynamic carb rotation can be used where there are more carb meals added or deleted, doing either a calorie rotation with that or keeping overall cals the same, but substituting fat cals for the carb cals where the carbs are removed on the scheduled cycle.

 

[GiantSlayer]

I hear you... I was successful in leaning up on keto mostly because I am a cookie monster. I can't eat two cookies. I eat the package. The struggle is real bro

But my training suffers. I require pretty significant volume to get stronger. I kept running out of gas in the gym. I would rather be chubby and strong.

The serving size of breakfast cereal in my house is 1 box.

 

[MaxSeg]

Nice...lol

 

[MissMonsterr]

It's a keto diet, it's great for weight loss while maintaining muscle mass. When you first start it can be a struggle because people get fatigued easily while they're bodies are adjusting.
I do it for medical reasons, have for about a year, but I got my man who is a bodybuilder doing it and he has great results from it. I never ever struggle with weight while on it and get good results in gym too. It takes a lot of planning and strict self-control though!

 

[rknight]

I'm looking at following a keto diet too. Also for health reasons. Since I know nothing about this is there a good website or book I can follow? I know no one around me following this way of eating. Any recommendations will be appreciated.