I never watch the Garmin Connect number, it is random it seems - sometimes it doesn’t even include the calories burnt in the training I did.
It’s going fairly well now with the weight loss. ~0,5 kg per week at 1500-1700 kcal a day (not including training) and watching the protein + fat intake. Also it feels quite natural already, in the sense that I think I’d be able to keep it up in the long run. Not a stranger to dieting and/or discipline, as I used to weigh 120 kg 10-15 years ago.
Did we get an answer as to whether the macro targets of protein and fat were based on total body mass?
Upfront I’m overweight and would like to lose a fair bit more than his 5 pound incremental target. Planning on following the advice in the podcast of consistency, gradual loss, process goals and weight as an indicator etc.
But… If I use total body weight then on a non-training day my carbohydrate “budget” is very low once I’ve eaten the protein and fat. I’m happy to read studies if anyone has the references as to where the fat target came from.
Yea, I never found calorie counting to work. It get’s so tedious and probably there are so many errors in your calculation anyway, starting with your estimated base metabolic rate. So targeting a specific intake rate that is somewhat lower than estimated burn just doesn’t work. What does work, at least for me, is discipline and on days where you don’t need to fuel for intensity you just go ever so slightly feeling hungry. I am down a good 3kg this year with power numbers up.
Fiber is not a bad thing, “often”. If you ask any nutritionist worth their salt they will recommend eating plenty of legumes and grains, which are full of fibre. Even avocado which are healthy fats have a lot of fibre. You probably wouldn’t want to eat 100g of fibre a day, sure, most things become detrimental when eaten in excess, but good luck getting anywhere near that.
The guidelines seem in line with others I have seen based on total body mass.
Given that fat is metabolically much less active than muscle, organs etc, it would make sense to scale for lean body mass. But that eliminates one source of error and adds another - can you measure your fat % accurately? So let’s assume that the calculations and guidance are based on 10-20% range of bodyfat. Perhaps reduce by 10% for every additional 10% of bodyfat.
But to your answer, on rest days. If your glycogen stores are topped-off, then your carb intake requirements are very low. If you’re depleted and have an intense workout coming up the next day or so, then you are taking in excess energy in order to fulfill glycogen replenishment. You would then be eating more carbs on rest day to replenish and effectively run a slight deficit on an endurance day or intense day. It comes down to your exercise pattern and intensity. The more frequent, the more focused your carb timing needs to be.
In his model you don’t have a budget (he gives his reasons in the podcast which I agree with), and fuelling to workload would indeed mean lower carbs on a non-training day.
No, definitely not generally a detriment and generally good for you. But, not a good thing prior to or on the bike if it’s any sort of a longer or harder workout (which for cyclists, can be pretty often). Impacts ability to absorb carbs, can cause stomach distress, and “what goes in, must come out.”
I eat a ton of it because I generally have an iron stomach, it does delay me getting out of the house in the morning though sometimes, and day before and day of big races / rides I go as low-fiber as possible.
By budget I meant just in conceptual terms, which I don’t think you can get around.
I understand the reasons not to calorie count but just advising to eat the correct amount of carbs according to what exercise you have done that day is just as unhelpful if you are in the process of changing your lifestyle and to a certain extent re-educating your brain and stomach.
At some point I am going to get the kitchen scales out and read the labels, hopefully in a few months I won’t need to!
"This is what I’ve found to be most straightforward to follow.
Base (2100kcal):
140g protein (2g per kg bodyweight)
60g fat
250g carb
Add carbs to match kj expenditure"
This is EXACTLY what I do. The one thing I would add, is that the quality of the carbohydrates (for me) matter a LOT. Lots of veggies, whole grains, fruit = good body composition. Shitty carbs = less impressive body composition.
I do add the shitty carbs to supplement for kj expenditure from workouts, but my base carbs I try to get from good sources.
If you’re very overweight, personally I wouldn’t be basing my fat targets off of total bodyweight. I’ve heard a number of strategies for that scenario: Base it off of your goal weight. Do a conversion for lean body mass for someone at a normal / lean bodyfat percentage and use that.
I personally don’t worry about fat too much. I just don’t find it that hard to get enough. Use some extra virgin olive oil, eat some eggs and other lean meat / fish every day, get some avocados. Maybe a small handful of nuts as a snack. Beyond that - focus on protein target and then modulate carbs based on how much work you’re doing.
