Low-fat diets are so stupid.
There are a number of reasons for this including:
- The loss of muscle
- The hunger
- The low-fat (your body needs it, especially essential fatty acids)
- All the unnatural low-fat products
- Temporary success (unless you’re prepared to be hungry for the rest of your life)
- The high carbs (diabetes? possibility of high levels of triglycerides in the blood)
- The energy highs and crashes
The list goes on and on…
Some will tell you that low-fat seems intuitive whereas low-carb is
counter-intuitive. What they mean is that it seems that if the goal is
to strip fat off the body, you should eat less fat.
Eating less carbs seems like a strange way to go about reaching the goal. Let me show you why low-carb is actually the REALLY OBVIOUS answer to melting unwanted flab.
Here’s a conversation between a guy’s brain and his body…
Brain “Ok, I’ve had it! I’m going to lose some weight!”
Body “Great! What should I get rid off, fat or muscle?”
Brain “Well, I never thought of that but fat I guess”
Body “Ok boss, what are we gonna do?”
Brain “I’m going to eat less fat of course”
Body “Huh!?”
Brain “Yeah well I want less fat on my body, so I’m going to eat less of
it”
Body “Wait a second, you said you wanted me to burn fat”
Brain “I do”
Body “Well, I burn carbohydrate for energy at the minute”
Brain “yeah, so..?”
Body “So, if you want me to burn fat for energy, why are you going to
eat a high-carb diet, ensuring that I still burn carbs for energy?”
Brain “……..”
Body “Wouldn’t it be a bit wiser to remove my current primary energy
source (carbs) to allow me to burn your fat for fuel?”
Brain “I never thought of it like that. Actually, now that I do,
low-fat/high carb seems like a dumb way to go about losing bodyfat”
Body “That’s cuz you’re a dumbass”
Brain “Hey!”
What I’m illustrating here is the fact that the best way to remove fat
from your body is to get it to BURN FAT as it’s primary energy source.
The way we do this is by limiting carbohydrate in the diet.
Simply put:
If you want to be a carb-burner – eat carbs
If you want to be a FAT BURNER – reduce carbs
Stay Lean For Life!! 🙂
Mark McManus
here here, totally on the ball…i’m having a lot of success with my recent diet, i’m already thin but want to stabilize my weight so here’s the low carb good fat diet:
breakfast: small yogurt with granola in it (reasonably carbs plus fat)
tons of turkey with horseradish sauce: i love this stuff! didn’t realize it was so healthy too! massive protein, more than steak, and it tastes awesome, plus the horseradish – low fat and low carb
salted roasted peanuts: low carb high fat snack throughout the day, they’re good, don’t eat the shells myself, but i love ’em
v8 hot and spicy blend: i love this crap, it’s like veggies with hot sauce, and it’s healthy, very low carb too
some other meal regularly: fish, steak, eggs (high fat, low carb) etc…
lots of water.
Sounds delicious dave.
What’s V8 hot and spicy blend?
Mark
hehe, well said. It is obvious when you think about it 😉
Great post and timely for me 😉
However isn’t this the same as Atkins?
Also I don’t eat read meat…So what kind of food would you recommend?
Currently my list is:
Eggs (6 at breakfast)
Chicken breast (maybe eat Chicken thigh instead?)
Tuna
Salmon
Legumes
Cottage Cheese
Nuts
Fruits (Apples,Oranges, Banana)
Lots of veggies
Should Iinclude Milk?
Haha, I thought that dialogue between brain and body was hella funny! You came up with that? That’s so strange in a way… But very innovative!
Keep it going!
Yes Dorian, thanks 🙂
Walter, no don’t include milk because of the lactose (sugar). Also change the fruits to ones you can eat while low carbing:
https://musclehack.com/what-fruit-can-i-eat-on-a-low-carb-diet/
Mark
Just curious, how does the heart disease risk change on a low fat vs high fat. I always used to be very low fat, and as a result, very skinny. Now I cut way back on the carbohydrates and fill my tummy with meat, vegetables and fruit and some complex carbohydrates – I make sure to load up my caloric intake, and fat is one way.
My question is, by eating more fat, meat in particular, is my risk of heart disease increasing? Are carb-lovers that eat low fat going to be 95 years old while we all die at 50 (albeit lookin’ good?) from clogged arteries?
lol, certainly not. You need to read this Craig
https://musclehack.com/the-saturated-fat-cholesterol-myth-destroyed/
The cartoon is a classic! Great article. I’d get my girlfriend to read it if I thought she’d be open to it. I keep telling her that dietary fat is not the problem.
Thanks! Not sure how I missed that article… I feel much better now. Once the media gets hold of something, it seems they run with it, regardless whether it’s true or not 🙁
Most girls are so fat phobic – hopefully we can get a few to read this post. Its hard for some to change their tune on fat. Should get a few nutritioniststo read this post too!!
Yes Sue, women are the worst for fatphobia. It’s been ingrained into their psyche and is therefore hard to remove. I have confidence that we’ll get rid of it one day though 😉
Mark
Thanks for the advice Mark, your article, along with the comments of others’ diets, have guided me on what I should be eating…I was starting to think my diet was going to be boring now that I’m back at the gym after a 1 year hiatus (and I gained a belly during my sabbatical). Your site is very informative, and I’ve passed it on to a few friends who will benefit from your articles.
Keep up the great work!
Great article, and isn’t true that omega-3 fats also help the body regulate metabolism? (i.e. eating fat encourages the body to burn fat for energy.) interesting stuff.
mark you have the best sense of humour
.
Brain “Well, I never thought of that but fat I guess” haha
😉
Brain “I never thought of it like that. Actually, now that I do,
low-fat/high carb seems like a dumb way to go about losing bodyfat”
Body “That’s cuz you’re a dumbass”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA That’s hilarious!!
As for the explanation – simple and straight to the point. Nice work.