So.. counting calories vs. low carb, high fat & protein?

[mmmmm...beer]

So I guess I'm getting some conflicting information... or maybe just reading to many articles.

What would work best for me? I'm 220 lbs. fairly muscular... a bit of fat. Lifting about 4x a week... pretty hard workouts. Doing the Lee Hayward 12 week program shown here: http://www.leehayward.com/workout_programs/
I've also been thinking of incorporating a little cardio after the workouts...

I've checked out thedailyplate.com and it's showing that if I want to lose say 2 lbs a week I need to be in a calorie deficit. Taking in about 1770 calories NET per day to reach my goal.

That being said I'm trying to stay under 100g carbs a day and getting at least my body weight in grams of protein a day as well.

Obviously I'm going over a little bit in calories a day to get my protein where I want it... also going over their daily recommended fats, but I'm hoping with the low carb intake the fats won't matter?

I guess I'm confused.. if I'm working out this hard.... should I be upping my caloric intake as long as we're talking high protein, low carb?

Or should I try to keep the caloric intake at what they recommend to lose the 2 lbs a week?

What say you?

[Wild_Weasel]

So I guess I'm getting some conflicting information... or maybe just reading to many articles.

What would work best for me? I'm 220 lbs. fairly muscular... a bit of fat. Lifting about 4x a week... pretty hard workouts. Doing the Lee Hayward 12 week program shown here: http://www.leehayward.com/workout_programs/
I've also been thinking of incorporting a little cardio after the workouts...

I've checked out thedailyplate.com and it's showing that if I want to lose say 2 lbs a week I need to be in a calorie deficite. Taking in about 1770 calories NET per day to reach my goal.

That being said I'm trying to stay under 100g carbs a day and getting at least my body weight in grams of protein a day as well.

Obviously I'm going over a little bit in calories a day to get my protein where I want it... also going over their daily recommended fats, but I'm hoping with the low carb intake the fats won't matter?

I guess I'm confused.. if I'm working out this hard.... should I be upping my caloric intake as long as we're talking high protein, low carb?

Or should I try to keep the caloric intake at what they recommend to lose the 2 lbs a week?

What say you?

I say keep it where it is. I use thedailyplate as well and I've followed their cal recommendation for losing 2 lbs a week. Since I'm on keto that has actually resulted in about 4lbs per week average.

Do you use whey powder at all? There are a lot of pretty low cal/carb/fat proteins out there and you could get your protein totals up pretty easily that way without busting cal/carb/fat limits.

[mmmmm...beer]

I say keep it where it is. I use thedailyplate as well and I've followed their cal recommendation for losing 2 lbs a week. Since I'm on keto that has actually resulted in about 4lbs per week average.

Do you use whey powder at all? There are a lot of pretty low cal/carb/fat proteins out there and you could get your protein totals up pretty easily that way without busting cal/carb/fat limits.

Yeah, I'm using ON's Gold Standard 100% Whey... I've been keeping it pretty close, but today most of my protein came from real food, ie fried chicken from Hometown Buffet and potroast from the same! hehe...

Today is supposed to be an off day as far as working out but I think I'm probably going to have to do some biking to keep the net cals down.

[Wild_Weasel]

Good choice on the ON selection.

If you are busting cals it will just be a little slower process. Bottom line is, if you are in a defecit you can lose weight.

Also, do you input your physical activities of the day in there or do you just let it do that for you with the lifestyle choice option thing? You could get more exact that way if you wanted. I don't know how much it would help though.

[rawpower405]

Your body tends to utilize carbs and fats for fuel. Protein is a different story, but your body pretty much does not use it for energy. That being said, if you limit the amount of carbs you take in, then your body will adjust by utilizing fats for energy. It works like a scale. If carbs are high, fat must be low. If carbs are low, fats must be high.

To answer your question: No, adding additional fat shouldnt hurt you.

[mmmmm...beer]

Good choice on the ON selection.

If you are busting cals it will just be a little slower process. Bottom line is, if you are in a defecit you can lose weight.

Also, do you input your physical activities of the day in there or do you just let it do that for you with the lifestyle choice option thing? You could get more exact that way if you wanted. I don't know how much it would help though.

Hrmm.... just the liftstyle thing and then adding of course lifting/cardio under the exercise part. I really haven't put anything in there like say the "Vacuuming" "Mowing the Yard" "Tieing your shoes"! Heh...

I dunno... I work in law enforcement so a lot of what I do during the day is driving around and typing in front of a computer. Not a lot of physical stuff at work. More like 99% sitting on your ass. 1% wrestling, fighting, running/chasing

[crupiea]

I really enjoyed the Lee Hayward 12 week program. I am a big believer in what he says.

Of all the websites about lifting, I have never been led astray by Lee.

You doing just fine. The key is if your strength starts going down then eat a bit more.

[Wild_Weasel]

Hrmm.... just the liftstyle thing and then adding of course lifting/cardio under the exercise part. I really haven't put anything in there like say the "Vacuuming" "Mowing the Yard" "Tieing your shoes"! Heh...

I dunno... I work in law enforcement so a lot of what I do during the day is driving around and typing in front of a computer. Not a lot of physical stuff at work. More like 99% sitting on your ass. 1% wrestling, fighting, running/chasing

Ok. Depending on what lifestyle option you picked your calories would be higher or lower. If you picked the "Lightly Active" option and added in your workouts, that would be a better way to go than trying to estimate what your workouts burn and picking the next active lifestyle option. So it looks like you are good on that.

Now all that's left to do is work hard and keep eating right. Good luck man.