(You could alternatively call this post, “How NOT to do a low carb diet.” I’d like to thank Dr. Barry Groves for introducing me to these concepts and Gary Taubes for the keys that finally unlocked my dormant intellect.)

There are tons of misconceptions out there about controlled-carbohydrate diets, most of them fueled by the Atkins controversy of the late 90s (and its dramatic juxtaposition with what most medical authorities propose as healthful). Of the myriad things misunderstood about low-carb, what I’m going to focus today is the following concept:

By definition, a low-carb diet is a high fat diet.

For regular readers of this blog, you know this is ok (even - gasp - healthy). Fat is not your enemy, and eating fat won’t make you fat (more on this later).

Continuing our discussion, if the above is true, then:

By definition, a low-fat diet is a high carb diet.

Ok, now the actual discussion:

First, who cares? Why does it matter that you understand low-carb means high fat?

A: Because most people who you tell to eat low-carb will say, “But that leaves me nothing to eat!” When pressed, they’ll respond with something like, “I can’t live on cottage cheese, tuna, chicken breast, and salad.”

To paraphrase Clara Peller, “Where’s the fat?”

Most people have been brainwashed to think that fat is bad, so they will almost automatically omit foods high in fat from their consciousness. That means no butter, no (or minimal) eggs, no beef or dark meat chicken, minimal seafood (too high in cholesterol, ya’ know!), etc.

This is all wrong. No wonder people have a tough time staying on low carb diets for the long run.

Here’s why you MUST eat a higher proportion of calories from fat if you’re on a low-carb diet:

1. There is a natural ceiling to pure protein consumption. If you tried to eat all of your calories purely from protein, before too long you’d die. Why? Protein is a more complex molecule than carbohydrates or fat and has an amine group that must be dealt with. Normally, this isn’t a problem (your body gets rid of it as urea/urine), but if you eat nothing but protein, your liver can’t convert all the protein into glucose for energy fast enough, so your cells get insufficient nourishment (which gets worse over time). To add insult to injury, you also accumulate ammonia in your cells (since you the only way you have to excrete this ammonia is through urination, which also has its limits). To paraphrase Dr. Weston Price, “a nasty, brutish death.”

So there’s a physiological limit to the amount of protein you can eat.

Note to bodybuilders and fitness buffs who are saying, “That’s not true - all I eat is protein and I’m fine.” - You can eat high amounts of protein and be perfectly healthy, but you can’t eat only protein and get sufficient calories to operate your body. Incidentally, does your diet look like this? FYI, milk, oats, oil, rice cakes, pasta, rice, and vegetables = not protein.

Let me illustrate this in numbers so you understand the full picture.

Let’s take your average athlete, say a 165 lb MMA fighter. Let’s assume he’s a bright fellow and reads Dr. Jeff Volek’s research to find his protein requirements are roughly 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. Let’s also assume he’s like most athletes and overdoes it. By 100%.

165 lbs x 2 = 330 grams of protein.

Very impressive. That’s like 3 of these.

330 grams of protein supply roughly 1320 calories, which is insufficient calories for our athletic friend’s endeavors. For him to meet his daily energy requirements, he’d have to consume closer to 3100 calories (I used the Harris-Benedict equation), which is more like 775 grams of protein.

Or the equivalent of 20 of these. Each and every day.

Likely? Not really, unless your name is Flipper.

2. You must get your energy from somewhere. So if there’s a limit to the total percentage of calories you can get from protein, where does the rest of your energy come from (since you need to supply a certain amount of calories just to run all of your body’s daily functions)? Well, there’s only two choices left - fat or carbohydrate.

On a low carb diet, you restrict carbohydrates. So, logically, the majority of your calories must come from fat.

On a low fat diet, you restrict fat. So, logically, the majority of your calories must come from carbohydrates.

Hormonally, it doesn’t make sense to consume carbohydrates if you’re looking to optimize fat loss. High levels of carbohydrate result in high insulin levels, and high insulin levels equate to fat storage.

So fat it is. And a typical low carb regimen reflects this.

Joanne asks, “But what about fruit and vegetables? Aren’t they carbohydrates too?”

A: Technically yes, but we treat them differently because they are non-starchy carbohydrates. Per unit of food, the carbohydrate content is relatively low, particularly leafy greens and berries. So they’re ok.

Of course, it’s obvious why a combination low-carb, low-fat diet doesn’t work in the long run. You simply can’t eat 2000 calories worth of zucchini.

So, to summarize:

Many of your daily calories will come from fat when on a low carb diet. This is just how it should be; you won’t get fat, you won’t keel over from a coronary event, and you won’t suddenly wither as a result of grain deprivation.

A common question from new clients:

“Which do you think is better: The low-sugar soft drink or the organic kind that’s made with cane syrup instead of high-fructose corn syrup?”

The point that’s unfortunately lost on them - “better” in this case is misleading. It’s still soda.

Truth is, it doesn’t matter if your cookie is milled from the finest, most sustainable whole grains from Tibet, or if it contains the highest quality cacao nibs from the deepest reaches of the Amazon. It’s still a cookie. It still gets broken down into glucose. That glucose still has to be dealt with (pulled out of your bloodstream). And your body still only has one mechanism to do it with: Dump insulin into the bloodstream to shuttle all that glucose to its final destination (either as fuel for your cells or as fat in your fat cells - typically the latter, if insulin levels are high).

I happen to think it’s wonderful that you’re taking steps to make your health better and to achieve the body you want. Here’s the thing - it takes just as much energy and motivation to go from drinking regular soda to organic soda as it does to forgo soda completely.

Stop doing what’s better and start doing what’s best.

Just a quick note to clear up any confusion -

When on a fat loss program, it’s the diet that causes you to lose fat.

Primarily, exercise (strength training) prevents the loss of muscle tissue while your body is burning fat tissue for energy.  If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably even gain muscle while losing fat.

Exercise can contribute towards creating an energy deficit (i.e., burn more calories), but this is at best a secondary role.  Exercising in order to burn calories for fat loss purposes is a fool’s game.  You haven’t a chance.

Unless, of course, you modify diet accordingly.  And if you do modify diet accordingly, then you don’t need to “burn extra calories by exercising.”

So, to summarize:

Exercise to prevent muscle loss.  Eat to enable fat loss.

Hope that clears things up.

Another great tool in fat loss is being able to guesstimate the number of calories in a given portion size of food.  For some individuals, counting calories and portioning food is a must, but I think it’s helpful for most people to have at least some idea of how much they’re eating. 

Some time ago I posted a link to 200 calorie portions of foods.  In that same vein, here’s a link to 300 calorie food pictures.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I still firmly contend that if you’re following a controlled-carb diet, your hunger will regulate your intake appropriately.  But in individuals whose metabolisms have been damaged by years of overstimulating insulin, hunger regulation may be impaired.  In this case, it’s handy to be able to quickly assess calorie values in case the traditional methods fail you or you’re not close to a computer and are unable to log into Fitday or The Daily Plate.

300 calories won’t get you a lot of french fries. But it’ll get you an awful lot of broccoli.

…you have to make time. Or break “the rules.” Or both.

Ways to make time for exercise:

1. Make it a recurring appointment on your calendar. That way you’re less likely to miss it in the future.  Making it a meeting you’re accountable for will do wonders for you actually doing it.

2. Get up a half hour earlier. I hate waking up early too, but if you simply can’t carve out time during your work day to exercise and you’re too fried afterwards to even consider it, then there’s only one other time remaining.  Consider it a “Morning Mediation.”

3. Go to bed a half hour later. Note: I was wrong all these years - sleep does not seem to be affected by higher core temperature prior to bedtime.  Here’s the hypothesis: To fall asleep, your core temperature needs to drop by several degrees.  Exercise raises core temperature and can sometimes keep it elevated for several hours.  Ergo, I recommended not exercising before bedtime.  Well, I was wrong.

That just works out better for you night owls (full disclosure: I’m one of you - I prefer working out in the evening).  Get your workout in when you can, even if it means right before bed.

Consistency is important (especially for beginners).  Missing a workout anytime during the first four weeks of an exercise program almost always spells death for attaining your goals.  Why?  During this formative period, the habit of exercise hasn’t been established; it’s still a new, unusual, and cruel stimulus to your body.  Consequently, each time you miss a workout (an application of that unwelcome experience), you make it harder to drag yourself to the gym next time.   Until the habit is established, do your best to keep perfect attendance!

Here are some ways to break the rules and to help ingrain the exercise habit:

1. Do one exercise. So you don’t have time to do an all-out, full-body workout.  Okay, just pick one exercise and do that.  Don’t wimp out on your exercise selection, however; make it an exercise worth doing. Squat, perhaps.  Or deadlift.  Or MedX Leg Press.  Or Pullover!  Choose a multi-joint exercise of your liking and do it.  Even if you choose to do multiple sets (and I hope you don’t, unless you have a really compelling reason to), it should only take you 15 minutes.

2. Do a bodyweight workout. You could, in fact, just stop reading right now, get up out of your chair, and do the following workout:

• Slow-speed pushups x 5 reps
• Wall Sit x one 30 second hold
• Plank x one 30 second hold
• Slow-speed back hyperextensions x 5 reps

Repeat for maximum cycles in 10 minutes.

And it would only take you 10 minutes, require no changing, and (if you’re a relative newbie) leave a lasting impression.

3. Walk to the nearest tree and perform pullups. This would be a prime example of what I would call “breaking the rules.”  No, it’s not an ideal situation; yes, the bark will be uncomfortable on your hands; yes, you should pick a branch that can support your weight.  Consider it penance for not putting yourself first and allowing “life” to interrupt something you wanted for yourself.

Incidentally, if you can’t do pullups, it’s okay.  The mere act of trying to pull yourself up will deliver benefits to your upper body and ab muscles as well.  And if just hanging there is tough?  Well, then perform “reps” of dead hangs (being sure to keep your shoulders tight!) for as long as you can; 15 seconds; 30 seconds; whatever.

It’s important to note that these are quick fixes in a pinch.  These options are in lieu of missing a workout.  You’re still responsible for getting back on track and getting back to your full exercise program.

What ways have you figured out to keep yourself on track?  I’d like to hear about them.  Post to comments.