When you’re trying to lose body fat, cutting out whole food groups can be tempting.

It’s out with the carbs and fat, in with the lean protein and misery.

That’s basically what the dieting industry has been telling us to do for decades. Except, we need carbs to function.

If you’re not getting enough, you can’t fuel your workouts. The body, at some point, needs glucose from carbohydrates to fill the muscles with glycogen – without which they just don’t move).


When it comes to fat loss, it’s all about the number of certain nutrients you eat – not the fact that you eat them at all.



Macros matter.

And the best macro ratio for fat loss apparently is a high carb and protein, low-fat formula.

According to McMaster University, you want your daily food intake to be around 50% carbs, 35% protein and 15% fat.

When coupled with a four-week workout programme, volunteers placed on that macro breakdown lost 10.5lb fat and gained 2.5lb muscle, compared to those who ate more fat and less protein.

Participants who were placed on a 15% protein, 35% fat, 50% carb diet lost 7.7lb of fat and gained no muscle at all.

How much of each macro you need a day It depends on how many calories you want to consume – and you can find out how many calories you need here. 1800 calories: 225g carbs, 158g protein, 30g fat 2000 calories: 250g carbs, 175g protein, 33g fat 2500 calories: 313g carbs, 219g protein, 41g fat

The interesting thing here is that both groups were on high carb plans – so if the idea of eating a low-carb diet doesn’t sound like your idea of fun, make sure that you’re really filling up veg.

Making sure that you’ve got a stack of dietary fibre coming in will keep you fuller for longer and help you to fuel your workouts. Sweet potatoes, quinoa, leafy greens – they’re all packed with vitamins and minerals.

And of course, this study is looking at people’s fat loss in conjunction with a workout plan so if you’re completely sedentary, these findings are probably irrelevant. Your metabolism is completely personal so what works for someone else may not work for you.

Loads of people swear by keto – high fat, low-to-zero carb plans. But that can be super hard to stick to, especially if you’re plant-based.

If you’re new to macro counting and you can commit to working out at least three times a week, then this higher-carb idea might be easier to worth with.

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