Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Got a few questions that have never been answered for me and would appreciate knowing!

1.)Is this a good combination of about 70% carbs 10% fat and 20% protein?
2.) Whats the benefits and negatives of low fat diets? Is it safe in the long run for our bodies? Before I go another day on these ratios i wanna know if it is healthy
3.) Is it true only calories in vs calories out determine weight of an individual and macros (percentage ratios) determine the person's body composition?
4.) Do excess carbs burn off as body heat in the process of thermogenesis with my diet (i hear it only works with low fat or else excess carbs are stores as fat since it cannot reach the cells with high fat amounts)

Specifically if you are raw vegan 811 you'd be able to help me out! Im almost at the 80/10/10 ratio (not a raw vegan by any means, lacto ovo veggie) and wanna see how this new ratio is. That is, if my body responds to high carb low fat moderate protein efficiently. Or else ill go back to CPF 55/20/25

http://www.30bananasaday.com/ this site would be worth checking out.

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Justin Morgan

http://www.youtube.com/user/RawVegaCaliBB

This is a good read:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... cd02.hydra

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"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

Heres a question then im done XD

Does any ratio work and can be for optimal health as long as you feel good on it and do wha your body likes best? For example, if I love 60% carbs (minimum), 20% protein (always) and 20% fat (maximum) can i just use that?

Seems to me all ratios work as long as your comfortable correct me id im wrong

It's what I ve been trying to say to you even in the other topic you posted...find what works for you. this week I'm on a deload, I'll pair ohp with deads & squats with bench, I'll even deload my assistance. So instead of training 4 days I'll train 2 giving myself loads of recovery time. Along with this ill just drop/skim off carbs & my protein a little bit, but I don't track it. I just know what works for me. When I'm back to my 3 heavy weeks again I'll  have more amounts of carbs & protein, because I'm going to need it.
That T nation article is just about the best I ve read on food but I live by what works for me. I work night/day shifts so I need more carbs because of the long hours I work & also with the training or I'd have no energy.
A friend of mine right now is eating more fat eg olive oil, almond/peanut butter over carbs as he wanted to reduce his body fat but he hasn't tracked it, he just Knows what he responds to. If your happy with those percentages, your trainings going well & your gaining then stop worrying, just get on with it. 

What Justin said about tracking general calories isn't a bad idea, I do it maybe every two months but I never change anything. My lifts continue to go up, my weight is also still slowly going up & I'm feeling great.
I have gone from 64kg (141lb) to 86.5kg (190lb) in less than a year by simply eat a lot of food, healthy but a lot of it. I can  fit into my 30" waist jeans still  but my legs now are much bigger It takes a lot of tugging to even get the waist band past my quads.

Unless your looking to enter bodybuilding comps where you will need single figure body fat numbers you have to have a huge grasp on food & the macros.


"It’s kind of like all the diet crazes that come and go; you try high carbs, no carbs, organic, Zone, Paleo, fasting and then all of a sudden you realize that you just need to eat some good food and get on with your life" 

Just about every diet out there, if you take away the gimmick(these new diets that come out need a gimmick or people wouldn't buy the books)  they push is that at the core it'll tell you to eat healthy food. No one ever got to fat eating to many apples. Do you wanna be big & strong? Eat like you meant it

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"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

The t nation article was an excellent read! thanks so much

I finally understand what to do XD thanks again everyone

The guys at BB only say IIFYM is best and anything else sucks and blah blah blah
thats why i get skeptical

The first mistake you made began with typing bodybuilding.com into the address bar. It's tool bag central over there.

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"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

I hate them! All they talk about is macros and IIFYM beijg the healthiest thing out there, along with saying you need half your bodyweight in grams of fat and how important moderate to high fat diets are, not even showing any support or information for a high carb, low fat diet (moderate 20% protein)

So heres a "tricky" question. You seem very educated.

If I hit my calories for the day but its mostly carbs and low fat, how will be body composition be? I realize weight stays constant when eating at maintenance, but what do the three macronutrients determine in body looks?

Sorry for the questions!

But like, whats the difference in body composition and looks with a high carb low fat diet vs a moderate fat moderate carb diet? ( 60 minimum carb / 20 protein / 20 maximum fat vs 55 carb / 20 protein / 25 fat )

new vs old diet

Impossible to answer, I'm afraid. Everyone is too different to have any idea what a specific macronutrient ratio will do until it has been combined with training and given time to see what happens.

There's no magic macronutrient ratio to yield ideal results - some here do really well with high carb/lower fat/moderate protein, I do best with high protein/moderate carbs/moderate fat (something along the lines of 40/30/30 works best for me, too many carbs and too little protien and I don't lose much fat based on over 15 years of trying to find what's best).

Just as much as anything, the macros and how they affect you will also have a lot to do with WHAT you're eating. You're going to get a very different experience if you were to have half of your carbs from high-glycemic sources (like white bread, white rice, etc.) than if you get the bulk from leafy greens, legumes, etc. so that is another factor that will make it impossible to know what to expect by simply looking at numbers. And, a very slight change may yield major alterations in results, it may offer nothing, the only way to know is to try it and see where things go. You may find that your original plan works well, you may find that you need to up the protein considerably, you just won't know until you try.

Many of us here have been on a lifelong quest to find what works best, and most of us haven't found it yet (or, are just starting to figure out how our bodies best respond). The best thing to do is, start with what you'd planned to start with, and if you don't start to see results after, say, 2 months with things starting to go in the right direction, then it means that it's time to change things up.

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"A 'hardgainer' is merely someone who hasn't bothered to try enough different training methods to learn what is actually right for their own damned body." - anonymous

I'll start by saying I'm not a bodybuilder, I have no interest in that side of lifting weights. 

As for your question, again it depends on the user. You can't lump every single person into one bracket & say "everyone eat this & we'll all look the same in six months".
It's pretty obvious if you go carb heavy what'll happen though but when I mean heavy.....
Fat wise if you don't take enough regular amounts  your testosterone level can/will suffer, which effects many aspects of life not just training. I have seen studies on low fat high carb diets vs high fat low carb & the low carb comes out with people dropping the most weigh, so take from that what you will. But they always use overweight people for the majority of these studies so they are already under trained. Again though I go with what I think, right now works for me.

You could go with the plan of eating more fats on rest days than carbs but it's not something I'd want to give advice on as I ve not ever ran a diet this way. Everyone's an expert but the majority of people haven't tried out what they are giving advice on, it's ok knowing a principle but have they actually seen effects of whatever they are talking about? I know how to gain weight/muscle & strength but I have also lost a lot of weight in the past, a scary amount in a short space of time. In both cases I did nothing revolutionary, I simply ate less crap, more good foods & did loads of cardio to the flip where I ate more food (carbs protein) to gain. As I said I'm always gaining strength & size so why do I need to alter anything, my diets working for my goals.

What you need to do is ask what is your actual goal? Do you wish to lean up, put on size? Increase a lift? Then address the diet accordingly. As an example on days where I work 7:00-19:00 I get up at 5:00, so I'll eat a lot of carbs & protein. How else can I except to break some PR's otherwise? But this is what works for me.

 

As always can't agree more with veganessentials

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"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

I also hope that you start reading a lot on diet and write a book on it. It doesn't matter what it contains as long as it's got a good name and some ridiculous claims; people will fall for anything but common sense.


Taken from a Wendler article

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"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler