Fat Loss Fuel

A look at the great debate between Calorie Counters and Low Carb Dieters

By: Hunter McMillan, CSCS

When it comes to fat loss it should hopefully be no surprise that proper nutrition plays a huge role in whether or not results are achieved.  Every trainer and coach out there has seen clients that just aren’t getting the results they want no matter what battery of exercises they throw at them.  The answer usually doesn’t come from in the gym, but the kitchen.  Hopefully no minds are blown just yet.

When it comes to eating for fat loss there are two major problems; the quantity of food being consumed and the quality of food itself.  The solutions to these problems also represent the two major schools of thought when it comes to dieting; the calorie counters and the low carbohydrate dieters.  Let’s have a look at both sides of the coin to determine which school of thought is truly the best for fat loss.

We’ll start with the traditional calorie counters.  Over on this side we have the group that says that a calorie is a calorie.  Add up calories you eat during a day and subtract that number from the calories you burn and you get your daily fat loss.  As long as calories stay low, weight loss will occur.  This is the way in which most college level nutritional courses are taught.

From an exercise standpoint this group traditionally prefers aerobic training and keeps an eye on the calories burned tracker on the treadmill.  This practice is more or less proving to be dated as the more enlightened calorie counters look to boost their metabolism with intense strength and interval training.  This elevated metabolism will in turn burn more calories in the hours following exercise thus more efficiently accomplishing the goal of burning more calories.

From a dietary perspective a true calorie is a calorie believer would be able to eat whatever they want as long as they kept daily consumption under a predetermined number.  This belief naturally discriminates against dietary fat.  Dietary fat contains 9 calories per gram as opposed to carbohydrates and protein which only have 4 calories per gram.  So given equal amounts, a food lower in fat will be lower in calories and thus more attractive to the calorie cutter.  Traditionally higher fat foods are also high in protein as well, so protein intake is diminished along with fat leaving a high percentage of carbohydrates in this person’s diet (i.e. the USDA Food Pyramid).  This could probably be considered the prevailing dietary concept amongst the majority of the population.  In recent years, however, another school of thought has emerged.

This brings us to the group that says a calorie is not just a calorie.  This group says that all calories are not created equally and that carbohydrate cutting is a best path towards improved fat loss efforts.  One believer in this philosophy is noted strength coach Mike Boyle, owner of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning( #1 rated gym in America according to Men’s Health magazine), who’s stated that if all calories are equal, you should in theory be able to subsist on 2000 calories worth of sugar packets from Dunkin Donuts and maintain your body fat levels.  His point being that a calorie is not just a calorie and eating nothing but sugar packets would be obviously unhealthy and unacceptable from a weight loss or health standpoint.

The science behind the cutting carbohydrates for fat loss believes that fat storage and utilization is hormonally controlled.  More specifically, insulin is the main player in fat storage, and excess carbohydrate intake can cause this.  By cutting carbohydrate intake this resets the balance in the body and allows fat utilization for energy.

This group would argue that exercise plays a very minimal role in fat loss, if any.  Because they believe fat storage and fat burning are hormonally influenced by carbohydrate intake, not total calories burned.  As with the previous group a less radical few would still tout the benefits of strength training for its benefits besides fat loss and to enhance the aesthetic result of any diet program.

From a what to eat perspective this group would steer more towards vegetables and meats to limit carbohydrate consumption.  Since they do not believe the calories are the root of fat gain they will usually eat more dietary fat than the fat weary calorie counters.  As high fat foods will often be high in protein, (think ground beef) this group will consume more protein as well.  So what can we take from all this?

We have our two main schools of thought, low calorie and low carbohydrate.  Which of these is the better option for someone looking to lose fat?  The answer is “Yes.”  There are in fact positives on both sides that someone truly looking to lose fat needs to embrace.  And it is possible to combine the two.  Research and practical experience indicate that the low carbohydrate approach certainly holds merit.  Not too many people out there would argue that a sugar cereal is health food!  But at the same time there needs to be limits; a 10,000kcal per day diet with only 100g coming from carbohydrate is probably not a good idea.  So by setting limits there is respect for the calorie counting side.

Really???

There are even some agreements between the sides.  Both would advocate eating plenty of vegetables.  Even the calorie counting side would argue to limit desserts as they are both high in fat as well as the obvious carbohydrates from the sugar.  Both would agree to eliminate drinking sodas and eating junk food as they are wasted calories for the calorie counters, and high in carbohydrates for the low carbohydrate side.

From an exercise perspective it can be widely agreed by professionals that counting calories during traditional “cardio” training is useless as a means of losing fat.  However far too many respected professionals find better fat loss effects with proper strength and metabolic training than without given a similar diet.  Plus it is too hard to ignore the other benefits of strength and metabolic training whether you believe that an elevated resting metabolic rate plays a role in fat loss or not.

For those looking to lose fat for health reasons this type of training will certainly improve cardiovascular efficiency.  For those with aesthetically involved aspirations the benefits of added lean muscle mass will nearly match those of the fat loss itself, and even add to it!

In summary, for those looking to lose fat it’s best to take the highlights of both sides and combine them for the most fat loss possible.  Limit carbohydrate intake, eat plenty of lean protein and vegetables, and strength train as a top priority in your workouts.  Sticking to those rudimentary rules, it doesn’t have to get more complicated than that to watch the fat melt away.

For more information check out the article archives at Coastal-Performance.com or huntermcmillan.com.

Hunter McMillan is the Director of Fitness and Program Design at Coastal Performance, a fitness gym and athletic performance training facility located in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  There Hunter is in charge of exercise program design and nutritional advice.  He keeps a blog at huntermcmillan.com.