Hi! I've been cutting since February and I've lost a good amount of weight. The first month I found myself not eating enough fat. My fat intake was about 15% of my daily calories.

On March I decided to start taking more calories from fat and that turned out to be a problem. I started gain weight though I'm cutting with -500kcal. Do you guys think I should keep going with 30% and wait my body to get used to it?

Well the types of fat can make a big difference as well.

What does your daily diet look like? Can you give us more details about it with a calorie and macro breakdown? If not, then what types of foods are you getting your fat from?

We're going to see all of what you're eating in an average day...

To me, 15% sounds better than 30%...what are your goals? I'm assuming cutting and not bulking...

I always shot for the famous 40/40/20 (20% fat, 40% carb/pro).

Every body is different and yours might be better of with 15% rather than 30%...

I dont think you should gain weight just because you eat more fat if total calories stays the same.

So I guess it is a bit strange. Are you certain caloies in is less than calories out?

Personally I´m doing a 33/33/33 split this year when cutting. So far progress is OK. So it´s certainly possible to eat more fat when cutting if you prefer that type of diet.

I guess you could check total calories and perhaps eat 200 calories less next week. And find out if that helps...:gl:

Yeah sorry I forgot to mention that I take my fat from olive oil.

Example of my diet (weight training for my back):

9:00 Breakfast
250g Quark 145kcal/25protein/10carb/0,2fat
60g Oatmeal 192kcal/6protein/38carb/2fat
Vitamins & Omega-3

10:30 Training (-650kcal)

12:00 Recovery-drink
40g FAST Whey3 protein 160kcal/31protein/2carb/3fat
35g FAST Malto6 Carbonhydrates 132kcal/0protein/33carb/0fat

15:00 Lunch
90g Brown rice 324kcal/7,7protein/69,3carb/2fat
180g Chicken breast 239kcal/34protein/1carb/11fat
140g Pineapple 82kcal/0protein/20carb/0fat
50g Paprika 15kcal/1protein/3carb/0fat
15g Olive oil 135kcal/0protein/0carb/15fat

18:00 Snack
250g Quark 145kcal/25protein/10carb/0,2fat
10g Olive oil 90kcal/0protein/0carb/10fat

21:00 Dinner
50g Brown rice 180kcal/4protein/38carb/1fat
160g Chicken breast 212kcal/30protein/1carb/9fat
60g Paprika 18kcal/0protein/4carb/0fat
15g Olive oil 135kcal/0protein/0carb/15fat

24:00 Evening snack
250g Quark 145kcal/25protein/10carb/0,2fat
10g Olive oil 90kcal/0protein/0carb/10fat
0mega-3

Total: 2458kcal/186protein(30%)/247carb(40%)/82fat(30%)

I'm 87kilos (191 lbs) and I need about 2980kcal/day. Thank you.

Yeah sorry I forgot to mention that I take my fat from olive oil.

Example of my diet (weight training for my back):

9:00 Breakfast
250g Quark 145kcal/25protein/10carb/0,2fat
60g Oatmeal 192kcal/6protein/38carb/2fat
Vitamins & Omega-3

10:30 Training (-650kcal)

12:00 Recovery-drink
40g FAST Whey3 protein 160kcal/31protein/2carb/3fat
35g FAST Malto6 Carbonhydrates 132kcal/0protein/33carb/0fat

15:00 Lunch
90g Brown rice 324kcal/7,7protein/69,3carb/2fat
180g Chicken breast 239kcal/34protein/1carb/11fat
140g Pineapple 82kcal/0protein/20carb/0fat
50g Paprika 15kcal/1protein/3carb/0fat
15g Olive oil 135kcal/0protein/0carb/15fat

18:00 Snack
250g Quark 145kcal/25protein/10carb/0,2fat
10g Olive oil 90kcal/0protein/0carb/10fat

21:00 Dinner
50g Brown rice 180kcal/4protein/38carb/1fat
160g Chicken breast 212kcal/30protein/1carb/9fat
60g Paprika 18kcal/0protein/4carb/0fat
15g Olive oil 135kcal/0protein/0carb/15fat

24:00 Evening snack
250g Quark 145kcal/25protein/10carb/0,2fat
10g Olive oil 90kcal/0protein/0carb/10fat
0mega-3

Total: 2458kcal/186protein(30%)/247carb(40%)/82fat(30%)

I'm 87kilos (191 lbs) and I need about 2980kcal/day. Thank you.


What is Quark? I've never heard of this before.

The first thing I notice is that about 450 of your daily calories and almost all of your fat intake is from Olive oil. IMO you should be trying to get fats from foods like: eggs, almonds, cottage cheese, peanut butter, etc.. Olive oil is good but I think using it to increase your fat intake that much is a bad things, especially since it accounts for nearly 20% of your daily calories.

What is Quark? I've never heard of this before.

The first thing I notice is that about 450 of your daily calories and almost all of your fat intake is from Olive oil. IMO you should be trying to get fats from foods like: eggs, almonds, cottage cheese, peanut butter, etc.. Olive oil is good but I think using it to increase your fat intake that much is a bad things, especially since it accounts for nearly 20% of your daily calories.

Quark is kind of a pudding made of milk. In Finland almost every bodybuilder eats it. I think I'll reduce my daily fat intake to 20% and eat 40% protein instead. That's what I'm gonna do if I gain more weight.

Does it sound better? Then there wouldn't be so much use for olive oil.:confused:

Quark is kind of a pudding made of milk. In Finland almost every bodybuilder eats it. I think I'll reduce my daily fat intake to 20% and eat 40% protein instead. That's what I'm gonna do if I gain more weight.

Does it sound better? Then there wouldn't be so much use for olive oil.:confused:

Somebody else might post differently but I think your on the right track the way your doing it now. What I'm trying to say with the Olive oil thing is that it's not a whole food. Eating whole foods gets your metabolism revving which is what ultimately leads to the weightloss. It is not recommended to drink too many protein shakes throughout the day because of that and IMO olive is the same way, maybe even the Quark as well. Although I've never seen or tried it so I can't be sure.

I also just noticed that you've only been cutting with extra fat for 6 days. 6 days is hardly enough time to tell if it's working or not. Withint he first few months I must have a changed a few small things about a dozen times. Each of which didn't show me any improvement sometimes going up to 2 weeks. It takes time to notice these small changes and there's plenty of other things that could have aided the small amount of weight gain you've seen in the past 6 days.

I still say that you should add more solid foods instead of relying on olive oil.

EDIT: Also, i think your consuming too many carbs if your cutting. The most used macro breakdown I've seen is 40% fat/ 40% protein/ 20% carbs. One of the small changes i mentioned previosuly was changes my macros to what I just told you. It was suggested to me a few months back and since then have seen great results with it. I've really only seen higher carbs during a bulk cycle.

Quark has the same nutritional properties as cottage cheese. :)

Quark has the same nutritional properties as cottage cheese. :)

I just looked that up and came to the same conclusion as well. Came back here to edit my post but ya beat me to the post.

Ok I'll reduce my carb intake. I'll try to go with 40%protein 30%carb 30%fat. If it won't work in two weeks I'll reduce carbs more.

The most used macro breakdown I've seen is 40% fat/ 40% protein/ 20% carbs.
:confused:
The most used macro breakdown I've seen is 40% from carbs/ 40% from protein/ 20% from fats.

Quark tastes very similar to cottage cheese, but it's smoother, like yogurt.

:confused:
The most used macro breakdown I've seen is 40% from carbs/ 40% from protein/ 20% from fats.

Quark tastes very similar to cottage cheese, but it's smoother, like yogurt.

I was just about to say I wouldn't reduce carbs yet, personally as MANY cut very well on 40% carbs......

I often use olive oil as part of my good fats, along with sesame oil, natural peanut butter and almonds.. all pretty good sources I think... IMO give it a little longer with increased good fats and then reduce them again if it really isn't helping after 2/3 weeks... we are all so different. Many here swear by flaxseed oil but I can't get it in France but maybe your can in Finland

I eat no fat fromage frais, the french equivalent of quark, daily in my smoothies ;)

:confused:
The most used macro breakdown I've seen is 40% from carbs/ 40% from protein/ 20% from fats.

Quark tastes very similar to cottage cheese, but it's smoother, like yogurt.

:confused: indeed. I'm going to dig through my threads and see if I can find where that was recommended for me. 40/40/20 is pretty easy to confuse so it's possible that I misunderstood it.

olive oil is a great source for fats but as a substitute for almost all the fat you eat daily?

Alright. First off, my apologies. The most often recommended macro break down is 40 carb/40 pro/20 fat. So as far your current diet is going, the macros seem fine. I've been using 20carb/40pro/40fat for soo long that that's what I see when i see those three numbers put together. Stick with your current macro breakdown but try to add more solid foods rather than relying so heavily on olive oil. I know I'm being repetetive but I haven't read a reply from you about it so I just keep saying it.

I'm pretty sure, I got my current macro breakdown from the cut diet book and/or Derek's prep section on bodybuilding.com. Unfortunantly, I cannot access those sites here at work so I won't know for sure until i get home. According to my work, those sites are tasteless. :eek:

Anyways, I apologize if I've confused you and furthermore, I apologize for the wrongful info. Try adding more solid foods for a couple of weeks before condemning your current plan. As i stated earlier, it takes time to notice changes to your diet. If it doesn't work in couple weeks, you can try something else.

OK now I've got an example of my 40%40%20% diet. Looks good to me, how about you guys?

Training: ice hockey -750kcal

09:00 Breakfast
250g Quark 145kcal/25protein/10carb/0,2fat
60g Oatmeal 192kcal/6protein/38carb/2fat
200ml Milk 82kcal/6,6protein/9,6carb/2fat
100g Cottage cheese 90kcal/16protein/2,5carb/2fat
Vitamins & Omega-3

12:00 Lunch
100g Brown pasta 350kcal/13protein/67carb/2,5fat
140g Ground meat 238kcal/26,6protein/0carb/14fat
100g Cottage cheese 90kcal/16protein/2,5carb/2fat
140g Pineapple 82kcal/0protein/20carb/0fat

15:00 Snack
500g Quark 290kcal/50protein/20carb/0,4fat

18:00 Dinner
70g Brown pasta 250kcal/9protein/47carb/1,8fat
120g Ground meat 240kcal/24protein/0carb/12fat
155g Cottage cheese 139,5kcal/24,8protein/3,9carb/3,1fat
140g Pineapple 82kcal/0protein/20carb/0fat

Training

21:00 Evening snack
100g Cottage cheese 90kcal/16protein/2,5carb/2fat
250g Quark 145kcal/25protein/10carb/0,2fat
10g Olive oil 90kcal/0protein/0carb/10fat

Total: 2577,7kcal/258protein(40%)/256,2carb(40%)/56,9fat(20%)

Hope it looks better...

I think it was mentioned...

You should try to vary the type of fats your'e geting...maybe you should try nuts or peanut butter as a substitute for one meal a day....

The first thing I notice is that about 450 of your daily calories and almost all of your fat intake is from Olive oil. IMO you should be trying to get fats from foods like: eggs, almonds, cottage cheese, peanut butter, etc.. Olive oil is good but I think using it to increase your fat intake that much is a bad things, especially since it accounts for nearly 20% of your daily calories.

I disagree with that. Olive oil is a very healthy fat with lots of good antioxidants. It is a good way to get healthy monounsaturateds into your diet. I also don't consider it to not be a "whole" food, but that's more of just a semantics thing. EVOO is minimally processed besides the pressing.

I would say varying the fats is good, though. So I'd do some olive oil, some nuts, fatty fish, etc.

I also disagree with LemonSong's post that 15% fat in a diet is inheriently better than 30% for cutting. I've cut on as high as 45% fat with good results. It depends on your strategy and training style in addition to just individualizing toward what you body can handle, insulin sensitivity, etc.

I also disagree with LemonSong's post that 15% fat in a diet is inheriently better than 30% for cutting. I've cut on as high as 45% fat with good results.

I second this, with the caveat that everyone's different, of course. I still get good results around 33%.

While I can lose fat at 15 - 20%, I've found that when I dip below 25% with my fat levels, my attitude and mood goes south. :bang:

The ripple effect isn't worth the drop in fat calories for me-- I become more susceptible to alcohol cravings, less excited about my workout, etc.

Anyone else notice mood/attitude shifts in relation to their macronutrient percentages?

Best,
E.

Well, now it's the first day on 40%-40%-20%. I feel very confident and happy. I hope it will always be always this fun after chancing breakdown, 'cause one day it will be time to start cycling carbs :(

Thanks for good advice everybody, it really helped! :claphigh:

I second this, with the caveat that everyone's different, of course. I still get good results around 33%.

While I can lose fat at 15 - 20%, I've found that when I dip below 25% with my fat levels, my attitude and mood goes south. :bang:

The ripple effect isn't worth the drop in fat calories for me-- I become more susceptible to alcohol cravings, less excited about my workout, etc.

Anyone else notice mood/attitude shifts in relation to their macronutrient percentages?

Best,
E.

Heck, I'm the opposite.
I cut better lowering both carbs and fat.

I've cut with a CKD and just felt horrible..and looked horrible.:doh: