In the last 10 and 2 Q, Nicki asked me about the idea of eating fat to burn fat…
I debunked this notion but you guys had LOTS of questions. So we’re back on the same topic. I’m diving a little deeper, answering more of your thoughts/concerns around eating dietary fat to lose body fat.
Eating loads of fat to burn off your body fat is contentious topic in the keto world. Click above to listen to my take on it.
Full Transcript:
Nicki: So Robb, you had some follow on comments to the eat fat to burn fat ten and two question that we had.
Robb: Yeah. It was a super popular question and appreciate all the comments. This is how I learn and continue to figure out what people need. So, I super appreciate that stuff. It’s interesting in the beginning of a low carb or ketogenic diet, it does almost feel like magic because you kind of feel like you can eat more than what you’ve ever eaten in the past, and you still lose weight, you feel better, your energy levels are kind of regulated. I’ve talked to Luis Villasenor, Tyler Cartwright of Ketogains, and there’s a lot going on there in the beginning of this process.
Robb: I think people are pretty inefficient at using fat, and so, they’re not really utilizing the full caloric load that they’re taking in, particularly if we things like nuts, which are honestly pretty hard to digest. So, even though the package may say a quarter cup of almonds is 25 grams of fat, for example, it may be kind of difficult to extract that full 25 grams of fat out of that versus, say, doing butter straight up, or some sort of a process fat. But, honestly, over the course of time, what we find is that as people legitimately become fat adapted, they probably need fewer calories, not more.
Robb: And, this is one of the big problems that’s persisted in the low carb and ketogenic space, is that there’s this narrative that you can just eat unlimited amounts of fat. And again, in the beginning, that may be kind of true. That was an experience that I had. I was eating probably 5,000 calories a day. I felt good, I got leaner, I got lean, right in the love handle region, which is kind of that insulin resistant fat. So those things improved, but then it kind of stalled out. And, I did need to start limiting my caloric intake.
Robb: And, it’s interesting, years ago I was talking to Greg Glassman, the founder of CrossFit. He was, and is, a big fan of the Zone diet. Which most people aren’t aware, the zone diet, when you get to a level of leanness that supports your activity level and the body composition you want, you actually add a significant amount of fat. It may be a 65, 70 percent fat diet when everything is all said and done. And, what he observed is that people run maybe as much as 20 to 25 percent lower in caloric need than what we would generally expect. And, this is really consistent, again, with what Tyler and Luis have seen within their practice, within Ketogains, is that people may actually need fewer calories on low carb, particularly Keto, or a peri-Ketogenic diet.
Robb: I think if you’re getting lots of nutrient density, whole unprocessed foods that generally you need fewer calories when it’s all said and done. There’s some natural downregulation in thyroid production, which we’ve talked about that, and we can dig into that again, but I think that that’s actually normal and natural. And, when we look at calorie restriction and longevity research, this is actually very consistent with that. So again, the reason why I think that there is some confusion on this fat intake topic is, in the beginning, your body may actually respond differently than what it does after you’re fat adapted.
Rob, help!! I listened to your “Should You Eat Fat to Burn Fat” part 1 and 2 on my walk today. Somehow it felt a little like you and I were doing Abbott and Constello’s Who’s on First. Choose who you want to be. I am probably confused about the term “Fat.” From my perspective there is the macro fat and the fat that hangs off my belly. What I heard you say is that I shouldn’t eat too much macro fat because I need to lose my belly fat. OK, but how does that relate to carbs? I do understand that eating too many calories is not good. That’s how I got my belly. Can you help me make sense of this?
Steve
Basically just saying you shouldn’t eat crazy amounts of fat to try to lose weight, adding a bunch of fat can be a lot of added calories and can have an effect. If you’re doing a low carb or keto diet, you can eat reasonable amounts of fat, but don’t think smothering everything in a 1″ thick layer of butter and drinking coconut milk and doing “fat bombs” is going to help you lose weight at all.
So is it really a calorie in/calorie out situation, irrespective of your diet? Does eating a low carb diet means your eating less calories? It’s the only WOE that has allowed me to lose weight (averaging 2 lbs/week) I tried Paleo as a healthier way of eating and to cut down on sugar intake, (but did not track) and lost nothing.
So is it really a calorie in/calorie out situation, irrespective of your diet? Does eating a low carb diet means your eating less calories? It’s the only WOE that has allowed me to lose weight (averaging 2 lbs/week) I tried Paleo as a healthier way of eating and to cut down on sugar intake, (but did not track) and lost nothing.
Typically the low carb and keto diets make you less hungry, and you usually eat less calories. There is a bit of nuance, but calories do still matter, they’re not the only thing, but they do matter.