Greetings SHF Community,

I am a new user on this site, and my goal has been to sustain body fat loss while increasing muscle growth. My current body fat percentage is 16.6% and average daily Weight is 197, and I'm trying to get down to 180 with a significant decrease in body fat. I was hoping to get some clarification about the macro levels in the meal plans, because pretty much every meal plan has the carb level set above 200, which as the program was explained to me puts every diet in the sustained weight gain category. I am curious about this because in the information video Scott showed his macros as 200+g of protein, +-100g of fat and a max of 150g of carbs.

So, I was just hoping to get some clarification about the macros as well as the nutrient counts. And especially hearing about cholsesterol helping testosterone but seeing 150mg max of cholesterol? That is less cholesterol than 1 large organic egg. ...Saturated fat less than 20g? I am confused about the grading scale because it doesn't seem to match up with the macros that I was told to calculate in the information video.

I am also about to read other posts hoping this will clarify the discrepancy. ...because, I've definitely heard about why it's good to keep your carb intake up but I just wanted to get to the bottom of the reason why the setup video says one thing that is not reflected by a single one of the daily meal plans I see in the app.

Any help much appreciated... thanks.

Also I am a male, and very motivated. Lol.

Timothy,

I think most of your confusion is caused by info on the internet about traditional "bulking" and info about "lean gains" which is what Scott does and a lot of people on this forum talk about.

Traditional "bulking" is based on the fact that your body needs a surplus of calories to support growth. Most macro calculators emphasize higher carb amounts as well as protein to obtain these higher calorie amounts above maintenance to support growth. These calculators and formulas are correct and the basic science is correct. The problem is for the natural athlete who's hormone levels and metabolism have not been modified with drugs too much excess calories will lead to faster body fat gains along with any muscle gains. Some people are fine with this and don't mind putting on the extra weight as they will just do a "cutting" phase where they precisely monitor and control their carb intake and increase their cardio/workout intensity to burn the body fat off.

Scott, myself, and many of the SHF.com forum members advocate lean gains. As the name implies, lean gains is about carefully building your mealplan such that all your macros are in the proper ratio to support growth but carbs are strictly controlled to minimze body fat gains. This process is much slower than traditional bulking and takes discipline to strictly monitor and manipulate your carbs to ensure you are adding lean mass. This is why you see lower carb numbers and higher fat and protein numbers than traditional calculators show and why the videos and meal plans of SHF.com members don't reflect what you see elsewhere on the internet.

Why do lean gains? Our view is it is better to gain lean mass in a slow and steady fashion versus adding body mass and size purely for size itself regardless of the type of size gained then go thru a whole additional cutting phase to shed the fat to basically obtain the same amount of lean mass you would have got doing lean gains. It is purely a personal choice and neither way is better than the other. Some people know their body very well and know how to bulk and cut with ease and do it quite successfully. Others either can't do bulk and cut easily or don't like gaining size that way.

John

Timothy,

I forgot to address your cholesterol and fat question :-)

The whole cholesterol and fat causing heart disease nonsense is based on flawed science in the U.S. from a doctor named Ansel Keyes done in the 1950's. The U.S. has decided to continue to use and propagate this false information despite new evidence to the contrary to support big drug companies (who make very profitable cholesterol lowering drugs) and the food industry (who receive huge subsidies from the U.S. government to make corn, wheat, and soy very cheap). These cheaper grains are refined and used in processed food which causes a whole slew of health problems. That is the subject of a whole different discussion :-)

Don't be afraid to eat whole eggs and don't worry about cholesterol in your food. Dietary intake of cholesterol doesn't permanently increase your blood cholesterol levels. 75% of the cholesterol in your blood is produced by the liver because cholesterol is vital for a healthy life and critical for your hormones, brain and nervous system, and cell membranes. 150 mg is a recommendation based on observations from the Framingham Heart Study - the longest heart study in the world. New studies and data show you need to be more concerned about your triglyceride levels and your LDL/HDL and HDL/triglyceride ratios than your total cholesterol. These are better predictors of heart disease than total cholesterol levels. As for saturated fat, not all saturated fat is equal and some need to be avoided while others are needed for health. One example is coconut oil. Pure, virgin coconut oil is an excellent saturated fat that will not only be used as energy by the liver but also help boost your testosterone levels since most hormones are derived from saturated fats. The saturated fats in meat, dairy, and cheese need to be reduced as they do contribute to an increase in fats in the blood (triglycerides) along with simple sugars and refined grains which also raise triglycerides which is not good. A couple of tablespoons of coconut oil a day is enough. Combine this with other good fats like olive oil, nuts, whole eggs, avocados, and oily fish and you will have enough to keep your hormone levels high and yourself healthy. Remember that fat has 9 calories/gram so you can't load up on any fats without exceeding target calorie intake levels very quickly. Moderation is key.

Eat a proper diet high in fruits, vegetables, lean protein sources, and healthy fats and your triglycerides and blood lipids will take care of themselves :-)

John

Great answers @jmboiardi!

@rukussert did this help you?

Hi,

I appreciated @jmboiardi's information about the cholesterol issue. My main question is, do I just ignore the bad grades on the meal plan or is there a way to get that 155mg maximum intake to reflect information such as what he shared?

Also, do I just take low grades whenever I eat less than 292 carbs a day?

I'm just hoping to figure out the meal plan system. I understand with stuff such as sodium where all of the pre-entered items like cottage cheese and yogurt supposedly have about 3x the sodium of what's reported on the box I can just enter in box #'s [unless I'm missing something about these items that makes the box information inaccurate]... but I'm just wondering about those presets and if there's any way to change them or if I just take "F's" and a poor "meal plan GPA".

I hope I don't come off too nit-picky but I was just hoping to figure this out because I think it's a good idea the way the system incorporates vitamin intake and I think it could be a great tool to use. I just would rather not stare at "F"'s every day for months, it seems like it would cause me to second guess myself.

Thanks

Timothy,

In my humble opinion, there is no need to make a meal plan overly complicated with grading systems and the like. It is a very simple process. You know what the good sources of lean protein are, you know to eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and complex carbs, and you know what healthy, essential fats are - or at least I am assuming you do. Worrying about cholesterol counts, salt amounts, etc, etc is just going to add unnecessary complexity. Calculate your required macros and then hit them each day. Yogurt and cottage cheese don't have anywhere near as much salt as processed foods and snacks which is really what you need to worry about and avoid. You need salt in your diet or you will die. The amount of salt quality foods add does not exceed your daily requirements. People who live on the typical American diet which supplies 3-5x the sodium a person needs each day are the ones to worry.

My point is that if you eat a wholesome, nutritious diet of natural and unprocessed foods, all the other stuff (salt levels, cholesterol levels, etc) is inconsequential and nothing to stress over. You won't have to track vitamin amounts and mineral intake because by definition nutritious foods consistently supply what you need. Once you calculate your daily macros, do your best to hit them each day. If there are some days you don't, no big deal just don't make a consistent habit of it. I don't mean to sound dogmatic and I am not criticizing you I am just saying that meal plans such as yours with "grading systems" add unnecessary complexity :-)

John

Hello SHF Community. I am 18 years old with a body fat percentage of 18% and a weight of 200 lbs. I watched Scott's Meal Plan video and as a result calculated my daily macros to be 252g of protein, 295g of carbs, and 84g of fat which adds up to 2,944 calories. My goals are to gain muscle and lose body fat. To lose body fat this carbohydrate intake number seems really high to me. Referencing Scott's meal plan video he said 50-100g of carbs should be ingested daily for fat loss. I've also heard from people online that utilizing a calorie defecit can help you lose fat and gain muscle. I therefore adjusted my macros to 250g of protein, 100g of carbs, and 100g of fat which adds up to 2,300 calories. If I keep this carb level at 100g, would this be advisable to lose fat and gain muscle?

Noah,

This looks OK. The only way to truly tell is to stick to these macro numbers and after 4-6 months see if you are leaning out. If you are not, then you need to adjust the fats and carbs accordingly. If you are, then you will know you have the right ratio. I would be surprised if it doesn't work. I wouldn't go below 100g of carbs because they are needed for muscle growth and to fuel your workouts plus ketosis (when your body burns fat rather than glucose for fuel when you drastically reduce carbs) is very hard to sustain and not good for long term health.

If you need to lower the calories because you are not leaning out, I would reduce the fat somewhat.

John

Thanks man. I get half of my carbs from 10 servings of vegetables a day so I hope that'll help.