Low Carb or High Carb?

Low Carb or High Carb?

Are you confused by modern dietary dogma? Does the New Year flurry of resolutions and hype leave you more confused than ever?

What if we told you that you don’t have to give up carbs to lose body fat? What if you could eat bread and still get in the shape of your life?

Or should you answer the call of Keto and drop carbs completely from your life, forsake them and place them in a drawer marked forbidden.

Well, the truth is that whether you eat carbs or not will not determine the success of your diet.

Reasons to opt for more Carbs in your Diet:

1. You enjoy eating Carbs

You like the flavour, the texture. You feel better when you eat them.
Frankly, this is the main reason. No one is so metabolically inflexible that they can't lose weight in a calorie deficit regardless of the macronutrient ration of their food intake.
If you’re able to sustain a Calorie deficit whilst consuming carbohydrates then go ahead.
Carbs aren’t really a hyper-palatable trigger food. People have this idea that carbs are addictive however most of the foods that people would say were dietary triggers for them are not really Carbs but rather hyper-palatable combinations of Carbs and Fat.
Pizza
Ice Cream
Cake
Cookies
French Fries
All of the above examples fall squarely under this category and you would be hard-pressed to list pure carb sources that would trigger you to overeat on the same scale.
Boiled Potatoes?
Rice?
Bread?
Most of these are hard to overeat without the addition of extra fat.
Bread meet Butter

2. You're Already Lean

In our experience, the leaner you are the better you can tolerate carbohydrates, and the more your body will require carbohydrates if you’re very active

3. You're Very Active

If you’re participating in a team sport or any activity that requHigh-Intensitynsity activity in repeated bouts ( Rugby, Hockey, Football, Netball, Crossfit) or Longer distances performed at above 70% of VO2 Max (Running, Cycling) then you’ll perform substantially better fuelled by carbohydrates. This doesn’t mean that you require high levels of carbohydrates year round, but certainly, you should be consuming adequate carbs when you are looking to perform optimally.

Founder Focus: Josh

I typically train 4-5 times per week with relatively high volume. I’ve been tracking food intake for years and I find it relatively easy to stay in shape and make progress in the gym by eating the NK Balanced meals as part of a diet which includes a lot of carbohydrates.

Reasons to eat Low Carb

1. You do better with Black and White Guidelines

Some people do better with very clear guidelines around nutrition. Psychologically it is easier for them to give up a food group rather than to consume in moderation. If this is you then a Low Carb approach might be a good option for you.

2. You're Sedentary

If you are sedentary at work and live a relatively inactive lifestyle you’ll benefit from opting for a lower carbohydrate diet.

3. You're Always Hungry

Hunger derails most diets. Opting for a lower carb diet, provided that Fat intake is reasonable will allow for a higher volume of food consumption, higher fibre intake and higher protein intake. By removing starchy carbohydrates we can make room for more of the foods which help to boost feelings of satiety.

Founder Focus: Pete

I’ve had periods of time where I was training 6 times per week with high volume and I’ve consumed around 400 grams of carbs per day with a few reseed days of approximately 800 grams per day and this was whilst dieting. So this is an approach that can definitely work, however, context is important- at the time I was spending 4-5 hours per day on my feet at work training clients as well as the training.
Now that I’m more desk-bound in my working life I prefer the simplicity of the lower carbohydrate approach. Without the boundary imposed by tracking intake, I find myself over consuming hyper-palatable foods when eating ad libitum. Low carb my hunger is non-existent and my body fat stays low with very little mental stress. When I have the opportunity to increase my activity levels I add in some more carbohydrate to fuel recovery. I’m not dogmatic about it.

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