Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

0

One of my clients today was complaining about his stalled weight loss. This guy is a serious mountain biker and wants to shed a few pounds of fat to help increase his performance. He is also a mechanical engineer and is quite anal about collecting data and tracking progress. I asked what his daily carb intake was and he showed me his "myfitnesspal" stats...... OMFG!!!!! I was shocked beyond disbelief!!!!

Keep in mind, this young man is an early 30 something professional who is fastidious about finding the most accurate information to help guide his choice, and he is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds, quite muscular. His profile showed he averages 1400 calories from carbs per day!!!! Yes, he rides hard, but WOW!!!!!

Has anyone else seen such a tremendous example of conventional wisdom leading to this type of issue? How do you help these people realize the fallacy of their mindset.

edited Aug 18 at 2:27

asked Aug 18 at 1:41

JasonAC556
292●1●10

4

He's healthy and by his activity VERY paleo. Why are you obsessed with picking at his diet? If he wants to cut and be a bodybuilder fine, but riding hills 1400 cals of carbs might not be enough. – thhq Aug 18 at 12:24

1

I'm his trainer and he's asking for my processional help to break his plateau. Why does this bother you? – JasonAC556 Aug 18 at 13:18

Thhq must not have read the first sentence of the question... – Crabbycakes Aug 18 at 15:28

1

I did. Someone wants money when they should be giving free advice to go away. This is not WTF territory. – thhq Aug 18 at 16:35

raydawg · Answer 1 · 2012-08-18 12:58:28Z UTC

If his basal metabolic rate is fairly high and he needs something like 4000kcals a day, 1400kcals calories from carbs isn't that much. On the other hand if he needs 2000kcals a day, it's likely the cause of his stall.

The BMR formula is:

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie- Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

So:

( 66+ (6.23 * 160 ) + (12.7 * (5*12 + 8)) - (6.8 * 30 ) )=1722.4

Since he's a mountain biker, he'd fall under the very active (unless he only does biking on weekends?)

( 1722.4 * 1.725 )=2971.1400000000003

So the carbs make up around 47% of his total daily intake which is insanely high (and even higher if he's not exercising the rest of the week.) IMO, limiting carbs to post workout only would probably help him shed a lot of the excess pounds.

JasonAC556 · Answer 2 · 2012-09-16 02:53:07Z UTC

Update on this issue: My client maintained his daily calorie intake and riding/training schedule, yet reduced his carb intake to around 100g per day while increasing his protein/fat ratios. Guess what? He has started to shed body fat, lose weight, and increase his performance!!!! He is getting stronger and faster and leaner! Plateau broken, gains observed, success noted!

Moonablaze · Answer 3 · 2012-08-18 02:14:15Z UTC

1

1400 grams of carbs in a day? that would be 5600 calories from carbs alone! that would not compute with anyone trying to loose weight. I think you meant 1400 calories FROM carbs a day, which would still be a lot of carbs (350 grams) but not as disturbing as 1400.

answered Aug 18 at 2:14

Moonablaze
2,159●4●14

1

You are right. I realized my error and edited. Thanks for catching my oversight! – JasonAC556 Aug 18 at 2:32

upvote for self-editing. – Moonablaze Aug 18 at 3:21

Matt · Answer 4 · 2012-08-18 13:58:25Z UTC

1

What's his bodyfat level? Hard to imagine that he's got too much to lose if he's that athletic.

While 1400 calories of carbohydrate might seem like a lot to most of us, he's also probably burning 1000 more calories than the rest of us (how much is he biking?)

answered Aug 18 at 13:58

Matt
36.3k●2●10●69

He's at 15% bodyfat now, but would like to drop down to about 10%. He is only biking between 12 to 18 miles of good hill trails about 3 to 4 days a week as his work schedule allows. He takes gels while riding too, so his net calorie burn per ride is usually only 400 calories. He has a desk job and travels a lot as well, so he doesn't do much in the way of exercise other than ride and do a small ammount of body weight training. He is way overdoing the carbs considering his goals. – JasonAC556 Aug 18 at 15:11

Primal grok · Answer 5 · 2012-08-18 03:04:42Z UTC

0

Yikes no there is not much you can do Unless he meets u halfway by listening and being open about change.

answered Aug 18 at 3:04

Primal grok
97●1●2

2

There's not much you can do about someone that's healthy. Go work on someone that's obese and sedentary instead. – thhq Aug 18 at 12:19

He's consulting me as his trainer to help him break his plateau. I'm not just meddling, he's my client. – JasonAC556 Aug 18 at 13:12

1

I suggest then since he came to u, to dr oz his meal plans. So, not extreme paleo but definitely a sandwich between you are lean but carbs are bad and u can cut this or that. See what I mean. ? Do mention the wrong but don't gigantize it to the point where he will treat u like u r selling religion. – Primal grok Aug 19 at 2:35

thhq · Answer 6 · 2012-08-18 12:16:07Z UTC

0

The guy sounds extremely healthy, well within healthy weight considering musculature.

The level of activity sounds paleo. That counts for a lot, so why this obsession with someone else's diet?

What's to fix? If he wonks the macros to less carbs he'd probably lose weight, but why? Does he want to turn into a lethargic stick-person?

answered Aug 18 at 12:16

thhq
8,806●4●10

	He wants to lean out to improve performance, as in lose fat while retaining muscle mass. And I'm concerned because he is my client and he is paying me for my advice. He doesn't undertand the whole macro idea as he just has always bought into conventional wisdom about diet. – JasonAC556 Aug 18 at 13:25
	Reading the question better might help.. Jason is a personal trainer, the guy he's talking about is his client. He's not obsessing over some random person's diet for fun, he's be paid to help him... – Crabbycakes Aug 18 at 15:32
	And I'm saying that he should be TRAINING instead of giving wonky nutritional advice. Phelps has a lot of gold medals and great physique to show for his suboptimal carbs. – thhq Aug 18 at 16:40
	Dude, what are you talking about? You are making a lot of assumptions about what I do! You don't know me so stop thinking you do by stating what I should or should not be doing.You obviously don't have any idea what TRAINING a client entails, so back off. – JasonAC556 Aug 18 at 17:57
	One last HELPFUL comment: don't put him on low carb. But maybe you're smarter than that. – thhq Aug 18 at 18:28

SAD Diet/Conventional Wisdom… Does it ever cease to make you say WTF????

6 Answers