Lots of different information on this thread and the other one regarding nutrition, especially the role of carbs. I�m not a nutrition expert, but I have learned a little from experts and I did manage to shed 15 lbs a couple years ago, mainly through cutting carbs. Here�s what worked for me, and a few of the things that stuck with me from talking to people with expertise. I�m sure I may have gotten some of this wrong as far as the science, but it works for me so take it for what it�s worth.
I didn�t eliminate carbs, but I cut way back and eliminated �empty carbs� (starch from grains) and sugar to the maximum extent I could. No bread, no pasta, no white rice, no mashed potatoes, and especially no processed or store-bought baked goods like crackers, chips, etc. The only carbs I would eat (and still do for the most part) from grains are a small amount of whole-grain cereal in the morning, either shredded wheat with bran (no sugar added) or granola that has less than 5 grams total sugar per 55 gram serving (you have to look hard to find it). Or sugars, post-workout, more on that below.
A lot of the benefit of cutting carbs has to do with insulin levels in your blood. Your body reacts to a high starch meal like pasta the same as if you�d eaten sugar; your blood sugar spikes, your body dumps insulin in response, which causes bad stuff to happen including converting and storing carbs as fat in your body. What you want to do is level out the blood sugar/insulin spikes by eating (again, sparingly) low glycemic carbs and when you do eat carbs always combine them with protein, which slows absorbtion and blunts the spikes. That�s why it�s good to combine the morning cereal with yogurt or lowfat milk and walnuts, the protein helps level the spikes and the walnuts provide not only protein but Omega-3 fatty acids which help to burn calories and fat.
Which leads to the next important thing, and that is eliminating �bad fats� as much as possible and loading up with good ones high in Omega-3s. Bad fats are saturated fats from corn-fed animals whether beef or poultry, and most vegetable oils, especially hydrogenated oils. Better fats come from grass-fed stock. Best fats are from olive oil, fish oil, tree nuts like walnuts and almonds, etc. Read the labels on things like salad dressing and stay away from oils other than olive. Eat lots of nuts.
Lots of this advice came from a guy who�s a power lifter and also competes in body-building contests. Before you get the image of a muscle-bound lunkhead, he was not one. Very well-spoken, formal education in exercise and nutrition, and one of the few guys in the gym with a body-builder�s build who always wore long-sleeve shirts rather than wife-beaters to show off his muscles.
Anyway, these guys take this stuff to the limit as far as building muscle and cutting body fat; their routine is to build muscle between competitions and then cut body fat to the extreme just before a competition. This guy�s diet would make a Spartan look like Keith Richards; it�s not for everyone but I think you can learn from the experts who take stuff to the extreme, whether it be nutrition or long-range shooting.
A few more tips he gave that stuck with me:
There�s an exception to the �no sugar� rule and it�s immediately after a hard workout. Your muscles are �in the most jeopardy� right after a hard workout and depleted; if you consume a recovery drink with a reasonable amount of sugar right after the workout it goes straight into your muscles to help them recover, rather than being stored as fat. He suggested 40 grams of whey protein (not soy) in the recovery drink, as well as some L-glutamine. Lots of people use straight chocolate milk.
Avoid soy protein, especially common in lots of protein bars and cereals. Soy has plant estrogens, and you don�t want estrogens.
Stress and lack of sleep can cause hormone imbalances and fat storage. Pay attention to these.
Eat lots of dark green leafy vegetables not only for the vitamins, but they also help maintain the right alkalinity in your body.
Limit the amount of impurities you take in. These take up ion exchange sites on the molecular level that are important for what you�re trying to accomplish. Two examples he gave were drinking filtered water whenever possible (we have high copper content here) and using a BPA-free water bottle.
Limit what you eat in the evening after about 6:00; big meals before bed promote fat storage.
Eat Omega-3�s a few times a day in the form of fish oil, walnuts, almonds. These help your body burn calories and fat.
Avoid a lot of low-intensity aerobic cardio workouts, which stimulate cortisol production. Instead, do cardio workouts with high-intensity intervals, which increase testosterone.
Avoid alcohol. If you do imbibe, red wine is the best choice.
The lower your body fat percentage, the lower the proportion of your carb intake that is stored as fat. Or to put it the opposite way, the higher your lean muscle percentage, the higher the percentage of your carb intake goes into your muscles as fuel, rather than into fat storage.
As I said earlier, these guys go to extremes with eliminating carbs when they are dropping body fat in preparation for a competition, but they�re still working out. My trainer told me that he could feel himself getting weaker a few days into the no carb cycle, and every now and then would have a �cheat day� once a week where he�d load up on carbs to replenish. According to him, if you�re going to eat carbs, it�s best to do it all at once rather than to eat some each day; apparently your body stores less carbs as fat that way.
