Fat vs. Carbs in Weight Loss

[JohnHelton]

I'm curious about experiences that people have had in losing weight while tracking macros with regard to substituting fat for carbs and vice versa.

I generally operate under the premise that what really counts is calories, inclusive of enough protein to satisfy MPS (1.8g - 2.2g per kg of body weight). The last time I lost 10 lbs. while training (and didn't experience any loss in strength), I was hitting about 2,300 calories with 200g of protein. In terms of carbs and fat, I was keeping the fat around 75g per day. Thus, carbs were around 200g/day. And I was terrible at getting my fiber in. This prescription worked.

What I'm wondering is whether or not it would have worked if I had kept the calories and protein the same, but substituted fat for carbs? I'm assuming that one is a bit fat-adapted and doesn't need a large amount of carbs to fuel workouts, as I am.

Has anyone diligently tried both approaches?

[Murelli]

My first stint of fat loss last year was really great with more fats, but I never went "low carb".

[TheCheat]

Providing adherence isn't an issue in either approach, I think it's very much individual which gives *better* results. Personally, I see noticeably better results keeping carbs as high as possible. If I go higher fat then I find I stall a lot quicker and need high carb refeeds to get going again. Keeping carbs higher all the time results in nice, smooth, sustainable weight loss. Performance in the gym is better too.

[JohnHelton]

Providing adherence isn't an issue in either approach, I think it's very much individual which gives *better* results. Personally, I see noticeably better results keeping carbs as high as possible. If I go higher fat then I find I stall a lot quicker and need high carb refeeds to get going again. Keeping carbs higher all the time results in nice, smooth, sustainable weight loss. Performance in the gym is better too.

When you say stall, does that mean in terms of weight loss rather than strength gains?

[TheCheat]

When you say stall, does that mean in terms of weight loss rather than strength gains?

Yes, weight loss.

[DCM]

I am generally eating 45-70g of fat and 280-300+ grams of carbs during my current cut. Personally speaking, whenever I have lower-carb, higher-fat days, I feel flatter and training seems to suffer - less energy, strength and stamina. This could well be psychosomatic, but nevertheless seems to be a thing for me. I have done keto-style diets in the past, but my training volume was so much lower then that I don't have an accurate base for comparison. I certainly feel less food-focused and deprived on my current diet, but that could also be down to poor food choices during my keto phase.