It depends! You will never know if you spend an entire day following a low-fat, high-protein, high-carb, or low-carb weight loss diet until you’re back at your desk or, in the case of the low-carb diet, watching your kids run around on the dance floor.
If you want to be a good body builder and get stronger faster, there are tons of diet plans out there. If you just want a healthier and happier you, there are tons of diet plans out there, as well. But, if you’re just trying to get big, build muscle, and feel leaner faster, let me put it this way. Don’t take diet advice from your gym-goer.
Dieters and Bodybuilders
It’s no secret that bodybuilders use a lot of calories, more than dieters. So, if you’re training, you’re not only eating a huge number of calories and then gaining the muscle, you’re also eating a huge number of calories that have very little effect on how you feel later on.
If you want to stay lean and get stronger, you’re going to need to eat way more than dieters at the gym. Dieters eat way, way too many calories and end up gaining most of their muscle at the end of the competition. But, when the competition is over and the body is going to rest, a high-carb diet will quickly get most of the body and all of its muscle back. That’s why bodybuilders love a high-carb, high-protein, and low-fat diet. It is the most effective way to lose and build muscle, period.
If you’re only doing bodybuilding or fitness exercises, a high-carb diet is a great idea. Most people aren’t trying to gain muscle fast enough to benefit. Many of the top bodybuilders that I know eat about 100-125 grams a day of carbs; most bodybuilders are not trying to bulk up so much. You can probably eat 1-1.5 grams a day of carbs without being hungry very often. I’ve had people eat around 400-600 grams of carbs a day, without feeling hungry or with a great body that looks great! And for that amount of carbs you’re not going to look great after one year or so of regular use. There’s no need to make your body super lean any more. For now, you’re just wasting calories and gaining muscle by eating way too much food.