50% Calories From Fat?!

[ehowell]

As a former professional line cook and general lover of food, I'm sad to report that I started toying with a food tracking app during my weight loss phase to get a sense of both total calories and micronutrients. Although I'm doing good on calories (especially when using the app, it works), I was surprised to find that nearly 50% of my total calories are from fat on any given day.

I know the conventional wisdom for athletes is to be somewhere between 20-30%, but is there really a body of evidence out there that suggests higher numbers are inhibitive to athletic performance? I know the whole paleo/primal scene has fat percentages at least as high as mine, but whether that's optimal for performance is a different story. I am not paleo.

I will say that other than butter and whole milk (I'm in the camp that says moderate saturated fat is a good thing), my fat comes from good sources -- olive oil, avocado, seeds, nuts, etc. I also find that it's much easier to diet and feel satiated with a bit of fat. For instance, if I toss in a bit of butter with eggs, I stay fuller longer and therefore cut out unnecessary snacking. Basically, google the French Paradox for the same concept. The French diet is loaded in fat, but their obesity rates are a small fraction of the US rate. And they're pretty good climbers too!

Anyway, any thoughts?

[MarkAnderson]

If it ain't broke...?

[ehowell]

Mar 3, 2017 8:20:52 GMT -7 MarkAnderson said:

If it ain't broke...?

Mark, that was my first thought as well. It basically ain't broke, but could it be better is the question I suppose. In terms of body fat percentage, although I've never been measured, I think I'm a little higher than where I'd like to be. Perhaps I'm carrying a few percentage points higher body fat because of this high fat calorie content, even though I think I'm eating quite well. The diet example you guys use in the book has quite a low fat %, and I think you guys are probably way better at dropping weight than me! I just didn't know if this was intentional based on your own results.

Eh I don't know -- I was just wondering if some nutritionist would tell me that it's no big deal, eat your butter!

Most forums I read on the subject had the same reaction as you, but they're not generally directed at athletic performance.

[brendann]

There will never be a one-size-fits-all diet for 'athletes' so the Anderson's diet is just a suggested variation.
Diet is something you should play around with to find your optimum weight/energy balance.

[korduroy]

Bruce Lee's diet consisted of 30+% fat intake, however, it was incredibly healthy fats. High carb percentage too, but again, it was from quality sources like vegetables and unrefined grains.

I believe its the quality of the food in relation to the percentage that is important, rather than the percentage.

[jetjackson]

There is that keto diet that TBP talks about in a few of their podcasts.

I discussed it with my endocrinologist, because I have a thyroid disease, and changing diet a lot can have effects on my hormone levels.

Her thoughts are that keto diets have not been around long enough, so the jury is still out on them. She didn't recommend I do it, but yeah, I have that issue, so don't want to mess around with it.

[tetrault]

No offense to the Andersons', but if you are going to mimic a diet in order to climb harder, why not go for the gold and eat like Ondra? 

What do you think you would gain from tweaking your macros? Isn't body fat percent based more on genetics, calorie intake and amount/type of expenditure than how you get your calories? Being a little silly here, but if changing your fat-calorie percentage will make you more confident that you will send when you are booting up for a climb, then you should absolutely do it!

It does seem like there is a valid scientific argument for not eating high fat foods, and eating low fat, 3:1 to 4:1 carb:protein ratio instead, right before and after training for the benefits of quick burning fuel and quick muscle replenishment. But, it does not seem like there would be any science behind predicting the next IFSC World Champion based on solely on the competitors' fat intake and body fat percentage.

[ehowell]

Thanks for the replies guys. It sounds like what I'm doing probably isn't a big deal. Considering that 15 years ago I was 240 lbs of pure blubber, I should be quite happy with where I am!

I mentioned the sample daily diet plan in the book not as something I strictly follow, but just to get a sense of whether Mark and/or Mike based those percentages on research done on some sort of magical optimal athletic diet. FWIW, when I try and drop a few pounds I basically do it by eating smaller portions of the foods I usually already eat, with less refined carbs.

[ehowell]

And yes, I do try and strictly stick to the 4:1 protocol after a session.