High Carb Livin’ – ‘Eating 500+ carbs a day’

Losing weight is meant to be hard, gruelling and time consuming. You’re meant to chip away at the fat using exhausting circuit training, hours of spent on the treadmill and the elimination of ‘bad foods’.

It brings me great joy to note that the notion of needing hard cardiovascular work to lose weight is slowly subsiding…

Unfortunately, the notion still remains prevalent at the top and bottom of our local education systems. Alas, as life gets busier and our goals more refined, most of us start to take in alternative approaches. Many people have simply stumbled over the truth that the same energy deficit from cardio can be attained through simply eating less and, for many  – the awareness of not needing cardio to induce weight loss was basically a by-product of being straight up busy and needing an option that worked in with their lifestyle.

Special situations aside, the majority of people can in fact lose weight avoiding such ego depleting activities. However, even with this enlightenment, some people have jumped in too far using this aforementioned ideology and have seemingly been mislead in their approach. The result?  Going HAM in the opposite direction… That is, adopting a be-all-end-all concept that cardio hampers gainz. Now, I’d be lying if I thought pure strength can be trained optimally whilst concurrently pursuing advanced endurance / conditioning, OR that doing additional HIIT cardio the day before squats/deadlifts (while in a moderate energy deficit) is not going to hamper your progress in someway. Sure, there’s even science to back this stuff up.

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A case for ‘cardio’

“How can I possibly put a new idea into your heads, if I do not first remove your delusions?” ―Robert A. Heinlein

For most people, there needs to be a shift in what they perceive as ‘cardio’, because too often people are lumping ‘moving more’ in the same basket as waking up at 4am to run a bazillion kilometres only to have to clean the vomit off their shoes.

With that said, here is a mental distinction that should be considered for most general weight trainees.

1. ‘Structured Aerobic Exercise” or “Cardio” – Doing prolonged bouts of aerobic exercise under the assumption that it’s beneficial to some sort of goal. This should be implemented for legit reasons. e.g. increasing your endurance capacity for the sake of an interest – you ARE a triathlete, a competitive sporting athlete or ‘practising’ runner etc.

* In relation to body composition, it’s generally not needed for weight loss or ‘fat burning’ in most situations; it could be used in the final stages of removing stubborn body fat for physique competitors or in a situation where calories realistically can’t be lowered any more (because you have the lean mass equivalent of a nuggety pug and eating less is not an option).                                                                            

2. Moving more or unregimented activity, otherwise known as NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenisis) – This normally extends from external demands, a push for vitality, or just not being lazy as hell. Really, everything that isn’t a volitional performance based aerobic exercise can be classified as NEAT e.g. walking the dog, cleaning the house, cycling with friends, taking the stairs, working an active job etc.

The separation of ‘cardio’ and NEAT should be distinct. Basically one is pre planned / regimented and the other is mostly autonomic or lifestyle based. People seem to get so caught up and meticulous on the advice from higher sources and think going to the extreme is the answer for superior results.

Oh, adding a 10 km run every second day could hamper performance in the squat while in a large energy deficit? I better not run at all. Fuck that, I better not do anything BUT lift, eat and sleep. I think it’s going to go well for my psyche to basically hibernate until I’ve ‘reached’ my goal.

This extreme behaviour is so jammed in the fitness world that it’s actually making people lazier, more sedentary and detracting from quality of life. Coupled with the constant flex displayed on the internet – people can’t help but compare their situation to everyone else… resulting in complaints about their ‘poverty macros’, tight hip flexors and why they aren’t owed 500g of carbs a day.

*If you’ve ever seen someone consuming 4000 calories a day and #notgettingfatbro then it’s their NEAT that they are manipulating (PED aside), not some fancy fasting window or carb backloading supermove.

**I’m not saying you should move for the sole sake of eating more, but to give consideration to the fact that the people out there that are eating lots of food – are highly active, training hard and probably making even better gains than you… and that’s real fucking talk.

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 A Neat explanation

A good strategy for gaining or losing weight includes an awareness of energy intake and expenditure. Talking about expenditure here, lets keep it simple – your total energy expenditure is made up of a sum of things:

1. Basal Metabolic Rate (aka BMR aka REE aka RMR aka calories burnt having your organs working); 
2. Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) and;
3. NEAT. 

We are going to be addressing 3 – NEAT. We all have a certain level of non-formalised activity in our lives, it’s just a question of how much. In the pursuit of homeostasis, your body has to potential to do crazy smart things… when you’re chronically over fed – NEAT can go up, when you’re dieting – NEAT usually goes down. This will happen to some extent regardless, but you can get far more out of your prized vessel… and I urge you do, for vitality and ease of life; you just gotta break free being stuck on indolent habits.

So, if NEAT is mostly autonomic – other than walking more, standing more, doing more – without sounding like a biohacking wacko, how can we influence our genetic wiring to make this easier? The most powerful way is through mindset. It comes down to demystification; an increased of awareness and a leap of faith into actually trialling things for yourself.

I’m convinced that after you introduce the manipulation of your own mindset, making a conscious decision to do more is going to filter down to your subconscious over time. On the most basic level this means that once we:

1. Change our view on movement, and;
2. Implement more of it ( i.e. initially done forcefully and purposefully to raise NEAT)

There is a positive residual effect on our baseline NEAT – as our newly formed habits (see 2. above) eventually become autonomic… and thus potentially leaving our baseline NEAT at the upper end of our body’s intricate programming.

This can be somewhat likened to a hysteresis loop. Everyone starts with a baseline level of NEAT (in relation to their situation and genetics). This can be swayed either way through beliefs in either direction. On the positive end, conscious awareness / action of movement saturates NEAT. Your awareness eventually becomes automated leaving a higher than average level of residual NEAT. On the other hand, a sticky anti-movement mindset will lead to a down regulation of NEAT even when the belief becomes purely subconscious; you’re still below your bodies baseline.

Even if the hypothesis above is viewed as wanky anecdotal pseudoscience, we can still agree that there are a large array of benefits from moving more, and moving more translates to doing more, and doing more takes the emphasis off sole gymlyfe.

So what? Well, you’re gonna find that by consciously doing more, you’ll develop additional interests and the more additional interests you have, the ‘quicker’ strength and body composition gains will come.

How so? The translation is mostly psychological, given the fact that you’re not constantly dwelling on your strength numbers and religiously checking your abs at each mirror to see if they’ve poked through. An extension of this idea can be read here.

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A reason or two

Here’s what I’ve discovered from being on that ‘high carb’ tip… 

• Utilising a wide range of movements planes via walking, bike riding or hell … even cleaning (basically anything other than sitting on your arse and jacking up your hips, back and overall posture) generally leads to feeling looser and more supple. This translates to investing less time and energy on myofascial release or mobility work. A further bonus from this bonus is getting to spend more time on things you enjoy. Bonus inception.

• An almost direct and positive impact on active recovery – Gets that blood flowing yo.

• You are not only going to feel physically ‘freer’, but your mental state will be as well. i.e. Walking is a catalyst for creativity… (more on this in the near future).

• Since you’re going to be moving more. You’re going to need to eat more. (High Carb Livin’ baby)
  

  If moving more gives me a greater a greater capacity for food consumption, why not just tell me to do cardio so we can eat more?

  *The implementation of ‘moving more’ is a lifestyle technique and therefore not very daunting. In relation to a psychological investment, carrying out dreaded cardio bouts does not yield a favourable ratio of energy expenditure, especially on a prolonged diet as your ability to make conscious decisions and resist ‘ego depletion’ can be compromised.

• When moving more, losing weight becomes easier.  Since you’ll be consuming more delicious goodness to match the newly found energy expenditure, when it comes time cut weight, you have additional ‘superfluous’ macronutrients to spend on treats and thus, psychologically make the diet easier.

*e.g. If I maintain weight on a glorious 500g carbs a day, to start the weight loss process, all I’d have to do is lower my carbs by 40g a day. This would create a 1100+ calorie deficit over the week which would be a great starting point. Then, after hitting my micronutrient and dietary fat baseline – I could still fit in heaps of lovely treats. Making the diet more enjoyable and easier to adhere to.

**When coupled with the habitual benefits of intermittent fasting. There’s less of a constant focus on food (amplified by the increased physical productivity). I find the day moves quicker, I’m less hungry, then all of a sudden its 8pm and I have 2000+ calories to eat.

• Through moving more and eating more, you’re getting an inadvertent subscription to the ‘G-Flux’ hypothesis. The majority of the ‘directions’ on increasing G-flux potential involve adding tangible cardiovascular work to your training regiment. In this case though, the simple increase in NEAT assists in raising the calibre of your energy balance (G – Flux) without the unsettling commitment of ‘training’ 6 days a week.

• The general physiological benefits of working out needn’t be dwelled on here. Chances are you’re already movin’ weight in the gym and racking up lengthy list of benefits from doing so. But, there’s more to living an active life which formal exercise simple cannot give you. By moving more, you’re quite certainly going to reduce your risk of mortality. It doesn’t matter whether you’re lean or obese, prolonged sitting has been shown to lead to an increased risk of mortality, irrespective of activity level.

Obviously, there are a myriad of reasons to begin moving more. You’re going to discover more and more as you go along. Things will get easier and yourself generally happier. As attractive as this proposition is, you might need some guidance on where to start.

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A place to start

Many moons ago, when I initially strived for that high carb tip – these were the stages I discovered a person can go through when stuck in such a dysfunctional loop.

Stage 1.

Create your own understanding of the distinction between ‘hardcore cardio’ and movement (see above for my take).

Stage 2.

Objectively reclassify activities… Here are some examples.

• ‘Rest day’ from the gym does not mean rest day from life. Think of it as a ‘day away from the gym”. This will prevent you from setting up barriers that disregard certain activities due to you interpreting them as ‘work’ and not what they really are – just an activity in life.

• That 3km walk to work isn’t ‘cardio’, it’s not even a physical stressor. In actual fact, when executed from the right view point, it can actually be one of the most peaceful and relaxing times of your day.

• Cleaning the house, doing ‘chores’ or taking care of simple lifestyle responsibilities are an excellent opportunity to move more. “I’m sore from squatting” is a pathetic excuse to be lazy.

• Don’t shy from spending time with people who just want to move WITH you. Bike riding with friends, going for big walks or helping a mate move house won’t hamper gains. The psychological benefits from team work, shared adventure and being detached from ‘gym life’ are plenty. This is also a chance to discover additional interests!

*Each time you are faced with a physical scenario and notice some internal discomfort arise – I want you to analyse why and from what point your biases are formed. Then, as stated; give yourself the opportunity to reclassify your opinion on it.

Stage 3.

Make a conscious effort to put some of these re-evaluated thoughts into action. Wanking all day over a shift in mindset won’t do anything unless you start doing….

“It is impossible to give yourself a satisfying purpose in the abstract.

It is only in the flow of action that life can make sense. There are no abstract ideals there, just life.”

Here are some obvious moves to begin the ‘doing’ (repeating myself, but this is for those who have accepted their sedentary lifestyle as the only option):

• Walk  – whenever and wherever you can, make time. We should never think we are above walking because we can financially afford ‘a better option’. No distance is too big.
  • Make an effort to walk with people as well. Instead of driving to a cafe / out for lunch. Propose you walk together.
  • Lunchbreak? Kick it foot soldier style for 30 minutes instead of sitting down.
  • If you find solo walking boring, audio books and podcasts can keep you forever educated and entertained.
  • For all you corporate folk stuck in an office, how about a ‘walking meeting’?

• Stand up instead of sitting.
  • Stand up desk –  stack something on your current desk to get it to a perfect height.
  • If public transport is a must – stand up.

• Do house work as regularly as needed, don’t let it build up… Think about this, you get a cleaner environment which usually trickles down to contributing to a more comfortable you. It’s not a ‘chore’. Here you can really appreciate the numerous planes of motion you’re putting yourself through.

• Try out different hobbies and expand your interests, seriously try something new. (Unless you are really stuck, we should all already have interests outside of the gym).

*This might seem like a big step, but start small. Set some quantitive guidelines and see how you go. An example could be trying to implement one small change every week.

** If you want something measurable, a step tracker can be very useful in getting an understanding of your general activity. Though, use it to supplement your life and not as something to live by.

Stage 4.

The ‘rewiring’ of your behaviour occurs.

This is the renewal of your basline. The push for more movement slowly becomes less reactive to your sedentary lifestyle and more autonomic, exploiting your bodies capacity to regulate subconscious movement. The resistance you previously conjured up has subsided and you won’t even consider movement as forced, let alone a burden.

Stage 5.

Maintain the mastery. Keep moving and continue to reap all benefits.

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An answer to your reservations

The biggest caveat physique driven individuals seem to face when beginning to cultivate the mindset – is focusing on how to compensate with pre-implementation changes and what are the superficial benefits they can garner ASAP. I’m talking details like “how many more carbs can I eat?” or “how many minutes do I need to be active for before I am officially on that high carb lifestyle?”.

There shouldn’t need to be any preparatory actions when deciding to be more active. Making this change whilst thinking about getting to eat more is just as faulty and dysfunctional as sitting on your ass all day. It’s going to continue to develop your poor relationship with food and anally driven minutia headspace.

But T-Dawg… What about physique goals?

Well, if you have any aesthetic goals in mind (+ or – bodyweight) you should already be tracking your progress. This could be done by weighing yourself regularly, taking measurements, simply visually assessing condition or even tracking performance. Whatever method you’re using, it’s all about having a rough idea of where you’re headed and how quickly you’re moving there.

So, to re-iterate Stage 3… begin to gradually implement changes and continue to track progress as usual; it’s that simple. You will notice over time, that there will be a need to adjust your inputs, but face that as it happens not beforehand. If you’re losing weight too quickly, eat more. If you’re not gaining weight quickly enough, ramp up calories. How much? Figure it out as you go.

On the flip-side, don’t get so attached to your decisions. If you have a day or string of days that you legit can’t do more or be ‘freer’… don’t stress. High Carb Livin’ is not as literal as it sounds, it’s about the approach to life, not a quantifiable number of carbohydrates.

I’ll leave you with that.

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Remember though, whether you’re dieting, chronically busy or just lazy… General activity can decrease on a near unconscious level, that’s why I find you need to put some conscious thought into getting as much activity as you can out of everyday possible. Once you start, it doesn’t matter how you frame the process – it’s going to get far easier and rewarding overtime.

Amen