Reduce fat by eating same calories but fewer from carbs?

[Gammmmo]

As above, I feel like I should know this. Recently I've cleaned up my diet a bit. I've also been mentally totting up how many calories I have each day for a good while longer. I've noticed a reduction in lower belly fat and love-handles since I've been getting a higher proportion of calories from fats instead of carbs. I've also been eating cleaner too as said even though I believe the total amount of calories to be scarcely any different. What is going on here? If there is a reduced likelihood of excess carbs to exist (and therefore be converted to fat and be stored round my waist), what is happening to the extra fat/protein that is in place of the carbs and which might be over my daily calorie requirement i.e. where are they being stored? Or...is this a red herring? Could it be that less junk food means the type of fats e.g. trans/bad fats has reduced and THAT somehow means less bodyfat, again, even though I believe total calories are about the same?

[Allan Olesen]

Your belly fat is another type than your body fat. It is also called visceral fat.

There is research, which shows that eating healthy fats, such as olive oil, avocadoes, etc., will help you burn your visceral fat.

I don't know if the fat just ends up somewhere else on your body if you eat the same amount of daily calories. I don't really care, since visceral fat is supposed to be the most unhealthy fat we can have on our bodies. So even if the visceral fat is not removed, but just redistributed, it will be of benefit to our health.

(And the visceral fat hides our sixpacks, so it has to go anyway...)

[jurgwhitehouse]

It's all about the insulin.

The only way in which the body can store fat is when blood insulin is high. Eating carbs will trigger a much larger spike in insulin than fat or protein. So if you keep your insulin levels low - which you have been with a low carb diet - it becomes very hard to store excess calories as fat.

The fat we store around the liver (visceral) and pinch-able (subcutaneous) fat can only be released when insulin levels are low. So again, a low carb diet turns the body into a fat-burning furnace.

Furthermore, fat and protein satiate you more than carbs so it's probable that you have been eating fewer calories. But even if you have been eating the same total calories while changing the macros, the CICO (calories in, calories out) model doesn't work for the reasons described.

There is a time when eating carbs will not trigger an insulin spike, and that's straight after exercise. So if you want to optimise your daily carb intake, try to do it in the hour after your training.

(This is my interpretation of how it works based on my own reading and fixing my T2 diabetes with a low carb diet.)

[hjs]

How do you know how many calories you eat? Even if you way anything, which I think you don,t, you don,t know the exact content. So a best its a rough estimate imo.
Do you eat more protein? There is a difference, converting protein is much less efficient compared to carbs/fat.

If I had to guess, before you likely simply ate more. I often think, sometimes its true, I haven,t eaten much, but when I think about it, it often more than I thought. No clue though about how much calories or how much per macro group.

[EV_Simon]

Actually use an app like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer to log your food, it breaks it down to the macro level (carbs, fats, proteins) and measure how much you're consuming daily, you're likely going to be shocked at how much you do actually consume.

[Gammmmo]

@Allan/Jurgen - good replies, thanks.

How do you know how many calories you eat?

I've made a chart of calories and protein for the things I eat. I mentally tot up how much I eat each day. It is a rough estimate to within 200-300 cals a day I'd say.

Even if you way anything, which I think you don,t

I do weigh things - have electronic scales accurate to within 1g.

Do you eat more protein? There is a difference, converting protein is much less efficient compared to carbs/fat.

True. I eat more protein on days I lift. I eat less protein on other days but still think I am eating more on those days than I was. I think it's very easy to neglect protein requirements esp as we age (we need more) so am eating more meat/fish and whey in general.

[hjs]

Ok Paul, you are certainly making a serious effort.
Re protein, agree, modern food is packet with carbs, but protein is hard to find. And with the current trend of calling meat unwanted even worse.
Do you keep track of your skinfolds? Certainly when you get lean a very good indicator. For bigger people less accurate. Other simple but very good way is waist, get that smaller and you get leaner.

[Gammmmo]

Ok Paul, you are certainly making a serious effort.
Re protein, agree, modern food is packet with carbs, but protein is hard to find. And with the current trend of calling meat unwanted even worse.
Do you keep track of your skinfolds? Certainly when you get lean a very good indicator. For bigger people less accurate. Other simple but very good way is waist, get that smaller and you get leaner.

For most of my life I've been more of a carb junkie. Even when I was competitive on the bike I'd still say I was sometimes a little "skinny fat" and certainly very little definition. I don't keep track of my skinfolds but that was one of two new steps I was thinking of. I recenrly saw the video below where the ex WSM Eddie Hall was having his fat level tested with callipers. What was particularly interesting to me was the brief explanation by the guy who was administering the test that fat levels IN DIFFERENT PLACES means different things e.g. if fat is lower in the chest/triceps that TENDS to mean testosterone is all good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-_lEASAab0

The other thing I was going to do was get another set of scales as my existing electronic ones seem to take several readings before there is a consistent weight showing. I'm not 100% confident in them. I sometimes watch Youtuber "Brandon Harding" (bodybuilder) who uses a set that also show bodyfat. I did think that those machines were unreliable (and that callipers for example were better) but maybe not? He's not a natural athlete but certainly seems to have body manipulation dialled.

I will also add I am very aware of how one looks can vary alot depending on hydration, salt levels, bloat levels (due to diet) etc...

[hjs]

Those scales are very inaccurate, skinfolds much less so, certainly when get a bit lower. How the fat is distributed, don,t know how that works out.
I myself have, relative fat legs, upperbody is leaner, I don,t get much belly easily. When I get leaner, the legs go last. No the waist. My arms/shoulders are more or less always lean. Beats me why?
Other point when you get lean is vains, at a certain point more and more pop up. The point that really stands out in the innerlegs. When at that point the vains become really begin to stand out, you are lean

[Tenshuu]

Those scales are very inaccurate, skinfolds much less so, certainly when get a bit lower. How the fat is distributed, don,t know how that works out.
I myself have, relative fat legs, upperbody is leaner, I don,t get much belly easily. When I get leaner, the legs go last. No the waist. My arms/shoulders are more or less always lean. Beats me why?
Other point when you get lean is vains, at a certain point more and 1more pop up. The point that really stands out in the innerlegs. When at that point the vains become really begin to stand out, you are lean

Fat distribution is definitely different between everyone. My legs are muscularly large, could definitely get a little leaner, but most of my fat sits just above the waist and directly on my butt cheeks.
Arms are lean and veins beginning to pop. Last time I was below 180lbs I was a freshman in high school.... 260lbs as freshman in college. At 187 right now, and some days I think I could level at 165lbs, other days I feel like that's a pretty tough goal to maintain at.

Time will tell for me.