Fat makes you fat? Calories are calories?

Hey Jordan!

Just some quick background about me:
I’m male, 25 years old and 5’10. I started training a year ago and was extremely detrained. I’ve been bro-bulking and gone from 135 to 210lbs in this period. My bf% is >20% and I’ve gained fat around the stomach. Waist line is about 37-38 inches.

My lifts:
Squat 1rm = 145kg
DL 1rm = 150kg
Bench 5rm = 75kg
Press 5rm = 58kg

I’m finally changing from SS 3x5 to The Bridge next week. I want to get stronger but I don’t want to add too much bloat around my stomach etc.

I got two questions:

  1. Do you think 3400 calories are appropriate for me? 200g protein, 125g fat, 375g carbs.

2 And secondly, I’m a guy who loves eating fat food like bacon, whole eggs, nuts etc. Well, who doesn’t? But is there a difference if I eat 75g of fat or 125g of fat (assuming the carbs are adjusted to match the same total calories) in body composition changes? And if not, why are most diets restricting fat and not carbs?

SquatGimp,

I’m not sure if that calorie intake is correct for you. If it represents a significant increase or decrease from what you have been eating then we’d expect a concomitant change in your body weight too. That said, I think that’s a little high calorie wise if I had to guess.

  1. Most data suggests no difference if calories are the same, though there is some room for individual response to different macro intakes AND most people more easily overeat on fat too.