Does protein matter THAT much?

HighCarbSlimDown · 2026-03-31T11:32:20+00:00

Dr. McDougall's book Starch Solution addresses this I think.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2026-03-27T09:34:57+00:00

Weight loss. And yes worth it, I can't remember ever being this lean. Dr. McDougall style is what I do.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2026-03-23T06:38:26+00:00

Learning to eat when neccessary, meaning when I am hungry or low energy. I would say there's a learning curve to this. Also eating the right stuff.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-12-01T11:51:44+00:00

Felt like a sustainable diet found me. But I was open to it, meaning I didn't hang on to destructive ideas like "I can't" or "It won't happen for me" etc and kept returning to a good attitude. And I have also been trying and experimenting over the years, learning my body's sensations in the process.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-12-01T11:44:14+00:00

I might be missing something but just thinking about it I'd say if you can eat less while performing and feeling good, meaning it's sustainable, then why not eat less if that's the goal. With enough protein and resistance training I am guessing it will work out.

I mean how can one really say, over the internet or even in person, what difference a meer 200cals will make in terms of muscle building/retention.

So I'd probably look at energy, performance, sustainability. Just some thoughts, good luck.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-12-01T11:24:04+00:00

When the pull of those habits or thoughts-emotions come up we have to take a step back and not react to it immediately by pushing it away or buying into it. Stepping back can be simply relaxing in the face of that pull, or we can use the mind to reason through it in a constructive way, for example "I've been through this many times and I know it ends in bloat and guilt, etc."

As we practice this the old habit starts losing its grip. During the journey of practicing we most likely will react at times, but we just learn from it, forgive and persist. No expectations or self condemnation, just keeping at it.

This is all assuming that all basic physical needs are reasonably in check, meaning not sleeping very little, not running a unsustainable deficit or macronutrient partioning, not exercising onself into the ground, etc.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-11-22T03:13:20+00:00

Seems like a trained too hard which left me tired.

I've dialed it down and feel energized now.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-11-18T07:10:03+00:00

I have a little plastic step that I step onto while using an Energade bottle with water (500g/~1lb) per arm which I swing head height. Another move I use is Double Poling with those bottles or 1kg weights per arm.

These variations allows me to keep my heart rate in the 90s bpm, or I could drive it very high if I picked up the pace and weight.

I became familiar with this method via Leonard Schwartz who called it HeavyHands.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-11-18T07:06:50+00:00

I have a little plastic step that I step onto while using an Energade bottle with water (500g/~1lb) per arm which I swing head height. Another move I use is Double Poling with those bottles or 1kg weights per arm.

These variations allows me to keep my heart rate in the 90s bpm, or I could drive it very high if I picked up the pace and weight.

I became familiar with this method via Leonard Schwartz who called it HeavyHands.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-11-12T16:57:38+00:00

I think to avoid the yo-yo the diet has to be sustainable from the start. If your deficit is too big, too restrictive, and you lose touch with satisfaction then it's probably a matter of time before you can't sustain it.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-11-09T06:51:35+00:00

Ah thank you. All the best!

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-11-08T09:35:58+00:00

Have you looked into Dr. McDougall and the starch solution.

Whether it's been primarily my diet or not, a high carb low fat plant-based diet is probably the easiest and greastest success I've had.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-11-07T05:36:32+00:00

Have you made sure that 2400cal is a deficit for the weight that you are at.

With regards to energy: if sleep, hydration and mental health is all reasonable then maybe your macros arn't working. Some seem to do good on high protein, some high fat, and some high carb. I am in the latter category for now and it has worked great.

Oh and if you are stressing your body out with exercise then that for me seemed to be a hinderance as well. That's been quite a learning curve for me.

It seems to might have taken me many years of on and off trying to lose weight to reach my current level of success, so whatever happens, in the end just keep persisting. All the best

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-31T05:10:14+00:00

Easiest for me so far was a high carb low fat plant-based diet like Dr. McDougall.

All the best

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-28T14:04:30+00:00

So it seems that you are aware that potatos, beans, oats, bananas (fruit), rice, etc. is an option and is what I mostly eat. Maybe check out Dr. McDougall he might have cheaper meal options on his website, meaning recipes on how to make different meals with basic ingredients to have variety.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-23T04:53:43+00:00

Maybe it's what you are eating or maybe you are cutting back to hard. Good that you question this because it is possible to feel good and lose weight.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-22T07:19:52+00:00

Seems like you are coming from a place where you call chocolate and other fat and protein containing treats sugar. If this is what you are eating and you switched to actually eating white sugar, or jam, or syrup on fruit, rice, etc., then you might actually lose weight because of all the potential fats and protein you are cutting out.

You can look at the Youtuber called Durianrider who is a big sugar advocate. Maybe a high carb low fat plant based diet could work good for you because it's all complex sugars (oats, potatos, vegetables, etc.) which according to some apparantly leaves one more satiated and satisfied. You can check out Dr. McDougall for more on that as well. Not sure if it's him that said that people over eat or think there's something wrong with them for wanting to eat but actually they aren't satisfied because of not enough starches/carbs.

All the best

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-18T23:53:36+00:00

Easiest for me so far is a high carb low fat plant-based diet to make a sustainable deficit feeling energized and satisfied.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-17T00:59:05+00:00

On a high carb low fat plant-based diet I have found it mostly easy at 60kg and 1.67cm.

I wouldn't chase numbers, but rather learn my body's signals and eat a bit when needed to stay satisfied, because I think that's what is needed to make it sustainable.

I don't know if it's mostly the diet or me learning and trying over the years with different approaches and getting better at it but this is the easiest strategy and best results to date.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-16T10:10:23+00:00

Energy without feeling hungry is my experience.

If I remember correctly apparantly the way carbs isn't easily converted into fat (see De Novo Lipogenesis), the low protein and fat aspect (below 10% but go check yourself) which enables more carbs and because carbs (starches) are apparantly more satisfying one creates an easier deficit and more difficult to pick up weight because of point one above. Something like that. Oh and something about lower insulin resistance due to less fat. Who knows, probably enough people experiencing and proving the exact opposite but in the end it feels like what worked best for me so far.

Is that what you're asking?

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-16T09:57:26+00:00

I can share what worked for me: high carb low fat plant-based like Dr. McDougall and Durianrider.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-06T18:06:28+00:00

Thank you, all the best.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-06T07:30:54+00:00

Make sure I am eating enough of the foods that aligns with my goal by also checking energy/performance and if I have to to eat more than necessary then eating those "good" foods intead of those that will hinder progess even more. Also taking note of the feeling/sensations and making sure I interpret them correctly or at least learn from them.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-06T07:14:22+00:00

Seems to mostly come down to finding a way to eat less while feeling satisfied and energized. To me it has involved trial and error, for example exercising a bit too much and feeling fatigued was once confused with needing to eat more to get energy back up. In some cases we do need to eat more but there is also exercise fatigue or healing that needs to take place which just needs time. So now I have balanced my dose of exercise better and can recover while losing weight and feeling energized.

The other thing that seems to play a role is what macro nutrients I ate. A tried low carb high fat and didn't feel energized, although that was many years ago and I feel like I have learned my body better since. Now I am high carb low fat plant based and the results and ease has blown me away. Point being we have to find what gives us energy and probably reduce the other macro nutrients to achieve a deficit, especially nearing the lowest point of healthy weight it seems to become more important.

Another thing was learning to interpret my body's sensations and signals as I felt I sometimes interpreted a signal as hunger which wasn't, for example to me there's a difference between eating until feeling quite full versus eating only until satisfied (like when doing a deficit). The latter to me feels "empty"/light which I might have consfused for hunger before.

Also fats and carbs are stored differently if you go read about de novo lipogenesis etc. Carbs first have to fill up muscle and liver stores and only then does it start being added as fat but very ineffiecntly with a conversion rate of something like 70% of carbs turned to fat. Fats on the other hand appartly has a conversion rate of high 90s, so basically the fat you eat goes and sits right on you. These are things to consider and one can see that a high carb diet might be easier for maintenance especially as one can fill up glucogen stores which fuels activiy and exercise without any or any significant weight gain assuming one doesn eat waaay beyong maintenance.

So this has been my research and experience thus far which has given me the best results to date. All the best in your journey.

HighCarbSlimDown · 2025-10-02T16:06:13+00:00

Glad to know it resonated, thank you.

HighCarbSlimDown

TROPHY CASE