You can eat pasta. You can eat rice. You can eat steak. And you can still lose weight. Here is exactly how.
I am going to say something that the fitness industry does not want you to hear. Carbs are not bad for you. Fats are not bad for you. The reason people think they are is because nobody ever took the time to actually explain them properly.
People cut carbs and lose weight fast. They think carbs were the problem. Then they add carbs back and gain weight. They think carbs are the enemy again. What actually happened is they went into a caloric deficit when they cut carbs and came out of it when they added them back. The carbs were never the issue. The calories were.
Let me break this down the right way.
Builds muscle. Keeps you full. Protects your physique in a deficit.
4 calories per gram
Your primary fuel source. Powers your workouts. Feeds your brain.
4 calories per gram
Supports hormones. Protects organs. Essential for absorbing vitamins.
9 calories per gram
All three macros matter. All three have a job. The goal is never to eliminate any of them. The goal is to understand them well enough to manage them. That is the difference between people who get results and people who stay stuck.
I said it. Carbs are just as important as protein and I will stand on that. Here is why.
Your brain runs on glucose. Glucose comes from carbohydrates. When you slash carbs completely your energy crashes, your focus drops, your mood tanks, and your workouts suffer. You feel terrible and then you wonder why you cannot stick to the plan.
Carbs fuel your training. You cannot push hard in the gym without glycogen. Glycogen comes from carbs. If you are training on empty your performance drops, you cannot recover properly, and you cannot build the muscle that changes your body composition long term.
Carbs keep you consistent. This is the one nobody talks about. When you allow yourself to eat carbs within your caloric deficit you do not feel deprived. You can sit down to a bowl of rice and chicken and enjoy it. You can eat pasta. You can have a potato. And you can still lose fat. That consistency is what actually produces results over months and years.
Do not take my word for it. Listen to Sahiba.
Sahiba lost 30 pounds in just a few months. No lifestyle restrictions. No cutting out food groups. No misery. She learned how to manage her macros, stayed in her caloric deficit, and kept eating the foods she enjoyed within it. Four years later she is still going and still crushing it.
Lost 30 pounds in under 6 months with zero lifestyle restrictions. Still going strong 4 years later. Ate carbs the entire time.
Watch Sahiba's Story
This is the part people always push back on and this is the part I love explaining because the look on a client's face when they realize this is priceless.
A bowl of rice and chicken can absolutely be part of a fat loss diet. A plate of pasta with lean meat can fit. A steak with a potato can fit. The question is never what the food is. The question is whether it fits within your total daily caloric deficit.
If your deficit is 2200 calories and your bowl of rice and chicken is 550 calories, it fits. You have 1650 calories left for the rest of your day. That is not a diet. That is just eating with intention.
This is the full picture. Protein, carbs, fats all working together inside your caloric deficit. I broke it all down in this video and it is the most practical thing you will watch this week when it comes to your nutrition.
Fats got the worst reputation of any macro and it is completely undeserved. Fat does not make you fat. Eating more calories than you burn makes you fat. Fat as a macro is essential for your body to function properly and cutting it out completely is one of the worst things you can do for your health long term.
Fats support your hormones. Testosterone, estrogen, cortisol. All of your key hormones require fat to be produced. Drop your fat intake too low and your hormones take a hit. That means lower energy, lower mood, worse recovery, and for men specifically a direct hit to testosterone levels.
Fats protect your organs. Your heart, kidneys, and liver are surrounded by protective fat tissue. It is not there by accident.
Fats help you absorb vitamins. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble. That means your body cannot absorb them without dietary fat present. Eat a salad with zero fat dressing and you are barely absorbing the nutrients in that salad. Add olive oil or avocado and now those vitamins actually get into your system.
Here is something that will change the way you cook forever. Most people have no idea how many calories they are starting a meal with before the food even hits the pan.
Two tablespoons of vegetable oil adds 240 calories to your meal before a single piece of food goes in the pan. For some people that is 10 percent of their entire daily caloric budget gone before they even start cooking.
The swap is simple. Use a zero calorie cooking spray instead. Same result in the pan. Zero calories added to the meal. That one switch alone can save you 200 to 300 calories a day which over a week is nearly a full pound of fat loss without changing anything else about your diet.
| Food | Serving | Fat | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avocado | Half | 15g | Loaded with monounsaturated fat. Great for heart health. |
| Salmon | 6 oz | 18g | Omega 3 fats. Reduces inflammation. Also high in protein. |
| Eggs whole | 2 eggs | 10g | Nutrient dense. Do not throw the yolk away. |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | 14g | Best for cooking and dressings. Use measured amounts. |
| Almonds | 1 oz | 14g | Easy snack. But easy to overeat. Measure your portion. |
| Peanut butter | 2 tbsp | 16g | Great protein and fat combo. Watch the serving size closely. |
"Eating carbs at night makes you fat."
Your body does not have a clock. It does not know what time it is. What matters is your total caloric intake for the day. If you are in a deficit you will lose fat whether you eat your carbs at 7am or 9pm. Eat them when it works for your life.
"Low fat diets are the healthiest way to eat."
Low fat diets became popular in the 1980s and obesity rates went up not down. When manufacturers removed fat from food they added sugar to make it taste good. You swapped one problem for another. Healthy fats from real food are essential. Do not fear them.
"I need to go low carb to lose weight."
You need to be in a caloric deficit to lose weight. Low carb is one way to achieve that deficit. It is not the only way and for most people it is not the most sustainable way. Eating balanced macros within a deficit works just as well and most people can actually stick to it long term.
Carbs are not your enemy. Fats are not your enemy. The enemy is not understanding how these macros work and letting that fear drive you into cutting out entire food groups, feeling miserable, and eventually giving up.
You can eat rice. You can eat pasta. You can eat steak and potatoes. You can live your life and still get in the best shape of your life. It all comes down to understanding your numbers, staying within your deficit, and being consistent.
The people who transform their bodies are not the ones who suffer through the process. They are the ones who figured out how to make the process fit their actual life. That is what I help people do every single day.
I take all three macros and build a plan specifically around your body, your goals, and your lifestyle. No guessing. No cutting out the foods you love. Just a system that actually works.
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