Eat to hunger or strict macro count on sema?
36 posts
Philosophy question. One camp says sema naturally creates a deficit — just eat when hungry and you'll lose at the right rate. Other camp says track macros rigorously or you'll under-eat protein and over-lose lean mass. Which side are you on and why?
4 Replies
38 posts
Protein as a hard floor, rest flexible. 180g protein/day non-negotiable, calories fall where they fall. That's the protocol.
22 posts
Track. Full stop. 'Eat to hunger' on a drug that suppresses hunger means eat 900 kcal with 45g protein. You will lose weight AND lose 40% of it as lean. Strict protein target + eat the rest to satiety is the compromise that works.
40 posts
Real talk, nobody here has a control group so we're all just pattern matching our own results. slow_lose holding strength tells me nothing without knowing his starting point, training age, or whether he was already lean. Same with fridge_protein's 40% lean loss claim, that's wild and I'd want to see the DEXA data. The actual answer is probably "track protein at minimum because appetite suppression is real, dial in calories after week 2-3 when you see what your actual deficit is, then stop obsessing" but that doesn't fit either camp so people just yell past each other.