Hello everyone, first time poster/long time lurker (generic greeting i know, but HEY!)
So I have gotten very interested in bodybuilding lately, been hitting the gym hard almost every day since Nov '15 (hella long time huh). Little bit of background to start. July '15 I weighed a mere 150 pounds, skin and bones (depression, mind altering substances, I will spare any more details.) Got my shit together, especially my eating. Come November I weighed in at 220lbs. Holy f*ck, right? Got fat quick. Anyways, after pretty clean eating (no processed foods) I am down to 177, and starting to lean out a bit. Reading on here often doing research I have come to realize that I need to eat more. I was probably only eating 1,000 cal/day (disregard macros, idk what they were anyways) and it helped me burn fat quick along with lots of cardio and some weight training.
Lately, I have been feeling lethargic at the gym. Strength increased for sure, stamina down a lot, pretty much assumed the issue was lack of proper nutrition. So, basically here is my question..
For more overall energy during my workouts, carbs are essential, right? I've always sort of looked at carbs negatively, like they will make people fat etc, but it seems that is not the case from reading on here. Would a 40% carb 40% protein 20% fat diet at about 2300 cal a day give me more energy while still allowing me to continue to cut? I've been burning fat (probably at the cost of not gaining as much muscle as i could potentially be gaining) by eating very low cal, low carb, but high protein.
TLDR Just read the last chunk if the beginning is irrelevant.
Thanks guys, feedback is much appreciated!