Carbohydrate Cycling; Fix for Fat Loss Plateau?

[Khryz]

I have a question about how you increase fats during your no-carb days. Do you just simply increase like EFA's, egg yolks, peanut butter .. I'm confused on if you're supposed to just simply increase the GOOD fats in your diet on No-Carb days, or can you add some bad fats since there's no carbs?

[HalleluYAH]

hey hal man the carb cycling is doin the trick, had been stuck on 258 for 3 wks. started last wed and as of this am was down to 255. i finally broke the plateau FOR NOW anyway. thanks

dtrek, that is wonderful news. I would like to see what your cycle is like. I am curious on how many high, low and no carb days you will be doing each week.
Glad to hear it's working for you. I know you were trying to break that plateau you were stuck on for several weeks. Nice work!

[HalleluYAH]

On my high carb days I pretty much eat oats. I like em and they are pretty good for you too. I might sneak in some wholemeal bread or a muffin, but on the whole, oats it is.

During the low carb phase, I live on tuna, chicken, turkey and steak. I really need to get more veggies in me though.

Let us know how you go. I have a measure up and weigh in tomorrow morning. Hopefully I will see some results.

Hey Morry, how was your measure up?

[HalleluYAH]

I use and like Fitday. Go to http://www.fitday.com and join. It is free and you can easily keep track of your calories, protein, carbs, and various kinds of fats. You can select slice, cup, oz, grams, tablespoon, pint, fluid oz. etc.

Free Rad,

I started using fitday.com tonight. This is exactly what I was looking for.

As it turns out my fat intake was a little high today. A large portion of the fat was unsaturated, but there was still a bit too much for a high-carb day. The protein and carbs were on schedule. Think I am going to lose the yolks pretty much altogether with the hard boiled eggs. Maybe 4 whites:to 1 yolk ratio?

Thanks again for the link.

[HalleluYAH]

I have a question about how you increase fats during your no-carb days. Do you just simply increase like EFA's, egg yolks, peanut butter .. I'm confused on if you're supposed to just simply increase the GOOD fats in your diet on No-Carb days, or can you add some bad fats since there's no carbs?

I try to stick with mainly to unstaurated fats (EFA's, Fish Oil, Peanut Butter and other poly/mono unsaturated "good" fats)
The No-Carb days are the days I am trying to burn fat at a high level. Perhaps even adding in morning cardio to speed up metabolic rate all day, and then eating alot of protein to sustain muscle and stop any catbolic reaction to no carbs. Eating good fats has also been shown to have a positive effect on metabolism.
I will be putting an emphsasis on restricting my protein intake from fatty sources (ground beef, egg yolks, steak, dark meat chicken, 4% cottage cheese etc.) to 1-2 meals per day on No-Carb days. I will rely on lean protein sources (LF cottage cheese, white meat chicken, turkey, fish, tuna, whey etc.) for the remaining 4-5 meals.

[morry]

Hey Morry, how was your measure up?

About the same as last week, so double cardio this week it is!

Although Im not too worried, the day I measured was at the start of a carb up. The next day I magically dropped a kilo. Who knows why this was.

Anyone else find that they instantly drop weight after a carb day?

[HalleluYAH]

About the same as last week, so double cardio this week it is!

Although Im not too worried, the day I measured was at the start of a carb up. The next day I magically dropped a kilo. Who knows why this was.

Anyone else find that they instantly drop weight after a carb day?

My experience with carb cycling is a new as this thread, but I can tell you this; after losing 15lbs over 6 weeks implementing a diet aimed at increasing insulin sensitivity, I was plateaud at 192-193 for 3 straight weeks. The, upon begin my carb cycle late last week, I was down another lb as of yesterday. Keep in mind that I have also agained some lean mass with intense weighttraining in the meantime.

What is your weekly carb cycle like? Keep us posted.

[soxfan35]

I'm just starting a carb cycling program today. I'm going 2 low carb days followed by 1 high carb day. I've been dropping an average of 2 lbs per week just by doing a low cal diet and of course lifting and doing cardio. Just thought I'd give the carb cycling a try to see if it will give me an added boost. If I keep my low carb days to around 80 grams what should my high carb day be? I was thinking around 600 grams. My normal average on the low cal diet has been around 370 grams. I know this routine has been efficient for bodybuilders looking to cut right before a contest. However I'm just a big guy looking to cut period. Anyways thanx in advance for any input.

[morry]

My experience with carb cycling is a new as this thread, but I can tell you this; after losing 15lbs over 6 weeks implementing a diet aimed at increasing insulin sensitivity, I was plateaud at 192-193 for 3 straight weeks. The, upon begin my carb cycle late last week, I was down another lb as of yesterday. Keep in mind that I have also agained some lean mass with intense weighttraining in the meantime.

What is your weekly carb cycle like? Keep us posted.

My carb cycle at the moment looks like:
3x low carb days, followed by a high carb day
repeat. Sometimes I only have two low carb days.

[HalleluYAH]

I'm just starting a carb cycling program today. I'm going 2 low carb days followed by 1 high carb day. I've been dropping an average of 2 lbs per week just by doing a low cal diet and of course lifting and doing cardio. Just thought I'd give the carb cycling a try to see if it will give me an added boost. If I keep my low carb days to around 80 grams what should my high carb day be? I was thinking around 600 grams. My normal average on the low cal diet has been around 370 grams. I know this routine has been efficient for bodybuilders looking to cut right before a contest. However I'm just a big guy looking to cut period. Anyways thanx in advance for any input.

Hey Soxfan, godd to have you join our discussion. I see you are certainly dedicated.
The main jist for carb cycling is
1.)to keep replenishing your muscle glycogen stores to maintain high levels of energy during workouts.
2.)to prevent your body from going into starvation mode.
3.)to prevent your metabolism from resetting and adjusting to a lower metabolic rate once it is used to the lower calorie diet.
I am certain there are other benefits, but the three listed above are more than enough for me. ;-)

This is the traking I am going to use:
On low carb days;eat 0.5g of carbs per lb./bodyweight.
On High carb days;eat 1.5-2.0g of carbs per lb/bodyweight.

(Ex. I weigh 192lbs so on low carb days I will eat 90g carbs, and on high carb days will eat anywhere from 280-380g carbs.)

I also try to shcedule my workout so that my high carb days are on days of heavier weight training, and low/no carb days are either on, or before rest/cardio days.

[HalleluYAH]

My carb cycle at the moment looks like:
3x low carb days, followed by a high carb day
repeat. Sometimes I only have two low carb days.

Looks good. If you are bulking then your cycle is perfect. If you are cutting on the other hand, I would like to ask if you have considered trying a no carb day and implementing AM cardio to make it a fat buring/high metabolism day?

I see it this way, perhaps you have a thought on this also, that even though we CAN NOT build muscle and lose fat at the exact same moment in time, we CAN build muscle on Mon and Tuesday, and then lose fat on Wednesday etc.

Any thoughts?

[Khryz]

I'm going to have 2 No-Carb days, currently cutting. I think on the No-Carb day that falls in the middle of the week I'm going to just do some low-medium intensity cardio, not HIIT or something. I'll save HIIT for Low-Carb and lifting for High-Carb days.

[dtrek]

dtrek, that is wonderful news. I would like to see what your cycle is like. I am curious on how many high, low and no carb days you will be doing each week.
Glad to hear it's working for you. I know you were trying to break that plateau you were stuck on for several weeks. Nice work!

day 1-no carb, days 2 and 3 low carb day 4 high carb. gonna stick with that for next couple weeks and see how it goes. can always tweak here and there if needed. right now this way is doin the trick.hope its doin for you also. good luck ill keep ya posted on my progress.

[sharaabi]

I have 2 questions:

1. Ive done this south beach diet for 2 weeks now...phase 2 where you slooooooowly introduce GOOD carbs starts in 2 days. NOW, after reading this post and other cycling articles:

1.Should I cycle in the format below or jus do as the south beach diet aND slowly introduce the carbs?

day1 -HIGH
day2-low
day3-NO
day- repeat HIGH
DAY5-low
day6-NO
day7 sunday- reset @ chinese buffet.

ideas?

[HalleluYAH]

I have 2 questions:

1. Ive done this south beach diet for 2 weeks now...phase 2 where you slooooooowly introduce GOOD carbs starts in 2 days. NOW, after reading this post and other cycling articles:

1.Should I cycle in the format below or jus do as the south beach diet aND slowly introduce the carbs?

day1 -HIGH
day2-low
day3-NO
day- repeat HIGH
DAY5-low
day6-NO
day7 sunday- reset @ chinese buffet.

ideas?

IF you are planning a one day off per week (ex. rest @ chinese buffet), then I suggest having only 1 additional high carb day per week. That is unless you are planning on heavy weight training during the week. What are your goals?

[A.FreeRadical]

1.Should I cycle in the format below or jus do as the south beach diet aND slowly introduce the carbs?

day1 -HIGH
day2-low
day3-NO
day- repeat HIGH
DAY5-low
day6-NO
day7 sunday- reset @ chinese buffet.

ideas?

They are two different things. SBD wants you to re-introduce certain carbs gradually. The purpose of this is to re-introduce good carbs back into your diet and to allow your body to adapt to the change. I think you should do that, then start carb cycling after you have done that.

*
A.FreeRadical

[endo42]

so halleluyah...broke your plateau?

did carb cycling help u lose any more fat?

[HalleluYAH]

so halleluyah...broke your plateau?
did carb cycling help u lose any more fat?

endo, I will be posting all future results on this thread and hope others will continue to do the same. Stay Tuned...

[morry]

Looks good. If you are bulking then your cycle is perfect. If you are cutting on the other hand, I would like to ask if you have considered trying a no carb day and implementing AM cardio to make it a fat buring/high metabolism day?

I see it this way, perhaps you have a thought on this also, that even though we CAN NOT build muscle and lose fat at the exact same moment in time, we CAN build muscle on Mon and Tuesday, and then lose fat on Wednesday etc.

Any thoughts?

When I say low carb, Im talking about 1/2 cup of oats all day. This week Ive started to do HIIT in the morning before uni, then I hit the gym at uni, lift, then do 30-45 mins of medium intensity stuff. Im just hoping that this will help me break my plateau.

[HalleluYAH]

When I say low carb, Im talking about 1/2 cup of oats all day. This week Ive started to do HIIT in the morning before uni, then I hit the gym at uni, lift, then do 30-45 mins of medium intensity stuff. Im just hoping that this will help me break my plateau.

A+ in my book.

[soxfan35]

What are some good side dish ideas for the low carb days. Yesterday I pretty much ate a ton of meat, eggbeaters, fish and cottage cheese. I ended up with 350g of protein.........92g carbs...........42g fat. I had a hard time hitting my goal of 2500 cal, only ended up at 2305. I don't want to get burned out on the meat on the low carb days. I'm looking for a little variety. I'm doing 2 low carb days followed by 1 high carb day and then repeating.

[A.FreeRadical]

What are some good side dish ideas for the low carb days. Yesterday I pretty much ate a ton of meat, eggbeaters, fish and cottage cheese. I ended up with 350g of protein.........92g carbs...........42g fat. I had a hard time hitting my goal of 2500 cal, only ended up at 2305. I don't want to get burned out on the meat on the low carb days. I'm looking for a little variety. I'm doing 2 low carb days followed by 1 high carb day and then repeating.

I would lower the protein, increase the carbs a little and increase the fats a lot. Just make sure the majority of fats are mono and poly unsaturated.

50% 20% 30% p/c/f sounds about right.

A.FreeRadical

[HalleluYAH]

What are some good side dish ideas for the low carb days. Yesterday I pretty much ate a ton of meat, eggbeaters, fish and cottage cheese. I ended up with 350g of protein.........92g carbs...........42g fat. I had a hard time hitting my goal of 2500 cal, only ended up at 2305. I don't want to get burned out on the meat on the low carb days. I'm looking for a little variety. I'm doing 2 low carb days followed by 1 high carb day and then repeating.

What type of meat and cottage cheese did you eat to end up with only 42g of fat. Or, are you referring to saturated fat only?

FreeRad, right on.

[soxfan35]

The meats were 98% fat free chicken breasts and low carb center cut bacon........cottage cheese was 1% lowfat. I also had baked cod and tunafish. I was able to fit one shake in but that was over 33% of my carbs for the day at 32g. Today I made some salmon patties and more chicken breasts. I'll go ahead and add a second shake to get me up around 120g carbs. My original low cal diet that I was on for 14 weeks had me at 55% carb........25%protein.....20%fat. My average was around 375g carb.........175g protein and 51g fat. I just wanted to try the carb cycling out to see where that will take me. It is indeed a work in progress that's for sure. I had cravings last night for the first time in a long time probably due to the lower carb intake.

[HalleluYAH]

The meats were 98% fat free chicken breasts and low carb center cut bacon........cottage cheese was 1% lowfat. I also had baked cod and tunafish. I was able to fit one shake in but that was over 33% of my carbs for the day at 32g. Today I made some salmon patties and more chicken breasts. I'll go ahead and add a second shake to get me up around 120g carbs. My original low cal diet that I was on for 14 weeks had me at 55% carb........25%protein.....20%fat. My average was around 375g carb.........175g protein and 51g fat. I just wanted to try the carb cycling out to see where that will take me. It is indeed a work in progress that's for sure. I had cravings last night for the first time in a long time probably due to the lower carb intake.

A+ on the lean protein sources no doubt. You must have put on some nice muscle mass on that high carb diet. I bet alot of fat came along for the ride too huh? Carb cycling will certainly create a more insulin sensitive atmosphere and help you cut up nicely. Keep us posted.

[dtrek]

today was no carb day. just got back from gym and im gonna tell ya my butt is draggin.more than usual. may have to adjust alittle.may have to change from no lo lo high to just no lo and high. whatcha think

[Vegy]

I'm starting my cycle next week. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays will be high carb and HIIT / Lifting days. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be low carb and cardio days. Saturday and Sunday will both be rest and although I will eat clean on these two days I doubt my diet will be as fixed as the rest of the week.

[endo42]

i heard/read on BB.com that low carb day was with your bodyweight in carbs
and high carb day is about 2.0 that

but then of course I personally implement a No Carb day, so i guess it makes up for the low carb day not being as low as your's halleuyah

my version of carb cycling: Monday = No Carb
Tuesday = Low Carb= (1 g carb per bodyweight)
Wednesday = High Carb- (double bodyweight??)
Thursday = No Carb
Friday = Low carb
Saturday = High Carb
Sunday = Low Carb

No carb= no workouts, cut apple, orange, oatmeal, milk, protein bar, rice, and vegetables
Low carb= bump up amounts of rice and/or vegetable to fit bodyweight in carbs (smaller less intense workouts here)
High carb= everything low GI carbs except pre/post workout, bump to double bodyweight? (Most intense/long workouts here) (Might have to cut protein down to fit calorie deficit area i.e. 1 gram protein per bodyweight)

[soxfan35]

I was expecting my workout today to be a struggle being as it was a low carb day. Suprisingly enough I seemed to be stronger than usual as I made gains in almost every exercise that I did. It must be the protein boost. Whatever it is I hope it continues. Today was much easier appetitewise as I didn't have the carb cravings like I had yesterday. Tomorrow is my high carb day so I'm indeed looking forward to it. Everyone keep kicking ass, we're in this thing together!

[KingOfChaos]

I was expecting my workout today to be a struggle being as it was a low carb day. Suprisingly enough I seemed to be stronger than usual as I made gains in almost every exercise that I did. It must be the protein boost. Whatever it is I hope it continues. Today was much easier appetitewise as I didn't have the carb cravings like I had yesterday. Tomorrow is my high carb day so I'm indeed looking forward to it. Everyone keep kicking ass, we're in this thing together!

Believe it or not, having a high intake of carbs can make you feel more tired. On no carb day, I feel sorta off but I am extremely awake and alert.