Carb Cycling [Forum Archive]

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Carb Cycling

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Posted by: brian2440

Is this the best way to diet? I did the 6 meals a day for a year and it became inifective. So I thought maybe I would give this a shot while I am tring to cut.

Posted by: IainDaniel

There is no best way... Do what works best for you.

Posted by: GoalGetter

The best way to diet...

Step 1 - clean up your diet, get rid of the crap and start by just making healthier food choices, drinking more water and incorporating vegetables, fruits , whole grains and monounsaturated fats

Step 2 - once you've got that under control, figure out what your goals are (gain, lose, maintain, or sports performance, or a combination)

Step 3 - figure out how much you need to eat (energy in) based on your activity (energy out)

Step 4 - based on your goals, figure out what your macronutrient ratios should be, typically the two that get played around with the most depending on yoru goals will be the fats and carbs (as well as carb types/choices). Protein will be pretty constant.

Step 5 - trial and error... see if your plan works, if it does, keep it up, if it doesn't, then tweak it. Your "best way" may not be my "best way".

Posted by: blueboy75

I think carbohydrate cycling is excellent for breaking a plateau. I am on a 3:1 ratio cycle and will modify shortly as I want to slow my weight loss.

All diets are effective, but what I have learnt is that you have to choose one that you can be consistent on and suits you.

Posted by: GoalGetter

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueboy75

I think carbohydrate cycling is excellent for breaking a plateau. I am on a 3:1 ratio cycle and will modify shortly as I want to slow my weight loss.

That is true for me too... but not something i can do for an indefinite amount of time, psychologically.

Quote:

All diets are effective...

Any time you restrict food (whether it is by eliminating one macronutrient, or eliminating overall calories, and you are in a caloric deficit burning more than you take in, the end result should be weight loss (not necessarily fat loss specifically, but weight yeah)

Quote:

but what I have learnt is that you have to choose one that you can be consistent on and suits you.

Exactly.

For a lot of people the Carb Cycling can start out great, but after a while it feels either too restrictive on the no-carb or low-carb days and you end up binging on the high-carb days, or it just ends up being too much of a hassle because you have to be so meticulous for each different day. For others, carb cycling can easily become a way of life and they have no problem switching through each phase/day...

For me, personally, it's a combination of a few things:
1) it burns me out, psychologically. I get annoyed after a while of having to worry so much about what i can or can't eat each day

2) restricting carbohydrates makes me really moody and I feel like crap and then the high-carb day is perilous because I can very easily overeat, even if it's healthy stuff.

3) the results are not any better than if i eat a little more balanced throughout the week and just watch total intake and total macronutrients in relation to my exercise/activity, so it truly isn't worth the extra hassle for me to have to figure out different macros for each day and prepare my foods separately or differently.

Still, I know someone on this board who can carb cycle till the cows come home, shows consistent progress and doesn't have any of the issues I just mntioned above.

different for everyone.

Posted by: Jodi

Quote:

different for everyone.

You got that right. I did it for several months and found it to be the least restrictive diet I've been on.

Quote:

3) the results are not any better than if i eat a little more balanced throughout the week and just watch total intake and total macronutrients in relation to my exercise/activity, so it truly isn't worth the extra hassle for me to have to figure out different macros for each day and prepare my foods separately or differently.

This one I have to disagree with you on, personally speaking of course. I never got results from that more balanced diet than I did from carb cycling, never. Reason being is because you are constantly tricking the body. One day you are no carb and burning tons of fat and then the next day you overfeed it with high carb day and your body is still a metabolic furnace so it's burning it up, raising leptin (most important), and keeping your body out of starvation mode. The zig zagging of calories keeps your body guessing so that it doesn't come to a screeching halt with fat loss. If I stay consistant with my calories for more than 2 weeks, I come to that stop sign. My body does not like the same thing day in and day out. I have come to realize for me to burn fat, I have to cycle carbs/calories. A balanced diet keeps me healthy but it won't burn fat.

Posted by: GoalGetter

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodi

... The zig zagging of calories keeps your body guessing so that it doesn't come to a screeching halt with fat loss....

I zig zag calories too, but that is just because on rest days, I do not have PWO meals, and my total calories are lower as a result.

But your reply illustrates the point - again - different for everyone.

You're one of the people i was referring to who has better results with carb cycling and can handle it better over all (physically and psychologically).

Posted by: brian2440

The problem I have is that when I started out eating x amount of calories and cleaned up my diet I lost alot of fat. I guess that is due to the fact that I was eating clean and not junk food. After awhile it quit working. I did cardio, lowered my cals did refeeds and tried suppliments. Nothing worked so I figured my body needed a change to lose weight and this was the next thing to try. I am really anal about food anyway. and I measure all my food and eat about the same thing everyday. To me diet is the hardest thing to figure out once the body gets to a stopping point.

Posted by: blueboy75

One of the other drawbacks of a low carb diet I have read is that if you stay on a low carb diet for too long, your body becomes too efficient at burning fat for energy so when you end up putting carbs back in your diet your body is not as efficient at burning carbs.

This might explain why some people put weight back on quickly after a low carb diet.

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