help

[nounoudidi]

hi,

my name is cindy, i'm 28 years old, i weigh 116 pounds, 5'6", with around 19% BF... now i wanna start carb cycling diet but i need a little help with it..... how should i do my days of high, low, no carbs.... i wanna lower my body fat % ..... i need help thanks cindy

 

[GFR]

116 at 5'6'' is tiny
Are you sure you are 19%
I never go by body fat tests......I go by measurements...ie waist, hips, arms. thighs ect

 

[GFR]

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?t=54406&highlight=carb+cycling
this is a thread on carb cycling...
Just read through the diet and nutrition section.....you will find several threads on this topic

 

[GFR]

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?t=25250
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?t=21113
these might help also

 

[GFR]

There are many ways you can do carb cycling.... The most well known one on the board is TPs, but it is not the only way.

In essence, you cycle carbs each day. TPs is something like:
High
low
no
high
low
no

But you can do it any number of ways, such as:
high
med
med
low
low
no
high


high
med
no
med
high
med
no
med
high


no
no
no
high
no
no
no
high


Etc etc.... The level and frequency of the high days will depend on things such as your BF%, your training, your carb sensitivity and the severity of your no/low days. Generally speaking, if your BF% is really high I recommend you don't do the high days every 3 days.

The level of carbs you have on the different days also depends on you and what type of cycle you are doing.

TPs is:

no =
1.5g of protein
no starchy carbs
lots of green vegetables
adequate fats (inc. fish oils)


low =
1g carbs per pound
1.5g protein
green vegetables
adequate fat (inc. fish oils)


high =
as many carbs as you need until you are psychologically and physically satisfied (not stuffed)
1.5g protein
green vegetables
low fats (inc. fish oils)

TP suggests on high days not to count carbs but many people do - just


because otherwise they go overboard.

 

[ReelBigFish]

19 isn't very high for a woman

 

[nounoudidi]

no i'm not fat, i'm lean in the upper part of my body i have a six pack but lower part is flabby not firm.... so i was wondering if someone knew what i could do... thanks for all your advices.... if you have something else just let me know also... thanks again cindy

 

[nounoudidi]

oh hi again....
a question is let's say on saturday because it's the weekend i wanna do my high carb day there.... can i do that every week.... can i follow the same pattern every single week.... exemple.... every mondays is a low carb day, every tuesdays is a no carb day. ect..... or should i be changing it every week.... thanks cindy

 

[Emma-Leigh]

oh hi again....
a question is let's say on saturday because it's the weekend i wanna do my high carb day there.... can i do that every week.... can i follow the same pattern every single week.... exemple.... every mondays is a low carb day, every tuesdays is a no carb day. ect..... or should i be changing it every week.... thanks cindy

You can do the same thing every week - it need not change.

(eg:
mon - low
tues - no
wed - high
thurs - low
fri - no
sat - high
sun - low
is fine)

You can also do just a plain:
high
low
no

rotation that is repeated...

or you can do any other rotation that you feel will work for you. It is a highly adaptable program!


However I would recommend you fit your carb cycling around your workouts so that higher carb days fall on really heavy weights workouts and so no carb on rest days or cardio only days.

 

[nounoudidi]

thanks a lot for you help emma-leigh i really really appreciate it.... thanks again cindy
and 2 more questions do you ever have a cheat day or cheat meal with this program..... and how long do you do this carb cycle program for....
2nd question is about sugarfree or sugarless gum.... i know its not good, but you know sometimes during the day i have a need for sweet and i grab a gum and it satisfies me.... instead of going for chocolate or cookie or else.... is it bad????

 

[The13ig13adWolf]

thanks a lot for you help emma-leigh i really really appreciate it.... thanks again cindy
and 2 more questions do you ever have a cheat day or cheat meal with this program..... and how long do you do this carb cycle program for....

due to the variation in calories per day you can carb cycle for longer periods of time. if you're making progress, keep it up. i vote no on the cheat meal while cycling.

2nd question is about sugarfree or sugarless gum.... i know its not good, but you know sometimes during the day i have a need for sweet and i grab a gum and it satisfies me.... instead of going for chocolate or cookie or else.... is it bad????

unless you're training for something and it's necessary to cut it out, don't worry about the sugarless gum.

 

[Emma-Leigh]

and 2 more questions do you ever have a cheat day or cheat meal with this program.....

A cheat day I would not recommend. A cheat meal (or two, depending on how strict you want to be) is always a good idea if you can (that is, if you are not cutting for a competition) - just for the psychological purposes it serves (keeps you sane!)

and how long do you do this carb cycle program for....

Generally for as long as you want/need. Carb cycling is good in that it generally lets you get away with longer cycles than with traditional dieting.

However, I still recommend a 'diet break' for 1-2 weeks after anything more than 8-12 weeks.

2nd question is about sugarfree or sugarless gum.... i know its not good, but you know sometimes during the day i have a need for sweet and i grab a gum and it satisfies me.... instead of going for chocolate or cookie or else.... is it bad????

SF gum is fine (just watch out for chewing too much - as it can give you diarrhoea!! ).

 

[nounoudidi]

i have many questions sorry but thanks a lot for all your good advices everybody... now for a low carb day they say 1gr. per body pound so for high carb day ( i know you shouldn't count but i can't right now i need to know) so for high carb day what should i go for... 2grs per body pound.... remember i'm 115 pounds. 5'6"..... thanks a lot... cindy

 

[Emma-Leigh]

now for a low carb day they say 1gr. per body pound so for high carb day ( i know you shouldn't count but i can't right now i need to know) so for high carb day what should i go for... 2grs per body pound.... remember i'm 115 pounds. 5'6".....

If you want my honest opinion -you should not be carb cycling at all - not unless you are planning on using it to try to add lean muscle (in which case you would not want to do many no carb days and you would also want to have HIGH carb days).

At 115 pounds and 5'6 you are bordering on being underweight as it is (BMI is borderline 'healthy' - and according to some it would be considered underweight). Dropping more weight would just be stupid (sorry about the non-tactfulness, but it is true).

For your high carb days 2g per pound is only 230g - and that is not a 'high' day at all (even for someone with your bodyweight). If you are doing a lot of weight training and lots of cardio then you would probably need this amount just to keep you 'in balance' - so you may want your high carb days to be much HIGHER.

But, as I said - I would STRONGLY urge you to not lower your weight any further. You will not look 'lean' or 'fit' or 'strong'. You will just look cachectic.

 

[nounoudidi]

hi emma-leigh...
i completely agree... i don't want to lower my weight at all.... i just wanna look firmer on my lower body.... add a little bit of lean muscle not like a bodybuilder... what type of eating plan would you suggest me.... i really need help... should i just go with the plain ratio of prot./fat/carb..... 45%/35%/20% or else.... so you said i shouldn't be carb cycling unless its to put on lean muscle so what is a good plan for that... or anything else... i really need help and thank you very much for all your help....