Carb Cycling Tips?

freddiefrederick

Hi y'all!

I recently went to the doctor and found out I'm not getting nearly enough protein. I do high intensity exercises 5-6x a week and most are my second job, so I don't want to go fully low carb and implement carb cycling with 4 low carb days (under 80g) and 3 high carb days (150-200g) per week.

Is anyone else carb cycling or has carb cycled with success? What sort of schedule worked for you? I'm brand new to manipulating my macros, so I'm open to any and all advice!

slbbw

Why do you need to go low carb to up your protein? What are your current macro levels? Why not just hit 120g of protein daily?

freddiefrederick

slbbw wrote: »

Why do you need to go low carb to up your protein? What are your current macro levels? Why not just hit 120g of protein daily?

I need to give my metabolism a little jolt, and my doctor suggested manipulating macros to see if it helps

Annie_01

You might try googling Chris Powell carb cycling. There is probably some site where you can get some free info. I tried it for about two weeks several years ago. It was just too much for me...I didn't respond well to have to keep up with what I could eat and on what day I could eat it.

deannalfisher

i've carb cycled for several years - my low days are 320g and my high days are 420g, so its not a traditional carb cycle that you see from other folks (i do higher fat on the lower carb day); my protein is fixed at 135g

but you can bring protein up without carb cycling - it seems like the doctor is just throwing out some random advice without understanding

mstarks01

freddiefrederick wrote: »

slbbw wrote: »

Why do you need to go low carb to up your protein? What are your current macro levels? Why not just hit 120g of protein daily?

I need to give my metabolism a little jolt, and my doctor suggested manipulating macros to see if it helps

This sounds unscientific and not thought through by your doctor. I wonder how he/she came to the conclusion that you aren't getting enough protein.

sijomial

freddiefrederick wrote: »

slbbw wrote: »

Why do you need to go low carb to up your protein? What are your current macro levels? Why not just hit 120g of protein daily?

I need to give my metabolism a little jolt, and my doctor suggested manipulating macros to see if it helps

Witch Doctor?

I there are reason YOU want to carb cycle with low carb days because it's just seems to be avoiding tackling the issue of insufficient protein intake? (Assuming that part of the Doctor's advice is accurate.)

Why not just keep your protein and carbs fairly stable as you seem to be exercising most days?
Does having low carb days impact your exercise performance?

Personally I increase my carbs on days when I'm cycling for hours for fuelling reasons but my carb cycling is in reality between high and very high. I'm eating back my exercise calories in carbs (for the most part).

Teabythesea_

freddiefrederick wrote: »

slbbw wrote: »

Why do you need to go low carb to up your protein? What are your current macro levels? Why not just hit 120g of protein daily?

I need to give my metabolism a little jolt, and my doctor suggested manipulating macros to see if it helps

Your metabolism doesnt need a "jolt." I can assure you it's working as it should. Your doctor suggesting such a thing leads me to question why he'd think you're low on protein and why changing carbs would solve that issue. Macro changes can effect things like satiety and energy levels, but not metabolism to any significant degree. It's important to remember that many doctors dont actually have training formal education in nutrition. If I were you I'd make things simple and just up my protein, since that's supposedly the issue in the first place.

sarabushby

Tried carb cycling a few times but each time I end up struggling with extreme headaches and underperforming in my workouts.
Perhaps if you exercise just to burn calories rather than to improve performance as such that might be less of a problem.
It seems everyone responds differently to low carb/carb cycling and it definitely suits some people better than others. I believe VERY generally speaking, men more than women and peri menopausal/menopausal women the least. Plus individual genetic differences too.

Like others have said, if I were you I’d just increase your protein and not worry about carb cycling. But an also curious how & why the Dr determined you needed more protein. How much have you been consuming the last few months?