π™²πšŠπš›πš‹ π™²πš’πšŒπš•πš’πš—πš ✍︎︎

ssmith0903
ssmith0903 Posts: 25 Member
edited April 2021 in Health and Weight Loss
βžͺ 𝖒𝖺𝗇 π–Ίπ—‡π—’π—ˆπ—‡π–Ύ π—Œπ—π–Ίπ—‹π–Ύ 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 π—‰π–Ύπ—‹π—Œπ—ˆπ—‡π–Ίπ—… 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖻 𝖼𝗒𝖼𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀? π–―π—‹π—ˆπ—Œ/π–Όπ—ˆπ—‡π—Œ

βžͺ π–Άπ—ˆπ—Žπ—…π–½ π—’π—ˆπ—Ž π—‹π–Ύπ–Όπ–Όπ—ˆπ—†π–Ύπ—‡π–½ π—π—π—‚π—Œ π–Ίπ—‰π—‰π—‹π—ˆπ–Ίπ–Όπ— π—π—ˆ π—ˆπ—π—π–Ύπ—‹π—Œ π—π—π—ˆ π—Œπ–Ύπ–Ύπ—† π—π—ˆ π—Œπ—π—‹π—Žπ—€π—€π—…π–Ύ 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 π—‰π—…π–Ίπ—π–Ύπ–Ίπ—Ž?
-(𝖨 π—„π—‡π—ˆπ— π—‡π—ˆπ— 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝖽𝗂𝖾𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗒 π—†π–Ύπ—π—π—ˆπ–½ π—‚π—Œ π–Ώπ—ˆπ—‹ π–Ύπ—π–Ύπ—‹π—’π—ˆπ—‡π–Ύ)

βžͺ 𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗍 π—π—ˆπ—Žπ—…π–½ π—’π—ˆπ—Ž π—‹π–Ύπ–Όπ–Όπ—ˆπ—†π–Ύπ—‡π–½ π—π—ˆ π—Œπ—ˆπ—†π–Ύπ—ˆπ—‡π–Ύ π–Ίπ—Œ 𝖺 𝖾𝗑𝖺𝗆𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖻 𝖼𝗒𝖼𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗄 𝖺𝗇𝖽 π—π—ˆπ— π—ˆπ–Ώπ—π–Ύπ—‡ π—π—ˆ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝗂𝗍 π—Žπ—‰?

☺︎︎ 𝖨’𝗆 π–Όπ—Žπ—‹π—‹π–Ύπ—‡π—π—…π—’ π—‹π–Ύπ—Œπ–Ύπ–Ίπ—‹π–Όπ—π—‚π—‡π—€ π—π—π—‚π—Œ π—†π–Ύπ—π—π—ˆπ–½ π–Ώπ—ˆπ—‹ π—†π—’π—Œπ–Ύπ—…π–Ώ, π–»π—Žπ— 𝖺𝗆 π—‚π—‡π—π–Ύπ—‹π–Ύπ—Œπ—π–Ύπ–½ 𝗂𝗇 π—π—ˆπ—‡π–Ύπ—Œπ— 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝖽𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄 π–Ώπ—‹π—ˆπ—† π—π—π—ˆπ—Œπ–Ύ 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗍.

❀︎ π’œ π“ˆπ’Ύπ“ƒπ’Έβ„―π“‡β„― 𝓉𝒽𝒢𝓃𝓀 π“Žβ„΄π“Š 𝒾𝓃 𝒢𝒹𝓋𝒢𝓃𝒸ℯ

Replies

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    You can if you want to but the vast majority of people who loose weight have never heard of carb cycling so it's far from necessary. πŸ™‚
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    Not specifically carb cycling, but I typically do best with calorie cycling which tends to cause carb cycling just because I'm eating more on some days and thus more carbs.

    I usually do well with 4 low cal days and 3 high cal days - high cal days are maintenance, low cal days are about 400 cals below maintenance, but that's a slow rate of loss, about 1/2 a lb a week, which may or may not be your goal...the point is not more than 3 non-consecutive days at higher cals/carbs.

    If you are researching, Leangains has a bunch of information, that program is both cal and carb cycling and has bunches of calculators and such that you can use to figure out some options you might try for cals and carbs on high/low days.
  • ssmith0903
    ssmith0903 Posts: 25 Member
    tcunbeliever wrote: Β»
    Not specifically carb cycling, but I typically do best with calorie cycling which tends to cause carb cycling just because I'm eating more on some days and thus more carbs.

    I usually do well with 4 low cal days and 3 high cal days - high cal days are maintenance, low cal days are about 400 cals below maintenance, but that's a slow rate of loss, about 1/2 a lb a week, which may or may not be your goal...the point is not more than 3 non-consecutive days at higher cals/carbs.

    If you are researching, Leangains has a bunch of information, that program is both cal and carb cycling and has bunches of calculators and such that you can use to figure out some options you might try for cals and carbs on high/low days.

    Thank you for sharing the information and the resource! :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited April 2021
    ssmith0903 wrote: Β»
    βžͺ 𝖒𝖺𝗇 π–Ίπ—‡π—’π—ˆπ—‡π–Ύ π—Œπ—π–Ίπ—‹π–Ύ 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 π—‰π–Ύπ—‹π—Œπ—ˆπ—‡π–Ίπ—… 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖻 𝖼𝗒𝖼𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀? π–―π—‹π—ˆπ—Œ/π–Όπ—ˆπ—‡π—Œ

    βžͺ π–Άπ—ˆπ—Žπ—…π–½ π—’π—ˆπ—Ž π—‹π–Ύπ–Όπ–Όπ—ˆπ—†π–Ύπ—‡π–½ π—π—π—‚π—Œ π–Ίπ—‰π—‰π—‹π—ˆπ–Ίπ–Όπ— π—π—ˆ π—ˆπ—π—π–Ύπ—‹π—Œ π—π—π—ˆ π—Œπ–Ύπ–Ύπ—† π—π—ˆ π—Œπ—π—‹π—Žπ—€π—€π—…π–Ύ 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 π—‰π—…π–Ίπ—π–Ύπ–Ίπ—Ž?
    -(𝖨 π—„π—‡π—ˆπ— π—‡π—ˆπ— 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝖽𝗂𝖾𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗒 π—†π–Ύπ—π—π—ˆπ–½ π—‚π—Œ π–Ώπ—ˆπ—‹ π–Ύπ—π–Ύπ—‹π—’π—ˆπ—‡π–Ύ)

    βžͺ 𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗍 π—π—ˆπ—Žπ—…π–½ π—’π—ˆπ—Ž π—‹π–Ύπ–Όπ–Όπ—ˆπ—†π–Ύπ—‡π–½ π—π—ˆ π—Œπ—ˆπ—†π–Ύπ—ˆπ—‡π–Ύ π–Ίπ—Œ 𝖺 𝖾𝗑𝖺𝗆𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖻 𝖼𝗒𝖼𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗄 𝖺𝗇𝖽 π—π—ˆπ— π—ˆπ–Ώπ—π–Ύπ—‡ π—π—ˆ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝗂𝗍 π—Žπ—‰?

    ☺︎︎ 𝖨’𝗆 π–Όπ—Žπ—‹π—‹π–Ύπ—‡π—π—…π—’ π—‹π–Ύπ—Œπ–Ύπ–Ίπ—‹π–Όπ—π—‚π—‡π—€ π—π—π—‚π—Œ π—†π–Ύπ—π—π—ˆπ–½ π–Ώπ—ˆπ—‹ π—†π—’π—Œπ–Ύπ—…π–Ώ, π–»π—Žπ— 𝖺𝗆 π—‚π—‡π—π–Ύπ—‹π–Ύπ—Œπ—π–Ύπ–½ 𝗂𝗇 π—π—ˆπ—‡π–Ύπ—Œπ— 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝖽𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄 π–Ώπ—‹π—ˆπ—† π—π—π—ˆπ—Œπ–Ύ 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗍.

    ❀︎ π’œ π“ˆπ’Ύπ“ƒπ’Έβ„―π“‡β„― 𝓉𝒽𝒢𝓃𝓀 π“Žβ„΄π“Š 𝒾𝓃 𝒢𝒹𝓋𝒢𝓃𝒸ℯ

    There really aren't any...or many pros to carb cycling for gen pop. It doesn't really do anything in particular for weightloss or weight management in general...it's not going to make losing weight faster...it doesn't break plateaus, etc. The primary benefit to carb cycling is for athletes who may need to cut some weight to either make weight or make an ideal weight for their sport (ie many cyclists have a "riding" weight they prefer) without dipping into training performance. One of the major issues with calorie deficits is a decrease in performance...that is a non starter for an athlete/competitive athlete...to combat performance deficiencies, they carb load around heavy bouts of training and cycle their heavy carbohydrate intake around heavy bouts of training.

    Carb cycling is yet another "thing" that tends to trickle down from athletes/elite athletes to the general fitness population and weight loss population where the thinking is that "what's good for the goose must be good for the gander"...when in reality a lot of this kind of stuff isn't really applicable in any meaningful way to individuals just trying to lose some weight and gain some general fitness.

    Some individuals may find benefit if they engage in a lot of endurance type training or other strenuous training and want to maintain a high level of physical performance while cutting some weight and maintaining a calorie deficit...I personally did some of this when I was doing a lot more endurance cycling and would cycle my carbs around my two or so long training rides while I was trying to lose weight. Ultimately the calorie deficit dictates the loss...the carb cycling helps with physical performance when cycled around heavy bouts of training.

    In other words, it's really more of a dietary training protocol than it is a dietary weight loss strategy.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I eat a lot of carbs while I cycle but that's not I guess what you are looking for. :smiley:

    It's calories that determine fat loss over time so if you want a varied approach to your diet I'd suggest calorie cycling rather than carb cycling.

    As for using for breaking plateaus beware that weight loss and fat loss are not the same. Cut carbs you drop a load of water weight - it's not really breaking the plateau it's just gaming the number on the scales by manipulating water weight. Add carbs again and the water weight comes back.

    "𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗍 π—π—ˆπ—Žπ—…π–½ π—’π—ˆπ—Ž π—‹π–Ύπ–Όπ–Όπ—ˆπ—†π–Ύπ—‡π–½ π—π—ˆ π—Œπ—ˆπ—†π–Ύπ—ˆπ—‡π–Ύ π–Ίπ—Œ 𝖺 𝖾𝗑𝖺𝗆𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖻 𝖼𝗒𝖼𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗄 𝖺𝗇𝖽 π—π—ˆπ— π—ˆπ–Ώπ—π–Ύπ—‡ π—π—ˆ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝗂𝗍 π—Žπ—‰?"
    Beware "change it up" often comes from awful dietary advice sources, if it works why would you change?
    (If the answer is "keep your body guessing" that's confirmation of an awful information source!)

    Honestly unless you are an endurance athlete I think it's a gimmick and a distraction.



  • LisaGetsMoving
    LisaGetsMoving Posts: 664 Member
    Years ago, (maybe decades?) I followed a person named Wendy Chant. She was a nutrition expert, a fitness guru and a body builder. She advocated for carb cycling, especially to break plateaus. I read one of her books about the science behind it and it seemed sound. Unfortunately, she died of cancer in 2009. Basically, if I recall correctly, she suggested one cycle in a higher carbohydrate meal about every 72 hours. There's also another person, Hailey Pomroy, trained as a veterinarian who switched over to helping humans because she was pretty good at helping horse trainers improve horse performance and also farmers who wanted to rapidly fatten their animal stock. Her program also had a type of carb cycling in that two days per week were much higher carbohydrate days, followed by a couple higher protein low fat days etc... she even went a step further and suggested aerobic cardio exercise on the carb up days and muscle building exercises on the protein up days. Both programs required a lot of planning and eating smaller meals more often but no calorie counting. I lost weight with both programs, probably because in the end I was just eating fewer calories, but I did appreciate the science each of these women introduced to me about nutrition, slow twitch fibers, etc.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Mike Matthews has some pretty good information on carb cycling but like others have started it's mainly for performance and not weight loss. If you like it for compliance than it can be a great option. Essentially, set up your heavy carb days for the days you work out and your low-carb days for the days you rest.

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