Carb Cycling Yay or Nay?

Daisy80

I came across Chris Powell's book and the concept of carb cycling. I like the sound of it and it seem like people achieve weight loss with this method. I am hoping to lose about 50lbs. It seems there are a lot of mixed opinions about carb cycling and the need for it.

Having read into it a bit it seems to make sense to me. However I promised myself to never do a diet again as it only resulted in more weight gain for me.
Currently I am eating at TDEE minus about 20% and I do eat back my exercise calories and make sure I never net under my BMR. I do like the idea of low carb and it has worked for me short term in the past but obviously not in the long run. This is why I like the idea of the carb cycling as it does not entirely restrict anything. What I am worried about however is what is going to happen once I stop the carb cycling? Will the weight just pile back on or could I maintain the weight even if I'd introduce carbs on a more regular basis?

I would appreciate some input and if it would be suitable for an overweight female to lose weight.

Thank you!

MelRC117

Tracking calories, low carb, Atkins, paleo...its a lifestyle, not just a diet.

If you want to maintain, then you do have to do SOMETHING if you gain weight by just eating whatever you want. I love food. I could easily down 3000 calories a day. Even if I get down to my dream land weight, I know that I will have to stick to a lifestyle of not binging every single day for every meal. Im hoping by that time it will be so routine for me and I'll have discipline that I can eat what I should without going overboard.

I don't know much about carb cycling, but I know Atkins is 4 phases....the 4 phase is maintenance....aka the rest of your life. You introduce whole grains and fruits in the 4th phase. I would say once you stop carb cycling, then you need to make sure you don't eat over your TDEE to maintain.

Lizzy622

I see it as a temporary way of getting over a plateau or when you need a boost. Then go back to eating at deficit or maintenance.

Daisy80

I see it as a temporary way of getting over a plateau or when you need a boost. Then go back to eating at deficit or maintenance.

I suppose that is a good way off seeing it....I was just wondering if people would recommend it and what kind of experiences people have with it and with coming off it...

elmanre

I like the idea to do carb cycling, sometimes when you are doing diet and you limit your carbs, you are going to start to feel without energy, and increase carbs one or 2 days a week gives you the fuel, or increase it when you are going to workout hard.
Eating carbs or not, just monitor the Calorie intake!!

medic2038

I'm doing a PSMF right now which has carb cycling. When I did low carb previously I never did carb ups (or at least regularly).

The primary reason people typically carb cycle is for performance. If you're doing straight low carb, you're going to be glycogen depleted. Usually as a result of this, someone's workouts suffer.
The other reason is typically to keep hormones somewhat "balanced". Doing prolonged keto does cause certain hormones to get "out of whack", doing a weekly carb up helps to offset that some.

Most of the weight gained back when coming off of a keto type diet is from glycogen (since it's mostly water). If you decide to do this, watch the scale on days after your carb ups, you'll probably be 5+lbs heavier if you did your carb up right. Whenever you come off of it, the same thing happens except the glycogen stays there (so the water weight sticks around).

Dharmafor1

I was carb cycling before I read the book or realized that it was even a technique. Using the information in Chris's book I've not had a 5 pound + or - fluxuation in weight on high and low carb days, except after free/reward days and that would be about a pound.I've noticed I lost less on a high carb day but never gained weight back. Even on high carb days I was still losing .4 pounds on average per day, a few pounds a week. This included exercise. On the slingshot week I maintained but didn't gain weight back.

If you decide to try this, you have to stick with sensable portions. You have to know what your upper and lower carb limits are. My low days averaged about 130 carbs my high days 250ish. Id go about 1000 cals or more over on the free day and not even count the carbs and still have a nice loss a few days later. I'm on maintenance and staying at about 250 carbs per day. Everyone carb limits may be not be the same.

If you start to gain weight on maintenance you can always go back to the fit carb cycle for a week or two. I also like the smaller meals every few hours. Eating 3 larger meals a day I felt starving before lunch and in the afternoon, and that was before even thinking about any calories deficit.

So it has worked for me anyway. Everyone may have varying results. Good luck!

Stage14

Wait, you're eating TDEE -20% AND eating back exercise calories? Your exercise should already be figured into your TDEE limit.

medic2038

I was carb cycling before I read the book or realized that it was even a technique. Using the information in Chris's book I've not had a 5 pound + or - fluxuation in weight on high and low carb days, except after free/reward days and that would be about a pound.I've noticed I lost less on a high carb day but never gained weight back. Even on high carb days I was still losing .4 pounds on average per day, a few pounds a week. This included exercise. On the slingshot week I maintained but didn't gain weight back.

If you decide to try this, you have to stick with sensable portions. You have to know what your upper and lower carb limits are. My low days averaged about 130 carbs my high days 250ish. Id go about 1000 cals or more over on the free day and not even count the carbs and still have a nice loss a few days later. I'm on maintenance and staying at about 250 carbs per day. Everyone carb limits may be not be the same.

If you start to gain weight on maintenance you can always go back to the fit carb cycle for a week or two. I also like the smaller meals every few hours. Eating 3 larger meals a day I felt starving before lunch and in the afternoon, and that was before even thinking about any calories deficit.

So it has worked for me anyway. Everyone may have varying results. Good luck!

Generally >100 carbs per day is NOT a keto diet (granted I know next to nothing about the particular approach in the OP). I can't really think of any benefit to messing around with your carb intake, if it's not taking advantage of ketosis.

Dharmafor1

I never stated it was a keto diet and I never mentioned going into ketosis. I did however respond to the OP because she mentioned specifically Chris Powell's method. You mentioned you can't find any reason to mess with carb intake if not going into a Ketosis state. You could simply browse the book yourself to answer your own question, better yet buy a copy, if you truly are pondering that question. I'm not here to debate. I stated, simply, how the method worked for me. I have nothing vested whether you research it further or not, but even a cursory google search would help you grasp a bigger picture, but Keto is not the exclusive goal for myself. Do Atkins if that is what you want, but I didn't read the Op thread to be about that method. She wanted to know if it would work for her so I shared my experience. It seems like every thread however has to have some My Fitness pal bully that just needs to impose their will and start negativity and that is too bad.

medic2038

I never stated it was a keto diet and I never mentioned going into ketosis. I did however respond to the OP because she mentioned specifically Chris Powell's method. You mentioned you can't find any reason to mess with carb intake if not going into a Ketosis state. You could simply browse the book yourself to answer your own question, better yet buy a copy, if you truly are pondering that question. I'm not here to debate. I stated, simply, how the method worked for me. I have nothing vested whether you research it further or not, but even a cursory google search would help you grasp a bigger picture, but Keto is not the exclusive goal for myself. Do Atkins if that is what you want, but I didn't read the Op thread to be about that method. She wanted to know if it would work for her so I shared my experience. It seems like every thread however has to have some My Fitness pal bully that just needs to impose their will and start negativity and that is too bad.

I'm saying there's no point to carb cycling if you're not entering ketosis, regardless what claims the book makes. But "carb cycling" IS a ketogenic diet type. Anything else is pointless.

Right from his own mouth "So why do we alternate high-carb and low-carb days in carb cycling? On high-carb days you’re stocking your calorie-burning furnace so that on low-carb days your furnace burns fat, and lots of it! This pattern tricks your metabolism into burning a lot of calories, even on those low-carb days. It’s an amazing and well-proven process."
And it's 100% nonsense.

There is no "tricking" your metabolism, if you're not shifting it in the first place. Maybe you should have some basic grasp of what you're talking about before you call me out.

Dharmafor1

No. You still have not debunked this theory; you stated your opinion, which is not fact. You simply called it nonsense, a typical sophomoric response, and provided no facts. I actually did not state a theory, at all. So you have made an assumption about what I may or may not know. I simply stated in my original post what my experience was. You quoted me and went on babbling about Ketosis, which I never brought up. I also said that you can google the information or read the book. Plenty of people besides Chris Powell have written about this theory. I personally don't care either way what your opinion is because I responded to the original posters opening question. I already achieved my ideal martial arts and cycling weight of 125 by using the methods described. It's a done deal. Over. But I will not take the time to break down or provide any synopsis of said theories in or out of books or websites when they are available for you do the work and read on your own or not. If you think anyone really cares that you don't believe in the carb cycling theory then it is you who need get a grasp. But don't tell me what my experience is.

medic2038

No. You still have not debunked this theory; you stated your opinion, which is not fact. You simply called it nonsense, a typical sophomoric response, and provided no facts. I actually did not state a theory, at all. So you have made an assumption about what I may or may not know. I simply stated in my original post what my experience was. You quoted me and went on babbling about Ketosis, which I never brought up. I also said that you can google the information or read the book. Plenty of people besides Chris Powell have written about this theory. I personally don't care either way what your opinion is because I responded to the original posters opening question. I already achieved my ideal martial arts and cycling weight of 125 by using the methods described. It's a done deal. Over. But I will not take the time to break down or provide any synopsis of said theories in or out of books or websites when they are available for you do the work and read on your own or not. If you think anyone really cares that you don't believe in the carb cycling theory then it is you who need get a grasp. But don't tell me what my experience is.

It's a FACT that high carb intake, mixed with HIGHER carb intake has no physiologic benefit. There's nothing to refute there. I said in my initial post that the ENTIRE premise of carb cycling is to take advantage of glycogen supercompensation.
If one is continually eating >100g carbs per day, they're never going to be fully glycogen depleted.

The reason I mentioned ketosis in the first place, was because ketosis IS the basis for a real carb cycling diet. Alternating between 100g carbs and 200g carbs a few days is going to do absolutely nothing (with the exception of perhaps eating less calories on "low carb" days). No ketosis, no carb cycling.

He's making a false claim as to what "magic" the diet does. It does NOT trick your metabolism, there's no such thing.
I don't need to read any of his things because I already know the underlying mechanisms of how macronutrient utilization works in the body, obviously you don't.