Carb Nite Solution to kickstart weight loss after a plateau

ND_Figgzie

AFAIK, the carb nite solution is mostly used by people who are already pretty lean and are actively building muscle, or trying to recomp. It's not so effective as a weight loss program. But hey, if you lose weight that way, good for you. I just wouldn't mess with what's already working for you.

It's a fat loss program. It states specifically that it is a fat loss program. If you lose fat then of course you will lose weight but this program is for people who can handle losing 1-2 pounds a week the right way which is preserving lean muscle. It takes time.

sungrrl

I have been doing a carb cycling diet for a few months now, which includes one "carb nite" every 2 weeks. I won't go into the science behind carb cycling, but I will say that as a female I have to keep my carb night LOW FAT. While doing the no carb and low carb portion of my carb cycling I eat high fat, but during that evening where I indulge in carbs, they have to be low fat. I also try to keep my calories around 1300 for the day and make sure to do weight training on the day of my carb night. If anyone wants more info, feel free to add me and/or message me!

BellaReina617

I have been doing a carb cycling diet for a few months now, which includes one "carb nite" every 2 weeks. I won't go into the science behind carb cycling, but I will say that as a female I have to keep my carb night LOW FAT. While doing the no carb and low carb portion of my carb cycling I eat high fat, but during that evening where I indulge in carbs, they have to be low fat. I also try to keep my calories around 1300 for the day and make sure to do weight training on the day of my carb night. If anyone wants more info, feel free to add me and/or message me!

I'm gonna have to try this because I'm seeing very slow progress on Carb Nite

gondive

I've not yet bought the book (probably this week) but I've been reading A LOT online. I've been on this basic program for 6 days now and have lost 5 lbs. Not sure about having a carb nite tonight or having to wait until next weekend, any thoughts / comments would be great.

thanks.

chase8oliver

Carb Nite was designed to essentially help create a more sustainable way of dieting. John Kiefer (the creator) had previously done just about every kind of nutrition program as a fitness competitor. He was tired of the many "old school" approaches that MOST people can't sustain for a very long time. There's only so many times a person can eat tilapia, chicken breast, brown rice, and sweet potatoes. (But hey, if you can eat limited food options, more power to ya.) Essentially, Carb Nite teaches your body how to use fat as its' source of fuel. For women, they have a smaller time frame of burning fat compared to men after a workout. This is meant to help aide the process. (Men use Carb Nite too by the way.) Carb Nite gives you a much, much larger range of food options to choose from. Almost any source of protein and various fat options are suggested. (I'm talking pork shoulder, rib eye, chicken thighs, bacon, avocado, etc.) You tell me how many unsustainable fa diets out there will allow a person to eat bacon on a regular basis and have a factual, scientific explanation as to why it's beneficial. As a fitness trainer, this is something I recommend to clients having trouble with their nutrition planning. The BIGGEST issue I see clients having trouble with is their carb intake compared to solid protein, and fat intake. From my experience, women LOVE carbs and sugar (fruit, baked goods, juice), so this helps them get on track. Once a week you are able to have a "Carb Nite" so you can enjoy your burgers with white bread, white rice, pizza, etc. People sometimes call this a "cheat day," but really, it's to keep your body functioning properly as it helps regulate insulin levels. THE KEY IS TO NOT EAT (as Kiefer puts it), LIKE A FAT KID. So, when your Carb Nite comes around don't go eating everything you missed out on from the previous days. Folks make this mistake and say, "Hey! This doesn't work! I got bigger!" Well, uh, DUH! What? You think your body is going to burn all that up just because you had a low gram count of carbs the last few days?? Come on folks. You can't out exercise a bad diet. Just doesn't work. Anyways, Kiefer has another program called CARB BACKLOADING which allows you to have carbs every night. It works similarly to Carb Nite. Except this is usually meant to help those who are already fit and have a little lower body fat percentage. Let me make this clear: DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. Buy the online book, and decide if this is something for you. Although I gotta tell ya, every person I know who tried doing a no carb diet, or Paleo, or Atkins, don't stick with it for too long because of limitations. In my opinion, Carb Nite and Carb Backloading are as close to "eating what you want" as you're gonna get while attaining a fitter body. Just my two cents and opinion. Hope this helps

KimRojas8352

I've just started the CNS and my carb nite is this Thursday. I've read quite a few posts about how women can't just indulge in whatever they want like men can do. So, when you kept your carb nite low fat, you were ok? Any suggestions on what to eat that night? Thanks so much!!!

oddyogi

I have been doing a carb cycling diet for a few months now, which includes one "carb nite" every 2 weeks. I won't go into the science behind carb cycling, but I will say that as a female I have to keep my carb night LOW FAT. While doing the no carb and low carb portion of my carb cycling I eat high fat, but during that evening where I indulge in carbs, they have to be low fat. I also try to keep my calories around 1300 for the day and make sure to do weight training on the day of my carb night. If anyone wants more info, feel free to add me and/or message me!

YES. Keifer even states in his books and posts that the carb nite has to be low fat. So if you only eat pizza, ice cream, etc., (read: carbs with fats in them) then it won't work right. you need to stick to high carb low fat carbs, i.e. rice, potatoes, donuts, turnovers. I believe he says if you would like to have a treat with fat in them, you wait until later in the night, due to the length of time it takes to absorb fat compared to the quick insulin spike of the carbs.

UsedToBeHusky

I seem to find a lot of "inspirational talking" about this Carb Nite Solution thing but no one talks about plain simple technical details, so any help on this would be much appreciated.

That's because it is a complete scam without any real science to back it up.

I know that isn't the answer you were looking for with this post, but this is the help I have to offer. Allowing yourself to be fooled by marketing schemes allows you to build up false hope and continue on the treacherous path of unsustainable weight loss and yo-yo dieting.

lrmall01

Interesting read regarding Carb Nite and women. I believe the OP was female so this might help with troubleshooting.

http://athlete.io/5302/kiefer-qa-the-carb-nite-solution-for-women/

Update:

Sadly just noticed this was a zombie thread. In case the OP or anyone else cares, here's my $0.02 regarding the original questions.

1- is is called "night" because the carbs intake has to be in the evening or is it just a whole day?
If it's an evening thing (so last part of the day) how long before going to bed? 4 hours? 6 hours?
2- assuming it's not just a binge, how many grams of carbs is allowed on the "carb nite" then?
3- does it just have to be carbs or is it true "the sugary the better" like instead of going rice or pasta go full throttle donut for insulin response reasons?

1 - It is called a "night" because it is a pretty short - like 4 hours - so you can't go too crazy. Also probably a little catchy marketing as well, but it should be a single meal and perhaps dessert. It is not free reign to stuff your face all day.
2 - I don't think he specifies, as it might be a little different for everyone. I'd say start small and build up from there.
3 - You are trying to create an insulin spike so you want to go for foods that are primarily carbs. Avoid foods that are carbs and fats. I think the link above discusses this.

Good luck!

justemailemma

Stick to complex carbs and avoid refined sugar (i.e. ice cream) like the plague on your carb load. Whatever you increase should come off and then some a few days later. I've been doing this for several years with a lot of success. My "cheat meal" is equal to 150 g carbs and a total caloric intake of 2,000 for the day. All other days is 1,400 calories and 50-100 grams of net carbs to maintain. To lose, I stick to a 1,200 calories, 30-50 net carbs per day diet.

kitsuki318

I went LCHF ketogenic diet for about 2 months, lost an impressive amount of weight but it stalled out and it wouldn't budge. So i tried a carb up meal. (after exercising to fully depleted glycogen) basically i had like 8 cookies a pack of chocolate covered pretzels and some banana chips. i try to limit this kind of eating in a 1 hr window. If i get stuffed out of my mind i just stop eating and not force things down. Sure the next day i definitely went up in weight on the scale, that was expected. but 2 days later i broke the plateau. So i do think its possible that a carb night is efficient. However you might want to stay ketogenic until your weight-loss stalls before implementing another carb night. Well that's my two cents.