Carb Cycling

endjl

Hi all - I am currently training for my first fitness competition, in the bikini division. I have begun carb cycling and have a very difficult time on high carb days. In general, I have always eaten a lower carb diet as I find myself much more satisfied when eating more proteins. On my higher carb days I have crazy cravings and feel hungry all of the time. In general, this is when I want sweets. I've never been someone to crave sweets, so this is really difficult for me! I mentioned this to my trainer/coach and she suggested trading my quick oats to steel cut oats. Yummy, but no change. To make it worse, she feels great on her high carb days and is generally satisfied all day. I am NOT!!! What gives? Any suggestions???

budru21

It has been my experience that everyone responds differently to quantity and types of carbs, so if your trainer is a cookie cutter nutrition plan type of trainer, I would start shopping around for a different trainer. If he or she truly does individualized plans, give it time and let him or her figure your body out. Give realistic and honest feedback on how you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally after eating things. Keep a detailed log, so you guys can get dialed in on what works for YOU. I, personally, don't need complex carbs daily, I have discovered. I do a high carb refeed day every 4-5 days, depending on what my body is telling me, but otherwise, I eat pounds and pounds of fresh fiberous veggies with my lean proteins. If I eat complex carbs, as was recommended to me by a trainer, I feel bloated, unsatisfied, depressed, and I tend to obsess about food. Odd, I know. Now, I am generally satisfied all the time, and have very minimal cravings at all. Not to mention, constant and sustained energy. I don't get the lag now, like I did with complex carbs. I could ramble forever about this, but if you have a specific question...let me know. I have been experiementing with this issue for two years now. :-)

endjl

I appreciate your input. I've learned that my high carb days, with a lot of complex carbs, are really rough days for me. Quite some time ago, I learned that I feel much more satisfied and not as hungry when I eat a higher protein diet, with lots of veggies. When starting my nutrition plan, my trainer/coach indicated I wasn't getting enough carbs in my diet, therefore we uped my complex carb intake. Although I love my oatmeal breakfast, I have a very hard time bringing in all of the other complex carbs throughout the day. When others could eat ezikial bread all day, I'd rather have a hard boiled egg! Never did I think I would feel this way about carbs when so many others can't live without them. High carb days make me crazy! I've even found myself binging, on my high carb days, because I never seem to feel satisfied! It's awful. I think I need to emphasize how difficult these high carb days are for me. I understand that a lot of this is getting to know your body and how it reacts to nutrition. Thanks~