Educate me on carb cycling

lauren3382

The current program that I'm following will have me carb cycling the last 3 weeks of the 12 week program. I've never done carb cycling and don't fully understand it. I'm at the end of week 2 right now, so I have a ways to go before I get there. I just want to be educated on what to expect, what is considered a low/high carb day, etc.

Hendrix7

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_nutrition/a_beginners_guide_to_carb_cycling

EDIT --- link too long

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_nutrition/

a_beginners_guide_to_carb_cycling

stick those 2 bits together!

lauren3382

thanks @Hendrix7, that was a good read!

Can anyone share their experiences with carb cycling???

lauren3382

bump...anyone else??? i'm thirsty for knowledge here!!!!

lauren3382

another bump! i know there are more of you out there with experience on this!

sarawithnoh19

Lauren- bodybuilding.com has some good articles on carb cycling. I tend to use this to track but have found the exercise/nutrition advice to be pretty horrible. I started low carb on Monday and had my first day of high carbs today. I am generally sticking to three days low carb- (seafood, meat, veggies, nuts) and then having one day that includes dairy, breads, potatoes, and sugars. I have read you can do low carb for 4-5 days too. I had been consuming a lot of carbs/sugar and just allowing more processed food than I usually ate before so it doesnt surprise me that I have lost 5 lbs since Monday. I plan on sticking with this as long as I can so I can keep you updated on further results. Carb cycling is used by most people who are trying to drop weight before competitions.

lauren3382

Lauren- bodybuilding.com has some good articles on carb cycling. I tend to use this to track but have found the exercise/nutrition advice to be pretty horrible. I started low carb on Monday and had my first day of high carbs today. I am generally sticking to three days low carb- (seafood, meat, veggies, nuts) and then having one day that includes dairy, breads, potatoes, and sugars. I have read you can do low carb for 4-5 days too. I had been consuming a lot of carbs/sugar and just allowing more processed food than I usually ate before so it doesnt surprise me that I have lost 5 lbs since Monday. I plan on sticking with this as long as I can so I can keep you updated on further results. Carb cycling is used by most people who are trying to drop weight before competitions.

Thanks so much for the info!! I'll definitely check out bb.com for info there. I'll be doing a 3 day low carb/1 day high carb rotation like you're doing. What is low carb for you...20%? What about high carb...60%?

healthymission92

My trainer advised this to me. I think it was 20-30grams on low carb and around 100grams or a bit more on high carbs but advised the carbs be good sources like sweet potatos, fruits, wholegrains

ali_b83

Ugh, why did you remind me Lauren, lol. I wonder how much of a difference the carb cycling will really make.

lauren3382

Ugh, why did you remind me Lauren, lol. I wonder how much of a difference the carb cycling will really make.

Can you tell I'm nervous about it?!? I still have 7 weeks before I even start...guess I just want to be prepared. I've heard so many people say how horrible it is.

healthymission92

Its not that bad depending how many carbs you eat now. I went from just low carb to cycling so it was better to me as I got to eat them 2 days out of the 7!

lauren3382

Its not that bad depending how many carbs you eat now. I went from just low carb to cycling so it was better to me as I got to eat them 2 days out of the 7!

I'm not currently doing low carb...I aim to take in equal amounts of carbs and protein right now...macros set at 40p/40c/20f. Should be interesting!!

healthymission92

That will probably be harder then. I remember when I started low carb, it's the first 4 days or so thats the hardest. Eggs, Salmon, p.nut butter became my food addictions lol

ali_b83

I'm going to be in trouble. I like my oatmeal, yogurt, and sweet potatoes :frown:

healthymission92

I'm going to be in trouble. I like my oatmeal, yogurt, and sweet potatoes :frown:

I still ate yoghurt when I went low on carbs, I got plain greek yog which only had like 4grams of carbs.
I loved oatmeal too, I just sprinkled a tiny bit over my yoghurt so it never added much up in carbs

lauren3382

That will probably be harder then. I remember when I started low carb, it's the first 4 days or so thats the hardest. Eggs, Salmon, p.nut butter became my food addictions lol

Thank goodness I love ALLLL those things!!!! Did you also limit your fat intake? I think I'll still need to keep mine around 20%.

lauren3382

I'm going to be in trouble. I like my oatmeal, yogurt, and sweet potatoes :frown:

I foresee us both gorging ourselves on sweet potatoes on high carb days

columbus27

I love carb cycling. 7 days of 20 net carb to deplete your glycogen. then high carb days I do mine on mon tues thurs fri, and a cheat meal on friday night 40 40 20

healthymission92

That will probably be harder then. I remember when I started low carb, it's the first 4 days or so thats the hardest. Eggs, Salmon, p.nut butter became my food addictions lol

Thank goodness I love ALLLL those things!!!! Did you also limit your fat intake? I think I'll still need to keep mine around 20%.
[/quote]

I didn't eat a lot of fat, just a moderate amount I think it came to around 40grams
A typical day for low carb for me would be something like;
Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for breakfast and a bit of spinach
Snack of greek yoghurt with cinamon
Tuna salad with avocado for lunch
Snack of nuts
Salmon with veg for tea or chicken stirfry
I would also have things like cottage cheese and pnut butter with veg sticks or something

Easywider

It really depends on the dynamics of your program..but the type of carb cycling that I do goes a little something like this.

4x low carb days
2x medium carb days
1x high carb days

low - 50-100g's
med - 100-150g's
high - 150-250g's

My cycling is in accordance with my planned activity. I try to ensure that on my compound heavy days I'm eating a moderate amount of carbs. Cardio is all done low carb. High carb day is on my only rest day to replenish glycogen.

ali_b83

I'm going to be in trouble. I like my oatmeal, yogurt, and sweet potatoes :frown:

I foresee us both gorging ourselves on sweet potatoes on high carb days

Peanut butter too. I'm in love with pb and apples right now!

KS_4691

bumping

KittieLea

Are you by chance doing the Jamie Eason program? I'm doing it for the second time, and I'm on week 11 right now, so I'm carb cycling as we speak!
My best advice is to NOT try to follow her menu exactly, there was no way I could make the macros work out for me following that plan. I basically just tweaked what I was already eating. For breakfast-instead of having oatmeal I'm having ezekial toast and natural peanut butter with my egg whites. For my mid-morning meal, I'm having the low carb bars (Jamie's recipe) instead of the regular ones. Then for the rest of the day, I just eat lean meats and vegetables. My low days, I'm supposed to end up with 65 grams of carbs and on high days I think I need to reach 170. On the high days I eat oatmeal, regular protein bars, sweet potatoes, and usually oatmeal again somewhere in there along with my proteins. I have found it to be fairly easy this way and usually my fats and proteins end up close to where they should be as well. Good luck!
Also, the way it works is 3 days of low, 1 day of high then back to 3 days of low. So just remember to plan to go high carb every 4 days when you're planning your meals for the week.

lauren3382

Are you by chance doing the Jamie Eason program? I'm doing it for the second time, and I'm on week 11 right now, so I'm carb cycling as we speak!
My best advice is to NOT try to follow her menu exactly, there was no way I could make the macros work out for me following that plan. I basically just tweaked what I was already eating. For breakfast-instead of having oatmeal I'm having ezekial toast and natural peanut butter with my egg whites. For my mid-morning meal, I'm having the low carb bars (Jamie's recipe) instead of the regular ones. Then for the rest of the day, I just eat lean meats and vegetables. My low days, I'm supposed to end up with 65 grams of carbs and on high days I think I need to reach 170. On the high days I eat oatmeal, regular protein bars, sweet potatoes, and usually oatmeal again somewhere in there along with my proteins. I have found it to be fairly easy this way and usually my fats and proteins end up close to where they should be as well. Good luck!
Also, the way it works is 3 days of low, 1 day of high then back to 3 days of low. So just remember to plan to go high carb every 4 days when you're planning your meals for the week.

Thank you so much for this (and the friend request)!!! Yes, I'm doing Jamie's program...at the end of week 3, so I have a looooong way to go! I'm excited to learn more from you about the program...you definitely have more experience than I do!

Ampierce

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