Educate me on carb cycling

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lauren3382
lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
in Food and Nutrition
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.
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  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
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    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
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
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    thanks @Hendrix7, that was a good read!

    Can anyone share their experiences with carb cycling???
  • lauren3382
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
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    bump...anyone else??? i'm thirsty for knowledge here!!!!
  • lauren3382
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
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    another bump! i know there are more of you out there with experience on this!
  • sarawithnoh19
    sarawithnoh19 Posts: 1
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    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
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
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    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
    healthymission92 Posts: 157
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    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
    ali_b83 Posts: 324 Member
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    Ugh, why did you remind me Lauren, lol. I wonder how much of a difference the carb cycling will really make.
  • lauren3382
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
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    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
    healthymission92 Posts: 157
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    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
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
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    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
    healthymission92 Posts: 157
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    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
    ali_b83 Posts: 324 Member
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    I'm going to be in trouble. I like my oatmeal, yogurt, and sweet potatoes :frown:
  • healthymission92
    healthymission92 Posts: 157
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    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
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
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    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
    lauren3382 Posts: 372 Member
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    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
    columbus27 Posts: 178 Member
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    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
    healthymission92 Posts: 157
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    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
    Easywider Posts: 434 Member
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    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
    ali_b83 Posts: 324 Member
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    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!

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