Women and Carb backloading

MaryEMaryE

I've been on it for about 2-3 months, via a strength coach who does a lot of diets for fitness/bbuilding competitors and who is in regular contact with Keifer (CJ Murphy/Total Performance Sports, Boston).

I love it! It's easy to follow and you get to enjoy food. I used to do carb cycling, where you get one cheat meal a week and of course I would eat myself sick. This way I get 3 "fun" meals so I don't go too crazy. The non-carb parts of the day can also be pretty enjoyable. You don't get breakfast, but you can have coffee, and I realized breakfast never really worked for me anyway, I just got more hungry in an hour or two.

As far as for women, Murph is finding across the board that we put on muscle pretty well but losing the fat is harder, you really need to make the backloading meals pretty moderate. I haven't been strict at all and my body weight has stayed the same but I've gotten leaner and more athletic looking week to week. My performance has definitely improved, but I'm also at a point where I've overcome some injuries and am starting to work up to my potential, so I'm not sure how much credit CBL gets for that.

I am also 41 and have noticed my metabolism get slower in past few years and fat is really stubborn to get rid of in general. I'm also not too worried about the fat loss because I'm focused on my first powerlifting meet 5 weeks from now.

Kiefer makes it very clear, this version of CBL is for people who train very hard with weights, aka lift heavy. He is developing a version for endurance athletes but it's not ready yet. So it really isn't meant for the average fitness pursuer, although one could probably apply some of the principles here and there and benefit (in that case I'd recommend just spending time on Kiefer's blog rather than buying the book).

If you want to do CBL, the e-book is totally worth it and a must. Murph has all of his clients buy it and reads it repeatedly himself and recommends we do the same. You start to realize Kiefer is looking past a lot of generalizations in research findings about metabolism that have lead to widespread beliefs that are either just plain false or are based vastly oversimplified or generalized perspectives (such as breakfast being good for fat loss).

The diet--timing, supplements, macros, etc--is pretty complex and you really need to "get it" to do it right and adapt to your days as they vary, esp. if you're not working with anyone on your nutrition, so you need the book.

I know e-books are usually pretty sketchy but they are used quite a bit in the by the top experts in the strength sports world, i.e, the Elite FTS, Westside, Diesel Crew, etc., type folks, as a way to reach their niche audiences quickly without dealing with the usual in publishing, and because these sports require specialized gyms and those who don't live anywhere near one don't really have any other way to get the knowledge. e-books from this crowd are never a ripoff.

Good luck!

JasonDetwiler

Hopefully this thread isn't dead and forgotten. I've been on CBL for two months and I'm very happy with it. I am, however, a dude. I've read the book, so let me see if I can answer some of your questions and specifically tailor the response such that I can relate my experience to the female training environment.

1 - Women can't pig out like men while on CBL. The CBL is designed to replenish glycogen storage, so the more muscle mass you have, the more you can pig out.

2 - CBL is primarily designed to help you add muscle with little to no fat increase. Caloric deficit is favorable to fat loss, though not completely necessary.

3 - CBL is all about insulin timing and manipulation.

4 - The comments prior that state that the time of day you eat something doesn't matter are not supported by research. Kiefer has 30-some pages of references (yes, the works cited is 30 pages long) to peer reviewed scientific research to back his claims, plus he trains high level athletes, so I lean toward his information.

5 - The lady who had donuts for breakfast did not burn fat that day. Read why in CBL.

6 - The book is now $38 and well worth the price.

7 - Depending on your starting body composition, goals, and training regimen, you might want to start on Carb Nite. Also a good book, but if you buy CBL, read it, and understand it, you can do CNS by just backloading one day.

Good luck, and I hope you make great progress toward your goals.

Hendrix7

Do you realize that the author preps people for figure competitions

4 - The comments prior that state that the time of day you eat something doesn't matter are not supported by research. Kiefer has 30-some pages of references (yes, the works cited is 30 pages long) to peer reviewed scientific research to back his claims, plus he trains high level athletes, so I lean toward his information.

ok.

But thousands of people have got lean not using this principle.

I'm sure I could find plenty of bodybuilders/sports coaches/average joes who don't carb back load and their clients are ripped. So who's right then?

He's not the only guy out there successfully prepping people for contests.

Listen, I don't doubt the pricniple itself but the argument of "well he's ripped" or "his clients are ripped" does not in itself validate that method. Lots of people are ripped and lots of them will eat carbs in the morning.

wmagoo27

A lot of people piece their information together from blogs and forums, and many of them are missing some big pieces of the puzzle. Nobody is saying that CBL is the only way to get lean. It is just a tool that can be used. It works for some, and not for others. I've been doing it myself for a little over a month and it seems to be working well for me so far.

The book is expensive, but worth every penny. I tried to piece info together from other sources to avoid paying the price of the book, and I struggled to make it work. I caved, bought the book, and realized what I was doing wrong. I think a lot of people see the advertisements saying to eat a bunch of junk food and think it's a BS diet or a scam. There is good reason for the suggestion to eat hi GI carbs, although I don't agree with eating a bunch of overprocessed junk food (and neither does Kiefer). Everything is about timing carb intake around the body's sensitivity to insulin.

ilovedeadlifts

Carbohydrate Backloading works.

but you're gonna need to read the book. It works a bit differently for women than it does men.
I've done it for 3 weeks and dropped about 6 pounds.

ilovedeadlifts

ok.

But thousands of people have got lean not using this principle.

I'm sure I could find plenty of bodybuilders/sports coaches/average joes who don't carb back load and their clients are ripped. So who's right then?

He's not the only guy out there successfully prepping people for contests.

Listen, I don't doubt the pricniple itself but the argument of "well he's ripped" or "his clients are ripped" does not in itself validate that method. Lots of people are ripped and lots of them will eat carbs in the morning.

A pretty good chunk of bodybuilders use carb cycling. so they're following some of the basic principles of the CBL protocol.
All of the "broscience" about the anabolic window and when you eat carbs turns out to be actual science, backed by studies.

Going4Lean

bumped

judychicken

bump

WendyTerry420

That's funny. If I were going to add carbs back in, I'd want them before I work out, to fuel that workout better. This says eat them after?

Yeah, I agree. It makes no sense. Carbs are energy. I want an energy boost before the workout. Also, I have found that eating a good balance of carbs, protein, and fat at all three meals is better for me.

WendyTerry420

5 - The lady who had donuts for breakfast did not burn fat that day. Read why in CBL.

It depends on what else the lady ate.

aemfh1

I have done it! I am a competitive BB, female. It works!! Read the book! =]

chrisdavey

ok.

But thousands of people have got lean not using this principle.

I'm sure I could find plenty of bodybuilders/sports coaches/average joes who don't carb back load and their clients are ripped. So who's right then?

He's not the only guy out there successfully prepping people for contests.

Listen, I don't doubt the pricniple itself but the argument of "well he's ripped" or "his clients are ripped" does not in itself validate that method. Lots of people are ripped and lots of them will eat carbs in the morning.

A pretty good chunk of bodybuilders use carb cycling. so they're following some of the basic principles of the CBL protocol.
All of the "broscience" about the anabolic window and when you eat carbs turns out to be actual science, backed by studies.

There has only been one study done on carbs at night vs morning and it was done on Israeli police officers with a self reported intake. Alan Aragon has done a piece on CBL and basically came down to the old "total macros is much more important than any nutrient timing".

Some of the references in CBL have been questioned also. (specifically 10 day low carb prep phase and no low gi carbs PWO) Lyle McDonald got booted from the DH forums for that.

At the end of the day, the "diet" you adhere to will be successful.

The idea sounds appealling to some to smash junk food but the lower calorie allowances for women simply doesn't really allow that much "junk". (this was from a girl I know who powerlifts and is 56kg)

And yes, I know a few people (online and real life) who have done well with it and others not so much. The

astrovivi

I've done it but not to lose fat ... just to help me manage a food intolerance that is carb related (it works for me in that respect).
I have the book and it's a good read BUT

1. CBL is not about allowing you to eat lots of junk. All Kiefer is suggesting is that you can allow some junk in there but to focus primarily on whole unprocessed foods. in the end, there is little difference between this and any IIFYM protocol in that regard.

2. as per above comments, it really doesn't matter when you eat your carbs in terms of fat loss ... most important are that your macros are optimised for you as an individual and to be in a calorie deficit.

3. timing of carbs before or after a workout won't make much difference except that it can affect the quality of your workout. Some people train best with some carbs for energy beforehand, others do better on low carbs or fasted. Do what makes you get the most out of your training. That will lead to better results.

songp496

Problem with your theory is that every Body is different. Some people are more sensitive to carbs than others. Hence The reason CBL is crucial for some than others when looking at attaining a goal weight in less time.

Visique

I practice carb backloading and popeyes and pizza is also on my menu every week. Look up leangains and IIFYM for more info