Intermittent Low-Carbohydrate Diet

Anyone know what the actual carb levels are on a diet like this?

It says you eat very low carbs for 2 days out of the week and regular healthy low calorie diet for the other 5. Seems doable to me I'd just like to know how low to shoot for on those 2 "low carb" days. I love my carbs so I can never do a low carb all the time type eating plan so I thinkt his is a good option for me.

Also if anyone has daily meal plans to share as examples for thoes days I'd love some ideas about what I should try. My base calorie intake is set at 1300 right now and I usually add another 300 in workout calories and I eat back most of those (not all b/c like everyone I probably underestimate a little and the food labels can be up to 20% off). My diary should be open you can see I usually saty under my carb count now some days lower than others.

Here's where I read about this diet:

http://www.sabcs.org/PressReleases/Documents/Harvie.pdf

Thanks! :smile:

Replies

  • jak1958
    jak1958 Posts: 82 Member
    The carb cycling plans I've seen have been based on 1 gram/lb of bodyweight on low carb days and 2-3 gram/lb of bodyweight on high carb days.

    I will also say that I have no performance history :) as I am just starting a similar plan based on work out days as well.
  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
    Hmm 1 g/lb would be 135g of carbs on the light days and 260 on other days and my MFP goals have me at around 190g on regular days so that seems a little high.

    Anyone else see any suggested numbers for this plan?
  • dayone987
    dayone987 Posts: 645 Member
    Hmm 1 g/lb would be 135g of carbs on the light days and 260 on other days and my MFP goals have me at around 190g on regular days so that seems a little high.

    Anyone else see any suggested numbers for this plan?
    I think I saw 50 gm/day. Study was done with women (not sure if that makes a difference)
  • jak1958
    jak1958 Posts: 82 Member
    I plateaued on 50 grams/day after losing 15 pounds - increasing carbs and began losing again. I'm doing a lot of cardio and strength training.

    We are all different - I'm sure it depends on a lot of factors.

    Good Luck
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Harvie's poster presentation said the diets compared were :-

    Diets:1. A restricted low carbohydrate diet (RLCD): 650 kcal and <50g carbohydrate / day for 2 days per week
    2. Ad lib low carbohydrate diet (ALCD): <50g / day for 2 days per week with other food types (e.g. protein) ad lib
    3. A standard daily restricted Mediterranean diet (DRMD): ~1500kcal / day for 7 days per week

    The same group have done intermittent calorie reduction, there are some resources at http://www.genesisuk.org/media-centre/articles/The Intermittent diet .html (top right)
  • Zangpakto
    Zangpakto Posts: 336 Member
    Oh me lordy.... A 1gr/lb? I am definitely under.. However I am going paleo/primal following 80/20 as I run marathons etc...

    Anyway, they do work, however best thing I suggest is get your carbs depleted and take a LONG run say maybe 4/5 hrs to fully deplete stores and force body to use fatty acids in blood and make it more efficient at fat burning...

    I know it isn't for everyone, but IMHO part of weight loss is training, and hey, cycling/running is pretty much awesome cardio and racing is awesome vibe... So might as well get into long sessions to train body for fat burning so can save more carb stores for your brain functions during centuries and hundred mile races.... lol...

    Hmm in general though if training around 200g for a cyclist in light training, 250 for heavy and maybe 300 for heavy/race....

    Quite easy to get really with supplements, part of why supplementation is vital in racing.... I'm trying paleo to see how it works, but even then the general consensus is that athletes need to modify it slightly to fit racing needs.

    Best part of paleo/primal idea? I never get hungry, eat when want and still losing, and hey.. lets all be honest here, it is awesome that meat/seafood is main diet factor right? I mean who doesn't love a nice juicy steak, some sweet potato chips and veggies for supper :D
  • paytonOMG
    paytonOMG Posts: 33 Member
    bump
  • Jebbster007
    Jebbster007 Posts: 265 Member
    to be honest (and I have a fair amount of experience with low carb dieting both good and bad) if your plan is only restricting carbs 2 days a week out of 7, you're better off restricting as low as you can possibly go. It usually takes at least 2 days of carb restriction to eat up whats already stored in your body so that sounds more like a maintenance cycle than a losing fat cycle. If you do only do 2 days a week, I'd recommend staying as low as you possibly can, at least at first, to see how your body responds. And by that I mean between 10g and 25g of carbs a day. It also depends on how much you want/have to lose.
  • I read somewhere as a basic thumb rule. 0-50 g =extreme weight loss, 50-100g moderate weight loss, 100-150g maintaing weight, 150+150-200g weight gain, and 200+g extreme weight gain (typical american diet) however when I eat 50-75 a day for a few days I end up bingeing and gaining more weight.