Two days low, one day high?

What's your cycle? Right now, I'm doing two days low, one normal/high and repeating with a cheat day on Saturday.

Replies

  • wubstylene30
    wubstylene30 Posts: 4 Member
    I'm doing 3 low, one high, two low, one high, 3 low, etc. I think. Or I might just start off with 3 low and then switch to 2 low, one high, 2 low, one high, etc like you are doing. How long have you been carb cycling? I'm just trying it out for a bit so I'm not 100% sure of how it will all plan out but I'm excited to try it!
  • alyssa88005
    alyssa88005 Posts: 7 Member
    What's your cycle? Right now, I'm doing two days low, one normal/high and repeating with a cheat day on Saturday.

    I am doing the same cycle! Just started today and I'm super excited! I'm definitely struggling with the meal plans but I am sure it will get easier as I go. I'm going with the Chris Powell approach and not counting grams just serving sizes.
  • momofzkjj
    momofzkjj Posts: 45 Member
    I'm doing the same - 2 days low - 1 day high - repeat - Saturday cheat. This is my first week and I'm down 3 pounds so far. I haven't added all of Chris Powell's exercises in yet, but plan on adding that in next week. I'm also struggling with the meal plans, but think I'm getting it down.
  • Tiff1124
    Tiff1124 Posts: 261 Member
    I'm doing M-T Low carb, W high carb, Th-F low carb, Sat High Carb and Sunday is my reward day. Just started today so we'll see :)
  • jenb1830
    jenb1830 Posts: 19 Member
    Hi everyone. My name's Jen and I am also doing 2on/1off x2 with the 7th day FREE/REWARD. Feel free to add me as a friend! I'd love to gain some insight on your experiences and share some of mine. I also found that Frank Carlotto's book "Carb Cycle" was WAY easier to understand than Chris Powell's... just thought I'd spread the word. :smiley:
  • cgilson33
    cgilson33 Posts: 1 Member
    How is everyone doing on their carb cycles??
  • lovelyrose11
    lovelyrose11 Posts: 609 Member
    Hi Everyone - My name is Niki. I just wrapped up my first week of carb cycling. I lost 5 lbs!!! I know this won't be every week but I was really happy with the results. I am enjoying this lifestyle so far and find it pretty easy to stick with. Previously, I was on a Whole30 diet but wasn't really losing weight (Although I did notice big changes in my energy level and overall health). I started at 230 when I delivered my son almost 14 months ago. I am now down to 189. My UGW is 140ish. Excited to find this group!!!
  • Thickivory
    Thickivory Posts: 36 Member
    I'm doing alternating every other day. This is the middle of my second week and I've lost 13lbs total. Sunday is my cheat day since I work third.
  • truckgrl591
    truckgrl591 Posts: 5 Member
    Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri are low carb days. Wed and Sat are high carb days and Sunday is a free day.
  • I just started this four days ago and it's definitely been challenging. What are some of the meals you guys have on low carb days I'm burnt out on chicken!
  • dawnkwiatek
    dawnkwiatek Posts: 324 Member
    sbaxter45 wrote: »
    I just started this four days ago and it's definitely been challenging. What are some of the meals you guys have on low carb days I'm burnt out on chicken!

    Last night I made a grilled chicken parm over zucchini noodles.

    I have done a burger on top of lettuce/tomato with baked butternut squash fries

    Taco Salad.

    Oven roasted green beans and cherry tomato with pork chops
  • gatergirl_75
    gatergirl_75 Posts: 1 Member
    I'm doing Powell turbo cycle (2 low, 1 high, Sunday Funday). This is my second week. I was previously doing an Atkins type low carb for the last 9months. The transition to cycling feels healthier, but much harder to keep track of. High carb days are harder for me. Mostly, I just add fruit:)
  • mbava16
    mbava16 Posts: 1 Member
    Hey everyone my names marco and I've just started cycling! Ive read chris Powells choose to lose and I am on the 3rd day of the classic cycle! So far so good! I've got 46.5 lbs to lose to my goal weight of 180lbs! Feel free to add me as a friend, I need motivation every now and then!
  • janet0513
    janet0513 Posts: 564 Member
    I do high carb/low fat on weight lifting days (Sun, Tue and Fri) and LCHF on the other 4 days (Mon, Wed, Th, Sat).
  • paralegalnc
    paralegalnc Posts: 43 Member
    I am doing 4 High days 2 low days with the reset day being Sunday. I am following Chris Powell's Extreme Plan. I want to lose 70 lbs total (to be under 200) but my short term goal is 30# by end of July. That will put me at the weight I was when I got married 14 years ago. My struggle is not the food - once I find a meal plan for a day that works I can do it over and over, it's easier that way...but I don't know exactly how many carbs I am supposed to have. I am staying under 1500 calories. I can not do any upper body stuff as I am 6 weeks post op from rotator cuff surgery so I guess I will just be walking and riding a bike. (Unless physical therapy counts...:) ) any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
  • no_day_but_2day
    no_day_but_2day Posts: 222 Member
    I just started mixing it around. I do 2 days keto (under 15 actual carbs) with fat around 60-75 grams, the right after those two days, I do a high carb day and try to use this day for an intense WT session (leg day) at less than 200g actual carbs and low fat (less than 30g). This replenishes the glycogen stores. Then, I will do typical low carb (under 60 actual carb) for two days, 2 medium carb days (under 100 actual carbs) then back down to keto and the cycle begins again. It's fun playing around with this and I'm excited to see how my workouts improve and how my body transforms!!
  • no_day_but_2day
    no_day_but_2day Posts: 222 Member
    I am doing 4 High days 2 low days with the reset day being Sunday. I am following Chris Powell's Extreme Plan. I want to lose 70 lbs total (to be under 200) but my short term goal is 30# by end of July. That will put me at the weight I was when I got married 14 years ago. My struggle is not the food - once I find a meal plan for a day that works I can do it over and over, it's easier that way...but I don't know exactly how many carbs I am supposed to have. I am staying under 1500 calories. I can not do any upper body stuff as I am 6 weeks post op from rotator cuff surgery so I guess I will just be walking and riding a bike. (Unless physical therapy counts...:) ) any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

    You say you can't do upper body workouts (which btw that sucks. heal quickly!) but can't you do lower body workouts? Leg workouts are great for higher carb days (squats/deadlifts/leg extensions etc).
  • paralegalnc
    paralegalnc Posts: 43 Member
    yeah, I am going to start working on the strengthening of the lowerbody...dead lifts... that's with weight? I'm on a no lifting restriction until the 2nd week of July then hopefully I get to move up to 5#. whoo hoo.
  • valerieuk1708
    valerieuk1708 Posts: 90 Member
    I started doing carb cycling on Monday (July 11) and doing low carb/mod carb cycling with possible "cheat day" every now and then not weekly. I seem to do well with lower carbs weight loss wise. Lost couple of pounds in 2 days. And I've already lost 20lbs since end of April so not a water weight I suppose.
    On my low days I stay around 70-80g of carbs (not as low as some people maybe) and mod days it's around 120-140g.

  • amandacowan1978
    amandacowan1978 Posts: 50 Member
    Hi there! today is my first day and I'm sort of doing my own version of the Chris Powell plan (mostly because I hate those pre-set recipes especially those that include artificial sweeteners..I don't care for them on a regular basis). So I'm going by my macros, and starting with 2 low (non-exercise days with yoga and otherwise normal activity otherwise), 3 high (doing my normal strength training or orangetheory fitness) and then I'll revisit things on day six based on my schedule.

    I've been doing strength training and exercise, watching my diet for the last year and have pretty much just completely swapped out fat for muscle. I was fairly close to my "goal" anyway and so I did well in terms of bringing down my bodyfat %. But I can't seem to move past where I'm at so I figured this was a good compromise on the low-carb thing (which I never feel as energetic on).

    So I just came back from vaca so to make up for the higher calorie days, I'm starting on two lows, 1400 calories (I'm 5'9", 170lbs) and my macros are 25carb/35pro/40%fat for my low days. For my higher carb days, it will be 1700 cals, 45/20/35. Day 7 is theoretically a reset day according to those that write the books, so I imagine I'll do something like that but will probably just add an additional 700-800 cals on that day. I think normally my low carb days will be like 1500 cals.

    I saw someone else mentioned that Frank Carlotto's book "Carb Cycle" and I might look into it. One thing I do NOT like about Chris Powell are the artificial sweeteners that show up in the recipes, which make it hard to replicate if you don't eat them. Plus, I'm just not organized enough to follow the actual recipes.

    We eat a ton of pan-seared meat, and raw or lightly steamed veggies. Super boring but my hubby has GERD so he has to eat very basic. We sort of deviate from that slightly for our kids, who obviously don't like to eat that basic.

    As for exercise, I've been strength training at least twice a week for the last year, and in the last two months I've added two sessions of orangetheory fitness per week and I LOVE IT! But, again even with that I have sort of hit a wall with my progress. I can tell I'm getting stronger and making gains and I do get the most progress doing low-carb but for me it's not sustainable and I end up falling WAY off the wagon. I'm hoping this will mix it up a bit for me and get me over the wall.
  • lc63
    lc63 Posts: 19 Member
    Hi guys, just starting carb cycling this week after hitting a slump and my weight loss just stalled. Hopefully this will shake it up a bit! Just a couple of questions from a beginner -
    1. In general how long do people keep up carb cycling? I am under the impression its not a long term thing and
    2. On low carb days do you all avoid carbs (beit refined or complex carbs) completely and only use your carb allowance on non starchy foods? For example, my daily allowance on low carb day would be 50g but for that 50g I could fit in half a potato or something with dinner BUT am I better off using this allowance on veg and avoiding obvious carbs completely on low days?
  • mh_hall
    mh_hall Posts: 1 Member
    Hi everyone, I just started to research carb cycling a few days ago. I've been on straight low carb, high fat, moderate protein for 3 weeks now. So far so good...down 12 lbs. Though I am pleased with my success, I have about 50lbs more to lose and I don't know that I can do LCHF for the rest of my life. Carb cycling sounded more "moderate" to me and I'm a moderate kind of girl.

    My plan is as follows:
    M, W and Sat will be my high carb, heavy workout days (40%c/40%p/20%f)
    T, Th, Fri will be my low carb, light workout days...45 mins walk (20%c/40%p/40%f)
    Sunday will be my day off, but I do plan to keep my carbs in check on that day. Maybe do more of a balanced day or maybe aim to keep my carbs around 90-100g. I'll play around with this and see how it works. (It's football season so Sundays will be tricky without some football snacks!)

    I think my LCHF days will be the easiest for me since I'm already conditioned to eating and meal planning for LCHF. I may struggle with HCLF days initially because I've not worried about lean protein for the last 3 weeks. I don't just love chicken or turkey, but I'm going to have to incorporate more of it on my HCLF days. Tuna is my best protein friend. ;) I am really looking forward to adding more fruit to my HCLF days. I've missed fruit...a lot. I think fruit will be my favorite thing about Monday, Wednesday and Saturdays!

    Exercise... I'm not a cardio lover. Never have been. I do enjoy brisk walks at the lake near my house, and I do plan to walk at least 45-60 minutes on my LCHF days. For my HCLF days, my workouts will be more intense but I'll still probably focus more on strength training. I enjoy kettlebell workouts, which are the best of both worlds for me...both cardio and strength training all at once and I can crank up my heart rate for 30 minutes and be done. I also have a vegetable garden and I tend to get quite a workout this time of year hauling out summer crop plants to plant fall/winter crops, turning the soil (I do this with a pitchfork...don't like tilling), and spreading mulch. I'll save the heavy gardening work for my HCLF days and the light gardening for the other days.

    I'm going to give carb cycling a go for 3-4 weeks and see how it goes. I think this may be the nutritional lifestyle that best suits my personalilty, especially since I hate feeling deprived of certain foods. Hopefully this nutritional lifestyle will help me find sustainable success in reaching my weight and health goals.

    Cheers!
  • amandacowan1978
    amandacowan1978 Posts: 50 Member
    edited September 2016
    I've been playing it very loosy- goosy with my schedule. I'll do like 3 low carb high fat days (25% carbs) then 2-3 moderate (35% carbs) and then maybe the next week I do 4-5 LCHF before getting a high carb day in..

    I'm still new to the idea but I've lost about 6lbs (I'm on my last 10-ish pounds so I'm focusing mainly on muscle building, or trying too)

    I found a protein powder that I like and I don't feel has a ton of crazy ingredients so I'm finding the macros pretty easy to meet.

    I notice that if I try to drop below 25% carbs my stomach gets real upset.

    I also notice that while I can allocate some of my carbs to a splurge of some sort almost every day even if I want, (splurge meaning something with like 25-35 carbs) I have to make the rest are high fiber carbs like raspberries and whatnot. Otherwise my digestion is way off, and I also find I need a fiber supplement daily too.
  • sadinplaid
    sadinplaid Posts: 140 Member
    @amandacowan1978 I'm just starting to try this. I've been stuck in the same 2-3 pound range for about 2 months. I have about 18 pounds left to lose (lost almost 40 this year so far), but I'm just trying to get into this groove of carb cycling. I didn't read any of the books about it - just internet research. I'd love to hear more about what you guys are doing as meals on the LC and HC days