Carb cycling meal plan help needed

Laura22007
Laura22007 Posts: 9 Member
edited December 20 in Getting Started
I am trying to start carb cycling and I am totally lost on how the heck it works. Do I eat the number of calories allotted in my figures.calculates from my carbs, protein and fat?

Does anyone have any meal plans that I can look at to see how this works. I am just totally confused and lost with this darn thing. I don't even know what to eat when? How do i start the cycling. Do I start it low,medium,high or how?

Replies

  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 43,592 Member
    edited April 2019
    look into Chris Powell's carb cycling ...I did it for awhile but I am now keto..chris powell carb cycling menu
    https://heidipowell.net/2713/carb-cycling-101/
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    First I am going to ask, why are you thinking about carb cycling?

    How I do it, my protein and fat stays around the same and I just adjust my carbs. I do two high carb days, three medium and two low but you can do it however you want.

    Do you have experience logging your calories and macros? I would start there first.. you don't need to overcomplicate it to lose weight.
  • Laura22007
    Laura22007 Posts: 9 Member
    Thank you.
  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
    How many calories are you looking to consume per day? I have some meal plans based on 2100 cal/day - 1 high carb, 1 low carb.

    I was advised to use high carb on my more intense workout days abs low carb on rest days or less intense days.

    I’ve tried sticking to it a few times but find the exteme headaches & lack of energy a killer. Probably not so bad if you’re not training specifically for a fitness goal and/or different people just react differently to low carb eating.

    If this calorie allowance sounds right for you by all means pm me and I’ll send you the details.
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,027 Member
    I think an important question to ask is whether this is something you plan to do the rest of your life or are you only doing it for weight loss. Because if it's the latter, what's the point? It's the calorie deficit that causes weight loss. Eat in a way you can do long-term.
  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 43,592 Member
    edited April 2019
    you could by Chris Powell's carb cycling book off of Amazon...he gives recipes and I believe meal plans

    here is the name of the book that I have
    Choose to Lose: The 7-Day Carb Cycle Solution
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    edited April 2019
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    I think an important question to ask is whether this is something you plan to do the rest of your life or are you only doing it for weight loss. Because if it's the latter, what's the point? It's the calorie deficit that causes weight loss. Eat in a way you can do long-term.

    While I do agree I only calorie cycle in a deficit and not in maintenance or surplus. In the end it's about the calorie deficit not the cycling. You want to make sure this way of eating is sustainable and you can adhere to it.
  • Laura22007
    Laura22007 Posts: 9 Member
    Oh ok. I have the breakdown of my carb cycle but what I don't understand is am I suppose to be basing my meals off of the calories per day? Or am I supposed to weigh my food to calculate the grams of each category?

    I'm trying to attach the image here so you can see what I'm talking about.

  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    I think an important question to ask is whether this is something you plan to do the rest of your life or are you only doing it for weight loss. Because if it's the latter, what's the point? It's the calorie deficit that causes weight loss. Eat in a way you can do long-term.

    IDK I used to find it fun to try different ways of eating. Most of them only took a few weeks to realize that they weren't for me. I learned something from all of them and tried some new things that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Who knows if the OP will like carb cycling of not. If she doesn't she can always change.

    There are many things in life that we do for awhile and then decide to no longer do them for whatever reason. I've just never understood why some people believe that the way that we eat now has to be the way that we always eat for the rest of our lives.
  • Laura22007
    Laura22007 Posts: 9 Member
    Laura22007 wrote: »
    Oh ok. I have the breakdown of my carb cycle but what I don't understand is am I suppose to be basing my meals off of the calories per day? Or am I supposed to weigh my food to calculate the grams of each category?

    I'm trying to attach the image here so you can see what I'm talking about.

    It won't post the pic.

    Here is just one example of the low carb plan - 1782.51

    Carb 0 to 50 gms per day - 200 cals per day

    Protein 186.18 gms pd- 837.80 cals pd

    Fat 93.09 gms pd - 837.80 cals pd
  • Laura22007
    Laura22007 Posts: 9 Member
    sarabushby wrote: »
    How many calories are you looking to consume per day? I have some meal plans based on 2100 cal/day - 1 high carb, 1 low carb.

    I was advised to use high carb on my more intense workout days abs low carb on rest days or less intense days.

    I’ve tried sticking to it a few times but find the exteme headaches & lack of energy a killer. Probably not so bad if you’re not training specifically for a fitness goal and/or different people just react differently to low carb eating.

    If this calorie allowance sounds right for you by all means pm me and I’ll send you the details.

    I have the breakdown but I just don't have the meal plans put in place. If I had the meal plans and the specific days then I'd be set. How would I PM you in this fitness pal so we can chat further.

    Also the last thing I want to do is spend a lot more money for a meal plan. I just would like to get guidance and to what foods total the calories to equate to my high medium and low calorie intake.

  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,027 Member
    Annie_01 wrote: »
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    I think an important question to ask is whether this is something you plan to do the rest of your life or are you only doing it for weight loss. Because if it's the latter, what's the point? It's the calorie deficit that causes weight loss. Eat in a way you can do long-term.

    IDK I used to find it fun to try different ways of eating. Most of them only took a few weeks to realize that they weren't for me. I learned something from all of them and tried some new things that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Who knows if the OP will like carb cycling of not. If she doesn't she can always change.

    There are many things in life that we do for awhile and then decide to no longer do them for whatever reason. I've just never understood why some people believe that the way that we eat now has to be the way that we always eat for the rest of our lives.

    There's nothing wrong with trying new things. However there are a lot of people who'll do a particular diet or WoE purely for the weight loss, stop it once they've gotten to their goal, regain and wonder what happened (and often get into a cycle of yo-yo dieting). Eat however you like, carb cycle if that's your thing, just make sure it's something you can stick to long-term.
  • Laura22007
    Laura22007 Posts: 9 Member
    The biggest issue I'm having is in losing my damn belly fat. I have the Mrs. Doubtfire belly and hate it. 😂 I feel like it keeps growing more then going down. I've tried incorporating healthy eating with exercise and nothing. I've done slim fast, I've done pills and with no success. My husband just had the gastro bypass surgery and lost weight. He wants me to do it and I'm like No. I want to do this the natural way.

    I'm just so frustrated, depressed and trying to figure this darn system out so I can hit the ground running and finally start seeing results. I've seen ppl do it and lose the weight so I see that it's real.
  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
    I 100% concur that it’s far easier to just accurately count your calories and move more than deal with the complexities and side effects of carb cycling but I have PM’d you anyway and you can always try it and see how you get on. Sometimes you just have to do something and go through the motions to get the idea out of your head.
  • Laura22007
    Laura22007 Posts: 9 Member
    Maxematics wrote: »
    Laura22007 wrote: »
    The biggest issue I'm having is in losing my damn belly fat. I have the Mrs. Doubtfire belly and hate it. 😂 I feel like it keeps growing more then going down. I've tried incorporating healthy eating with exercise and nothing. I've done slim fast, I've done pills and with no success. My husband just had the gastro bypass surgery and lost weight. He wants me to do it and I'm like No. I want to do this the natural way.

    I'm just so frustrated, depressed and trying to figure this darn system out so I can hit the ground running and finally start seeing results. I've seen ppl do it and lose the weight so I see that it's real.

    Based on this I think you'd be better off focusing on a calorie deficit instead of carb cycling. If you eat at a deficit consistently you will lose weight, carb cycling or not.

    Thanks I think I am going to try that first and see how i make out and just incorporate my work out and see how it goes.
  • Laura22007
    Laura22007 Posts: 9 Member
    sarabushby wrote: »
    I 100% concur that it’s far easier to just accurately count your calories and move more than deal with the complexities and side effects of carb cycling but I have PM’d you anyway and you can always try it and see how you get on. Sometimes you just have to do something and go through the motions to get the idea out of your head.

    Sara
    Where abouts did you send me the private message because I just went into my inbox and nothing was there. Unless I need to go to some play else to get my messages. I'm new to my fitness pal and I'm just learning my way around.

    Thanks
  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
    No worries, it should be in your messages, just sent a friend request so we can go from there.
  • geddy2019
    geddy2019 Posts: 2 Member
    Eat more carbs on your training days and little to no carbs on your days off.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
    geddy2019 wrote: »
    Eat more carbs on your training days and little to no carbs on your days off.

    I know you think you're trying to be helpful, but this is not necessary for the OP's situation. For weight loss, the carb amount doesn't matter. To be honest, carb cycling is more important for people who are advanced exercisers with specific goals. For example, I increase my amount of carbs the day before I do resistance training on my legs or the day before I go on long runs. For people who aren't exerting themselves to a certain degree, carb cycling isn't a necessity.

    In fact, though individual satiety affects macros the most, the most popular macro split while losing weight is 40% carbs, and 30% for fat and protein. Not for any magical reason, but because this is a decent balance for most people. OP, if you want to start anywhere, eat at a deficit. After a while, you can observe what macros personally work best for you. Good luck!
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    Laura22007 wrote: »
    I took a test and discovered that I have the characteristics of an endomorph. With that said, I want to lose weight but I also want to continue with this lifestyle to maintain my achieves goal weight.

    So I signed up for Vshred and am struggling with carb cycling because I don't know how to start it and what foods to eat as well as I need a meal plan. I am trying to avoid spending the 225 to have them create a meal plan. I want to do it myself to save on cost, but dont know how to start.

    Somatypes have been comprehensively debunked.

    You don't have to follow any kind of complicated meal plan to lose weight. You just need to eat in a deficit. Use MFP to set a calorie goal to lose at an appropriate rate (1 lb a week for most people, 2 lb if very obese, 0.5 lb if just losing a few 'vanity pounds'), and experiment to find out what foods and timings keep you physically and mentally satisfied. That's all.
  • Gritty_Gal
    Gritty_Gal Posts: 96 Member

    It won't post the pic.

    Here is just one example of the low carb plan - 1782.51

    Carb 0 to 50 gms per day - 200 cals per day

    Protein 186.18 gms pd- 837.80 cals pd

    Fat 93.09 gms pd - 837.80 cals pd


    How did you come up with these numbers! What formula did you use? I’m just getting started on carb cycling and was wondering how this is calculated. Thanks :)
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