Carb Cycling

I wanted to touch on Carb Cycling, now that I am done with the LiveFit program it’s time for the next phase of my fitness journey. I decided I would focus more on my eating habits and find a suitable program to help me cut weight. The last phase of the LiveFit program included carb cycling and I have to say I paid it no attention and didn’t understand it. One thing I don’t like is feeling like something has gotten the best of me all because I don’t understand it, due to lack of research.

Now that I am on my own and no longer following the same program I decided to take some time this weekend and better understand what carb cycling is. I did a Google search and came across two blogs that caught my eye. The first one came from Chris Powell, the weight loss coach on the Biggest Loser; he talks about carb cycling, what it is how it works then gives you four different plans; Easy Carb Cycle, Classic Carb Cycle, Turbo Carb Cycle, Fit Carb Cycle. I chose the Turbo Cycle.

The Turbo Cycle is set up for faster weight loss by adding two Low Carb days and one Low Carb Day instead of every other day. See chart below:

 

Even though the Turbo Cycle provides you with faster weight loss you still eat the same amount of calories as you would if you were on any of the other cycles. No less than 1200 calories for women and 1500 calories for men on low carb days and a little more on high carb days.

The basis of the plan is to eat five times a day to keep your metabolism going, no more and no less.

The other site I checked out was Daily Burn; what I liked about their site is unlike Chris Powell who wouldn’t give you information without you purchasing his book, is that they break it down for you and give you the appropriate formula for your body weight and give you examples of what a low carb and high carb days looks like. See Below:

Men

High-carb day
2–3 grams of carbs (x your body weight)
1–1.25 grams of protein (x your body weight)
As little fat as possible

Low-carb day

0.5–1.5 grams of carbs (x your body weight)
1.25–1.5 grams of protein (x your body weight)
0.15–0.35 grams of fat (x your body weight)

Women

High-carb day
About 1 gram of carbs (x your body weight)
0.75 grams of protein (x your body weight)
As little fat as possible

Low-carb day

0.2–0.5 grams of carbs (x your body weight)
About 1 gram of protein (x your body weight)
0.1–0.2 grams of fat (x your body weight)

For both low- and high-carb days, be sure to eat breakfast as soon as possible when you wake up, then consume the rest of your calories across another four to six small meals throughout the day, advises Starnes. Here’s how you might schedule your meals:

A typical low-carb day:

7 a.m. two scrambled eggs with 1/2 red bell pepper
10 a.m. protein shake with berries
1 p.m. 3 ounces grilled chicken with 1 cup asparagus
4 p.m. 1/3 cup oatmeal with 10 almonds
7 p.m. 3 ounces steak with 2 cups steamed broccoli and cauliflower

A typical high-carb day:

7 a.m. 1/2 cup oatmeal with walnuts and berries
10 a.m. apple with 2 tablespoons peanut or almond butter
1 p.m. half turkey sandwich on whole-wheat bread
4 p.m. 1 cup three-bean salad with 1 cup quinoa
7 p.m. 3 ounces grilled chicken with 1 cup whole-wheat pasta and pesto

 By combining the two above I was able to come up with a formula and meal plan that I will for the next couple for months along with my fitness plan.

So what exactly is Carb Cycling? Carb cycling is a method of eating low amounts or carbs one day and high amounts of carbs another day, this tricks the body. On high carb days your body is building up calories and on low days it goes into a super fat burning mode.

For more information check out the two websites above and tailor a meal plan that’s right for you.

And…It Is What It Is!