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Carb Cycling - KISS

osiris

osiris

Senior Member
May 9, 2011
243
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So everyone, hope you all had a great weekend. I am currently doing a carb cycling diet for my prep and i have to say i truly believe that it is the easiest way to lose fat.

So at 14 weeks out, we started at the following, i will list it out by day:
(high carb)Saturday = 460protein, 350 carbs, fat - low
(moderate carb)Sunday = 460 protein, 300 carbs, fat low
(moderate carb)Monday = 460 protein, 300 carbs, fat low
(moderate carb)Tuesday = 460 protein, 300 carbs, fat low
(moderate carb)Wednesday = 460 protein, 250carbs, fat low
(moderate carb)Thursday = 460 protein, 250carbs, fat low
(moderate carb)Friday = 460 protein, 250carbs, fat low

We started with that and it worked GREAT! Fat was melting off. So where we went from here was we dropped every carb day down by 50 grams of carbs. So it was 300,250, 200. Then the weight REALLY came off. We are now at the point where it will change up to be 1 high carb day, 3 low. Then repeat. My trainer doesnt believe in going below 200 grams of carbs because you start feeling like shit etc.

I just wanted to see any experience anyone else has had with these types of diets, etc?

O
 
tommyguns2

tommyguns2

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Dec 25, 2010
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I agree that carb cycling can work extremely well. I've found personaly that I can drop my carbs lower than 200g/day if my fat intake is high. I don't feel as hungry, and the carb cravings are managable. When you say "low fat," how low is that?
 
osiris

osiris

Senior Member
May 9, 2011
243
39
I agree that carb cycling can work extremely well. I've found personaly that I can drop my carbs lower than 200g/day if my fat intake is high. I don't feel as hungry, and the carb cravings are managable. When you say "low fat," how low is that?

At the outset we were at 52.5 grams. We just added 3 tbsp evoo with the last 3 meals to offset the weight loss.
 
IronInsanity

IronInsanity

TID Board Of Directors
May 3, 2011
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So you are eating ~3500 cals a day?
 
IronInsanity

IronInsanity

TID Board Of Directors
May 3, 2011
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What's your bodyweight?
 
osiris

osiris

Senior Member
May 9, 2011
243
39
What's your bodyweight?

when i started i was 240 @ 5'6"> dont overthink the calories. I am losing fat, coming up on 6% here this week. I have pics posted in my thread. Not everyone will get away with that level of calories, you are correct but i can and do so as not to lose muscle=-)
 

ajdos

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Sep 8, 2010
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Never did one high 3 low, interesting approach, I have done 5/2 and 4/3...may give it a try, right now Im doing 5 low 2 high...
 
osiris

osiris

Senior Member
May 9, 2011
243
39
Never did one high 3 low, interesting approach, I have done 5/2 and 4/3...may give it a try, right now Im doing 5 low 2 high...

yeah it was slow....it eased me into the low days and overall minimized the amount of time i felt like shit.

We are going to the 3 low, 1 high here starting in the next week or so to REALLY lose some fat and get this ass ready for stage.
 

ajdos

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Sep 8, 2010
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yeah it was slow....it eased me into the low days and overall minimized the amount of time i felt like shit.

We are going to the 3 low, 1 high here starting in the next week or so to REALLY lose some fat and get this ass ready for stage.

I look forward to hearing and seeing how 1/3 progresses.
 
tommyguns2

tommyguns2

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Dec 25, 2010
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I've also run 5/2 with low days being between 50-100g of carbs. I didn't feel nearly as bad as I thought I would since I kept my calories high and fat high. When under significant calorie deficit, low carb is torture, IMO
 
SJA

SJA

MuscleHead
Feb 24, 2011
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I did an experiment once to see if in fact you could function with no carbs and if your body would adapt. This was not for muscle gain or fat loss....just an experiment to prove or disprove the theory that it's "bad" for you. I started with one "no carb" cay per week and one "high carb" day with the rest being moderate. I wasn't eating bad fats like the fAtkins diet but kept it clean. Every two weeks, I would add another day of "no carbs" until I was totally carbless. I went without carbs for two months. Here is what I found with MY body.

1) I adapted mentally just fine. No cravings and was able to think. My job demands brain power so that was my first priority and I was amazed at how well I adapted because most people who "diet" seem to burn out. I did not.

2) I leaned out very well, however, I was "on" at the time and muscle loss was minimal. I will say that my strength and recovery sucked ass and that if I missed a meal I was truly fucked in the sense that I would drop muscle quilcky. I would have to increase my cals for a couple of days to get it back (although I never really felt that it came back truly until I ate carbs.

3) I was a cardio machine and my conditioning was stellar (as long as I didn't miss a meal). I wanted to see how well my endurance would be so I put myself through some rigorous condition training a couple times per week just to test the water. I would catch a second wind at around 20 minutes and feel like I could go forever. My thought on this was that I switched from fat burning mode to muscle burning mode via cortisol spiking (not good for our community). But I certainly wasn't burned out as my body had adapted well.


I've also ran all kinds of CKD scenarios in the past. Carb cycling is a great way to lean out. I try to keep my carbs prior to or immediately after a workout and avoid them hours prior to bed. Training in the morning screws this up but if you train in the evening it works well.
 
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