Carbohydrate cycling - for advanced trainers

[radio]

This is something I've been implementing into my training and diet regimen. I intend on having my surgery this summer, and figure that if I'm going to go all the way and be put under the knife, so to speak, I am going to do everything in my power to ensure the results are great, and that I look and feel great. My goal is to be at 10% body fat at the time of my surgery.

For those who are just beginning their fat loss/weight loss journeys, this may not be for you. I advise you to begin slowly: reduce caloric intake; eat 5-6 smaller meals/day; weight/resistance training; eat clean; etc. However, for those who have been exercising/training/losing fat/getting into the best damn shape of your life for sometime, this may be for you.

We've all reached the dreaded plateau at some point in our fat loss careers. It often seems, no matter how hard we train, we just don't see any results. Here is a diet - based on metabolic manipulation, that can help with these stages. The key here is manipulating the two main metabolic functions - anabolism and catabolism, to work for your benefit. The objective of this program is for the body to catabolize body fat, with minimal loss to muscle tissue. Body builders often utilize variations of these programs when 'cutting' after their long 'bulking' stages (which often adds considerable fat in addition to muscle).

This is a 3 day cycle: day 1 is a no carbs day; day 2 is a high carbs day; and day 3 is a low carbs day.

I'll begin by laying down a few principles and ground rules:

***On EACH day, eat 5-6 meals/day (spaced 2-3 hours apart). [I eat 5/day].

(A) PROTEIN
*At MINIMUM, eat one gram of protein per pound of body weight EVERYDAY. [I eat a minimum of 170 grams of protein a day]. This is essential, as you are going to be in a severe catabolic state regularly during the routine, and do not want to lose any precious muscle mass (muscle increases metabolic rate). The goal is to only catabolize fat. Proteins should come from low fat sources: chicken, turkey, egg whites, whey isolate, etc.
*Divide up your protein intake as evenly as possible over your meals. For example, if I were to eat 170 grams per day over 5 meals, I would eat approximately 35 grams/meal.
*Around 1-2 of your meals each day should come from a higher fat protein source: cottage cheese (2%), eggs (half whites, half whole), dark meat from turkey or chicken, etc.

(B) FAT
*Eat a low amount of fat.
*You'll need to supplement EFAs; fish oil is a great source, which also increases your leptin sensitivity. Around 10-20 grams/day is sufficient.

(C) VEGETABLES
*On each day, at least 3 of your meals should contain 1 cup of green vegetables (i.e. spinach, zucchini, leafy green vegetables, celery, bok choy, cabbage, squash, kale, etc).
*On carb days, eat your vegetables with your no carb meals.
*Fiber from green vegetables is important for digestion.
*Eating vegetables will also induce digestion, which in turn will increase metabolic rate.

Okay, now the carbohydrate cycling routine.

Day 1: No carbs
*That's right - no carbs at all on this day (well, to be honest, you sneak a few in with your leafy green vegetables, but they're not substantial).
*Any vegetables with less than 50 calories/cup is a good indicator that it is acceptable to eat on this day.

Day 2: High carbs
*On this day, 4/6, or 3/5 (depending on how many meals you eat) meals will contain carbohydrates.
*This means complex carbs only! i.e. brown rice, oats, sweet potatoes, yams, All Bran, corn, peas, beans/legumes, etc. You can eat whole wheat pasta and bread - but they are best avoided.
*For each carbohydrate meal, eat one small piece of fruit (50-100 calories worth). This will give your body an insulin spike; fructose from fruit keeps glycogen stores full and keeps your body in a "fed state." However, NO bananas, kiwis, or avacados!
*On this day, the meal BEFORE and AFTER your workout session MUST be a carbohydrate meal.
*You can eat as many carbs on this day as you like - there is no limit. However, eat carbohydrates until emotional/physical satiety, but DON'T gorge.

Day 3: Low carbs
*On this day, 3/6 or 2/5 (depending on how many meals you eat that day) meals will contain carbs.
*Eat a small piece of fruit with each carb meal (50-100 calories worth). Same fruit rules as above.
*Same carb rules apply as above. Complex/healthy carbs only.
*You want to strive to eat 1 gram of carbohydrate for each pound of body weight, divided evenly over your carb meals. I eat 5 meals a day, 2 which contain carbs. So, I should be eating around 85 grams of carbs/meal (170 pounds).

TRAINING
*Put your heaviest, hardest, highest volume days on high carb days.
*On no carb days, you can take a rest day. Alternatively, you can use your no carb days for cardio/light volume.

An example of my routine:
1. No carbs - Off.
2. High carbs - Chest, shoulders, triceps.
3. Low carbs - Back, biceps.
4. No carbs - Off.
5. High carbs - Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves
6. Low carbs - Core/stability training.
Repeat!!

An alternate routine is:
1. No carbs - Off.
2. High carbs - Chest, triceps.
3. Low carbs - Back, biceps.
4. No carbs - Off.
5. High carbs - Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves
6. Low carbs - Shoulders, traps, forearms.
Repeat!!

**Some bodybuilders only weight train in their cutting/carb cycling routine, so they tend not to do cardiovascular exercise in their cutting/carb cycling routine. However, since I am not a bodybuilder, I begin each training day with 20-30 minutes of high intensity interval training (HIIT); this can be sprint intervals, jumping rope, running stairs, etc.

More General Rules (sorry, this will be the last):
*NO fats (good fats or bad fats) for any post workout meal! Fat slows down digestion of proteins and carbohydrates; post workout metabolic activity is highly anabolic, and hence we want to get carbohydrates and protein to muscles as quickly as possible.
*Ideal proteins for post workout meal are whey isolates.
*Eat within 1 hour of workout (30 minutes or less is even better).
*Try to eat between 10-15 grams of L-glutamine each workout/training day, over 2-3 meals (first thing in the morning, before bed, and post workout are best times). L-glutamine is an anti-catabolic amino acid, which helps prevent muscle catabolism when cutting.
*You can tailor the plan and diet to your goals if need be - and if you know what you're doing. For example, I actually consume less than 170 grams of carbohydrates on my low carb days; I have a lower carbohydrate threshold than many people.

This is all I can think of for now. It's actually not as difficult as it sounds. Once you go through one cycle, it becomes fairly committed to memory, and preparing each meal takes less and less effort.
 
I hope this helps some of you out there.

[GB07]

This is a really good, high quality post. Where did you get this particular idea if I may ask?

There is a book called 'Nutrient Timing' and another called 'Power Eating' that are all based on these principles of utilising the post workout period to lower the catabolism and ramp up anabolism that you might like - Check out Amazon.

How long would you keep up this diet, or how long have you been doing it?

[radio]

The idea is not mine. Bodybuilders have been doing this for years; they're extremely adept at manipulating their metabolisms to meet their needs, i.e. during bulking phases, and cutting phases.

I implemented this carbohydrate cycling diet into my routine for approximately 26 days –from mid-January until mid-February. I've just begun a 2nd round of cycling, and intend on continuing for approximately 30 days. During my previous routine, I also cycled in – from time to time – the following 4 day cycle as follows:

Day 1: No carbs
Day 2: High carbs
Day 3: No carbs
Day 4: Low carbs

This is identical to the above 3 day cycle, except you insert an additional 'no carb' day in between your high and low carb days.

I've read that these routines can be implemented anywhere from 4 - 12 weeks. Bodybuilders claim they lose anywhere from 1-2 pounds of body fat a week, with minimal muscle catabolism. However, for non-bodybuilders it's likely less, as we utilize less muscle glycogen while at the gym.

Nonetheless, I was very impressed with my results. I cut down body fat significantly, and actually gained muscle mass during my cycle (I had always consumed high protein [approx. 100 grams/day], but never quite as much as 170-200 grams a day; This may have had something to do with it).

One more caveat: on 'no carb' days, do your best to get close to the recommended daily intake of 25-35 grams of dietary fiber per day (soluble and insoluble). It's important for your health. However, without starchy carbs it's difficult. Count grams of fiber, and eat a lot of leafy greens!

For some of you, fiber supplements may help. But, make sure there aren't any "net carbs." Net carbs are total carbs subtract fiber. Fiber doesn't actually metabolize into blood glucose (depleting glycogen stores in the liver and muscles is the purpose of 'no carb' days). For example, I add a few tablespoons of flax seeds to my salads to assist in fiber consumption; one tablespoon of flax seed contains 2 grams of carbs –but both grams are from fiber, meaning they don't actually metabolize into blood glucose (zero net carbs).

[Banobo]

Hi there. i've been doing sort of the same thing with my calorie intake/ training routine. I' also suggest Fitday to keep track of your weightloss, calorie/carbs and fat balance. It's tip top and i've stuck to it for a while. saves writing everything then doing a calorie count.

You know what's silly, a lot of weight loss companies are charging poor people for the info your talking about radio, look it up it's also called calorie shifting. I found say one or two days out of the week i up my carbs from less of a minimum, cheat days so to speak where i can enjoy all my little demons lol. Helps keep your metabolism fired up.

Good reading radio, got some good pointers