carb cycling

[laslo101]

ok so last year when i did a cutting diet with dk i used alot of different dieting techniques it seemed and the one that worked best for me seemed to be carb cycling. i have just finished bulking the last 22 weeks and i am going to be starting boxing again in 2 months time( low on money) but figure this gives me some time to cut the fat away slowly and keep some of the muscle i worked hard for the last year. i want to do this by carb cycling. however how do you make changes to something like this regimine do you lower carbs on your high carb days or do you lesser fats the other days ? i will only be doing this when weight loss slows, and cardio will be upped by 10 min every 2 weeks.

[laslo101]

so example would be:
high carb days: mon, thurs, sat.
meal 1: 1 cup oats, 4 egg whites
meal 2: 1 cup brown rice 6 oz eye of round 1 cup brocoli or green lettuce
meal 3:6 oz chicken 2 tbs natty pb
meal4: brown rice or 6 oz sweet potatoe, 6 oz chicken or talapia
meal5(pwo): 25g prottein 1 bannana
meal6: 4 egg whites or 25g protein shake.

low carb days:tuesday,wed,fri,sun
meal1:4 whole eggs
meal2:6 oz eye of round steak
meal3:6 oz chicken breast 2 tbs natty pb
meal4:6 oz eye of round
meal5 pwo: 25g protein, 1 tbs natty pb
meal6:3 whole eggs, 1 tbs natty pb.

[evoke]

Carb cycling works well for me too. But I usually don't set specific days for low-carbs.
I usually go with 3 on 1 off, or 4 and 1.

On low carb days, I eat less, and increase protein and fats.

[baza]

I carb cycle, almost year round. For me it's optimal way to burn fat while maintain muscle, and you never feel flat.
I keep my fats the same, just adjust carbs.

Here's my sample week

Sunday
200g carbs = 50g per meal, first 4 meals.
300g protein = 50g per meal, six meals.
60g fat = Add roughly 5g to first 4 meals, and roughly 20g to last two meals.

Monday
160g carbs = 40g per meal, first 4 meals.
Rest is the same

Tues
120g carbs = 30g per meal, first 4 meals.

Wed
80g carbs = 20g per meal, first 4 meals.

Thur
160g carbs = 40g per meal, first 4 meals.

Fri
80g carbs = 20g per meal, first 4 meals.

I should note though, two of my carb meals are shakes with about 1/2cup of mixed berries, that I don't add to my calculations. Never have, and just never bothered ever adding it.

Last summer, I got stronger, while dropping about 10-15lbs of fat. Went from benching about 315lbs for 8ish to 365lbs for 8ish at about 8% bf.

And I don't do cardio anymore.

[laslo101]

ok thanks baza and evoke, going with keto for now choose it in the end but if i dont like it or start feeling crappy im going to do something like baza's carb cycling seems to give me more energy but keto drops my fat faster it seems.

[evoke]

I carb cycle, almost year round. For me it's optimal way to burn fat while maintain muscle, and you never feel flat.
I keep my fats the same, just adjust carbs.

Here's my sample week

Sunday
200g carbs = 50g per meal, first 4 meals.
300g protein = 50g per meal, six meals.
60g fat = Add roughly 5g to first 4 meals, and roughly 20g to last two meals.

Monday
160g carbs = 40g per meal, first 4 meals.
Rest is the same

Tues
120g carbs = 30g per meal, first 4 meals.

Wed
80g carbs = 20g per meal, first 4 meals.

Thur
160g carbs = 40g per meal, first 4 meals.

Fri
80g carbs = 20g per meal, first 4 meals.

I should note though, two of my carb meals are shakes with about 1/2cup of mixed berries, that I don't add to my calculations. Never have, and just never bothered ever adding it.

Last summer, I got stronger, while dropping about 10-15lbs of fat. Went from benching about 315lbs for 8ish to 365lbs for 8ish at about 8% bf.

And I don't do cardio anymore.

I think you missed Saturday.
And what days do you train?

[baza]

Pig the **** out saturday lol, sometimes Sunday too. Sunday and the 80g day are my secondary cheat days. I mean sunday is my highest carb day, I don't really see it as a fat loss day, so if I feel like having a sub or something I will have it on this day. And the 80g carb day, 20g per meal, I don't care if some of it's sugar. Sometimes will be a bran bar or fibre one bar, small bag of popcorn etc.

For probably last 3 months I've been doing 45sec rest in between sets, weights prob less then 50% of my regular heavy sets, ie I benched 185lbs-205lbs for 5 sets yesterday, then did 55lb dumbell inclines. People probably look and think wtf when they see me struggling lol. And I finish with 5mins on the bike because my workouts are so fast, usually about 30-45mins, so I stretch it to 35-50mins. I get so bored I can't do anymore cardio.

Train
Mon - Chest/Tris
Tues - Back/Bis
Wed - Off - Try to walk dog twice.
Thur - Legs
Fri - Shoulders/Abs

It might not work for everyone, it works so well for me, and it's so easy for me. 90% of my carbs come from oatmeal, I put just enough water to make them soft and it takes like 3 spoonfuls to eat, compared to choking down spoonful after spoonful of dry rice.

[laslo101]

so why are you are struggling to push that weight is this due to the intensity and short breaks between sets ?

[baza]

Yeah short breaks, and higher reps. Usually aim for around 12-15reps. First few weeks of adjusting are hard, out of shape, out of breath.
I had some injuries so didn't really go heavy at all this whole year. Just finished going heavy for two weeks with longer breaks. Was terribly weak though.

[fathead]

baza could you post a typical days food choices id be curious to see...

so youre eating 1/3c of oats and.... 7oz chicken? for a 20g carb + 50g pro meal? what about your fats?

thanks

[baza]

Typical day, say 160g carb day.

Meal 1: Frozen fruit (as I mentioned never counted these carbs, but should have)
Half cup oatmeal
50g protein powder from trueprotein. (Slow digesting blend, casein, whole egg, milk isolate, whey conc to cheapen it)
Magic Bullet blender.
3g fishoil caps.

Meal 2
Cup cottage cheese
Scoop of protein
1/2 cup oatmeal
Few almonds or mixed nuts, roughly 5g of fats

Meal 3
Same as meal 1 (Scoop of PB instead of fishoil)

Meal 4
50g protein from chicken breast
1/2 cup oatmeal (sometimes yam fries in the higher carb days, preferably fresh, sometimes Costco frozen)
Again few grams of fat from nuts. Or if I have the Costco yam fries there's a bit of fat in there so don't bother.
Sometimes will have spaghetti on higher carb days as well. Also won't add fat because of the beef.

Meal 5
Usually chicken breast
Handful of nuts, approx 15-25g of fat worth.

Meal 6
Protein blend shake
1.5 tbsp fish oil (nutrasea (sp?))

Also have been taking green tea extract and eph/caffeine late last couple months.

[baza]

Here's the change I made from when I started doing short rests between sets. I think I was a little bloated in the July pic though. Was about 255. Other pic probably around 240.
I'll post a pic from this week when I can find my camera, as I'm gonna take a couple weeks off after this. Probably about 235ish right now.

[baza]

Here's today. Holding bit a water around the midsection from weekend though.

[LondonMuscle]

the simplest way to carb cycle is to set up a base diet and then add in a high carb meal pwo on workout, or some workout days

so your diet might be 3500 cals with 150g of carbs as your base... then on certain days pwo you can add in another 150 of carbs just to keep yourself glycogen loaded or somewhat close

the multi tier, high, med, low days etc. imo offers no additional benefits, just more complications... as well, having high and low fat days does the same although for contest prep this is something that may be worth taking into consideration... id suggest keeping everything the same for the base diet each day and just adding in an extra carb meals at whatever frequency you deem necessary

[laslo101]

thats a very simple way of looking it at i guess...so add in those carbs with your pwo shake ? or like the meal after your pwo shake LM ?

[LondonMuscle]

i dont actually do pwo shakes anymore, i consume my shakes pre and intra workout then go home and eat a whole meal... if u are stuggling to get in cals u can add in a pwo shake then have a meal afterwards but most ppl dont need that many cals

so on your base diet might have 50g of carbs in the morning, 50g during the workout and 50 post workout... on your high carb days u can have 50g in the morning, 50g during the workout and 200 pwo... or if its easier 100g during and 150g post plus the morning meal... just throwing numbers out there but that is how u could organize it

so say ur regular pwo meal is 50g of carbs from rice plus chicken and veggies, then u can add another 100-150g through some other source, maybe rice cakes or oatmeal etc.

for most of the diets i design, specially when the carbs get low, its just 150g every few days pwo from various sources... fruits, oats, rice cakes, potatoes or even something like sushi or pizza depending on the type of diet