Carb Cycling
Perhaps you’ve heard that your metabolism is a lot like a fire: If you fuel “the fire” with the right ingredients, it keeps burning hotter.
“If you don’t throw enough fuel on the fire, the flame fizzles out.”
The carb cycling diet has been popular among bodybuilders, fitness models and certain types of athletes for decades. Carb cycling — eating more carbs only on certain days — is believed to be beneficial as one of the best diet plans to lose weight and gain muscle because it stimulates certain digestive and metabolic functions.
What makes carbs so special?
Carbohydrates are the body’s first source of fuel, since they’re easily turned into glucose and glycogen, which feed your cells and help create ATP (energy). Your metabolism rises and falls based on your consumption of calories and different macronutrients, including carbohydrates. And many studies have found that adequate carb intake improves performance in both prolonged, low-intensity and short, high-intensity exercises.
Eating enough carbohydrates at the right time resets your metabolic thermostat and signals your body to create enough beneficial hormones (like leptin and thyroid hormones) that keep you at a healthy weight. However, as we all know, too many carbs can have the opposite effect and cause weight gain.
What’s key about a carb cycling diet that makes it different from other plans?
Carb cycling increases carbohydrate (and sometimes calorie) intake only at the right time and in the right amounts. While other long-term diet plans might seem overly restrictive, daunting and overwhelming, many find that a carb cycling diet is easy to follow and even fits into a hectic schedule.
What Is Carb Cycling?
Carb cycling is a type of diet plan that involves eating more carbohydrates on certain days of the week but doing the opposite on the other days: cutting carbs very low in order to achieve easier weight loss. In other words, carb cycling means you eat adequate amounts of carbs (ideally those that are unprocessed and nutrient-dense) about every other day or every few days depending on your specific goals.
Although every carb cycling diet plan is different and needs to be customized based on whether weight loss or muscle gain is the primary goal, most carb cycling diets build in about one to three days per week when you can consume more carb-heavy foods (like potatoes or grains). Some carb cycling diet plans also include a day for indulging on some decadent foods to “reward” yourself for your hard work, guilt-free.
What types of things do you eat when you’re not boosting your carb intake?
On lower-carb days, foods like non-starchy veggies, grass-fed meats, eggs and healthy fats are the base of your meals.
Why would someone choose to carb cycle instead of just dieting the old-fashioned way?
Some the advantages that a carb cycling diet has include:
The primary benefit of a carb cycling diet is it intensifies and often speeds up weight loss while still preserving and even building lean muscle mass. When it comes to improving body composition, this is the gold standard because it keeps your metabolism running efficiently and allows you to maintain your weight more easily long term.
5 Carb Cycling Diet Benefits
How to Eat a Carb Cycling Diet
Structure (How to Carb Cycle)
The difference in your carb intake throughout the week means you alternate lower-carb days with higher-carb days. Remember that eating more carbs and calories gives you a metabolic boost, while doing the opposite slows your metabolic rate down. However, cutting carbs and calories some days is what allows for weight loss.
Many people also like to incorporate specific meal timing into their carb cycling diet plans. Some choose to eat more frequently (four to six times per day) because it helps them stick with their plans and might offer some metabolic advantages. Others like to incorporate aspects of intermittent fasting for quicker results, such as only eating twice daily (skipping breakfast entirely).
How many carbs and calories should you aim for? This depends on your specific body type, gender, age, level of activity and goals. Women usually stick within the 1,500—2,300 calorie range throughout the week, while men typically stay within a range of about 1,500—3,000 calories.
You might find carb cycling to be easiest to sustain if you add or decrease only about 400—600 calories between high-carb and low-carb days.
Higher-carb days might include 200—300 grams of carbohydrates, while lower-carb days might include 75—150 grams (sometimes even as little as 50). Once again, men who are bigger and more active tend to require more of both calories and carbs than smaller women do.
On both days, your protein intake in grams should stay roughly the same, but fat intake will likely increase or decrease. On higher-carb day fat might decrease to only about 15 percent to 25 percent of calories. Although there’s room for customization, here’s an example of a typical carb cycling diet meal plan:
Tips for Sticking with It
Balancing High Carb Foods Vs Low Carb/No Carb, High Protein Foods
Precautions while during Carb Cycling
If carb cycling is a very different way of eating than what you’re accustomed to, expect that your body (cravings, energy, fluid levels, etc.) will take some time to adjust. You might experience some of the following effects when you begin carb cycling — but not to worry since most consider these to be “normal” and likely to go away within one to two weeks:
Feeling more tired than usual
Craving carbs at times
Constipation or bloating due to water retention (especially after higher carb days)
Feeling weaker during workouts
Having trouble sleeping
Being moody or irritable
If these side effects last more than one or two weeks, carb cycling might not be a good fit for you. Everyone is different when it comes to the reaction to different eating plans.
Factors like someone’s age, gender, level of activity, bodyweight and genetic disposition all affect how that person feels when following a low-carb diet. Always listen to your body and use your best judgment instead of just following someone else’s advice.
Disclaimer:Please take a doctor's opinion before starting your dose!
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Your Well-wisher,
Dr.Insiya
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