carb cycle

Ok - so I fell off the "good eating wagon" for a while.  Well, I haven't been eating bad foods, but more like too much!  I havn't counted in a long time, and I have been dreading having to do so again.

So - I am going to try carb cycling instead.  So far, I did low carb 2 days in a row and lost 3 pounds!  I know it is all water weight as low carbs deplete glycogen stores and the water that goes along with it.  I am eating carbs today.  So far had oatmeal and a ripe peach cut up into it.  yum.  I am planning on a moderate carb day, cutting off carbs by noon.  Hopefully, all three of those pounds don't come back!

At least, it has given me the motivation to get better at the food thing, because it is different.  Also, I felt pretty full the last two days, even though I had about 20 carbs.   Another thing is that I learned if I want to get a couple pounds leaner for a pool party or something all I have to do is no carbs for a couple days before.... even if it comes back the moment I eat carbs again!

I will post progress................

cool. my mom dropped (and has kept off) 70lbs from low carbing it. she does normal housework, gardening and walking dogs, but mostly sedentary.

she keeps it to around 60grams of carbohydrates a day. thats pretty darn low.

i also havent been counting in some time, just estimations in my head. i think i must be doing okay...although my schedule is all screwed up now because of this renovation!!! GRRR.

we will be doing alot of eating out and at our family's the next 2 or so weeks...missed my workout last night cuz we had to pack up the kitchen (2 hrs of packing and lifting boxes is an okay workout i guess lol)

today work is busy and im off early for a hair appointment, then dinner plans, then stag and doe. BUSY. I am going to do 20 min HIIT program after lunch I think!

good luck to you in your

Yes, please post your progress. Carb cycling is one of the things I want to try, but am not sure about.

I like the idea of carb cycling too.  I tried it before but on my high carb days I would go overboard.  Right now I am in a better place, but you never know how long that will last.   How did you feel on 20 g of carbs a day?  I feel horrible at that level.  Do keep us posted. 

Update after 5 days:

2 days low carb (20-30g) - had lost 3 pounds and thought it was water

1 day medium carbs 100 g

1 day low carb

1 day higher carb (250)

Today low carb

After 5 days and after a high carb day - I am still 3 pounds lighter!  I didn't gain back what I thought I would.  It may be too early to tell, but so far so good.  I haven't lost anymore, but I haven't gained back what I initially lost either!

BUT - I am now at the weight I started with before I gained (over the past couple, three weeks).  So I think the next week or so will be the real test.  I am encouraged so far and if nothing else, it has given me something new to obsess over without counting cals... lol. 

 ETA - Laura - I feel fine on low carb days!  I eat lots of fat though in the form of almonds & peanut butter and that seems to satisfy me.  Also, olive oil in my salad.

on your low carb days, are those days where you are not exercising?

i find that i need lots of carbs to energize me those days...

i used to focus only on carbs and not cals... was trying to eat around 100 grams a day.

i dont think i could eat 20-30 grams only, i usually have a sandwich on low cal bread for lunch, and sometimes a potato at dinner...

the week before my vacation in July I am going to remove as much sugar, carbs and salt as I can in the attempt to drop 2 or 3 lbs for the beach!

Chels - I took a week off last week, so the days didn't matter, but yes, I intend to eat carbs on exercise days and that is why I opted for med carbs today because I started back up today. 

I was usually having a sweet potato for dinner or brown rice, and I read that is probably the wrong time to have carbs, but the ones I was having were pretty good and not starchy.

Anyway - I've read alot of different ways to do carb cycling.  I intend to eat carbs on MWF - work out days and T TH - no carbs.  Then on the weekends, do one carb and one low carb day... depending on what I have planned.

On one of my low carb days, I had a sandwich rollup on leaf lettuce with salami and cheese. (salami probably not the best meat choice-but I love it!)  I found with cheese, peanut butter and almonds - I love all those, I was not hungry.  For dinner I even had a huge T-bone on Friday with a nice salad. 

I had a little wacky snacky desire a couple evenings, but I quickly dismissed them.  I think it is the novelty of it for me.  I get bored easy, so this is different.

Yoga, can you give an example of your food log for a low carb day? I'm having hard time imagining living off 20-30 g of carbs...

ya those low carb things are a normal day for me too.

i often eat sandwich boats as i call them- for lunches. or just meat and cheese rolled up with mustard. and soups.

dinners are almost always lean protein and veg only. once a week probably a potato or rice.

i bet if i counted my carbs now i am probably eating less than i think...

 Edited to fix the formating.  How come when copy and paste it looks great until it posts??

Ok - here is the first couple days - notice the high fat!

Wed, Jun 10 2009

Breakfast

•  Egg, Whole - Cooked, Hard-boiled B 150 233
•  Regular Jif Creamy C 32 190  

 Lunch

•  Salami Hard D+ 27 99  

Dinner

•  Olive Oil B 14 124
•  Chicken, Breast, Meat Only - Cooked, Roasted B 129 213
• Lettuce, Cos Or Romaine - Raw A 28 5  

 Snacks

• Almonds B+ 71 408

Total Calories Consumed 1,272

Thu, Jun 11 2009

   Breakfast

•  Egg, Whole - Cooked, Hard-boiled B 100 155  

 Lunch

•  Regular Jif Creamy C 32 190
•  Salami Hard D+ 27 99
• American Singles - Sandwich Cheese C- 19 60
• Lettuce, Cos Or Romaine - Raw A 28 5  

Dinner

• American Singles - Sandwich Cheese C- 19 60
• Beef, Ground, 85% Lean Meat / 15% Fat, Patty - Cooked, Broiled B- 100 250
• Tomatoes, Red, Ripe - Raw, Year Round Average A 62 11  

Snacks

• Almonds B+ 71 408

Total Calories Consumed

6/10  cals consumed 1272  fat-94 carbs-26  prot-89

6/11 cals consumed 1239  fat-94 carbs-29 prot-76

looks good but that wouldnt fill me up all day.

i have a couple snacks at night. especially after workouts, weekend activity or baseball.

i need around 1700 cals a day to feel full.

I didn't exercise on those days other than a gentle bike ride, so I really was not hungry and I usually eat alot more.  It was surprisingly easy for me, but the challenge will be this week as I start my lifting again!  On the carb days, I definitely ate more cals... 

ya- its either carbs or cals... aside from that there isnt much to eat!

below is today for me. a non workout day but 3 hrs of baseball (practice then game)

for dinner I will be having lamb, peas and a serving of boiled potatos. probably a handful of chips during baseball and 1 or 2 light beers (not great i know but the truth)

Breakfast:

Bananas

yogurt

Cream, Fluid, Half And Half

Apples

Lunch:

sandwich

Cherries, Sweet  

Snacks:

White Cheddar Rice Cakes

Total Calories Consumed 525

ps- im starving right now so might have a cheese string.

pps- i have no kitchen so this is a lighter day than normal for me....

Yeah - it turns out my low carb days are low cal too, just really high fat!    I don't think I had it in me though to go low cal again though.  I LOVE food and have never been a  "dieter" for more than a few weeks.

I don't even think you are supposed to count the carbs from the salad really, so I'm guessing net carbs are around 20 or so.  Anyway - I don't feel deprived as I know I can eat some carbs the next day.  I miss my oatmeal and sweet potatoes the most on low carb days.

Now even on the higher carb days I am going to try no carb dinners and no snacking carbs and concentrate my carbs afer workouts and that is it.  I will probably have a one day exception so that I can have wheat pasta or something once a week.  Not sure I have the dedication to actually follow thru - we'll see!

Well at this point I am willing to try anything. So I was thinking. . .

I have held steady at 154.4/153.4 for over one month now. I have been doing NROLFW for 7 weeks or so. When I first began, I dropped 2-3 pounds, but I am back to 153.4 today and it seems I'm not losing. Not gaining, but not losing~ well the inches are coming off, but not the pounds, so I'm not too worried- YET.

I also reallize that builing muscle- losing fat can definetly mean little to no weight loss especially in the first few weeks. But it's been 7 now. Is that normal?

If I completely cut CERTAIN carbs out maybe twice a week, do you think that may help, or be detrimental? Today and Wednesday I want to avoid rice, potato, pasta, bread,cereals, etc. I don't want to cut out fruits and veggies. Is this acceptable?

I can't cut carbs off all together because I'm a self-admitted carb-o-holic. I would never do such a thing. Any advice would be appreciated of course.

I don't see how it can possibly be detrimental.

I don't eat much grain myself. Haven't had

• rice - in a couple of months
• pasta - more like 6 months
• bread - occasional whole wheat tortilla, no more than twice a week. Whole wheat nutty waffles - VERY occasionally, at most twice a month
• Potato - once in a couple of months
• cereals - packaged - once in a couple of weeks, oatmeal - once a week.

All my carbs come from fresh vegetable salads dressed with cottage cheese, vegetables in stir-fries, legumes (I eat lentils 3-5 times a week), corn (2x a week), dairy and 1 piece of fruit a day. Even without starchy foods I am ALWAYS over 130 g of carbs, closer to 180.

I would like to try this too. I have been eating like a piggy since starting New Rules. Yesterday I had a gigantic piece of cake. I don't even like cake. But this is one that my BFs sister makes and it is soooo good.

I am up 2-3 lbs since starting weights. Not happy. I also feel bigger and fuller but still very hungry. Seems like I have less will power since starting.

Would be a challenge since I don't eat meat-but still. Think I will try it this week. Like idea of lower on non lift days.

Ok future, I am doing the low carb thing today and Wednesday. Today I weighed in at 153.4, and I will weigh on Friday and see if that helped make any difference.

I eat more now that I am lifting too. I think that's normal. Combine that with TTOTM and look out FOOD here I come! Thank God that's over.

Let me know how it goes.

Igloo- I will do it on Tuesday And Thursday-non lift days. 'Course my TOM is coming up. I am at 142.8 as of yesterday AM. Will also weigh in on Friday.

Nudge me elsewhere if I don't report! I forget to check in here.

He he -when I said I feel bigger I almost said BULKY

Original Post by maha-kisa:

I don't see how it can possibly be detrimental.

I don't eat much grain myself. Haven't had

• rice - in a couple of months
• pasta - more like 6 months
• bread - occasional whole wheat tortilla, no more than twice a week. Whole wheat nutty waffles - VERY occasionally, at most twice a month
• Potato - once in a couple of months
• cereals - packaged - once in a couple of weeks, oatmeal - once a week.

All my carbs come from fresh vegetable salads dressed with cottage cheese, vegetables in stir-fries, legumes (I eat lentils 3-5 times a week), corn (2x a week), dairy and 1 piece of fruit a day. Even without starchy foods I am ALWAYS over 130 g of carbs, closer to 180.

 Maha - this is very strict!  I have to say until I started this carb thing,  I usually had ONE of the following daily  : wheat pasta, brown rice, sweet potato & also oatmeal in addition.

Update - i am the same weight.  I am starting to wonder if this is just my set point and where I am supposed to be.  The initial 3 pound loss I think was putting me back to my setpoint!  Having said that, I haven't been that "good" with this way of eating either!  lol 

I haven't had a low carb day in a few days!  My scheduled low carb days have been medium carb at best.  Then the next day seems to be workout days where I don't want to restrict carbs.  Anyway, I am still thankful to have lost the 3 I had gained in just a couple days and I am not gaining back on my high carb days. 

I would like to say today will be no carb, but I already had a banana.