Carb Cycling-Does It Work?

Hi there. I hope everyone had a great weekend!! It’s Monday and time to think about our diets and the choices we made over the weekend. I’m here for you!!

I get a lot of people that ask me, “what diet should I try?” I get it, there’s a bunch right? Low carb, Low fat, Mediterranean diet, Atkins, Keto, etc. The truth is in my opinion, they all work to some degree. The question is what’s sustainable and what will keep your weight off?

The diet I get asked the most about is about is carb cycling and does it work? I will always say, any diet or program that tells you to restrict 1 macronutrient is not a good one. However, in the short term you will lose weight, but if its not sustainable and easy, when you quit the program what happens? You ALWAYS gain the weight back!

We want what’s quick and easy, I mean let’s just be honest. Unfortunately, it didn’t take you a week to gain all the weight your trying to lose did it? No, probably months or maybe years. How can you realistically expect to lose a shit ton of weight in a couple weeks to a couple months? Carb cycling I am a fan of as it doesn’t restrict carbs. The lowest you will go on a low carb day is 25g and that’s on the very low end.

Let’s talk about carb cycling. What is carb cycling, does it work? It’s a plan designed to trick your body. When we trick our metabolism we are trying to make it think it doesn’t know what to expect next. As a result, you’re always in a “burning” mode.

The idea is to always keep the metabolism guessing so it doesn’t get lazy. An option is that you can alternate your carbohydrate intake daily, weekly, or monthly. The concept is to eat carbs when you will burn as many as possible and restrict them on days when you won’t be burning them up. We are trying to teach the body to burn fat as fuel.

So why would you want to carb cycle? People use this method for a variety of reasons.

If you have an event or vacation and you only need to lose, say 10lbs
Training or rest days. On days when your working out bigger body parts, like legs or back you take in more carbs. On days when your working on a smaller body part like arms or abs, or only doing cardio you take in less carbs.
Refeed days. If you have been on a diet for awhile, with little to no weight loss, you’ve hit a plateau, or you need to jump start your metabolism you add in a refeed, or high carb day.

When you’re trying out a new weight loss plan you have to give it 2 solid weeks, take notes, then make adjustments, and so on. Everyone is different with different goals. No 2 plans are the same with the same affects on people.

When not to use carb cycling? If you are pregnant, have Hashimoto’s disease, diabetes, or have an eating disorder this plan is not for you. You should ALWAYS consult your doctor before starting any diet, plan, program, anything. I am NOT a doctor. This article is my opinion. I am only here for ideas on what I have done, what works and what doesn’t.

So how do we do it? We have low carb days, and high carb days:

Low Carb Day:

Protein 0.8 to 1.0 x body weight in lbs. Carbs 0.3 to 0.5 x body weight in lbs. Fat 0.4 to 0.5 x body weight lbs. Always start at the low end first and see how you do. Then work your way up. So for a female, if you weight 145 lbs. your protein would be 116g, carbs would be 43.5g and fat would be 58g. Male intake for a 200 lb. man would be 160g protein, 60g carbs, and 80g fat. Try that for 2 weeks. Record your weight and see how much you lose. Then go up a level. For carbs do 0.4 x your body weight, 0.9 x your body weight for protein, and 0.5 x your body weight for fat. Then run that for 2 weeks and see how much weight you lose. Whichever you do better on is your daily numbers you need to stick to on a low carb day.

High Carb Day:

Protein 0.7 to 0.9 x your body weight in lbs. Carbs 1.0 x 1.1 x body weight in lbs. Fat 0.2 to 0.3 x your body weight in lbs. Again, same as a figuring out your numbers like above. Start on the low end and run it for 2 weeks. Then move up. For a 145lb. female your protein would be 101.5g, carbs 145g, 29g fat. See how on your high carb days your carbs are up but your fat is down?

Carb cycling, does it work? Yes. It does take work though. You have to use an app like, My Fitness Pal. You have to put some time in to put in your foods. I have the premium version. I can add in certain workout days, add in my macros for those days based on a high or low carb day, and it saves the days you want it to be set at.

Now let’s not get carried away. You can’t expect to eat pizza, five guys, a salad at Panera Bread loaded with fattening dressing, have it fit your macros and think your going to lose 20lbs. Each meal has to be a protein, carb, and a HEALTHY fat.

If you have specific questions about carb cycling email me at info@balancinglove.com or bring it to our forum at, “Ask Jen”.

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