Carb Cycling- An Experiment Gone Right!

[karewpah 173]

That sounds good as long as the breast is skinless. What are you putting on the orzo?

[Nomad 0]

Hi All,

I've ordered the book (7-Day Carb Cycle), but haven't received it yet. It's been a week already, and I started the diet last week, based on the research I've done and from your blog.

Tomorrow is my scheduled "cheat day". I understand you can cheat for Breakfast and lunch, but then what type of "cycle" or food diet do you have for dinner, high carb or low carb? I'm going to continue the 7-day, after, so I guess everything would start over.

I just need to know what the dinner meal would consist of on the "cheat day". Can anyone tell me or give me a suggestion as to what I should have for my dinner on "cheat day"?

By the way, I found this blog when I did research on the 7-day carb cycle book. I admire everyone here! Isn't it wonderful to have a support group over the internet. Nice!

Thanks! Have a great weekend!

NOMAD

:-)

[hely88 883]

Amazon says not out till December 26tj for $11.55 free shipping for prime users and $9.50 for kindle available now. Weird.

[Jim1967 3,569]

Amazon says not out till December 26tj for $11.55 free shipping for prime users and $9.50 for kindle available now. Weird.

That date is for the soft cover release. Hard cover and Kindle edition have been out for a while.

[destynee1 417]

Hi All,

I've ordered the book (7-Day Carb Cycle), but haven't received it yet. It's been a week already, and I started the diet last week, based on the research I've done and from your blog.

Tomorrow is my scheduled "cheat day". I understand you can cheat for Breakfast and lunch, but then what type of "cycle" or food diet do you have for dinner, high carb or low carb? I'm going to continue the 7-day, after, so I guess everything would start over.

I just need to know what the dinner meal would consist of on the "cheat day". Can anyone tell me or give me a suggestion as to what I should have for my dinner on "cheat day"?

By the way, I found this blog when I did research on the 7-day carb cycle book. I admire everyone here! Isn't it wonderful to have a support group over the internet. Nice!

Thanks! Have a great weekend!

NOMAD

:-)

for dinner .. low carb hun. Good Luck!!

[vmarlau 207]

As many of you know, I was stuck for more than a month. I was monitoring my calories, getting in all my Protein and exercising, yet the scale didn't budge. I know, plateaus are normal, but they still suck. Around the time the plateau hit I also started taking birth control pills. I even gained 2 pounds, which for me was the deal breaker. I had to find a way to break the plateau and start losing again.

So I started researching. Low carb, high carb, no carb, etc. I see so many variations on here! What's right? What's wrong? I already knew it was a matter of choice without a clear right or wrong answer, but I also knew individual body needs also played a very big part in it. During my research I kept coming across something called carb cycling, so I decided to look more into it.

Carb cycling is essentially trying to optimize your metabolism by alternating high and low carb days. Body builders often do this to build muscle and burn fat before a contest but it's also very helpful for weight loss. Then one day I turned on Doctor Oz...and wouldn't you know it... it was an episode on carb cycling. Chris Powell, of The Biggest Loser, was on his show talking about he has all the contestants on the show carb cycle and how he does it. For me, this was the point I decided to give carb cycling a try.

Chris Powell's method is specifically for weight loss so I decided to go with his (there's many out there). He has an excellent book called “Choose to Lose: The 7-Day Carb Cycle Solution”.

His theory: No carb diets don't work. It's not sustainable long term and eventually it significantly slows the metabolism. Worse, people who cut out carbs usually end up gaining all their weight back and then some when they do suddenly reintroduce carbs. Carbs are the energy block of the body and a long term lack of carbs will cause the thyroid to slow down significantly.

7 day diet/carb cycling: High carb day followed by low carb day, alternating daily. Start on a high carb day and always eat within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning. Always limit or omit carbs after 6pm.

All this is within your own personal daily calorie allowance.

High carb day/energy day:

• Preferably complex carbs. Protein, low fat. unlimited veggies.
  

Low carb day/burn day:

• A little carb in the morning to boost metabolism
  
• Cut carbs the rest of the day.
  
• Protien, healthy fats, unlimited veggies
  

3 of each/low carb and high carb. 7th day is cheat day

Cheat day:

• Boost calories to boost metabolism
  
• Boost to no more than 1000 extra calories a day
  
• Cheat at breakfast and lunch, not dinner. 6-12pm “behave”
  
• Cheat at a table. Not in a car, or at a sofa, etc. No “hypno binging”
  
• No leftovers allowed.
  

Mind you, this is the short version of all this. If this interests you, I'd strongly suggest buying his book for a better understanding. It's very enlightening.

...So this is what I've done for the last week. I am very happy to say, carb cycling broke my plateau, despite still being on the birth control pill too. I lost 5.4 pounds this week!

I have decided I am going to continue to carb cycle. I am not a fan of the low carb days, but I am getting more used to them. Plus, I find my "carb cravings" have all but disappeared since starting this- something I didn't think possible.

For me, it's working. I just thought I'd share the results of my little self experiment

OMG! I had just posted something that happened to me on Thanksgiving week....

I started to eat carbs and lost 5lbs that week....I was so excited because I had been on the same weight for a week or two....wow! thanks for all ur info....one of my friends told me to start eating carbs ...that she had heard something like what you just explaind.....Thanks!

[vlp1968 83]

Thanks for the post! I was not aware of carb cycling at all. I am going to get the book for sure. I have been struggling and really feel this could be my answer.

[PattyGirl66 1,243]

I am just one of those persons who have lost weight and jump started my metabolism with Carb Cycling. Now, I have taken this great idea about carbs to another level. This is a personal choice, I need something consistent for every day living.

My initial carb intake before starting carb cycling was about 120 daily. That was too much! This is where my weight loss stalled for 4 weeks! I started carb cycling and in just 2 weeks of giving it a try I lost 10 pounds.

As of now, my carbs is at 40 grams (or under). I do not go over the number once increased so I can see how well I do for the week. I do this for two weeks and track results. I am introducing more "healthy' carbs into my diet on a daily basis. I have also increased my exercise level too. I started out with doing 20 minutes every single day, I am up to 30 minutes now . Last week my carb level was 40 grams daily and I lost 4 pounds in a week. I record everything so that I know what my body feels comfortable with. I will continue at this level for another week, if there are good results I will adjust my carbs up by another 10 pts.

The goal is to find just the right amount of carbs that my body can be comfortable with on a daily basis, with results. As our bodies loses more weight and we increase our exercise our metabolism changes too.

On a last note: If my weight starts to stall again I will go back to carb cycling to jump start my metabolism. Its as simple as that!

[2012 359]

So how is everybody doing that has been carb cycling for a few weeks, are you still consistently losing? I think I'm hitting a plateau and may just give this a try and will take advantage of the high carb days to bulk up on veggies.

[PattyGirl66 1,243]

So how is everybody doing that has been carb cycling for a few weeks, are you still consistently losing? I think I'm hitting a plateau and may just give this a try and will take advantage of the high carb days to bulk up on veggies.

Hi Amy, it can't hurt to give it a try if your weight has stalled and you have tried everything. I didn't take action for 4 weeks when my weight stalled on me, I wanted to 'wait' to see if anything happened or my body needed to catch up. Well, I realized when you do lose a lot of weight your body can't handle the 'high' amount of carbs, for example my body was doing 120 carbs daily before my weight stalled. That was too much and my body wouldn't of lost weight on that amount of carbs if I didn't do anything about it.

I done not only research on carb cycling, read, but I also personally know someone who is a gym rat and has lost 160 pounds in 11 months just by exercising. She weighed over 300 lbs, and went over my nutrients with me and also confirmed 120 grams of carbs was very high and I needed to bring it down considerably. Its still work in progress for me, but yes I am still losing weight by watching my carb intake. I am not starving my body at all, eating very healthy, and getting in very healthy complex carbs to keep my body fat burning....

[2012 359]

Awesome, thanks Patty and I love your pic, looking good

[Jim1967 3,569]

I've lost about 9 pounds in the two weeks I've been doing it. On low carb days I tend to stick around 30 to 35g and on high carb days I am around 120 - 140g.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Hello all!

Well I just got home last night. I drove from Washington State to Michigan in 4 days. Can I just say...that sucked?!?!LOL

According to the scale, I gained 2.6 pounds while I was gone for a week. I'm not surprised. While I didn't eat a lot, what I did eat was total crap. It was close to impossible to eat right while cruising across the country. More than once we stopped in small towns and literally had zero food choices beyond what we found at tiny gas stations.

So, I'm going grocery shopping today and back to carb cycling tomorrow!

[karewpah 173]

Welcome back Missy...those 2.6 pounds will be gone in no time

[MiniMi 1,468]

Hello all!

Well I just got home last night. I drove from Washington State to Michigan in 4 days. Can I just say...that sucked?!?!LOL

According to the scale' date=' I gained 2.6 pounds while I was gone for a week. I'm not surprised. While I didn't eat a lot, what I did eat was total crap. It was close to impossible to eat right while cruising across the country. More than once we stopped in small towns and literally had zero food choices beyond what we found at tiny gas stations.

So, I'm going grocery shopping today and back to carb cycling tomorrow![/quote']

Glad you had a nice time. Those gas station churros can really stick it to ya huh?!