Carb Cycling Basics

If you're trying to shed fat and gain lean muscle, carb-cycling is one of the easiest and most effective ways to start seeing results fast.  It sounds like a very complex plan, especially if you get into reading about some of the underlying processes such as ketosis, but the basic gist is that you're merely alternating days where you eat a very low amount of carbohydrates with days where you're eating a higher number of carbohydrates in order to promote fat loss by tricking your body into burning fat for fuel instead of the sugars from carbohydrates that it would normally use.  The focus is on carbs because of all the macronutrients, those seem to have the greatest impact with regard to that layer of 'goo' that we all seem to want to get rid of - that little bit of something-something that's keeping your six-pack from showing (and we all have a 6-pack somewhere under those layers, regardless of how many crunches you do, or don't do...).  

I will lay out more details in a future post, but there are many ways to do this carb-cycling thing depending on your goals and how quickly you'd like to see results.  The more low-carb days you have in your plan, the quicker you will see results, however a plan with several days of low-carb eating is very difficult to maintain even in the short term and unhealthy in the long term as it's quite taxing on the liver.  Carbs are an important source of energy for the body and low-carb days will likely leave you feeling tired, irritable, with little energy and possibly a headache.  The body will adjust with time and these symptoms will lessen, but days where carbs are restricted will still be a challenge for most people.  

To make things as simple as possible, I recommend either alternative high and low-carb days every other day OR eating mostly lowcarb and aligning high-carb days with your strength training workouts, which should be at least 2-3 days a week to maintain lean muscle mass.  Shoot for eating 5 times a day (three main meals and two small snacks), roughly every 3 hours.  On your low-carb days you should include a serving of protein, fresh veggies and an optional healthy fat at the three main meals.  Snacks should be some type of protein-rich food with a veggie - think hard-boiled egg and some carrot sticks or almond butter on celery sticks.  On your high-carb days, you can add in some type of grain or starchy veggies to each meal.  Snacks can include fruit on these days.  If you're jonesing for a buttered roll or a beer, save it for the high-carb days.  

Depending on your goals, you may also want to add in one 'cheat' meal per week or every other week.  I don't recommend going to McDonald's and gorging on a Big Mac Super-Sized meal, but if you've been wanting a reasonably-sized burger or a slice of pizza, the cheat meal would be when you'd have that.  Just keep in mind that these cheat meals are designed to make your meal plan more sustainable for the long term, but they will also reduce the speed of your results.  If you're trying to get shredded for an event that's two weeks away, you're probably going to want to opt for a plan that cycles in high-carb days infrequently and does not include a cheat meal.  

Below you'll find some a printable guide to help illustrate which foods are 'better' choices when it comes lean proteins, veggies, carbs, 'Nature's Candy' (which is fruit and also a carb), dairy (a protein/carb/fat combo), fats, condiments/sauces and beverages.  

Note:  Dairy intake should be limited if not restricted altogether.  Serving sizes for dairy items kind of depend on the type, so it can get complicated.  For something relatively low-fat/low-sugar like low-fat cottage cheese, you can have as much as a cup for a serving.  For hard cheeses such as cheddar, you'd be limited to just an ounce.  Butter would follow the fat serving size, as would full-fat cream.