Carbohydrate Cycling - What is it?
Carbohydrate cycling is a strategy in which you intentionally manipulate your carbohydrate intake. This is to optimise key metabolic hormones in order maximise the fat burning process, while simultaneously protecting muscle and strength. Most diets people tend to lose muscle weight and not actual fat. We want to keep as much lean muscle as we can as this will keep your metabolism high. By strategically holding and re-feeding carbohydrates, you ensure your body gets the exact nutrients its needs to perform at its best. Whilst never feeling deprived, restricted, and enjoying the food you like.
There is lots of science behind how carbohydrate cycling works and the effectiveness of it. But I am going to keep it simple and easy to understand. On high carbohydrate days we use the increase in carbohydrates to create a spike in insulin. This is to primarily refill your glycogen stores, facilitate and aid in muscle repair and growth and rev up your metabolism.
There is lots of science behind how carbohydrate cycling works and the effectiveness of it. But I am going to keep it simple and easy to understand. On high carbohydrate days we use the increase in carbohydrates to create a spike in insulin. This is to primarily refill your glycogen stores, facilitate and aid in muscle repair and growth and rev up your metabolism.
On your low carbohydrate days, the aim is to keep your insulin levels low to allow your body to utilise your body’s fat stores for energy. You will still have carbohydrates on these days. But we will strategically eat them around your training. There is also loads of research to show that periods of low carbohydrate intake followed by post exercise high carbohydrate refeeds experience significantly greater performance improvements when compared to low carbohydrate or ketogenic diets.
Carbohydrate cycling and calorie cycling also helps optimize both Leptin and Grehlin levels in our body. Ghrelin, the appetite increaser, is released primarily in the stomach and is thought to signal hunger to the brain. You would expect the body to increase ghrelin if a person is undereating and decrease it if he or she is overeating. Leptin, the appetite suppressor appears to be the bigger player in our bodies' energy balance. Leptin helps signal the brain that the body has enough energy stores such as body fat. But many obese people do not respond to leptin's signals even though they have higher levels of leptin. So, Leptin and Grehlin play an especially important role in weight loss, weight gain and the ability to maintain body composition. Carbohydrate cycling has been shown to induce fat loss and overall weight loss, without lowering resting energy expenditure, and thereby without damaging your metabolism.
Carbohydrate cycling and calorie cycling also helps optimize both Leptin and Grehlin levels in our body. Ghrelin, the appetite increaser, is released primarily in the stomach and is thought to signal hunger to the brain. You would expect the body to increase ghrelin if a person is undereating and decrease it if he or she is overeating. Leptin, the appetite suppressor appears to be the bigger player in our bodies' energy balance. Leptin helps signal the brain that the body has enough energy stores such as body fat. But many obese people do not respond to leptin's signals even though they have higher levels of leptin. So, Leptin and Grehlin play an especially important role in weight loss, weight gain and the ability to maintain body composition. Carbohydrate cycling has been shown to induce fat loss and overall weight loss, without lowering resting energy expenditure, and thereby without damaging your metabolism.
Getting all your marocs (protein, fat and carbohydrates) is so important to get the results you want. As they say you cannot out train a bad diet. Therefore, getting your nutrition right will play about 80% of the results you will get. Our aim is to get you to understand food and intake to make it a lifestyle change and not another diet. It can take a week or so to get used to tracking your food and creating meals for the low and high carbohydrate days. But you really can have the foods you like once you understand the food your eating. For fat loss we follow 3-days of low carbohydrates and 1-day high carbohydrates. This means that your high carbohydrate days will change each week. On low carbohydrate days you will be on a 25% calorie deficit of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) and on high carbohydrate days you will be on a 10% calorie deficit of your TDEE. Do not worry we will be do all the maths and equations. After every 5lbs lost we will then adjust your macros/ calories accordingly.
Depending on when you like to workout we recommend having about 30% of your carbohydrates after your workouts. This will help maximise your results.
Training first thing/ Fasted (AM session)
Getting your nutritional timing right will be the hardest part of this nutrition plan. But focus on hitting your marcos first. We need to make sure we are still getting the calorie deficit for the fat loss. Then once you are a pro then you can dial in meal timings.
Depending on when you like to workout we recommend having about 30% of your carbohydrates after your workouts. This will help maximise your results.
Training first thing/ Fasted (AM session)
- 30-35% of your daily carbohydrate intake to be had immediately after your workout.
- 20-25% of your daily carbohydrate in the next meal.
- 10-15% of your daily carbohydrate on each meal after that. Making sure to stay within your macros (protein, fats & carbs) for the day.
- 10-15% of your daily carbohydrate before the workout.
- 30-35% of your daily carbohydrate immediately after your workout.
- 20-25% of your daily carbohydrate in the next meal.
- 10-15% of your daily carbohydrate on each meal after that. Making sure to stay within your macros (protein, fats & carbs) for the day.
- 10-15% of your daily carbohydrate in meal 1.
- 10-15% of your daily carbohydrate in meal 2.
- 30-35% of your daily carbohydrate immediately after your workout.
- 20-25% of your daily carbohydrate in the next meal.
- 10-15% of your daily carbohydrate on each meal after that. Making sure to stay within your macros (protein, fats & carbs) for the day.
- 10-15% of your daily carbohydrate in meal 1.
- 10-15% of your daily carbohydrate in meal 2.
- 10-15% of your daily carbohydrate in meal 3.
- 30-35% of your daily carbohydrate immediately after your workout.
- 15-20% of your daily carbohydrate on each meal after that. Making sure to stay within your macros (protein, fats & carbs) for the day.
Getting your nutritional timing right will be the hardest part of this nutrition plan. But focus on hitting your marcos first. We need to make sure we are still getting the calorie deficit for the fat loss. Then once you are a pro then you can dial in meal timings.
You will notice changes pretty quick and it will forever change the way you look at food. You will be looking at food for a purpose. “ What do I need to get from food and why am I going to eat this”. No longer will you be thinking I need a healthy meal. You will be breaking meals down in your head into proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It may seem complicated to start with. But once you do start to get it you have hit the biggest milestone of achieving lifelong results and the body composition you want.
The main thing to remember is that if you stick to your macros (protein, fats & carbohydrates) and the calories for the day you are winning! On lower carbohydrate days you will be in a 25% deficit and on higher carbohydrate days you will be 10% deficit. You will find some days you might be under a little or others over. But make sure you stay within 50 calories total if you go over.
The main thing to remember is that if you stick to your macros (protein, fats & carbohydrates) and the calories for the day you are winning! On lower carbohydrate days you will be in a 25% deficit and on higher carbohydrate days you will be 10% deficit. You will find some days you might be under a little or others over. But make sure you stay within 50 calories total if you go over.
Food Recommendations
Proteins
When it comes to selecting your carbohydrates, your goal is to pick ones that have a low glycemic index. The glycemic index (GI) provides a measure of how quickly blood sugar levels rise after a particular food is eaten. The effects that different foods have on blood sugar levels can vary considerably. An easy quick way of thinking about it is, the closer to the source of the whole food the better. So, like vegetables and fruit. The more processed the food the higher the GI also the quicker your body will use that energy and leave you craving more sugary food.
This website is a great resource to see what the GI number of foods.
https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/nutrition/glycemic-index-chart/
So, when it comes to food choices you want to pick whole foods, that have been minimally processed and as close to the source as possible. Real Food!
- Chicken breast
- Turkey
- Beef
- Ground beef (keep the fat % low)
- Pork
- Lamb
- Whole Eggs
- Egg whites
- Salmon
- Tuna
- Shrimp
- Swordfish
- Crab meat
- Cottage cheese
- Feta cheese
- Goats cheese
- Tofu
- Almond milk
- Protein powders (whey or plant based)
- Avocado
- Fatty Fish
- Nuts and seeds
- Nut butters
- Olives
- Oils
When it comes to selecting your carbohydrates, your goal is to pick ones that have a low glycemic index. The glycemic index (GI) provides a measure of how quickly blood sugar levels rise after a particular food is eaten. The effects that different foods have on blood sugar levels can vary considerably. An easy quick way of thinking about it is, the closer to the source of the whole food the better. So, like vegetables and fruit. The more processed the food the higher the GI also the quicker your body will use that energy and leave you craving more sugary food.
This website is a great resource to see what the GI number of foods.
https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/nutrition/glycemic-index-chart/
So, when it comes to food choices you want to pick whole foods, that have been minimally processed and as close to the source as possible. Real Food!
Tracking Your Food
We recommend using Nutra Check
https://www.nutracheck.co.uk/Home
It is important to track what you are eating and check you are getting the right amount of proteins, fats and carbs. we like using 'Nutacheck' to track our macros as its simple to use and UK based. If you prefer to use other food tracking apps like 'My Fitness Pal' feel free to use them. We want to keep the logging process as simple and easy to use as possible.
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