Carb Cycling question

[Welter]

3J

Just to refresh

BMR-1750
TDEE-3150 using 1.8

Im getting tired of the same stuff again. Dont want to do keto right now. Was thinking of carb cycling, Since ive never done it Id like some thoughts.

Good idea? bad idea? If you like it i need some help with what my macros should look like. Ive read quite a bit and there appear to be 2 schools of thought.

1. heavy carb days should mirror the days your trying to improve a particular muscle group.

2. just pick 2 days to go heavy carbs, 2 moderate carb and 3 low carb days and stick to it.

What are your thoughts?

id like to do a clean bulk right now.

Also,would need some help with food choices, like now i pretty much try to avoid fruits (unless its pwo) but in carb cycling it sounds like thats ok?

right now im running a 40-40-20

 

[Larrybird]

I'm currently doing a carb cycle right now. I just eat majority of carbs pre-workout and post workout.

I've been eating so many raw vegetables it's disgusting.

Then every 4th day, I lower my fat content and up my carb intake to about 400g, splitting that evenly into 6 meals.

You should definitely try and do some intense cardio or an intense workout on your heavy carb days.

 

[Welter]

Thanks Larry, I do an extraordinary amount of cardio. How do you feel on your heavy carb days? how about low carb days? do you bloat badly on the heavy carb days?

Last question, do you only eat clean complex carbs? or do you mix in fruit, white rice, white bread etc?

 

[3J]

carb cycling is the best way to diet imo....

i follow a modified carb cycle myself.. my own personal recipe...

the carb cycle your talking about is the standard version...

u could go two days low and one day high too.. and yes, make your high days the days where u are working on the things that need improving.. or doing legs..

food choices should be sensitive to gl vs gi comparisons...

keep the carbs complex unless pwo.

on low carb days keep it to pre and pwo

 

[Welter]

Thanks bud when finals are over I want to pick your brain a little.

 

[RJ]

carb cycling is the best way to diet imo....

i follow a modified carb cycle myself.. my own personal recipe...

the carb cycle your talking about is the standard version...

u could go two days low and one day high too.. and yes, make your high days the days where u are working on the things that need improving.. or doing legs..

food choices should be sensitive to gl vs gi comparisons...

keep the carbs complex unless pwo.

on low carb days keep it to pre and pwo

you could also do a high/med/low 3 day split. There are a ton of variations to this. Just like everything else, you have to find what works best. Trial and error is best here as well. I know a couple guys who do 4 days extremely low and an extreme high 5th day and they are lean as fuck. If I did that I'd be worthless by the 2nd day. lol

 

[Welter]

RJ
Any idea how low they go on the extreme days? I like that idea but I definitely need pre workout carbs. Everything is a struggle when trying to work out during keto.

If I can get 30g of carbs pre I think I would be fine.

 

[Larrybird]

Thanks Larry, I do an extraordinary amount of cardio. How do you feel on your heavy carb days? how about low carb days? do you bloat badly on the heavy carb days?

Last question, do you only eat clean complex carbs? or do you mix in fruit, white rice, white bread etc?

On my low carb days, I stick to veggies and comples carbs.

Here is a typical low carb day for me:

Breakfast (5am)
1 cup egg beater omelet, w/ spinach, tomatoe, mushrooms, jalapaenos, fat free cheese.
1 medium head of broccolli (raw)
***I find that if I eat my veggies before I indulge in my main course, it's almost like a reward system for eating some of those nasty tasting veggies**

8am
Casein (1scoop) + Whey (1scoop) protein shake w/ water
2 stalks of celery + 2tbsp PB

11am-
Large salad (no dressing), loaded with all the veggies I can put on it (cucumbers, broccolli, tomatoes, cabbage, celery)
1/2 serving gabanzo beans
6oz chicekn breast.

2pm -
1 cup brown rice
6oz chicken breast

PWO
Whey protein + water

5:30pm
1 medium white potato
5oz chicken breast
1 cup steamed broccolli

7pm:
1 serving nuts

9pm
Casein + Water shake

_______

On a high carb day, I pretty much have my cheat meal + my carbs come from complex carbs.

So,

#1 meal
1 cup egg beater omelet
.75 cup oatmeal (dry)
1/2 banana

#2
1.5 cup shredded wheat
Protein shake

#3
1 medium sweet poato
5 oz chicken breast

#4 (PWO) [Cheat meal]
2 cups frozen yogurt
2 scoops whey protein

#5
1 medium sweet potato
5oz chicken breast

#6
1.5 cup cottage cheese
2 tbsp sugar free jam

______

Usually, I feel pretty good on my low carb days, and then come the 3rd day I start to feel lethargic. Thus, on the 4th day I load up. I do get a little bloated on my heavy carb days, but I mainly choose complex carbs those days + plus, I carry around a gallon of water with me all the time. By sticking to complex carbs and drinking tons of water the bloat won't be so bad.

 

[RJ]

RJ
Any idea how low they go on the extreme days? I like that idea but I definitely need pre workout carbs. Everything is a struggle when trying to work out during keto.

If I can get 30g of carbs pre I think I would be fine.

typically 50g/500g respectively. Some of them may be using SLin also.

 

[bishs]

Carb cycling surely improves results... if you follow the rule of.. eat for what you do. The only time I eat carbs are preworkout, post, then 3 meals after post. Oh and of course breakfast. If not working out I try to limit carbs to breakfast and a fruit during the day.

 

[Welter]

Thanks guys,

I'm going to work on my macros and food choices this week, put a plan in place and start Monday. Well see how it goes.

Appreciate the input.

 

[Welter]

One other question, what do you guys generally feel is enough pre/pwo in carbs? If i plan on 50g on my low days should i be shooting for 20 pre, 20 post and 10 others in my veggies? or do i not count carbs in veggies?

I only care about feeling good thru my workout. Dont give a shit about the rest of the day.

 

[Welter]

3J

Im trying to get my macros in place for carb cycling.

Im looking at my macros looking something like this:

Low Carb Days

150c f 60g c 440g p

1350 240 1760 3350kc

Medium Carb Days

100 165 440
900 660 1760 3290kc

Heavy Carb
Fat Carb PRO
60 450 250
540 1800 1000 3340kc

What are your thoughts about the general parameters ive pt up? i can tweak the meals once i know what my macros should look like.

BTW: My pre Meal is Meal #4 Post #5

Help me buddy

 

[3J]

3J

Im trying to get my macros in place for carb cycling.

Im looking at my macros looking something like this:

Low Carb Days

150c f 60g c 440g p

1350 240 1760 3350kc
thats a whole messa protein for no reason.. drop it down 100g and up your fats, unless ur rich..
Medium Carb Days

100 165 440
900 660 1760 3290kc
same thing here with the protein.. no need for that much.. up the fats..
Heavy Carb
Fat Carb PRO
60 450 250
540 1800 1000 3340kc
this looks good
What are your thoughts about the general parameters ive pt up? i can tweak the meals once i know what my macros should look like.

BTW: My pre Meal is Meal #4 Post #5

Help me buddy

now the question is how your planning to follow this.. are you gonna do 2 low 1 med 1 high? 1 low 1 med 1 low 1 high?

there are a great many ways to do it..

 

[Welter]

now the question is how your planning to follow this.. are you gonna do 2 low 1 med 1 high? 1 low 1 med 1 low 1 high?

there are a great many ways to do it..

I was thinking of doing 2, 1 and 1 but not really sure what the best approach is. After playing with a random menu for a low day I will definitely need to up the fat. Its going to be tough to stay at 60g carbs.

What do you feel is an acceptable level for pre/post carbs?

Also, how much should i limit my fat intake to per meal?

If i go to 200g of fat and split it into 4 of my six meals thats 50g per meal, is that ok? that would bring my protein down to 325g split into all 6 meals is 54g per meal. (on low days)

 

[3J]

I was thinking of doing 2, 1 and 1 but not really sure what the best approach is. After playing with a random menu for a low day I will definitely need to up the fat. Its going to be tough to stay at 60g carbs.

What do you feel is an acceptable level for pre/post carbs?

Also, how much should i limit my fat intake to per meal?

If i go to 200g of fat and split it into 4 of my six meals thats 50g per meal, is that ok? that would bring my protein down to 325g split into all 6 meals is 54g per meal. (on low days)

why do these numbers seem so wrong to me??

welt whats your tdee?

buddy u would be splitting that fat between all six meals... i think thats whats wrong... iv set up a special type of carb cycling for RJ once before... he played lab rat for a coupla months.. dropped nice weight... i had him at 50g carbs on low days...

 

[Welter]

why do these numbers seem so wrong to me??

welt whats your tdee?

buddy u would be splitting that fat between all six meals... i think thats whats wrong... iv set up a special type of carb cycling for RJ once before... he played lab rat for a coupla months.. dropped nice weight... i had him at 50g carbs on low days...

My tdee is 3150 1.8 multiplier

I assumed I would not have fats when I had carbs, is that wrong? Also, I wanna bulk. I'm down to 170, want to be 190. Summer weight was 175, sloppy during vacations got me to 190. Now I'm back to 179 but now I want to bulk cleanly until Feb.

I'm guessing I want to eat between 3350-3500

 

[Welter]

why do these numbers seem so wrong to me??

welt whats your tdee?

buddy u would be splitting that fat between all six meals... i think thats whats wrong... iv set up a special type of carb cycling for RJ once before... he played lab rat for a coupla months.. dropped nice weight... i had him at 50g carbs on low days...

My tdee is 3150 1.8 multiplier

I assumed I would not have fats when I had carbs, is that wrong? Also, I wanna bulk. I'm down to 170, want to be 190. Summer weight was 175, sloppy during vacations got me to 190. Now I'm back to 179 but now I want to bulk cleanly until Feb.

I'm guessing I want to eat between 3350-3500

Btw: you estimated my bf over the summer at 9-10% I'm probably closer to 7-8% now

 

[3J]

My tdee is 3150 1.8 multiplier

I assumed I would not have fats when I had carbs, is that wrong? Also, I wanna bulk. I'm down to 170, want to be 190. Summer weight was 175, sloppy during vacations got me to 190. Now I'm back to 179 but now I want to bulk cleanly until Feb.

I'm guessing I want to eat between 3350-3500

Btw: you estimated my bf over the summer at 9-10% I'm probably closer to 7-8% now

see now that was why i was confused... ur bulking...


when ur eating 50-60g carbs its not gonna make that big a diff if u have 20g fats with it.. just to take the edge offa ur other meals.. if u weren't bulking i'd say otherwise


congrats on the single digits bro... its well deserved

 

[Welter]

see now that was why i was confused... ur bulking...


when ur eating 50-60g carbs its not gonna make that big a diff if u have 20g fats with it.. just to take the edge offa ur other meals.. if u weren't bulking i'd say otherwise


congrats on the single digits bro... its well deserved

Thanks man that makes more sense now. I'll let ya know how it goes in a few weeks.