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Top Secret Carb-Cycling Tips!
If you have been looking after your health and fitness for the past few years, you may have been hearing more and more about carb cycling and what it can do. It’s a superior nutrition plan that can allow variety and flexibility in your diet when you are trying to add weight. Carb cycling allows you to go from a calorie deficit to calorie surplus and back again, and it can help you to give you strength while you are lifting. Carb cycling mixes the higher carbohydrate days with low carbohydrate days so that you can achieve better fat loss. Overall, you can remain in the same amount of calories every week, but what changes is your macronutrients.
If anybody ever tells you that carbohydrates are bad for you, you are talking to the wrong nutritionist or trainer. There are always some low carb days when you are carb cycling, regular carb days as well as higher carb days. This can allow you to have discretionary calories which means that you are consuming foods that you crave within reason. It also means you’re not suffering as much of the negative consequences that you might do were you to try a low carb plan. If anybody ever tells you to give up pizza, run.
Supplements and droppers like 1-andro, can help you to build while you are weightlifting, but understanding how carb cycling works will really help. When you restrict your carbohydrates too much, you can end up in a binge and restrict cycle where you binge on the carbs you are missing and then feel the need to restrict yourself a few days later and the cycle goes on and on. Here are some of the top tips that you need when you are considering carbohydrate cycling.
- You should never do this on a whim. Entering into a program such as this without a long-term game plan of how you intend to combine your diet and exercise will mean you will not get the outcomes that you’re hopeful for. You need to schedule your highest carbohydrate days on the days when you are lifting the heaviest weights, or on your hardest workout. This will allow you to lift heavier and become stronger as well as aid in the recovery process for your muscles. More planning is involved in this particular type of carb cycling lifestyle, so spend one day per week planning the food ahead.
- Watch your calories. For carb cycling to work for you, you need to total your weekly calorie intake. This has to be based on your age, weight, height and your current fitness level and your goals. You should keep this fairly consistent on a weekly basis to achieve overall fat loss. An overall deficit is required for weight loss, but it’s not the only component and we’re not just looking at weight here, we are looking at fat.
- Don’t panic. It’s very easy to panic on your lower carb days when you’re feeling puffy and bloated after the higher carb days. When you load up on carbohydrates water will also follow and it will be pulled into your muscles. You are going to see water weight gain on the scales, and you’re going to feel it in your body. Your body will convert the carbohydrates to glycogen, and this will then be stored in your muscles. When carbs are consumed, your kidneys are singled to retain more sodium, to. If you are lean already you may notice the puffiness the next day but don’t panic, because it will go down.
- You may hate the lower carb days. If you are used to consuming a high number of carbohydrates, or a diet that is packed with less than healthy carbohydrates, it’s going to take an adjustment. Your body will be used to burning glucose for energy and so it will need to transition and burn your fat instead. This can feel very unpleasant and it’s known as ketosis flu. You may feel nauseous, foggy and fatigued and to prevent this you need to be able to drink plenty of water, consume your fats and maintain your electrolytes. It takes 21 days to form a habit and this is a habit that you want to form if you want your body to feel strong and healthy.
- Breaking the myths. High carbohydrate does not mean a feeding frenzy where you chomp down on your favorite pizza. When your goal is fat loss, you need to remember that you will achieve the results that you want with balanced food. It’s absolutely okay to have a treat every once in a while, but the goal should be to consume food that provides nutrition – even high carb foods. If you use all of your carbohydrate macros on simple sugars there’s a bigger chance that the glucose will be converted to fat rather than burn it. The best thing here is to choose the complex carbohydrates such as brown rice and starchy vegetables, quinoa and sweet potato. This can help you to maintain better dieting balance.
- Go for low-fat on high carb days. In order to achieve the calorie deficit every week, you should balance out your higher carbohydrate days. This will help to keep your weekly macros and calories consistent, and prevent you from adding additional calories should you choose to have higher carbohydrate foods on your high carb days. Making sure that you balance your fat intake with your carbohydrate intake will also help your body to feel calm and able to burn. You need to feel strong and healthy in the gym and this is how you do that.
Turning to the help of a nutritionist is an important thing to do if you are planning on cup cycling. When you combine this with intermittent fasting and a strategic exercise plan, you’ll have a superior lifestyle form for those who want to maintain working out and lean muscle mass performance. It’s the best way to prevent plateaus.
