Tag: Crash Diet

Carb Cycling Diet for Weight Loss

carbcycling

Cycling Carbohydrates: An Introduction

One of the dietary strategies you may have heard about about from bodybuilders, fitness competitors, or those just wanting to lose weight is called carb cycling.   This is a term for scheduling days of high carbohydrate consumption followed by days of successively lower carbohydrate consumption.  This approach seems to be a very effective way to maximize fat loss while maintaining training intensity.  I’ll explain the basics of why this works.

Why Lowering Carbs Works

Restricting carbohydrates (aka low carb or ketogenic diets) can be very effective for helping people lose weight.  Going several days with low carbohydrate intake (lets say 50 grams or less) eventually causes glycogen levels (glucose in the liver and muscles) to get so low that the body has to switch to another fuel source.  This metabolic shift is called ketosis, meaning the body is primarily using fat as its source of calories/fuel.   I discovered ketogenic/low carb dieting years ago and have used it with good success.

Some have adopted adopted a low carbohydrate lifestyle and credit it with saving their health (if not their very lives).  These individuals follow this diet year-around in order to stay at a healthy weight.  More power to you if you are able to do this.

The Drawbacks of Restricting Carbohydrates

But eating this way all the time is not very practical for athletes or those who engage in intense exercise like weight training.  Those of us who have trained while in ketosis can testify how sluggish the workouts are.  Eating carbohydrates refills the before-mentioned glycogen so muscles can perform optimally.

Thus the dilemma: low carb eating is great for fat loss, but not so great for exercise performance.

Carb Cycling: Lose Fat, Maintain Training Intensely

One solution to this is carb cycling, which may be able to give you the best of both worlds.  It really isn’t that complicated: you simply lower your carbohydrate over the course of a few days.  The first day, for example, you can eat 200 grams of carbs, followed by 125 on the second and only 50 on the third.  You could then repeat the cycle or just reverse it over the next two days (125 grams of carbs on day 4 and 200 again on day 5).

You may want to do your most intensive training on high carbohydrate days and try to consume most of your carbs after you work out.  This will encourage the glucose to go to your muscles and liver instead of being stored as body fat.

Most of the plans I’ve seen also incorporate a “cheat day” where you just eat what you want.  This shouldn’t hurt your fat loss in the long-term as long as you are consistent the rest of the time.

Just keep this in mind: all successful diets are based on a negative calorie balance–using more calories than you are consuming.  Carb cycling is not a “secret formula” to get around this–it is simply one dietary strategy that you may find useful.

Rapid Fat Loss Handbook Review (Lyle McDonald)

The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook: a Scientific Approach to Crash Dieting Review

I have been following the career of Lyle McDonald for almost twenty years.  His writing is some of the best (if not the best) stuff you can find on the subject of fat loss and body transformation.  Lyle’s take on rapid fat loss is a great addition to the body of work he has produced.   Here’s my review:

In an ideal world, we’d all be willing to slowly but surely lose weight. But we are not in an ideal world, and “crash dieting” can have its place. There are several reasons one may want to lose weight fast:

*Limited time until an important event, such as a bodybuilding contest, athletic competition, high school reunion, wedding, etc.  When you are up against a proverbial wall you may not be willing to do a more “balanced” approach to diet and fat loss.

*There’s a psychological advantage to seeing the numbers on the scale going down quickly–sometimes we are more likely to stay on the diet when we know it is extremely effective.

*Dieting isn’t fun, so some of us (yours truly included) would rather just do a “hard” diet and get it over with.

The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook was designed to help to help people do a “crash diet” safely and effectively. He answers some of the following questions:

What type of diet will help me lose fat while keeping most (or all) of my muscle mass? Remember—muscle loss is not what you want.

How can I use breaks/cheats to maximize the diet’s effectiveness?

How many calories should I eat for maximum fat loss?

How much exercise should I do while on this kind of diet? His answer may surprise you (hint: more is not always better).

How can I keep the fat off once I go back to a maintenance phase?

What supplements can help ensure I get the essential nutrients while crash dieting?

Lyle’s writing is thorough, but not overly technical. I also appreciate his understanding of the psychological aspects of dieting—something other authors overlook. Last but not least, the book has just enough humor to make you laugh every once in a while—a nice touch.

Now let me share who I think this diet/book is best suited for:  rapidfatlossreview

*People who are extremely focused on losing fat to the exclusion of all other goals.  This is not a muscle-building program or lifestyle program–it is a crash diet.

*Those who are willing to stick to an extremely strict diet for the purpose of maximizing results.  This is not going to be an easy diet–your food choices will be severely limited.

*People who desire to “kick-start” their weight loss for a few weeks before switching to a more moderate program.  This may be a good strategy for men and women who want to start their body transformation with serious momentum.

*Athletes/competitors who need to quickly drop weight while preserving as much lean mass (muscle) as possible.

UPDATE:

You get additional products with your order:

1. Extreme Fat Loss Special Report: this booklet shows you how to drop 5-6 pounds of fat in only 4 days.

2. Guide to Flexible Dieting:  This book will show you how to keep off the weight you lost during your crash diet.  I think you’ll find this to be an extremely helpful guide.

3. Home Exercise Handbook:  This book will show you how to exercise/train at home–perfect for those who are not ready (or able to join a gym).

This is a great deal for 47 bucks–both a short-term and long-term plan for those who want to lose weight and keep it off.   Just CLICK HERE to order or to learn more.

 

You can also check out my other recommended programs if you think something else would better suit your needs.