Fat Loss: Carb Cycling and Carb Load

When it comes to fat loss there are two strategies that can be applied: you can wait until you hit the plateau and then change the program, or you can change the program right before you anticipate to meet the plateau. Usually, I'm a proponent of the first technique as it suggests “ don't fix something that is not broken”. This time, however, during my prep, I'm adapting the second approach. I want to see how well it works.

Regardless of the approach you take, carb-cycling is a useful tool in a fat loss and should be applied in a majority of cases, in my opinion. So what is it?

Carb-cycling simply means that on some days you eat a higher amount of carbs and on some days you eat lower amounts. Now, there a numerous ways of doing it and there is really no right or wrong, but rather what is optimal for you personally. Here are some examples:

1. For the first 6 days of the week you could consume low carb, moderate protein and moderate fat. One the 7th day, higher carb, slightly lower protein and moderate fat day. In this approach, the energy intake differs by approximately 150-200 calories, where one consumes more calories on a high carb day. In terms of the exact numbers, it could look like this: Low carb day – 130g carbs (with 100 coming from grains or starchy veggies and the rest coming from fibrous veggies), 140g protein, 70g fat (1,710 cal). High carb day – 200g carbs, 120g protein, 70g fat (1,910 cal) -Average calories per day throughout the week 1,732 cal.

2. In a similar scenario, we can have 3 low carb days followed by 1 high carb day. Since the change is so frequent it would be a good idea to have a smaller difference between “low” and “high” days. For example Low carb day – 150g carbs, 140g protein, 70g fat (1,790 cal). High carb day – 180g carbs, 130g protein 70g fat (1,870 cal) - Average calories per day throughout the week 1,812 cal.

3. Another possible way of doing it, that shows to be very effective in some people, is to keep 5 low carb days in a row and follow by 2 high carb days. For example Low carb day – 100g carbs, 150g protein, 70g fat 1,630 cal). High carb day 180g carb, 140g protein, 70g fat (1,910 cal) - Average calories per day throughout dthe week 1,710 cal.

Note: the numbers are just for the example purposes. My personal macros are different from the above. Please, don't apply above information to yourself without modification.

So how do we know what is high and what is low, you ask? First of all, typically, we don't want to start carb cycling at the very beginning of your diet journey. We want to establish a base caloric and macro-nutrient intake for at least 4-6 weeks before implementing cycling. Only after the base is established we can calculate the numbers. Your maintenance carb/caloric intake becomes your “high” day and your low days can be in a 20-30% range below your maintenance.

You may have noticed that the protein amounts are different for low and high days. This is due to the several factors:

1. Calories on a high day are at the maintenance level and the load is done on a rest day, so muscle synthesis is not an issue.

2. Carb loaded that is introduced after aggressive depletion will have a “muscle sparing” effect anyway

3. On a low carb day, we want to avoid muscle break down and use it as a source of energy so we add enough protein to facilitate muscle protein synthesis. While there are pathways through which your body can (theoretically) turn protein into fat, it never really occurs in real life (at least according to what we know to date). That being said in the absence of adequate amounts of carbs your body may turn some of the excess protein into sugar to be used for energy. Since this process (gluconeogenesis) requires a lot of energy you are getting a double benefit (muscle synthesis and increase in the metabolic rate) by eating slightly higher amounts of protein.

4. Some people prefer to lower fat on high carb day as well.

Now, again, there is no right or wrong approach, it's all about what works best for you personally. Some people like doing carb load on rest days to allow for a better recovery, while others prefer to load on days when they need to get the most of their training and improve their lagging muscle group. It all really depends on your goal and where you are in your training/ journey.

It's important to note that your “maintenance” will shift as you lose weight and fat. By definition, maintenance means that you do not lose or gain fat, that being said your caloric needs at the beginning of the journey are very different from the time when you already lost 10-15lbs, for example. So keep that in mind when you adjust your macros. Another thing to remember is that if you have a lot of fat to lose (20lbs and up), carb cycling is probably not necessary as you would still have a good amount of calories in your diet and plateau shouldn't be an issue at this point.

I think I've covered most of it. I know, there is a lot of information and it can be confusing! If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you for reading, please subscribe, upvote and share :)