Posted on October 07, 2014 by Jenny Cromack
What is Carbohydrate Cycling? I’ve been asked this question a lot recently from a lot of people, its nothing new or magic but it is an effective approach to fat loss and hypertrophy. As with all things health and fitness, simple tends to be best. I’m not a fan of anything that can’t be continued long term, this means diets including smoothies are out, skipping meals is out, breakfast cereal diets are out, and anything that comes close to these is out.
The beauty of carbohydrate cycling is its much more flexible than some other dietary approaches, as you all know the motive8 personal training team like to promote a healthy holistic approach to nutrition and diet.
Its quite complicated to explain in one short post, however it can be simplified into the following. Carbphydrate cycling is split into 3 days:
- High carbohydrate day
- Medium carbohydrate day
- Low carbohydrate day
In general the three different days are rotated through each week. Protein intake is the only stable macro-nutrient through each of the days, and this is set based on the clients individual goals. Carbohydrates and fats fluctuate to meet the demands of the day.
On high carbohydrate days the idea is to consume as much carbohydrates as you want… within reason and these must come from a healthy complex source. This means that healthy fats in the diet must be dramatically reduced to keep the total calories for the day on target.
On medium carbohydrate days I tell clients to use a ratio of 40% protein 30% carbohydrates 30% fats. Now it requires no major thinking or planning simply look at you plate and make sure each meal contains roughly 40% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fat. The key is to make sure your sources of food are all healthy choices, so avocados, wholegrain rice, and grass fed steak are in. Any ready meals or the like are out!
KEY POINT: Also remember there are 9kcal to 1g of fat compared to 4kcal to 1 g of carbohydrates and protein.
The low carbohydrate day reduces the total numbers of carbs dramatically, the goal is to have less than 5% of the daily calories come from carbs. Each meal during this day is a protein source combined with some healthy fats. An example would be chicken strips, with an homemade guacamole for one meal, then maybe steak and olives for the next and so on.
There are many ways of structuring carb cycling, you can even structure based on your menstrual cycle. For example did you know that during the follicular phase elevated levels of estrogen mean the individual is more insulin sensitive, so they can tolerate a higher intake of carbohydrates than in the later weeks.
All in all carbohydrate cycling can be a great approach to help you achieve your goals long term. If you wish to discuss this further with a staff member of Motive8 North please drop us a line.