Carb cycling includes the word that most people freak out about. Carbs.

“Carbs are bad for you.”

“You should really cut carbs out of your life.”

“Carbs just make you fat.”

Unfortunately, carbs get a bad rap. When really carbohydrates are great for you as long as you don’t abuse them. By that I mean, eating processed carbs, eating an overabundance of carbs, and eating them at the wrong times of the day. 

The Science Behind Carbohydrates

Before we can get into carb cycling, we must first understand what a carb is and how they help our bodies. 

A carb (or carbohydrate, if we are being fancy) is a sugar molecule. Now, before you go cutting out carbs, know that we need these sugar molecules to live. They are beneficial. Our bodies break down carbohydrates into glucose. Glucose is then used as an energy source to fuel our body’s cells, tissues, and organs. 

When we workout, we use carbohydrates as our primary energy source to fuel the brain and muscles. Therefore, we need to eat whole carbohydrates before a workout to achieve optimal performance. 

We do not really want to use protein or fats as our primary energy source for our workouts if we don’t have to. Protein is for muscle recovery and growth. That means that we want to eat protein after we workout so that it can repair and grow our muscles. Fats can be used for a low intensity workout. However, if you are performing a more intense workout that is 30-60 minutes long, relying on your fat storage to get you through the workout is not a good idea. This is because fat is slower to break down and your body will not be able to get its energy fast enough to perform its best. 

What is carb cycling?

Carb cycling is an eating plan where you alter the amount of carbohydrates that you consume depending on a number of different things.

People typically use carb cycling to lose weight/fat or to help with physical performance. This is a good tool if you struggle with eating too many carbs and/or you are unsure of when to eat more or less carbs. Overall, this process helps to get the most benefits out of carbs. 

When carb cycling, you can have high-carb days, moderate-carb days, low-carb days or no carb days.

Who is carb cycling for?

Carb cycling was designed for bodybuilders and endurance athletes to follow to eat carbs based on the intensity and duration of their workouts. However, you do not have to be a bodybuilder or an endurance athlete to follow this eating plan. You can use this plan if you exercise and are looking to lose fat or eat low carb in general. 

The process of carb cycling

Carb cycling is very individual to your lifestyle. That means that there is no one way to do it. Here is a basic guideline to get started with carb cycling. 

Begin counting how many carbs you are consuming daily

You first need to be aware of how many carbs you are eating every day. Do you usually have a high carb diet, a medium carb diet, a low carb diet, or is it different everyday?

Consider using an app to track how many carbs you are eating daily. My Fitness Pal is a great one to use. Track your carbs every day for at least a week. It might be more helpful to track 2-3 weeks so that it is more accurate. 

If you want to get really technical, you can consult a dietitian to figure out the correct amount of carbs your body needs, which depends on your weight, age, gender, intensity and duration of workouts. 

However, if you want to get started without consulting a dietitian, you can go off the general dietary guideline of carbs being 45-65% of your daily calories. Keep in mind that everyone's bodies are different and nutrition isn’t one size fits all. Listen to your body, it will tell you how many carbs it needs. 

Cut out processed carbs

Processed carbs are not going to give you the energy you need for your high intensity workout. You will end up feeling sluggish and bloated because all of the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals are removed. 

Instead, while carb cycling, eat whole carbohydrates like quinoa, brown rice, whole grain pastas, sweet potatoes, beans, vegetables, legumes, and oats.

Determine the type & intensity of exercise you do weekly

If your workout schedule is not consistent every week, it will be very hard to keep track of how many carbs you should be eating. Try to plan certain days of the week for certain types of exercise. 

For example, Monday and Wednesday might be your high intensity exercise days where you are doing something like strength training or high intensity interval training. Tuesdays and Thursdays might be your low intensity exercise days where you are only doing something like walking or doing yoga. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday might be your rest days where you aren’t doing any type of exercise. 

Get yourself on an exercise routine that works for you that you can do every week. Consistency is key, ladies!

Determine your goals

You can do carb cycling to reach a variety of goals.

For example, you can carb cycle based on:

• Type of training you are doing: eating more carbs on high intensity days and less carbs on low intensity days.
• Training days and rest days: eating more carbs on training days and less carbs on low intensity days.
• Athletic competitions: athletes and bodybuilders will eat more carbs (sometimes called carb loading) before an event so that they have enough energy to perform their best. 
• Desired body composition: cutting their carbs while they are dieting and starting to add more into their diet as they start to build muscle again (cutting and bulking). 

When you determine your goal you will know where to start. 

Determine the amount of carbs you will be eating on each day

Since you have tracked the amount of carbs that you typically eat in a day, you can now determine what the amount of carbs your high carb, moderate carb, or low carb days will be.

Generally, 

• High carb days should be about 45-65% of your total daily calories which will be about 175-180 grams of carbs per day.  
• Moderate carb days should be about 25-45% of your daily calories which will be about 130-175 grams of carbs per day. 
• Low carb days should be about 20-25% of your total daily calories which will be about 115-130 grams of carbs per day. 

These are just estimates and the numbers might be different depending on your body and the amount of exercise you do. 

Start implementing carb cycling

Now that you have determined when your goal, your exercise routine, and the amount of carbs you will be eating, you can now implement the carb cycling eating plan. 

Here is a sample week that consists of 2 high carb days, 2 moderate carb days, and 3 low carb days:

Monday: high intensity exercise for 60 minutes - high carb day

Tuesday: low intensity exercise for 30 minutes - moderate carb day

Wednesday: high intensity exercise for 60 minutes -  high carb day

Thursday: low intensity exercise for 30 minutes - moderate carb day

Friday: little to no exercise - low carb day

Saturday: little to no exercise - low carb day

Sunday: little to no exercise - low carb day

This routine consists of two full body workouts, two walking/yoga sessions, and three rest days. 

If your workout routine is different and consists of more high intensity exercise or more low intensity exercise, adjust your carbs accordingly. 

Typically, high carb days will be on high intensity exercise days, moderate carb days will be on low intensity exercise days, and low carb days will be on no exercise days. 

Always consult a doctor or a dietitian if you are unsure if this is the right eating plan for you. 

How long does it take for carb cycling to work?

You will feel the results in about a week and you will see results in about two weeks. Give your body time to adjust to this new cycle. Take notice of the increase in energy you have while exercising and the lighter you feel on the days you're not exercising. 

How does carb cycling help in fat loss?

When you remove carbs from your diet completely, your body loses fat. This is great, except if you do it for a long period of time, it also slows down your metabolism, which won’t help with weight loss. When you opt for carb cycling instead, you are able to keep eating carbs (the right way) while also cutting back on the number of carbs so that you are able to still lose fat AND keep your metabolism going.  

Conclusion

Remember, carb cycling is very individual to everyone. What works for one does not always work for all. Consult your doctor, dietitian, or personal trainer to see if carb cycling is right for you.

Email [email protected] and let us know how this works for you.