Lots of weight loss strategies include calorie restriction and/or carbohydrate restriction. When going from the Standard American Diet (SAD) to any of the current weight loss plans, the weight seems to come off effortlessly…at first.
Most of us eventually hit what’s called a “Weight loss plateau”.
What’s happening?
When we start restricting calories or carbohydrates, the body eventually adapts to these changes. One of the ways it does this is by decreasing the hormone leptin. Leptin helps regulate our appetite and controls our calorie expenditure. It’s the body’s way of saying, “Fewer carbs and/or fewer calories means scarcity of food. Let’s conserve so we can get through this period of food scarcity.”
Awesome when we were living in caves; not so great now that we have food available literally everywhere.
Here’s where carb cycling comes into play. It’s also been called metabolic confusion because what we’re doing here is messing with leptin levels, glycogen levels, and ketones.
Before I get too into it, I have to be very clear. Carb cycling is best used in conjunction with exercise. Specifically endurance athletes and high intensity training athletes use carb cycling.
I know that most of you do not fall into this category. The reason I’m sharing this with you is that if you have reached a weight loss plateau, you can use aspects of this science for some great personal results.
What carb cycling involves is eating higher carbs on some days and tapering it down on other days. Essentially the heavy workout days will be coupled with the higher carbs, and the lighter days or rest days will involve lower carb intakes.
A sample schedule: Day 1 = 150 grams carbs. Day 2 = 100 grams carbs. Day 3 = 50 grams carbs. Day 4 = 125 grams carbs. Day 5 = 200 grams carbs.
Alternatively you can make it simpler without the need of tapering up and down. Let’s say the high carb days are 175-275 grams of carbs while low carb days are 100-125 grams of carbs.
Tracking carbs can be difficult so try using MyFitnessPal (free) or a similar app.
Now before you go ordering a pizza, I want to make sure you know that the types of carbs are critically important. You still want to choose healthier options and they include:
Whole grains
Oats and oatmeal
Potatoes
Rice
Fruit
Legumes
High carb vegetables
If you have hit a weight loss plateau and you’re restricting carbs/calories, try adding a few more carbs in a couple days a week.
Additionally, if you do exercise regularly and are not hitting your performance goals, consider ramping up the carbs a bit on the heavier workout days. You’ll start adding plates to the bar where before you were just staying stagnant.
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