It is not surprising that carbs have become the black sheep in the world of nutrition. Have you checked out the number of studies that link the consumption of process carbs to chronic diseases and obesity?
Also, it is also worth mentioning that there are thousands of low-carb diets that you can find these days. You need to understand one very important fact; the body’s hormonal activity is affected by the consumption of processed carbs, which can lead to excess fat storage and inflammation.
However, healthy carbohydrates are essential for the body because they boost muscle growth and overall performance.
Hence, the actual challenge is to intake just the right amount of carbs and at the right times. It turns out that you can have a drastic impact on your body’s reaction to carbs, depending on the kind of carbs you eat and at what times you eat them. It has become possible to manipulate carb consumption through an increasingly popular practice called
carb cycling, which minimizes the negative effects of carbohydrates and maximizes the muscle growth in the body.
Carb cycling can be immensely useful when you have 10 to 15 pounds to lose and you need to understand the process in order to implement it successfully.
When you opt for carb cycling, there will be three types of days in your week; low-carb days, no-carb days and high-carb days. Here is what you do on each of these days:
No-carb days: These are the days when you increase consumption of fiber-rich vegetables such as onions, asparagus, broccoli, leafy greens, mushrooms and peppers in combination with lean protein and some good fats. Avoid eating starchy carbs such as rice, potatoes, oats and cereals.
There are starchier vegetables that should also be avoided like zucchini, pumpkin, squash and beans. Your total carb intake should not exceed 25 grams on these days.
Low-carb days: These are the days when you can consume about 75 carbs a day. Again,
fibrous vegetables are a good option, but also add two to three servings of starch in the form of sweet potatoes, brown rice, starchy veggies, oats and fruit. Eat clean carbs, which are typically free of soy, gluten and dairy. You can get the best results when you eat starchy carbs after a workout.
High-carb days: These are the days when the carb intake can go as high as 150 to 200 grams for women and about 300 grams in the case of men. Basically, the amount of carbs consumed will depend on your activity level and size. Remember that most of these carbs should be taken from clean sources.
Also, just because it is a high-carb day doesn’t mean that you can binge eat. It is designed to reset your far burning and
muscle building hormones, but this would be the ideal time to have a cheat day because workouts are usually heavy on high-carb days.
With carb cycling, you can balance the amount of carbs you consume and shed off the extra pounds on your body.
