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What is Carb Cycling? How we can adapt it to our lifestyle

As children, we have all learnt how nutrients are important to our body. Provide nourishment to us for our health and general well being. The building blocks of these nutrients – carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and micro nutrients that we need in small amounts. Like minerals, vitamins are primary for muscle building, tissue repair and immunity. The human body is an amazing machine and to keep this machine running, good, quality fuel is essential.

Carbohydrates, the macro-nutrient has been in news for several decades. The regulation of how much carbohydrate intake is good or bad for you, or which like of carbs – simple, complex, with fibre, unhealthy carbs, healthy carbs. Add value to your meal intake is much debated. Several diets are low carb. Even propagate the entire refrainment from carbs are quite popular among weight loss enthusiasts advocating that new transform challenge online.

While total cutting off a major nutrient group is never recommended, carb cycling is an interesting way to look at how carbohydrate intake can be manipulated to maintain weight and get great results.

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What Exactly Crab Cycling?

Carb Cycling is a form of diet where one restricts carbs one day, optimizes intake another in a cyclic approach, so that you gain the maximum out of this macro nutrient when needed the most. This sort of programming the intake of carbs, alternating their inclusion and exclusion in your diet.

There is a lot of research out there advocating this form of carbohydrate cycling, as it helps shed a lot of weight through fat loss – and does it super-fast. Maybe this is a good idea if you are the kind who cannot stay away from carbs all together. Or crave that slice of pizza or something sweet occasionally. You can do this by alternating between carbs and no carbs on a weekly, monthly or bi-weekly basis.

Now you don’t have to feel guilty about that crisp packet or sweet honey cake that ate at your best friend’s birthday party. Guilt no more. This form of diet is also a super fat burner and increases metabolism. So if you want a targeted spot reduction treatment, this could be your answer. But first, a disclaimer – please consult with your nutritionist or dietitian before diving headlong into it. Also any form of restrictive diet comes with a lot of caveats. Please understand that all diet and exercise plans online may or may not work for your body. Thirdly, there is no pain no gain. So this works best when combined with exercising.

Who should consider Carb Cycling?

Carb Cycling as a diet plan works best for people with:

Moderate active lifestyle: Are you a busy person with moderate lifestyle and train/workout say thrice a week or only during the weekends? Carb Cycling is known to show great results in this case, where you take a higher carb intake on workout days. Otherwise limit your carb intake.

Refeed scheduling: This is another approach to carb cycling where the person essentially does a sudden carb spike intake during a prolonged no-carb or high-protein low carb diet plan.

High body fat composition: Limiting carbs in your daily diet if you have a high body fat composition and occasionally increasing intake as per a fixed schedule is known to burn fat as the body looks to burning fat as an energy source in absence of carb intake.

Workout intensity: If you do a high intensity workout HIIT and cardio a few times a week and cool it down for the rest of the time with some low intensity stretches, jogs or yoga, carb cycling will aid your plan better.

This will give you the benefit of a low carb diet like Atkins or Keto without experiencing carb withdrawal symptoms.

How Carb Cycling helps: Carb cycling has proven to burn fat and increase metabolism, and also has claims of better energy levels, clearer skin, better sleep and also reduces cortisol levels – the stress hormone.

What you should pay attention to during Carb Cycling:

Carb Cycling is a programmed diet. Make sure you do not embark on this by yourself but reach out to a certified professional to understand how it works on your body. If you have pre-existing medical conditions, are pregnant or your body type needs special attention carb cycling may not work for you.

While everyone must understand how macros work, what empty calories are and which foods add nutrition to your specific body needs, every diet and workout plan needs to be solid. This applies to all sustainable diet plans online. You must indulge in guilty pleasures once in a while and not starve yourself in the name of fad diets.

Trina Roy is a renowned nutrition and fitness coach. With a team of trainers and certified sports nutrition specialists, we help people identify and reach their transformation goals. We believe that good health is a continuous commitment and fitness has to be sustainable. Reach out to our panel of experts to make the best of your existing plan, or to begin your fitness journey today!

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