Wanted to experiment a little with carb cycling as lately I’ve been known to eat a whole pizza at 9:00 PM and my waist is getting pretty big (36-38) depending on time of day
Right now its been every meal with carbs, at least 60g.
I had a big salad with 3 chicken breasts, tomatoes, cucumbers…all that around 5:00.
Then at 7:45 I had ground beef, broccoli, and another chicken breast (yeah weird combo with ground beef and broccoli but it was actually pretty good).
By 8:30 I’m dying. My face feels tired, and I feel “lighter” in the stomach area, and starting to really get hungry.
8:45 I down a shake with 2 tsp of olive oil. I think that actually made me more hungry.
9:05 (I tried to fight it). I made 2 peanut butter and jellies which I’m currently consuming.
I didn’t train today, I’ve been sitting around at a desk studying most of the day, low activity level.
Is this typical for someone used to carbs at every meal?
Recently I havent had time to cook much so I’ve been eating like:
Breakfast: 6 eggs w/ cheese and salsa, 3 slices whole wheat bread, fruit
Next: Subway $5 footlong - 2 chicken breast on honey oat, fruit
Next: Chipotle burrito - black beans, half chicken/half steak, rice
Next: Pre-workout shake, maybe a slice of bread or some fruit
So is the question an analysis of your diet at the end, or is it an attempt at figuring out what occurred to you when you consumed no carbs (the ‘tired’ face, feeling empty thing)?
What does carb-cycling mean to you? Because in the list of “every meal with carbs,” the only things that have a significant amount are the PB&J sandwiches you didn’t mean to eat. It also looks like you didn’t eat much fat until the olive oil…
And as far as waistline goes, yeah, the entire large pizza every night just MAY be part of your problem.
You’ve packed on almost 40lbs in 6 months. How much of it is muscle? Hopefully a lot?
Anyway, trying to eat low-carb is hard, if you’re not used to it. Personally, I had to gradually phase into it, like first reducing carbs in meals, then going maybe one meal carbless, and then maybe having one day of low carb, then two…
And even then I decided that I feel dramatically better with some carbs in my diet every day. Dramatically.
But that’s your question. My question is, what happens at 9pm every day that makes you want to demolish an entire pizza?
CT had something on carb cycling…but with the use of the Anaconda protocol…but hope this helps a little bit
DAY 1. Low carbs (outside of the protocol keep carbs to a minimum)
DAY 2. Moderate carbs (have around 50-75g of carbs at breakfast, the protocole and the rest of the day is no carbs)
DAY 3 (off day) is low carbs and no protocol (no training)
DAY 4. High carbs (50-75g of carbs at breakfast, the protocol, and 30-40g of carbs at 3 other meals)
DAY 5. Low carbs (outside of the protocol keep carbs to a minimum)
DAY 6. Moderate carbs
DAY 7. (off day) High carbs - cheat day
I’m going to actually break this down a bit and give you some advice.
so it sounds like your first two meals were protein+vegetables only… not surprising you got hungry as hell instantly. A shake isn’t going to cut it either most likely even with the added fats.
Pre heat your oven, put some chicken breasts in there for 40 minutes.
Boil some water, put in some brown rice and turn it on low… let it be for that same 40 minutes as the chicken.
Go do other things and remember to come back. Get some steam in bag vegetables and buy some natural peanut butter. You now have the tools for P+F or P+C meals and you didn’t have to do anything pretty much. If you want some results put some work in and stop relying on takeout food 3x a day and protein shakes.
Days you train hard, ie back and leg days. 1-2 of these a week
6-7 meals, try to hit 2x your LBM in carbs from good sources only. Brown/white rice, potatoes, oats, a little fruit is OK. 1.25x your LBM in protein from as lean as sources as possible, chicken, lean ground turkey, some fish, protein powders, egg whites. Keep fat as low as possible in all meals. Let’s say you have 175 lbs of LBM that means 350 grams of carbs, I’d make your PWO meal 70 grams and work backwards from there, distribute the protein roughly evenly.
Days you train but easier body parts
5-6 meals. 1x your LBM in carbs same as the other day. 1.5x your LBM in protein, add 40 grams of healthy fats to your meals throughout the day. Use things like natural peanut butter, almonds, fish oil, olive oil… you know what is good. On this day you can include fattier cuts of protein like steak and lean ground beef(rinse it or use at least 93%) and fatty fish like salmon in addition to the lean sources. Put the majority of your carbs PWO and your first two meals of the day. Have some green vegetables on this day with your meals to fill up.
On days you don’t train at all
5-6 meals. .33x your LBM in carbs and put these in your first two meals. 1.5x your LBM in protein, add 60 grams of healthy fats today to the non carb meals(a little like 2-4 grams to the first two meals is fine). Have as many green vegetables as you want to take up hunger slack today.
Assuming you train 4 days a week I’d do 2 high days, 2 moderate days, 3 low days. adjust it to however many days you train. Do some form of cardio on all your low days, 30-45 minutes of low intensity stuff or 15-20 minutes of HIIT if you prefer it and work up from there based on your weigh ins and or progress photos.
Stop eating pizza, cook your food, get it done consistently. You can still eat Subway every once in a while in a pinch on higher carb days, you can make Chipotle work with smart choices on high or moderate days… but if you think you are going to get leaner eating a whole pizza and PB and J sandwiches every day you need a reality check.