Carbing up on a Low-carb diet??

I’ve read some posts that mention people who are on a low carb diet allowing one high carb meal/day a week to maximize fat loss. How and why? I’m currently low carbing and not having any high carb meals a week. Am I screwing this diet somehow? Thanks!

There is some evidence that when using a period carb “re-feed”, you will upregulate leptin and other metabolic hormones, which will help keep your metabolic rate up. For a longer term ketogenic diet, this could be vital, but for a shorter term (2-3 week) ketogenic diet, you can probably get away without the carb loading days.

You can look at it a couple of different ways, but it depends on what you’re currently doing. No, you don’t have to carb during the week, but it is an option. Personally when I do a strict CKD I only use 30-40 g. of high-quality protein powder (not going to mention brand…you all know what the good one is). You can use something like Surge post-w if desired…might help with glycogen storage but won’t necessarily aid in fat loss (however I’m not convinced it hurts either). Regardless of which method you choose, you must perform a periodic carb-up. Once a week is standard; however many including myself have experimented with once every two weeks. If you have the discipline to be very strict on your carb-up (no fructose/sucrose, small meals every 2-2 1/2 hrs, supplement w. glucose disposal agents such as ALA, chromium, etc. and DON’T OVERDO THE CARBS (the kicker) once a week should be fine. If you are in a hurry to lose fat and have a lot to lose, try once every two weeks. Keep in mind that this is a very individual thing and the longer you go without a carb-up, the greater the risk of muscle loss. If you’re new to the keto diet, follow it to the letter initially and you will gradually learn how to tailor it to your needs. Many modifications can be made to this type of plan to make it best for you. Good luck!

Thanks Jason. It’s going on about 6 weeks, so I guess I better add a carbing meal. So, I understand this keeps your metabolism high. I’ll just throw in a high carb meal on a workout day, and trim my fats and protien. Does this sound correct? Thanks again.

One thing I’ve often wondered is how low do you need to be on the carbs to need a carb-up? I realize there is no magic number and that it is highly individual, but roughly what would you say (i.e. when carbs make up < 10% total cals)? Also, I have started, and will be, dieting for the next 5 weeks…how far in should I go before a carb-up meal/day?

bump

Definately when doing a traditional ketogenic diet and your daily carbs are below 30g a day. I’d say that the upper limit is if you are eating 100g a day, but this is also dependant on body size. A 100lb lifter eating 100g of carbs a day has less need for a carb up than a 200lb lifter eating 100g a day. I don’t have a real solid answer, but I would say when carbs are less than 100g a day, a carb re-feed is warranted.

Ritchie Rocket has given you solid advice.

thanks everybody-solid answers.