What Is Carb Cycling

Carb cycling is a very effective method for busting through fat loss plateaus, but the virtues of carb cycling don’t end there. Carb cycling is a simple yet ingenious method of carbohydrate and calorie manipulation that protects against muscle loss while in a fat loss program.

It also enables a person to gain muscle while losing body fat. Carb cycling is also divine in that it subdues cravings for junk food and the urge to overeat or binge.

Though most fat burners tend to have a very slight effect on metabolism, this effect amounts to around 75 calories a day for the average male whose maintenance caloric intake is 2,700 calories a day.

Are you willing to spend a lot of money on these pills, and risk side effects (which include jitteriness, headaches, anxiety and even stroke), just to burn an extra 75 calories a day without doing anything? The extra calories a day are even fewer for women!

There is more to body transformation than burning a few extra calories a day. You still have to work hard at training, and you still have to stick to a very smart diet. Nobody gets a six-pack or buff physique by burning an extra 75 calories a day. Models in fat burner ads are paid and likely don’t even use the product.

The approach is simple in that you figure out what your daily caloric maintenance is, then work off of that. Some days per week are high carb, and some days per week are low carb (or minimal carb). A common application is to cut about 30 percent carb-calories off of one’s daily caloric maintenance value, and use that for low carb days.

The menu manipulation is carbs only; the amount of proteins and fats remains constant. Furthermore, the diet itself, whether on a high carb day or low carb day, is mostly “clean,” consisting of non-processed foods for the most part. The high carb days, however, allow one to indulge a bit more in favorite foods, which helps control hunger and cravings.

There are never more than three low carb days in a row, and there shouldn’t be more than two high carb days in a row. Which days are which can vary, but the general idea is to switch back and forth, with rhyme and reason, between high carb days and low carb (or minimal carb) days.