Using Carb Cycling to Lose Weight and Cut Fat Fast

Make no mistake that calorie control is the main determining factor when you need to lose weight, or more specifically for losing fat, but macronutrient manipulation (e.g. carb cycling) is the next step for accelerating that process. 

It’s understandable that many people just assume that the best way to lose weight is to eliminate carbs from their diet altogether, but carb cycling is where you can see real results and not have to cut carbs entirely.

Is Carb Cycling the Perfect Solution?

Having a strictly no-carb or even low-carb diet isn’t necessary (nor would it be optimal) for losing fat fast. Bear in mind that carbohydrate restriction isn’t the same thing as calorie restriction. Unbeknownst to many people using a low-carb diet, they mainly drop weight so rapidly because they are simultaneously cutting calories (from the carb reduction) and losing muscle glycogen and water weight.

So yes, carb cycling works, but it’s not the panacea for losing fat and managing body weight. Ultimately, cutting calories will always be the best way to lose weight, but carb cycling will help give you that extra edge needed, especially when you want to burn fat fast. Therefore, this article will explain exactly what a carb cycling diet is, how it works, and how to devise a carb cycling plan to cut off that unwanted body-fat, fast!

What Does A Carb Cycling Diet Look Like?

Carb cycling is a means of altering your daily calorie intake by also manipulating the amount of carbs you consume.  This will help you lose fat fast, get more toned and lose weight in the process. In general, a carb cycling diet is comprised of three different days, ranging from no-carb to high-carb intake days:

• Zero-Carb Days (No-Starch)—Don’t take the “no” too literally here; you’ll still be getting a trivial amount of carb intake from greens and fat sources – trivial in comparison to your low-carb days and especially your high-carb days. The goal, though, is to avoid any direct starch sources and keep impact (non-fibrous) carbohydrates to as close to nil as possible.

• Low-Carb Days—Low-carb days start at a baseline of eating 25% of your total calories in the form of carbohydrates. Keep in mind, the switch here could be something as simple as going from white rice for more carbs to brown rice for your low-carb days. 

• High-Carb Days—On these days, your carb intake will be 40% of your total calorie intake and you will be eating slightly more calories overall. High-carb days are essentially “refeed” days and help restore muscle glycogen and reduce muscle breakdown.  

NOTE*--You will inevitably need to fine-tune the exact amount of carbs you eat as you progress throughout the diet

What Happens to Your Body When You Cut Calories

The human body is smart, and it knows exactly how much energy (calories) it needs, so there is a bit of a conundrum we are all faced with—fat loss requires us to burn more calories than we consume, but if you do that for a long period of time the body adapts by reducing its metabolic rate (since survival is its primary concern, not necessarily muscle gain). Think about it from a biological perspective: it would be imprudent for your body to be depleting its energy reserves if nourishment is limited.

Thus, when the goal is to lose fat, you don’t want to be metabolically efficient. You want the opposite—to be as metabolically inefficient as possible, meaning you need more energy as a result of having a faster metabolism.  

Ultimately, if your metabolism is less efficient, you can eat more during the fat loss process and still shed off body fat.

Keto vs. Carb Cycling

Some people may compare carb cycling to a ketogenic diet, but by having periods of low and high-carb, you may get many of the benefits provided by both diets, without some of the negatives that involve strictly choking off your carb intake as with Keto. 

The goal for Keto is to be in a consistent state of Ketosis, where your body burns fat for fuel.  It is far fewer carbs, is moderate in protein, and aims for high fat intake.  While carb cycling is really a version of no to low carbohydrate intake, there is more of a fluctuation, and certainly does not include such high fat intake as keto does. 

Other Benefits of Carb Cycling

While carb cycling aims to burn fat fast, it may even provide additional benefits that other diets cannot.  

During low-carb periods, your body may experience enhanced metabolic health, may improve insulin sensitivity, and improve cholesterol.  High-carb refeeds may also have positive effects on hormones during a diet, including thyroid hormones, testosterone, and leptin.

Some of these factors may play an important role in long-term dieting success since hormones play a key role in hunger, metabolism, and exercise performance (which is what we’re aiming for!).

Determine Your Daily Caloric & Macronutrient Needs:

Whichever weight category you fall into, those will be the number of calories and macronutrients you will aim for on the given no-carb or low-carb days.

Weight (lbs)	Calorie Goal	No-Carb Day Macros	Low-Carb Day Macros
100-120 lbs	1,500	170/20/85	150/94/58
121-140 lbs	1,700	193/23/96	170/107/66
141-160 lbs	1,900	216/26/107	190/120/74
161-180 lbs	2,100	239/29/118	210/133/82
181-200 lbs	2,300	262/32/129	230/146/90
201-220 lbs	2,400	273/34/135	240/153/94
221-240 lbs	2,500	285/35/140	250/160/98
241-260 lbs	2,600	297/36/146	260/166/102
261+ lbs	2,700	309/38/157	270/172/106

 

***Macros given as grams of Protein/Carbohydrate/Fat

High-Carb/Refeed Day Calorie and Macronutrient Breakdown

Weight (lbs)	Calorie Goal	High-Carb Day Macros
100-120 lbs	2,000	150/250/56
121-140 lbs	2,200	165/275/60
141-160 lbs	2,400	170/300/64
161-180 lbs	2,600	185/325/68
181-200 lbs	2,800	200/350/72
201-220 lbs	2,900	208/368/74
221-240 lbs	3,000	216/381/76
241-260 lbs	3,100	224/394/78
261+ lbs	3,200	232/407/80

***Macros given as grams of Protein/Carbohydrate/Fat

The Diet Rotation

• No-carb Days—3 per week
• Lower-carb Days—3 per week
• Refeed/High-carb Days—1 per week

Diet Rotation (Starting on Monday)—

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Low-Carb	Low-Carb	No-Carb	No-Carb	No-Carb	High-Carb	Low-Carb

 

 

Keep track of everything you put in your mouth. Make sure you’re weighing out your portions and reading food labels so you have the proper serving size measurements. There are many apps available nowadays, such as MyFitnessPal, that easily allows you to log your food intake.

You should aim to eat 4-6 meals/snacks per day! Simply spread out your calorie/macronutrient and especially carb intake accordingly. Don’t worry if you indulge just a little bit here and there, the most important thing is to be meeting your calorie and macronutrient intake at the end of the day. That’s the beauty of carb cycling – you can have your cake and eat it too (just not too much cake!).

Lastly, don’t freak out if you happen to be just a bit off from your calorie and/or macronutrient goal(s) at the end of the day. If your goal is to eat 1600 calories but you end up eating, say 1650 calories, don't sweat it. Just make up the difference the next day by eating a little less. Nobody is perfect and it is simply doing you more harm than good by ruminating over such a trivial matter.

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