Hi, I am on atkins but very bored with my slow results and want to try carb cycling. I have searched this forum yet can't get a good idea of how, exactly, to do it and what the general guidelines are.
Can anyone help me out?
Is there something I can get to read about this??
I also just learned about the banta diet and am trying it, by the way.
Thanks!!

Hi!

There is a very informative (and very long) post here: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=199958 that will give you a lot of the basic information as well as what most of us are doing. There is no hard and fast rule, unless you follow for example the Curves diet (you might also want to check out their board--don't have the link here right now, but I can get back to you if you can't find it). Basically, folks are alternating carb down (CD) days with around 20 net carbs and 1200-1500 calories with carb up (CU) days with 30-50 net carbs and 500 extra calories. How long someone stays on CD or CU is fairly personal and will have a lot to do with your rate of loss. Some go CD 10 days, with 2 CU, others 5 CD and 2 CU, and still others believe it is best to have much shorter CD's. I try to play it by "ear"--if I have 2 days without a loss on CD, I go to CU. You will gain on CU, especially in the beginning, and the general rule of thumb is to go back to CD when you have gained 2 lbs. It usually takes 2-3 days to lose those and then you should (hopefully) see an additional loss.

Once you've read the basics, come and join us here in the "semi loss plans" under the weekly CC thread!

Hope this helps!!!

I'm with transplant on the same thread. It is good reading and very informative. We are all cycling but doing it a little differenly and experimenting trying to get the most effective cycling for ourselves. Come by and read and ask questions. Everyone is very helpfull and supportive.

Chris Aceto has written two books that have good information on carb cycling
the low carb rule and recipe book and another one that covers this issue a little bit, Everything youneed to know about fat loss.

Is this type of plan similar to the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet? I have recently purchased the books and am a bit perplexed as to how it would actually work. It's basically eating Atkin's Diet way 2 meals of the day with no in between meal eating and then eating WHATEVER you want for one meal, but it all has to be eaten within a 1 hour period of time. As an avid Atkin's dieter, this seems very scary to me. Doesn't seem like it would work all that well.

Any thoughts from anyone else out there?

That one meal a day would make me uncomfortable too.
I am switching to 2 meals a week, kind of spread out. Like this week on wednesday and Friday nights. Prior though I had done 1 to 3 days of carb up. On carb up I try to stay with healthier carbs than sugary ones. Anyway, there are several of us experimenting. But no I personally wouldn't trust the one meal a day thing. Check out the weekly cycler's threads. Lots of information there.

It seems like Carb Cycling is very popular on this board, which I am pleased to see. I have been carb cycling ever since my first bodybuilding show in 1996, when no other diet seemed to help me get below 20% bodyfat.

Over the past few years I have written several article on the topic that some of you may find useful, or you may find fault with. I'd like to hear either case:

http://magazine.mindandmuscle.net/m...D=15&pageID=159

http://magazine.mindandmuscle.net/m...D=16&pageID=181

http://magazine.mindandmuscle.net/p...=232&issueID=18

I think you'll find that the 'reward meal' is actually 1/3 of your dinner plate as carbs, and you can have seconds if you want but it still has to be balanced with 1/3 carbs, 1/3 protein and 1/3 veg... something along that line, it's been a couple of years since I looked into it.

Will work fine as long as you aren't subject to cravings being triggered by the carbs. Eating things like potatoes or bread sets me off BIG TIME... but it works for others.

Hi There Twin Peak.
I tried to PM you but I guess I am too new. Wouldn't let me. I tried to email you on your main site but couldn't see where to do that. Anyway, I had some specific questions about Carb Cycling as it pertains to BB's. I am a Figure Competitor and have followed 'The Ketogenic Diet' some time back when I was getting ready for a BB show (before the NPC/IFBB introduced the Figure division) and it worked well for me. I wondered what changes, improvements, and or supplements, if any you would reccomend. Right now I use Creatine, Glutamine, multi-vites and P.Powder. I will be doing a show in April and have to get ready for that in addition to just seriously cleaning up my eating habits which have gotten out of hand. My ultimate goal is to gain muscle, but my immediate goal is to lose fat without losing too much muscle for my show. I came on here for support (yesterday) since my will power (with regards to eating) tends to suffer sometimes. I love being in the Gym, but i have a hrader time getting going on the eating part.
Calipers have my BF at 18%, however, I had a 'dexascan' done and it has me at 22%. This is pretty fat for me. Even for the 'off-season'. The Dexascan , of course, measure all the grams of fat in your body in and around the muscle as well.
I would like to come in at 12%or so (maybe less).
I will read all of your articles and probably glean a lot from that, maybe it will answer all of my questions. If that is the case, sorry to bother you:0 Glad your on here
XO
MoPro

Can any of you tell me about the keto diet? As I been told you low carb for 6 days and carb up for one, is this correct?

You are describing the Cyclical KetoGenic Diet. A "keto" diet is just a general term for very low carb diets.

Haven't posted in awhile.
I am following a CKD right now. I am following the format that Twin Peak gave me to coordinate with my training schedule. So far so good. BTW, Thanks a lot, Twin Peak. I appreciate your observations and advice. I responded to your email but it bounced, as apparently your inbox was full.

For those interested in incorporating excersise or want to learn more, You might want to read Twin Peaks articles. In addition you may want to read 'The Ketogenic Diet' or 'BodyOpus' . More geared towards BodyBuilders but a good education in Low Carb Diets and Cycling. I have done quite well losing BF on these type diets even when my BF was realitively low already but I don't feel comfortable giving a lot of advice as I am not knowledgable enough to do so. I am trying to become an expert in my *own* body and how it responds to training and food and that poses enough of a challenge for me I have lost scale weight and am as strong as ever so I take that as a good sign. The hunger (or 'urge to cheat') got much better around the 3rd day or so and now I am in full swing on my CKD. I will update as I go.
Blessings
XOXO
MoPro

Hello, I tried the Carb addicts diet, I lost 40 lbs on it. It kick started almost like a way of life for me, instead of being on a diet. It is very easy to follow, it works. Now I know the way to eat if I want to continuosly lose weight.

Hi, I think this forum represents what I have come to believe in my research and experience. I am stalled on my LC and I am about to make a serious try with CKD to get things started again. I, too, bodybuild and want to minimize muscle loss as I lose weight. The bodybuilders use this and they are usually ahead of the game with techniques; it is their job, so to speak. Plus, there is something to CKD and breaking plateaus. Atkins was a great beginning of information, but I think the research now indicates CKD is even better. There are many reason it works: leptin, glycogen for the muscles, psychological (due to eating what you want that one or two days a week), but a basic way to look at is that it resets your body. You eventually stall on low carbs and this resets your body and gets it ready for the big fat losses you have early on LC diets. I have read many of the books on it and there are quite a few. To summarize and keep it simple, I will eat lots of carbs one day a week (some say two days a week). It should not be one meal, but a high carb day stretched out over 24 hours with many high carb meals in order to get the reset effect. The books debate the type foods you can eat to accomplish the high carbs, but I don't think it matters. I'll eat what I want that has carbs, but keep the calories just above normal for me on that fun day. It certainly is easy to do. I'll keep you guys informed how I make out on this thing.

I'm new to this how do I carb cycle? A buddy of mine alternates hc lc daily and it seems to be working cuz he is absolutely shredded