I've read some posts that talk about "carbing up", and then going back to
LC. What are you guys talking about? Doesn't that put you back having to
go through 2 or 3 days of "withdrawal" from carbs again? Is this a method
to "restart" the fat burning process after a stall, or what?

It kinds sounds like yo yo dieting to me............explain?

There are two different things people mean when they talk about carb-ups/refeeds. Some people mean it in the "cheat day" sense, where they just eat whatever high-carb foods they want for a meal or a day -- pizza, cookies, cake, whatever. There's some anecdotal evidence associating a refeed with breaking a stall by resetting levels of a hormone called leptin, but it can result in falling off the wagon or at least restarting cravings, and pretty much always knocks you out of ketosis. Most people also experience a temporary water weight gain, though this usually goes away in a couple days and does sometimes take a couple more pounds with it.

Other people follow diets called CKD, TKD, or NHE, which incorporate scheduled periods of deliberately eating high-carb and low-fat; CKD uses a 24-48 hour refeed period, while TKD advocates eating smaller doses of simple sugar (think Smarties or Pixy Stix) immediately prior to weightlifting, and NHE uses two weekly carbup meals of 50-100g carbs primarily from starchy sources like bread and pasta. None of these are unrestricted carbfests, though, and lifting weights is a critical component of all three plans. The purpose of the refeed is to support weightlifting performance, because it's very hard to do serious training if you're eating very low levels of carbs for a sustained period of time. Cravings aren't really such an issue here, because it's a cyclical diet, and there are also a lot of guidelines to follow during the refeed period about controlling protein and fat intake. In fact, the refeeds aren't much fun at all, especially with CKD, because you're eating so much sugar in a short period of time that it can really make you feel lousy. It's the "Halloween candy" theory -- if you eat a little bit of junk food, you want more, but if you eat until you're nauseated, you don't want anything to do with sugar for a while!

I personally think the hormone connection is weaker in people who aren't doing heavy training or aren't losing weight at a very rapid clip, and that regular refeeds probably aren't a good idea for the average dieter. I think CKD/TKD/NHE have their place if you're following an intense lifting program, but if not you're not exercising at all or are just doing cardio and/or "toning" levels of weights. Very fast loss can be tough on your metabolism, and weightlifters have higher-than-normal carb needs, so a different approach is sometimes appropriate in these cases. However, for the majority of low-carbers, I think it's generally better to eat consistently and cleanly according to the rules of the diet-of-your-choice, and to be wary of major deviations from your plan.

Oh, I forgot to mention Body for Life, too, which is another plan that includes deliberate refeed periods and is also designed around a workout routine. The BFL book, written by Bill Phillips, uses a routine of three weight workouts and three cardio sessions a week, performed according to some specific rules. For six days of the week, the eating plan is lower-carb than your standard American diet, but it's also low-fat and low-calorie. The seventh day is a true "free day", where you can eat whatever you want, and as much of it as you want. Unlike CKD/TKD/NHE, leptin levels don't seem to be much of a consideration for the free day -- it's more an acknowledgement that the diet is hard to sustain long-term without them. I'd experiment with one of the cyclical keto diets before going down this path, though, because it's got a lot of the disadvantages of old-style low-fat-low-cal diets, and I've seen some people following it be pretty hungry and miserable during the week and then binge on the free day. The keto part of the diets I mentioned above usually isn't too hard to follow, because it's standard LC, not particularly low-calorie and high in fat and protein.

BTW, many people do implement BFL-style workouts and stick to LC eating plans, though they usually increase their carb intake closer to maintenance levels in order to support such a heavy exercise program. There's a BFL forum on the board as you're interested in reading more, as well as a CKD/TKD/NHE one.

well said!

I didnt plan well food-wise and have been fully carbed up most of this week while at Boy Scout camp. Its been really easy for me to make bad food decisions.

There are proper ways to carb up as the posts above illustrate. My carb up was not proper, and jsut plain lazy on my part. However, in my defence, I had never been to boy scout smuuer camp, and even though I knew the menu in advance, and a brought some LC bars and nuts, I didnt know I could bring LC food to prepare and eat. Next time I go camping with the scouts, I'll be more prepared LC food-wise.

Excellent Posts Atlee!

I agree, very well explained!

Thanks, especially Atlee. I appreciate all the response!

I believe someone said it in one of the posts.
Carbing up could mean.. "didn't plan well carb wise meals" so you add missing carbs to your last meal, resulting in total proper amount of carbs for the day.