I agree, I simply don't work out intensely enough to eat that amount of food. Joel, what do you find is working for you and what level/type of workout do you usually do?...being as specific as you can will help me with this. Thanks and well wishes to you on your goals!

I can't handle the high intensity yet or benefit from the huge re-feeds, but am making progress.

I try to get in as much activity as I feel physically up to without over doing it. As I have a lot of time available, started with a lot of low intensity stuff at 1st, walking then hiking then walk/run, gradually increasing effort/difficulty. I did start the Couch to 5K running program twice in the last 7 months. I now run/walk on the trails with lots of hills. My times improve just about each time out and it is so much nicer than being on asphalt. I almost always use a HeartRate monitor to keep track of effort. I log these things in my GymLog here.

As I do quite a bit bicycle riding, a lot of base miles on the bike to build up endurance conditioning. The endurance conditioning and LC seem to work well together. Some of the bicycle group rides require as much intensity as I can do for periods of 90-120 minutes. These are the times I need the glycogen stores re-fueled, or I get dropped from the pack.

I'll paste some exercise volume history from gym log:
Exercise Time Log and Bicycle weekly miles:
Week Ending---Hours/week---Milage
March 13------------8.0---------41
March 20-----------16.2--------173
March 27----------16.25--------148
April 3-------------14.1--------134
April 10-------------8.7---------118
April 17------------18.7---------244
April 24------------16.6---------182
May 1--------------10.75--------125
May 8---------------11.9------- 153.3

No resistance exercise time included

Good luck Cactus on meeting your goals, hope this helps.

Thanks Joel for the info on your exercise routine. How many carbs do you re-feed with? I know as a girl I won't be able to do that, but will give me a starting point, and how far in advance or after exercise is recommended? Thanks again.

I found that eating just prior to 'intense for me' exercise, I get an energy crash 20-30minutes into it, so none right prior to exercise. Depending where I'm at in the moderate carb thing, I will eat 50g carbs 2 or 3 times, at 2,4,6 hours prior, something like that 100-150g total. If the exercise is medium to low intensity, none at all. If doing back to back days, I will have carbs right after the 1st day of exercise up to around 150g, all at once, doesn't seem to take me out of ketosis if the exercise was hard. Really helps with the quicker recovery period.

Joel

the best thing to do, in my opinion, especially if your going to carb cycle, is lift heavy. HEAVY. no pink weights! dont worry, you wont bulk up, I PROMISE...alot of girls tell me "well i dont want to get big, so im afraid to lift heavy..." LIFT. its near impossible for a woman to "get big" unless your taking anabolic steroids. what kinds of training are you doing? (you may have already mentioned it in this thread, ill go back and look )

in my experience, carb cycling works best this way...total body recomposition! so my suggestion would be to spend 4-5 times per week lifting some heavy weights! cardio is great of course, i know theres a lot of debate re: if one needs cardio or not, i think one does. i still do an hour every single morning...this helps a bit for keeping the fat at bay.

isnt carb cycling great! i had great success with it last year, and am now doing it again for my post contest diet (that pic was taken march 27th) keep up the good work!

^^^THIS.

i still count calories on my low carb days. i think low carb might be a bit more forgiving regarding this, as fat is a less efficient fuel source...but in my experience, calories matter, ESPECIALLY for those last 10 lbs or so.

On the cal.. thing
I also count too... here's a clip of journal just for reference....
Now my activity level is higher and have a typical calorie deficit of about 2000/day, which is inline with the 3.5#/week weight loss, which has been quite linear so far.

'Calories count' is not a well received comment here, nor is 'exercise' to some..

Cactus,
Keep up the effort and hard work does pay off, Mattie's advice is something I need to hear as well. I'm old but getting stronger, slowly though, and more active.

Please come back report in this thread how you are doing, Its your thread....I would like to here how you made CKD or whatever variation work for you.

Hi,

I'm new to this thread. I've started a carb cycling regimen and some strength training. I have never been able to get into lifting weights. I've started a form of isometrics according to the following book by John Peterson and Wendie Pett:

Transformetrics Book

It's too soon to tell how this will work for me, but from reading all the reviews at Amazon, I'm very impressed and I'm expecting some noticeable improvements in not too long a time.

Joel and Mattie,

Will be posting much more later this week, am waiting for finals to be over so I can have a life again!!! I do appreciate your input and want to review links that have been posted--looking forward to all the ideas. Will be back soon!

BlueSojrn, welcome...looking forward to future posts from you and the progress you make.

Hi all!!! I am SO excited I found this thread. Can I ramble for just a minute to tell you my scenario? hehe

Ok. So on April 8th I started low carb, high protein diet. First let me tell you how much of a switch over this was. All I used to eat was BAD BAD BAD food mostly containing carbs and sugar and probably consuming AT LEAST 3K cals a day. So switching to no carb, no sugar and reducing my cals to about 1200 was probably a big shock to my body. Nonetheless, I needed to do it and get control of my way of eating. In 2 weeks I lost 2% body fat, went from 139.6 to 130.6, lost 3 inches in my hips, 2 inches in my waist, and i cant remember my arms lol The following two weeks I didnt lose anything (but I hadnt done measurements so I might have lost inches). However the scale stayed pretty much the same. During those 4 weeks I didnt work out becuase my body was severly tired and weak due to the adjustment. At the end I started feeling great. Wellllll At the end of 4 weeks, I had my graduation from college and decided I needed to treat myself. Bad idea. That weekend I drank alcohol, had donuts, cake, cupcakes, mnm's, chips, crackers, cheese, pepperoni, bread, butter. You name it, I had it. lol I gained a pound. Which wasnt too bad. Ok basically I am telling you all of this is becuase I think I have come up with a lifestyle that I think I can stick to and HOPEFULLY get off these last stubbron 10 pds..I want to get all of your opinions!!

Sunday through FriDAY eat low carb (no more than 50g a day) No fruits either during these days
Friday nights allow myself to go out and drink for the night (only drinking vodka/water)
Saturday eat higher carb. For instance, fruits, whole wheat bread, and maybe one meal during the day like a cheeseburer and fries hhehe
Also, exercising about 40 minutes EVERYDAY. I am hoping the exercise will offset my bad Saturday cheat day.

What do you think? Do you think eating low carb 6.5 days a week and going off 1.5 days with alcohol and carbs will still allow me to lose weight? Calorie wise, it isnt bad, even with off days. I would make this a lifestyle so it wouldnt matter how long it took for the weight to come off. I just want to make sure it will come off overtime with that lifestyle. I am hoping to lose 1 pd a week. But thats wishfull thinking.. What do you all think?

Chels,

From what I've read, the pound you gained after your "carb up" was water weight, and it will be quickly gone, and then some, before the next carb up days.

Your plan sounds a lot like what I'm planning to do. I am doing an "induction phase" from May 11th until May 22nd, and then I will have two carb up days over the weekend. This induction of 11 days should be enough to cause my body to switch completely over to fat-burning instead of sugar-burning.

After my first carb up, I will be doing low carb (30 grams or under) for the five week days with a carb up on Saturday and Sunday every week. I'm hoping that this will be a plan I can stick with for life. I don't see why not. I will be having some alcohol (mostly red wine) on my carb up days.

My induction is really kicking my butt! I am dragging, have a head cold, slight temperature, and general yuckyness. I've lost two pounds and feel leaner around the middle, so I am motivated to get through the low energy phase.

Hey chels, I think we have met on another thread. I too, started at 139, got down to 130, and now I am back up at 136 I don't know exactly what it is, but I think the dairy makes me gain big time.

I realized that when I initially lost a lot of weight, I was already carb cycling and I didn't even know it! I was still incorporating whole grains and nuts and fruit into my diet. I think that this WOE might work better for me than constantly being on induction.

Unlike most carb cycler's plans though, My LC days will be on the weekend, when I am home the most and have the most control of the preparation of my foods. Its easier for me to eat higher carb during the week b/c I can pack fruit and nuts as snacks ( I am ALWAYS on the go during the week). I think Friday through Monday will be my LC days, and T,W,TH I will up my carbs by adding fruit and nuts (I still stay away from any kind of bread grains, I just don't particularly like them). I am also going to change up my workouts and do more low intensity indurance and more "heavy" weights (I am still skeptical about those weights haha). I will still allow myself one alcoholic beverage a week -- but I will try to cut out cheese, hwc, cream cheese, etc, since I really think that makes me gain.

I am interested to hear about your's and everyone's results with CC!

Everyone's plans sounds great and I think only time will tell. Ive learned that with any "diet" plan, consistency is key! Overtime, the weight is bound to come off!

Oh and Jennifer,

The scale went up 3 pds. I said I gained a pound becuase after a day or two it went down 2 pds. Which means 2 pds were water weight and I gained 1 pd! ahh!

Hey there...

firstly, and i cannot stress this enough, but alcohol is the WORST thing for fat loss. dont drink it. unless you know its only going to be one drink every one or 2 weeks, but then you have to be sure you can keep it to just one. most of us cant. when i first started to diet, i drank still, and lost very little. once i stopped, the fat came flyin off.

secondly, what kind of exercise are you planning to do? carb cycling should only be done if one is lifting some pretty heavy weights...cardio alone, or light weights wont do it.

the idea behind exercising and carbing up is not "my exercising will make up for my cheat day." there is a science behind it. during the low carb phase, you deplete your body of glycogen (sugar/carbs) by a: eating low carbs and b: spending some QUALITY time in the gym. then when you carb up, all that glycogen goes right into your muscles, thus making you stronger for your next week of lifts, and tricking your metabolism. when your drink alcohol during a carb up phase, those toxins go into your muscles and are burned first, and alot of those carbs will be stored as FAT.

i dont reccomend carb cycling to those only exercise occasionally, or are just starting out.

[QUOTE=Atx2010]

I am also going to change up my workouts and do more low intensity indurance and more "heavy" weights (I am still skeptical about those weights haha). QUOTE]

haha, dont be afraid! i was too...but i think youll like the results!

remember...the heavier the weight=the more muscle on your body=more fat burned...