I have a secret to share with you… One of my favorite methods of dieting that produces some AMAZING results! And does so across the board for many of my RoxStars. That secret is carb cycling…. And I want to discuss with you why carb cycling works so dang well for fat loss!
Now, I should note that the diet protocol that I have set in place for the 21 Day Fat Shredder Solution is based on a carb cycle diet. And I even set it up in a way that makes it a no brainer, easy to follow (and adhere to) approach that almost ANYONE can do successfully.
But before I get into that, let’s discuss why carb cycling works so well – if kick azz, effective fat loss is your goal!
The Basics – Why Carb Cycling Works for Fat Loss
Sooo… You wanna embark on a diet! But there are SO many ways to approach this, and you’re probably wondering which one works best for you.
We’ll, here’s the thing. Enough studies have shown that no one diet neccessarily is better than the next. At the end of the day, they all produce weight loss to some degree.
But the catch is this… We are all so different. And our bodies will respond to what our individual make up is. Someone who is insulin resistant won’t do as well – nor feel as good – on a high carb diet, in the way someone with high insulin sensitivity will.
And vice versa.
But there’s a way you can have the best of both worlds, and even for folks who tend to be more insulin resistant, use carbs in a way to push fat loss along at a rapid pace.
Let’s Get a Little Into What Happens to the Body While Dieting…
There is a natural downregulation of metabolism that happens in the body – no matter how well you diet. It happens to us all, and learning to overcome that is what will keep you off of plateaus.
After a few weeks in a caloric deficit, your body will begin to slow your metabolism by downregulating crucial hormones. Those hormones (primarily) are:
- Leptin (the body’s master metabolism hormone)
- T3 (thyroid hormone that has a direct correlation to metabolism)
- Peptide YY (basically an important hormone in the regulation of appetite)
And in the aftermath, the body will upregulate ghrelin, among a few other hormones, to increase hunger. This is why you get hungry why dieting! It has to do with your hormones essetentially being in a natural flux, as your body attempts to stop you from starving yourself.
Newsflash…
YOUR BODY DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR SIX PACK!
It is only concerned about your survival. Your body wants you to live, and it pretty much sees dieting as you dying a slow death lol.
So using techniques of dieting, and manipulating macros and calories in a way to “trick”the body back to normalcy, can be the key to your success.
And that’s what carb cycling does! That’s why carb cycling works so well for fat loss.
When you have your high carb day, it helps to RAISE all of those hormones responsible for revving up your metabolism. So it’s like you get to do a little reset for a day or so, and then go right back into your caloric deficit/low carb days. Hence, you push along fat loss and really start seeing some amazing changes in your body.
The High Carb vs. Low Carb Day Set Up
The way I like to set things up, and what’s generally done, is to set the low carb days as your caloric deficit days. And in opposition, your high carb days will also have you sitting up closer to maintenance calories.
Low Carb Days
Low carb can mean different things for everyone. I’ve seen some set ups where carbs were set at 30g per day during the carb cycle. Personally, I’ve always felt that to be way too low for those who train regularly.
So I typically will have clients not dip too much below about 80g a day, at the lowest. This amount of carbs, alongside a high amount of fat (and moderate-high protein), gives them the energy they need to get through their workouts while still benefiting from the carb cycle set up.
I should point out, that’s an important theory to keep in mind.
As carbs go down, fats must go up! And vice versa.
Follow that rule with your carb cycle and you’ll be golden. In the absence of one or the other, the body will turn to one for energy. Lower the carbs you eat a day, the body will rely on fat as fuel – and vice versa.
What’s great about going into these low carb days is that your body really makes use of the low insulin environment. And in the absence of carbs in the diet, as well as lowered levels of stored glycogen, the body starts to turn to FAT (particularly your body fat) as energy.
And that is a basic synopsis on why this kind of diet set up produces such rapid results.
High Carb Days
With the high carb days, the goal here is to raise hormonal levels that have dropped, and are essential to metabolism.
Now, keep in mind that through the process of dieting, hormones that keep your metabolism humming along have dropped. And those which signal hunger in the body (to force you to eat before you DIE) are RAGING at this point.
The high carb days will calm this down, and set you back on track, if even for just a few days.
Typically, you want to have about 2x your bodyweight in carbs for the high carb days. But that’s not set in stone. Everyone’s body is different, and you kind of have to see what amount works well for YOU.
With the set up, you want to keep protein on the moderate-low side, and then your fats low as well. Your carbs on this day don’t have to particularly be “clean” carbs only. But the most important thing is to make sure you’re hitting your macro totals and keeping within your determined ranges.
21 Day Fat Shredder Solution IIFYM Carb Cycle
Now, going off of all this, my 21 Day Fat Shredder Solution program uses this method as the foundation to the nutritional component.
I did all the math for you, for both the low carb days and high carb days! So you literally just go on autopilot as you allow the diet to work for you, AND ENJOY THE FOODS YOU LOVE ALONG THE WAY!
The first step is simple. You find your caloric amount using the equation I’ve given you in the plan. Then you simply match it up to the correct calories and macros set up on the program that matches your result.
Then this is where the FUN part begins.
You now simply have to track how much you’re eating per day, and can still include the foods you love. Tracking your meals is simple! You can use something like My Fitness Pal (Free; iOS, Android) and Lose It (Free; iOS, Android) to do so easily.
My RoxStars have been doing some WONDERFUL things with their meals. Making them compliant AND delicious at the same time.
And what I am MOST proud of is the astonishing amount of dietary compliance that they have been able to have with this kind of set up.
I mean think about it… You get to diet on foods you already eat and enjoy, while still losing weight! Would you rather do that, or some typical rabbit food diet, set up to make you starve and have no freedom at all… The choice is yours.
But what’s even better is this…
What My RoxStars are Seeing Happen After Just One Week…
Michelle is just ONE example of how well this set up, alongside the training, has been doing WONDERS for folks – just like you.
She admits that compliance was an issue in the past, and that lost motivation from not seeing results was another. But each day, she kept at it. Each day she put in her all. Each day she fought for her goal…
And within the first week alone, she’s seen some amazing changes.
She’s not the only one! Many more of my amazing RoxStars are seeing similar changes in their own frames from this program.
And then her too…
So as you can see… The program just WORKS!
And you can make it work for you too!
At the end of the day, you have two choices in the matter… Either do what you have to do to make changes. Or, stay exactly the same as you are right now.
In the case of this program, you can either be much closer to your fat loss goals, your ideal body, fitting into those jeans again, getting that fat off your stubborn areas, pushing towards new levels in your training and nutrition, and feeling PROUD of the changes you’ve made…
Or you can be EXACTLY THE SAME as you are right now, reading this article – searching for an answer.
I’ve got the answer for you… So now, come aboard with me to start a new SUCCESSFUL fat loss journey.