Carb cycling, any success (or failure) stories out there?

the_amazing_raisin

Hi folks,

I clicked on one of those YouTube fitness ads a few days ago, the one for VShred with the ripped lad telling you you can eat pizza and have a six pack. Yeah, sure 😂

It went full home shopping channel trying to sell some programs. There was even a "but wait, there's more"

Anyway, he did mention some interesting things for free. One of them was the concept of carb cycling

The idea is pretty simple, you have high carb days when you work out and lower carb days when you aren't.

The logic seems to be that if you try to cut out the carbs or fat completely your body goes into starvation mode and promotes fat storage and makes you feel hungrier, so eventually your willpower breaks and you gorge a load of junk food and put on a load of weight again

The last part definitely seems to describe me pretty well 😅

Looking at Prof Google, the idea seems to have some merit, but I'm always wary of fitness scams out on the web, there always seems to be some new trick or long forgotten technique which is coming out every week

So I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with it? Were you successful in losing weight, was it difficult to manage and would you recommend it to others? And have you any advice for anyone looking into it?

Squatman

download my fitness pal. use the free calorie counter on it, and manage your diet that way.

The last part definitely seems to describe me pretty well 😅 - This is how star signs work.

there's no magic or secret ingredient. its physics/biology. calories in>calories burned = weight gain. 1lb per 3500 excess calories consumed

Calories in<calories burned = weight loss. Allegedly lb per 2500 excess calories burned.

Cill94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058289540/carb-cycling-any-success-or-failure-stories-out-there

I'm always wary of fitness scams out on the web, there always seems to be some new trick or long forgotten technique which is coming out every week

Listen to this part of your brain. V Shred is a grifter, like all the diet gurus.

If you've put on fat, you essentially need to reverse the habits that got you there. Eat better, move more, etc.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058289540/carb-cycling-any-success-or-failure-stories-out-there

The youtuber is a scam.

Eliminating carbs or fat will not trigger starvation mode. That term is misused to the point of being a myth.

Carb cycling is a valid dietry approach. Cyclic Keto is another similar approach. Both still require you to burn more than you consume to lose weight.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395053#Comment_120395053

Not sure why you are quoting a different amount of calories for a 1lb loss vrs gain.

Calories in / Calories out. The energy is the same either way. 3500 cals per lb of body fat.

the_amazing_raisin

Thanks for the responses folks, I was pretty certain that Mr V Shred wouldn't be getting any of my hard earned cash, but it's good to have some folks talking me off the ledge

From looking around it seems that dietary approaches like carb cycling are suited to intense training. I'm not remotely close to that level and I think I need to lose some weight before starting into anything more intense than jogging, swimming or some light strength training

@Squatman I've used MyFitnessPal before and while it's a good app, I do find it a bit of a chore to keep updated

It is pretty handy to work out calories though, so I've worked out a meal plan for the next few weeks with a target of 1900 calories per day (recommended by MFP), which should start getting my weight down hopefully

I've tried to structure the meal plan so I've some leaner days than others, so I don't feel like I'm starving myself every day. Hopefully it'll help me get out of bad habits

I'm also aiming to do some light exercise every day to increase my calorie burn. Basically if I get the exercise done for the day then I'll have a few extra spare calories and can treat myself to a coffee or something

Thanks again folks, I'll maybe update in a few weeks with how it's progressing and hopefully I'll have some good news

markmoto

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058289540/carb-cycling-any-success-or-failure-stories-out-there

should watch video below before listening vshred

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg84UW4F6rU

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120423922#Comment_120423922

josh brett did a great video exposing v shred

myfitnesspal is a great app but it does sometimes put people on a low calorie count that might not be correct depending on how much weight you entered to lose per week, one on my friends entered 2lb loss per week as their goal and and they were on 1800 calories a day and as a 28st man this was a struggle.

anyway you mention doing exercise to increase calorie burn and a chance to reward yourself with a treat, to me this is the wrong mindset to be in because exercise will not burn as many calories as you think so it is very easy to hit the gym running for half an hour and think right coffee and a muffin now and you will consume maybe 3 times the amount of calories that could have been spent in the gym, i hope that makes sense

try cleaning the diet up so it is 80/20 clean at the start while tracking calories to a sustainable level aiming for hight protein foods for more satiety, smash the fruit and veg to fill you up too, you can do prawn stir fry with fresh veg for under 500 calories for example

james smith explains lots of things very well and his videos have helped people i know and my other half even joined his plan for a while and had good results

he tries to add a comedy element to his videos so it is not too serious

https://youtu.be/MkX2xZbcSyA

good luck with your goals