I was reading up on some bodybuilding forums yesterday and read some
old concept that I've done in the past. I know someone who is strictly
on a low-carb diet and carb cycling was the first thing that came into
my mind. While being on a strict low-carb diet works, it doesn't work
on a long-term because of carb depletion. Whether you like it or not,
carbohydrates is very important and it serves a purpose especially it's
the chief fuel for energy. Carbohydrates helps protein for digestion
and since protein is expensive, you don't want your body to tap on that
as the primary source. This is where carb cycling comes into play (a
combination of 3 days of low carbs and 2 days of high carbs). I like
this idea because it keeps your body guessing and doesn't just settle
on one energy source, and therefore carb deprivation is minimized. I
also have noticed that people who did low-carb strictly for a month or
so comes back and eat more carbs since they deprived themselves so
much. In return, they also gain back all the weight that they lost only
to reverse the process of what they want to achieve.
I was eating
some rice cakes the other day and told my friend that I'm on a diet. He
promptly asked, "why are you on a diet? Diet is bad for you". I didn't
say much about it but stated instead that being on a diet isn't bad. In
my mind, I've thought of being on a diet as somewhat eating a set
amount of meals with a specific goals of either leaning out, building
muscle or to simply maintain a healthy lifestyle. None of those things
are bad at all and it just means that you're willing to sacrifice the
bad foods for the sake of being healthy. Being healthy means to prevent
disease and as well as to look good and feel good about yourself.
Although I crave junk on some days, I allocate days when I can eat and
enjoy my meals without guilt. After that day, I make sure to go back to
where I was in my diet and train with a higher intensity in the gym to
make up for it.
I'm planning on trying out carb cycling once
again early in the Spring going as high as 200-250g of carbs on 2 days
and 3 days with as low as 50-75g of carbs. I can probably do this the
whole month but that will depend on how I feel or whenever I feel like
losing some muscle mass, etc. In this post, I just want to clarify a
few things and that is how low-carbing works and the real definition of
being on a diet. A diet means making the right choices when it comes to
food and sticking to it until you reach your goal or maintain it as a
way of life.
~ Dennis