When we are trying to lose weight we pay great attention to the a number on a scale. When in all actuality weight is just a number reffering to gravity pulling you to earth, it has next to nothing to do with how "fat" you are. Usually when people are trying to lose weight, they want to be thin, or skinny, or less flabby, jiggly, bouncy, dimply, etc. The obvious answer to this to exercise more, and eat less. Yes, this is going to work right off the bat for those who don't exercise regularly, and have had fast food on more than a regular basis. But for people who have been keeping up with their workouts, and eating clean, there is still more you can do - Carb cycle!
"Carb Cycle" is short for carbohydrate cycling.
Throw the dreadful low-carb-no-carb diet out of the window, and rev up that metabolism. We all know to lose weight or body fat, we must create a caloric deficit, but if we create one TOO BIG, our metabolism becomes even slower, sending us into muscle eating catabolism. By keeping carbs in our diet, our muscles stay protected, allowing our bodies to use the carbs stored as glycogen to burn for energy. As we exercise, we burn the glycogen while at the same time, strengthen our muscle. It's smarter to carb cycle!
The key is to find a happy medium of how many carbs you absolutely NEED in a day. It's not supposed to be extremely low, but binge eating not high. Once you have determined said levels, next you have to begin cycling a low carb day, moderate carb day, and higher carb day (not binge carb day!). If on a organized workout schedule, such as a body part split, try and coordinate your high carb day the day before a high intesity day, for example; leg day, back day, high intensity cardio, or plyometrics. Note: no matter which carb day it is, be sure to have one of your carb meals post workout.
Carb cycling will be the best way to preserve healthy, fat torching muscle. Try it for 30 days, and see what you get!
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