Carb Cycling for Quick, TEMPORARY Fat Loss.

BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT A CARB CYCLE. 

This is an extreme diet that is not maintainable long term. I am not a nutrition coach, but I do know that depriving your body of carbs for an extended period of time is unhealthy. This is a diet recommended for quick fat loss for a body building competition, a photo shoot, or to feel your best for a vacation, but it is NOT a substitution for a balanced diet of carbs, proteins, and fats. 

Two weeks progress. 

So, now that you have been warned, I'm going to tell you about the 4 week carb cycle I am attempting for a Military Ball I am attending in December. I ordered my dress too small in hopes that I could motivate myself to focus on my diet for a few weeks.

I am currently just over 2 weeks into my carb cycle, and although I have no idea what I weigh, I think the photo speaks for itself.

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2 weeks into carb cycling.

My muscles are becoming for defined, and I am leaning out a lot. I can't say I have enjoyed the carb cycle so far, but I don't hate it. The first couple days I was hangry and moody, but I've gotten pretty used to it now. 

So, how did I do it? 

There is a little bit of math involved. First, I used a TDEE Calculator to figure out my total daily energy expenditure. This gave me a calorie number that I need JUST TO MAINTAIN my current physique. For me, my TDEE is 2,158 calories. 

On low carb days, I try to eat at a 25% deficit with 25% of my calories coming from carbs.

Now and important thing to know when calculating all this,is that each macronutrient has a calorie assignment per gram
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Protein: 4 calories per gram
Carbs: 4 calories per gram
Fat: 9 calories per gram

So first I figured out how many calories I am allowed on a Low Carb Day:

2,158 x (25% deficit)  = 1,618 calories 

From there, I figure out how many calories from carbs I'm allowed. 

1,618 x (25% calories from carbs) = 404 calories from carbs

So, to figure out how many grams of carbs you need: 

404/4 = 101 grams of carbs

From here, I figure out how many grams of protein and fat I will need. 

For protein, it's recommended you eat your total body weight in grams of protein. I weigh 170lbs, so I will eat 170 grams of protein a day, or 680 calories from protein. I then added up my calories from protein, and calories from carbs, and whatever is left over I divided by 9 to figure out how many grams of fat I should eat. 

680 calories in protein + 404 calories in carbs = 1,084 calories

Now I took my total daily calories 1,618 and subtracted 1,084 to get 534 calories, or roughly 59 grams of fat. 

So on a low carb day, I have 101g carbs, 170g protein, and 59g fat. 

I did the exact same thing to figure out my high carb day, except I put by TDEE at a 10% deficit, and had 50% of my daily calories from carbs. 

So my daily calorie allowance is 1,942 calories. 

I have 971 calories from carbs, or 242 grams. 

I keep my protein the same, 680 calories, or 170 grams. 

And the rest (288 calories) I divide by 9 to figure out how many grams of fat I'm allowed for the day (32 grams). 

On a high carb day, I have 242g carbs, 170g protein, and 32g fat. 

I have 5 low carb days, and 2 high carb days for the first 2 weeks, and I'm planning on lowering it to 6 low carb days, and 1 high carb day for the last 2 weeks. 

Now, the results I have gotten haven't been from diet alone. I lift weight for an hour to an hour and a half a day, and have been doing 30 minutes a day on the stair master, or running for 30-40 minutes after my weight lifting routine. 

Again, please understand that this IS NOT a maintainable lifestyle, and I DO NOT recommend using this diet for long term weightless.