Quote:
Originally Posted by alessa
Thanks Warrior and Nat for sharing on carb cycling. It is very interesting. Like Natalia I too find that too many carbs just makes me sleepy and lethargic. I have been doing a very modified version of carb cycling but find that the day after a higher carb day, I am just too uncomfortably bloated and dozing at work. The same pair of pants will be fine one day and tight the next. It reminds me of my Atkins days 10 years ago when a piece of bread would blow me up. I thought that I have since become much more moderate about watching carbs but with the cycling notice that I am still pretty sensitive to them, especially early in the day which is when it's probably best to have them in terms of fueling metabolism.
In any case, I am in Stage 3 and not losing any fat so far, so I am always eager to hear others' experiences. Thanks.
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That's all quite normal... you'll feel "carb drunk" during a load. I don't feel good the day of the carb load - it's the day after I feel my best.
Bloating and flatulance is from a change in the digestive environment... your enzyme balance can easily get off balance after restiricting all carb sources; particularily amylase.
The gains in weight are expected and required. When you deplete glycogen, your body loses water in the metabolic process. As you replenish (which you can supercompensate when carb loading from a depleted state), the incoming glycogen grabs water to make it into the muscles... at around 2.7 grams of water per gram of glycogen. Depending on your lean body mass - this can traslate to 5-12 pounds of gained weight during a load. I have gained as much as 20 pounds. It's the net difference that you are after - you want to track your strength and endurance abilities while seeing a net drop of 1-2 pounds of fat per week... some weeks you may not drop any, since you could gain some muscle in the process - especially if you are not used to the program design.
Here is were I started when trying to work the kinks out my 14-day mod of Lyle's UD2 (a great read!):
The fat just sucks right off, leaving the muscle - I actually gained strength too.
I am currently in the midst of another run, starting bodyweight of 255. The biggest difference is I have skipped the half banana post-workout during depletion phases... this never kept me from hitting ketosis before - but I just wanted to see how it affects me... I suspect it could cause a greater reduction in amylase which could cause problems with the carb loads (first one starts tonight). Also, I am using the classic version of Xenedrine during this next evolution (the one with ephedrine).