I read an article in First magazine about carb cycling, now after reading this it really has me thinking, it reiterates what ive read hear in a lot threads. Basically it says that alternating lower and higher carb days will maximize your low carb diet and even help kick start a stall. It even talks about the swings with monthly hormone fluctuations, maybe thats why we crave some crazy stuff right before and during our tom. The more info i am gathering, the more i am leaning toward a trial period of this cycling.

Is there anyone who is currently cycling high carb/low carb days, or anyone who's planning on trying it out, Im definetly gonna give it a try effective today, and i will keep everyone posted on my progress, if anyone else is doing this, im sure others would love to hear your progress as well.

To start, I am switching from low carb breads to whole wheat breads. I also saw some whole wheat waffles in the store, i will add that in on one of my higher carb days, i will stay with the 0 carb syrup tho. And i think i will change my yogurt from the Hood brand to the Yoplait(lc) which has a few more carbs.

Well wish me luck, and once im past this tom , i will keep everyone posted on my progress.

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Started LC 1-10-04

302/199/160, 103lbs down, 39 to go, simply remarkable.

Restart- 8-19-07
242/226/160


405 points to date ( HOLIDAY CHALLENGE )

good luck celest!

i was thinking the other day, i think i kind of do this, but unconscienciously. (what don't i do that way? lol) i don't follow a specific plan, just do my own version of lc, and i know i have significant variances on different days...i seem to have a few days lower carb levels, a few days higher.

personally, i think mixing it up a bit helps keep my body from getting into too much of a routine and adjusting completely to stall out...my theory, anyway, whether it's true or not, i don't know.

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Fat Baggage- Is Yours Packed?

Hi Celest and all....
Like Goddess, I also do my own version of the lc thing....so in essence I suppose I'm cycling UPPPPPPPP and DOOOWWWN lol. I'm consistent with the exercise though. I really watch the HIGH HIGH carbs, but there are definately days that i'm high and there are days i'm almost too low. Can't say its kicked my stall in the butt, but hey maybe we could get more info on it. Be sure to let us know how it works for you!

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Tracy
REstarted 1/1/05
240/233--goal 150 at least

HI, I read the same article and was interested. I know that weight watchers do something similar with their points. As a newbie, I don't know what to call a high carb day and I think that low would be considered 20. I sure did like the concept though. Thank you for keeping us posted on your progress.


Missy

We do something like this too. If we go 4-5 days & don't lose anything, I'll up our carbs one day & then drop them to around 20-22 for a day or two & it seems to help us start losing again.

I've done this for a number of months. Maybe even since my "infamous" 3 week stall, which lasted waaaaay too long!

However, I did not add bread or any of the other starches. I was too afraid that I would awaken the "sweets" monster that lives in the depths of my tummy growling every once in a while. (flour is another form of this monster)

I add more carbs in the protein or veggies line. Or, I add more almonds or "legal" carbs. I seldom have bread or any other starch. However, I have found that if I cycle my carbs from low to high I do not stall.

Peace, Peg
1/1/03
205/171/155
5'8"

In the book Atkins for Life, Dr Atkins mentioned something he called 'banking' -very similar to the carb cycling...where you could do low carb for maybe 2 or 3 days and then up your carbs after those 2 or 3 days...in other words, if you were eating 60 carbs a day, you could do 20 for 2 days straight and then up your carbs to 100 on the third day...and yes, WW does have something just like that where you 'bank' your points as long as you don't get in to too much of a habit of it...

Sheyla
186/124/105 60.5 inches
from a size 18 to a size 3/4!

Well i went to get the whole wheat bread today and to my surprise the whole wheat bread has almost the same amount of net carbs as the lc bread. the one i purchased was by natural grain and it has 10g carbs and 3 fiber, 7 net carbs. This is not much different from the low carb breads and this bread had better taste and texture than the low carb breads ive been eating and it was a lil cheaper.
Well anyway, i really tried hard to get a higher carb day in, but i wasnt very successful. I did get 50g in. im gonna push for 70-80 the next 2 days, this is easier said than done. This is definetly not easy, considering i refuse to eat white flour, sugar, and potatoes.
Oh and im back to my sig weight after gaining 3lbs with my TOM.

__________________
Started LC 1-10-04

302/199/160, 103lbs down, 39 to go, simply remarkable.

Restart- 8-19-07
242/226/160


405 points to date ( HOLIDAY CHALLENGE )

I would be interested in your results too.


Since I'm semi close to my goal weight (up a little right now from Easter...), I have been "averaging" my carbs for the week.

If I'm slightly high on carbs one day (40ish), I try to make sure that I go low on my carbs the next day or two. I still try to keep all my carbs coming in from healthy sources though.

I've lost the taste/need for sugars so I do not want to bring them back for any reason.

PS - Now if I could just lose my taste/need for wines, I would be a happy camper!

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:silly:
Wolfman
207/178/175
Top Weight: 220 (Oct 2000)
Lowest Weight: 178 (Oct 2003/Dec 2006)

Well, I have done this and thought it worked. After my last vaca where I went off this woe and gained some, I sure did lose the weight I gained real quick. After all is said and done, I seem to be hovering again at the weight that I have been for the last 4 months.

Whenever I say the stall is broken, the next week I am back to where I was again.

(I am hoping by saying that I am still stalling will also make me a liar).

But it certainly seemed to help other people here.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

rkc

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261/226/215?
Started Atkins on 6/12/03

Whenever I want to knock some weight off I cycle my carbs AND cals. Works like a charm every time.

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It is always necessary to leave some part
of cooking to improvisation. - Paul Bocuse
Member since 2001

Omg, i think it worked, i finally got myself up to 90g of carbs yesterday, i even ate something totally off plan( was my first time doing this ). And got on the scale this morning and was down a pound, and what really shocks me is that i usually dont lose at all during my tom, i actually gain during it. Well im gonna push for one more high day today see what happens when i step on that scale in the morning, if i have another loss yall might hear me cheering over here, lol. I have not lost anything in almost 3 weeks, i actually gained like 3lbs(which is in part to my tom) i may have jump started this stall, yippeeeeeee.

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Started LC 1-10-04

302/199/160, 103lbs down, 39 to go, simply remarkable.

Restart- 8-19-07
242/226/160


405 points to date ( HOLIDAY CHALLENGE )

Three weeks ago I'd been stalled for nearly a month, with no changes on the scale. My cousin got married that weekend and I had pizza Friday and Sunday, plus the dinner buffet and beer Saturday night at the reception. I knew I shouldn't but did it anyway, and got right back on track Monday morning, and by Friday morning, four pounds were gone! I know it can't always work that way and by NO means am I suggesting that anybody blow it that bad for a weekend just to see what happens, but sometimes I think our systems need a little "shock" to remind them of what they're suppposed to be doing.

I've done this many times, although I've never heard it named carb-cycling. Good name, I guess.

In my limited experience, it hasn't payed off. A temporary fluctuation in water weight and then I'm back where I started.

It sounds like a good approach when you are stalled and you may have inadvertently lowered your carb threshold and want to get it back up. I suspect that happens to everybody eventually, at least a little bit.

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"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours."

The last week I kind of had this happen to me--I made some choices that were not as healthy as I would have liked, but that is OK--I had days at 25 and days at 60 or a bit more and I lost 2.5 as of this morning--tomorrow is my official weigh in day. I find that if I allow some higher carb choices along with the traditional low carb foods I lose--though I have had it backfire and gain 2 as well. I don't thinkit can be more than a couple of days at a time. Just my $.02!

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Lori

232/190/130
My other journal http://www.lowcarbeating.com/bb/showthread.php?t=1130