Carb cycling is pretty common when you are on a cut.
It basically means, you are eating lower carbs daily for a length of time then
eat a day with higher carbs.
This is called a Refeed. Some people are good with a CHEAT meal (not cheat day). A re-feed is a controlled carb up.
The simple reasons for a re-feed.
1. Your brain. Who doesn’t feel better when you get extra food!!
2. Hormone balance. Refeeds help to raise the hormone leptin. As you diet, those levels drop. Refeeds keep your body burning optimally.
Well.. It seems like all fun and games but when you refeed, you would want to 1. keep your fats as low as possible. 2. Reduce your protein intake to 1g protein per pound of body weight. 3. Keep fructose low as it has no effect on leptin
4. Fiber is reduced on refeed day. Fiber slows digestion. Quickie carbs!
That’s an interesting place to be. What can you eat that isn’t fruit and doesn’t have a lot of fat? Skinny pop is out! Boooo!
In my first prep, I was 1 million weeks out from my show and eating 50 carbs a day because that’s what my coach wanted me to do. OMG. My refeed day was 12 cups of cooked brown rice. There was no other option. I think I cried. GROSS. I don’t eat rice anymore.
Some people re-feed with pop tarts, cereal and fun things like that. That’s cool watch your fats on that.
Pasta, bread, sf ice cream, cream of wheat, grits.. see where I’m going? Pure startch.
I prefer froyo. I go low fat on that. I bring my own scale to the Froyo store!!
Sometimes I do…
Pancakes!! Kodak protein pancake
Topped with 4 oz light fit Greek
1/2 cup pumpkin purée
7 Ghiradelli cacao chips
1/4 cup ihop sf syrup
C: 53 P:27 F:5 Fiber 6
What do you use for your re-feed day?
If you want to learn more about IIFYM for competition or lifestyle, visit LEARNIIFYM and we will help you with our online classes!!
Are you stuck in the cycle of dieting/binge eating?
Are you someone who prides yourself that you ONLY EAT CLEAN?
Do you think other people are wrong because they eat things you would never eat, like sugar, or junk food?
The trend came about for CLEAN EATING and let’s just say, a mess was made. There is NO such thing
as “clean” eating. I’m a recovering clean eater. “Clean eating” served my family well for a few years while
we re-tooled our household from a steady diet of fast food and soda during some stressful times in our business.
We got our shit together and made everyone around us miserable because “clean eating” was all we talked about.
What is Clean eating? Problem one: No one really knows the definition of “clean”.
Vegans/Veg say meat isn’t clean but they eat grains.
“Clean eaters” say processed food and sugar isn’t clean.
Paleo folks say grains aren’t clean but they eat meat and consume sugars.
Some people abide by only organic and NON-GMO and the rest is not clean. We are all screwed there!
Problem two: All these diets are restrictive and can lead to binge eating.
If you are Paleo, yet you drink beer, pizza and wings on the weekend.. what is that? Cavemen did not make cookies, paleo friendly protein bars with processed whey protein and chocolate chips. Beer is processed, yes?
If you are a certified clean eater and enjoy a cheat meal of the exact things you say you never eat.. what is that?
Retrictions!! UGH!
The cycle of binge/eat disorder (BED) might look like this.
Diet hard- I’m a rock
Slippery slope moment leads to binge either in public or privately.
Mental beat down 😦
Over exercising and even more heavy restriction.
One way we can break this cycle is to step back and re-cultivate our relationship with food.
Food is Fuel: Carbs are not bad. Fat is not bad. We must stop using terms like “good food” “bad food”.
Food is macro nutrients. It’s carbs, fats, protein. Your body doesn’t know if protein comes from ‘what you deem’ as clean or not clean.
Science, much?
If you are restricting foods the one thing you never eat is probably the one thing you really want to.
Restriction leads to binging. Have you ever done that? I have.
Cheats, cheating or cheat meals: Negative connotations on food can create guilt. Why do we need more guilt?
Frankly, when my coach gave me a “cheat” meal for meals 5 and 6 on my menu, I will be honest, I had a hard time being trusted.
Cheat meals read as binges. I can eat a whole cake in one sitting. One binge can set me back for 3 weeks.
I almost didn’t get to the stage because I went crazy on a sanctioned ‘cheat’ meal. I know that’s NOT what my coach meant, but
that’s how my brain works!
Post cheat meal/binge can follow with even more restrictive diets, guilt and extra hard beat downs in the gym.
How stressful and self defeating this cycle is. If this is you, then you know!
Find some peace.
Flexible dieting allows you to have food that you prefer. If your body likes more paleo, vegan, non-processed, NON-GMO that’s ok.
You can eat how you like as long as you reach your personal macro nutrients of Protein, Carbs, Fats and the micro nutrient fiber.
If you have macros that allow you to fit in your sweet treats or pizza then you able to enjoy food rather than being on lock down.
If you are not able to eat sugar because it is a trigger for you, then you don’t have to! You have freedom and no food is off limits.
If it fits it fits.
This year, I am working on my brain as well as my physique. A mindset of always be catching myself in a failure state makes a person weary.
I am no longer using these terms of which consumed me. I am learning how my body responds to different food sources. I have definitely learned that I am at my best when I am eating nutrient dense whole foods. My skin looks much better when I have the right amounts of fat in my diet.
I notice how sugar pre-workout fuels me, but sugar laden foods while watching TV is a trigger to binge. And if that happens..I am working on not classifying eating off my macros as a failure but a learning experience. Every person, given patience can realize peace in their meal plan, with a desire to change of course.
Changing your mindset to change your physique. All or nothing mentality cannot sustain. What could we accomplish if we enjoyed food without guilt or punishment?
Everyone wants it to be easy. They want it now. Time and time again I get asked the secrets to getting lean.
Here you go!
1. Eat according to your goals.
What do you want?
Have you decided what you want? Active fat loss, getting leaner but adding muscle?
Eat according to your goals. You can still eat well, even on fat loss!
I know… Everyone has YOLO’d their way into a food coma, but if you aren’t eating on your plan, get back in check.
Consistency with the right foods will keep you lean and tight. If you are eating for your physique goals
you can enjoy all kinds of foods!
2. Pick up heavy weights
Lift heavy. LIFT!
Muscle is the fountain of youth. Lift heavy weights at least
3 x a week to increase your metabolism!
3. Stop fretting over being too bulky.
Be fearless!
My client got this booty by eating lots of yummy carbs.
Do you know how hard it is to gain muscle? Women cannot just put on slabs of muscle
and getting bulky is an unnecessary worry. Lifting heavy will create some beautiful curves
and lean tight bodies. My client, Liz worked on that Peachy Booty for 7 months. She ate
over 300 g carbs per day! She was fearless! She’s very lean because she’s lifting very heavy!
She does no cardio.
4. Stop being a cardio bunny
cardio alone did not build this body!
Fact: Long duration cardio makes you mushy as you use your precious muscle for fuel.
Unless you are an endurance athlete, add some high intensity intervals into your weekly workout
2-3 times. It’s good for your heart. Want to be tiny and tight with sleek, sexy abs? Focus on lifting heavy
like Amanda Latona!
5. Trust the Process
Trust the process. Don’t give up
Rome wasn’t built in a day. You can be successful if you are willing to
trust the process. Fat loss or body re-compostion is not linear.
It takes time. Giving up too soon because you want instant results
is self sabotage. Start by taking weekly selfies to chart your progress.
Keep your motivation up by taking daily successes. Completing workouts,
hitting your macros, are all successes that ensure the physique you want.
6. Be good to yourself.
Never give .up
Your worth is NOT determined by your physique.
You can try your hardest, so what if you have a mistep. Just keep pushing onward.
Never, ever give up!!!
