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At this point, we’ve all seen a thousand and one different diet techniques being promoted online all the time…
From “skinny teas” to “weight loss bars” there’s no shortage of people trying to sell you something to get an “incredible body in no time”.
One of the things that I get asked about frequently is carb cycling.
Clients reach out asking:
“Should I lower my macros on rest days?”
So, let’s talk about it!
To be super clear: there are multiple ways to use carb cycling but in this email I am SPECIFICALLY going to be speaking on the use of carb cycling in healthy, resistance training, novice to intermediate individuals wanting to lose weight where they lower carbs on rest days and alternate different macros throughout the week...
One could either:
🏻 Consume 140P/190C/55F 7 days a week
OR
🏻 Consume 140P/120C/65F 3 rest days alternating with 140P/240C/50F 4 training days
Consistent macros daily cals= 12,705 weekly
Carb Cycling total cals= 12,755 weekly
....the same weekly calories! 🤯
This means, you should not expect to see more progress carb cycling because the calorie deficit is the same.
What’s worse, is often you’ll see lower carbs on rest days without any increases in fats, making rest day macros very low and restrictive compared to the ideal daily calorie deficit.
So, especially for people new to macro tracking and fitness-
Why make it harder than it needs to be?!
Other reasons I’m not a fan of carb cycling:
❌Your rest days are your grow days, and removing vital energy can inhibit recovery and muscle damage repair.
❌Progress and success above all else require CONSISTENCY, and asking people to change their macros numerous times per week in their apps can make it challenging to get into a good flow with what to eat.
❌Taking away women’s carbs on rest days in my opinion promotes a bad relationship with food: “You only get carbs if you workout girl!” That’s NOT the message I want to send to my clients. 🏼♀️
❌Restriction is a huge trigger for binging and/or quitting, and low rest day macros can make it more likely that you tap out altogether.
❌Resting is GOOD for us, but if we take food away from ourselves on rest days, is that really the message we are sending?
❌If you are midway through the day and a workout gets cancelled or something comes up, people can feel extremely frustrated that they may have very few macros left for the day if this means they have to switch to rest day, LOWER macros. Again, creating a negative association with resting.
❌You’ll be eating low carbs and calories the day before big lifts, which can negatively affect your strength and performance due to low glycogen stores.
So what DO I recommend instead?
Consume the same macros daily.
Be CONSISTENT...
And see epic progress while promoting healthy relationships with food and exercise.  🏻
If you want to lose weight while enjoying carbs and ample food every single day of the week, click here to apply for 1:1 coaching.
- Dala
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