Carb Cycling

I've got a lot of questions on this so I've decided to write an entire blog about it. But just remember, as I'll repeat many times throughout.


Two things real quick.

1) If you believe the math in this is too complicated I'll send my 9 year old cousin to your house to help your math because you're half retarded. She'll teach you long division as a free bonus.

2) IF YOU'RE NOT REGULARLY TRACKING YOUR CALORIES THAT DON'T EVEN BOTHER CARB CYCLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Carb cycling is for those already regularly tracking their macro nutrient ratios and have either stumbled into a plateau or are feeling one on the rise.

Only pull this out when necessary. And only follow it for a while, don't live your life off of carb cycling. Do it for a while, get off it, then get back on if needed.

And yes, this pretty much similar to refeeding.

Now without further ado, let me explain this shit.



So let's say you're man dieting on around 3000 calories or woman on 1500 calories.

And let's say you're on a 40/30/30 (Carbs/Protein/Fat) split just for fun. If your ratios are different than obviously alter them as needed super brain.

The man will be eating on maintenance diet 300 carbs/225 protein/100 fat

The woman would have a maintenance diet of 150 carbs/110 protein/50 fat

* Some numbers are rounded off in order to be more easily remembered, so don't get anal



Anyway, now to cut from this point on you should be doing well if you're lifting and cardio are on point.

Now when you finally need to tweak and reduce calories, cut them all from your carbs.

Cut them by 25%, leave the rest the same as you need your protein and fat.

The man will now be eating 225 carbs/225 protein/100 fat

His overall calories have now dropped to 2700, from carb cutting alone.

The woman will now be eating 110 carbs/110 protein/50 fat

The woman's overall calories have dropped to 1330 from carb cutting.

Added bonus is it's now easier to remember your ratios as proteins and carbs are exact same now.

Still with me? This isn't physics.



So you stick on this for a while and probably get all the results you could ever want.

If you don't then NOW IT'S FINALLY TIME FOR CARB CYCLING.

Top 2 reasons you've earned the right to do this are:

1) You've hit two plateaus and have finally needed to do this out of necessity as a final effort
2) You've been logging long and consistently enough to prove you have the skill and discipline to follow this

Now what you will be doing is this. You will cut an additional 25% from the carb amount you're currently eating.

Again, everything else stays the same.

So now the man will be eating 170 carbs/225 protein/100 fat

The man's calories have now dropped to 2480 from additional carb cutting. Over 500 calorie deficit from the beginning.

The woman doing the same will now be eating 80 carbs/110 protein/50 fat

The woman's overall calories have now dropped to 1210. Around a 300 calorie deficit from the beginning. Less cutting than the man, but women have less to cut. I don't want a bunch of women running around on 1000 or less calories starving themselves to get in shape, but only losing muscle. Only cut what's necessary. Nothing more.

VERY IMPORTANT



THIS IS A ROTATIONAL DIET

You will only eat like this for 3-5 days.

Then you will have 1-2 days of a high carb day.

You will add 15% to your starting carb amount.

The will now eat 345 carbs/225 protein/100 fat

The woman will now eat 125 carbs/110 protein/50 fat

EX. Man eats 3 days at 170, then 1 day at 345

EX. Woman eats 5 days at 80 carbs, then 2 days at 150 carbs

At the risk of over explaining and confusing you, you can also do a 2 day low, 2 day medium, 2 day high

EX. Man eats 2 days at 170 carbs, 2 days at 225 carbs, 2 days at 345

EX. Woman easts 2 days 80 carbs, 2 days 110 carbs, 2 days 150 carbs

So, there it is. Carb Cycling.

Much like reading a book. It's not hard to do, it's just most people don't want to think and would rather just not do it.



Special thanks and shout out to Chris Aceto the author of Everything You Need to Know About Fat Loss and Championship Bodybuilding and Tom Venuto author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Mucscle.



Shout out to my cousin that will teach all the half retards how to do basic math so they can lose weight.

Food Quality

First of all, don't eat anything you don't like. Unless you're like that weird guy who only eats burger king chicken fries.



Now that being said, you can't just eat foods you love, and sacrifices will be made.



Of all the of the pleasures in this world, food is probably at the top for most people. Easier to get than sex, any age can get it at any time unlike alcohol, and it's not illegal like drugs. Instant gratification. Not only that people use it to beat boredom or fill a void. So it's not surprising there's so many fat food addicts out there.


They're obviously of the belief that a great body would be nice, it's not worth depriving themselves of their favorite food. And that's where I begin to part ways with most people. I would love to eat pizza, cereal, ice cream sandwiches all day. I would love to sleep all day, never work, never have to exercise, get paid huge amounts of money to watch movies and play videogames. I don't love half the things I do, I do love the results.




Another thing to ask is, is it really worth it? A FEW seconds of taste, unless you just chew like a cow.
Now is that worth having a flabby body all day?
Is it worth having to suck in all day, or fold your arms over your stomach when sitting?
Is it worth having to go to a store and buy something known as SPANX?
Is it worth having to wear sleeves to hide your arm fat?
Is it worth having to dodge friends and family so they don't see how big you are?
Is it worth lowering the quantiity and quality of your life?
Is it worth having to wear all black or loose clothing so that you don't look as bad?
Is it worth wearing a shirt to the pool?



Look, I'm not saying you have to give up everything you enjoy. That's even worse and will rebound to ruin you most of the time. Unless you just get off on deprivation like some weird monk. You have one life as far as I know, so make it fun. Like the Greeks said "moderation in all things"(Though I don't think they followed it too well)


And on that note, I'm not saying you're eating the worst food out there. You may be eating decent, but decent is not good enough. Obviously, if you're reading about getting in better shape, improvements must be made.

As Tom Venuto stated in his book Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle you can pretty much grade foods by how far away they are from their natural state.

1) Potato. A

Microwaved Baked Potato. B

Mashed Potatoes. C.

French Fries. F.

Potato Chips F-

2) Steel Cut Oats A+

Oatmeal A-

Quick Oats C

Oatmeal Cream Pies F

3) Greek Yogurt A

Greek Yogurt Bar C-

Greek Yogurt with Fruit D

Think about that anytime you want to eat a CARROT CAKE. I swear I want to hit someone when we're splitting a pizza and they want to add vegetables to it. I eat Pizza, I'm going all the way bad. I'll eat spinach later during a good meal. Don't add spinach to my pizza because you feel better about yourself. My grandma thinks it's okay to eat French Fries from Wendy's because it has sea salt on it.



This is one of the biggest issues with people who are scared of carbs. It's not so much the carbs sometimes, it's the quality. Too much bleached, processed, sugary versions of the food instead of the natural. Not to say calories aren't the most important factor. But this is still something to be considered.


So if you take anything away from this, try to eater a higher quality of food, for a higher quality of life. Now, as you were.

Manipulating Macros

Now we've already discussed the optimum macronutrient ratios for your success in getting the utltimate body. Let's say you follow it, and you're getting great results month after month, everyone notices how great you look, ESPECIALLY YOU, but now there's a problem....



You have finally hit a Plateau! You know, that thing Kurt Cobain was always singing about.




So as I've discussed the typical high carbohydrate approach (50-55% carbohydrates,
30% protein and 15-20% fat) works for most people, but a by lowering
your carbohydrates and upping your protein and fats you can easily break through that wall.



How much manipulation am I talking. How about cutting carbs from 55% to 40%, upping your protein from 30% to 40%, and increasing your 15% fat to 20% fat. Anybody with me here?



The greatest part is you're not going hungry because you're still eating the same amount of calories. All you're doing is manipulating the sources of food. And women often do well at this, being they're masters of manipulation.


But seriously though folks

By cutting down carbs and increasing your protein and fat you will undecidedly gain a metabolic and hormonal advantage over a high carb diet.

So as not to bore you I'll end it here and hope that you take these words and random photos to heart. 'Till next week.

You eat healthy!? Where's the results?

If you're eating the right foods, but the only thing you've lost is your enthusiasm then you're probably making one of two common mistakes.



MISTAKE 1: Eating too much of it.



Brown Rice and Sweet Potatoes are great for you but not if you're 15 servings of it.

But I've heard preposterous claims by guys such as Jeff Caveliere of Athlean X saying calorie counting is useless and eating the right foods is all that matters. He's not the only one I've heard make claims like this.


Maybe with his genetics that works. But I dare you to try it and see how it works.

More important than what you eat is the amount. If you're trying to lose weight, the number one rule is to be eating at a caloric deficit.

But before you get ahead of yourself I want you to know this. You have to already be eating at an average to above average amount of calories before you cut. Which brings us to...

MISTAKE 2: Not eating enough food



If you're already at an extreme deficit and then try to cut, you'll basically be starving and throw off you metabolism. Making it work against you.

Translation: your body will cling to fat harder than ever.

So that's why I always suggest to people looking to lose weight to exercise more over eat less.



Look at it this way. The more you exercise, the higher your metabolism. The higher your metabolism, the more you can eat. The more you eat, the higher your metabolism.

So if you're having trouble getting results, look into what you're doing and see which of the two mistakes you're making.

You think you are, but you're not

So I'm an avid follower of Chris Aceto and Tom Venuto, so I'll often be regurgitating their words through my own experience. Hey, they're smarter and have been doing it much longer than me so why in the hell would I try to change the game.

So anyway, let's keep it simple and talk about how to break a fat loss plateau.




You're not tracking, but you think you are

I have countless people say they're tracking and eating like I said to but they're really not. Know how I know? They're not getting results!



One mistake a lot of people make is guessing at what they ate. I know it can be tedioius and annoying, but so is making your bed, and paying taxes. But you do it. Well, most of you.



You have to be completely honest and track everything.

I'm not saying you have to track how many milliliters of water you drank or how how many ounces of cabbage you had.

But you better track how many slices of bread or cups of rice you had.

Dietitians were asked to guesstimate their daily caloric intake without the help of any tools. Guess what...they were 85% off.



You think you're better than dietitians?

I'm already in shape, yet I track every single day how many grams of carbs, protein, and fat I get.

You think you're better than me?



This is not a pure science, so you if you want results you better not mess around. Because nothing is guaranteed, which means you really have to work for it.

You want a specific body, make a specific goal, and eat a specific amount.



You want 100% results, give 100 % effort. Damn, I'm starting to sound like a high school football coach.



Don't track the calories after you've already eaten your days worth of food. Yes you're tracking, but the only purpose you're serving that way is confirming why you're not getting results.

Input the food ahead of time then you'll see if it fits you goals for the day. If you need more you add more, if you need less you add less.

 Let me explain it once more so I don't blow your minds.



Let's say I've input all my food for the day and it's 8 pm. I got one last meal left and need to fit in 50 grams of carbs, 50 grams of protein, and 20 grams of fat. Well then I'll make sure I eat food that fills that requirement. Maybe a Lean Double Turkey Burger on Wheat Buns?

See how that works. Didn't have to be that. Anything that fit those requirements.

You see how dumb a lot of these meat heads are walking around this planet. You all make fun of them. Watch countless videos parodying them. Comedians joking about them. SNL made ratings with their skits about them. Jersey Shore shoved them down your throats. A lot of dumb but in shape people out there.



So guess what, you don't have to be a member of MENSA to do this.

You only need to really want it.

I know and you know a lot of people with great bodies that don't count their calories. Guess what, that's not you. That's them. They got the genetics for it. You obviously don't or you wouldn't be reading this. That's okay, I don't either. But that fueled me to work for it and that's how I know so much. Since I know so much I can teach it and have made a good career off of it.


Think about this. If you're going to go through all the pain, effort, money, and time to do this. You may as well get the results.

You Should've Already Got Results

You should see results every week. If you don't, what you're doing is wrong.

How do you actually know if you're doing something wrong. You could try to judge yourself by a mirror, or how you fit in your clothes, or how many times you get hit on Saturday night. 

But believe it or not there's much better ways of doing this.

Weigh yourself.

Measure your body fat.

I don't care if you use an electronic or analog caliper. Whatever you do use the same measurement method and don't switch, because the measuring tool will then become the variable.

If you're using analog calipers make sure you're using the same person as the measurer.

Also make sure it's you getting measured every time. HAHAHAHA I'm hilarious.

But seriously though folks. You can get yourself one of them hi tech weight scales out of a department store that measures your weight, bf%, LBM, waterweight, etc. all in one. It's 2013! We're living in the future people. 

After you've done that another good idea would be to find your LBM (Lean Body Mass).

Subtract your body fat percentage from your weight and and you'll have that. If you actually need me to explain how that's done then you're not allowed to read my blogs for now on, let alone make eye contact with me.

This way when you lose or gain weight you'll know how much of it was muscle and how much was fat.

I got a guy down 2 lbs one week and he was a little disspointed. Until I pointed out to him that he gained 3 lbs of muscle at the same time, so he actually lost 5 lbs of fat!

That's what sucks about just measuring your weight.

Those girls that are happy about losing weight after being sick for a week and not eating really only lost water weight and muscle, but these are not the girls that measure their body fat and LBM so ignorance is bliss.

Also get your measurements around your waist, hips, arms, etc, and check that out from time to time as well but not as frequently.

That'll do for today. I'm going to start making my blogs shorter but more frequent. 

I'll tell you what to do if you're not getting the correct results in the next blog.

Until then, keep trying to be like me.

Food Formula Fundamentals (F3)

A lot of people find it hard trying to understand how to put meals together. But no matter how many times I do it many people still don't know what the hell they're doing.


IT'S NOT COMPLICATED!!

You just have to know the fundamentals.

Here's a better understanding of how to compose your daily meals.

1: Complex Carbs: (Fibrous)
aka VEGETABLES
Asparagus, Broccoli, Okra

Cauliflower, Green Beans, Brussel Sprouts

Peas, Cucumber, Squash

Collard greens, Mushrooms, Zucchini

Lettuce Salads Pepper, green or red

Tomatoes, pasta sauce, salsa Spinach Kale

2: Natural Simple Carbs (Fruit)

Apples 
Unsweetened applesauce, Blueberries

Bananas, Oranges, Raspberries

Berries, Nectarines, Plums

Grapes, Peaches, Cantaloupe

Grapefruit, Pears 
Jelly (all fruit)

3: Complex Carbs (Starchy)

Oatmeal, Cream of Rice, Cream of Wheat, Cream of Rye, oat bran, barley, multi-grain

Potatoes (white, red)

Yams, sweet potatoes, CARROTS

Beans, lentils, legumes

Brown Rice

100% whole grain dry cereals*

100% whole wheat or whole grain pasta*

100% whole wheat bread & whole grain products*
*In Moderation

4: Lean Proteins:

Chicken breast, Turkey breast

Fish (Flounder, Haddock, Salmon, Orange Roughy, Cod, Tuna etc.)

Shellfish (Lobster, shrimp, Clams, etc.)

Lean Red Meat (Flank Steak, Round Steak, extra lean sirloin)

Eggs/Egg whites (One yolk for every six whites)

Low or non fat dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.)

5: Dairy Products (1% low fat, skim, or non fat)

Milk

Cheese

Greek Yogurt

Cottage cheese

6: Fats

Nuts & seeds, flaxseed oil, olive oil, canola oil, natural peanut butter, olives, fish fat

A simple formula for creating effective, fat-burning meals and menus

Now that I've given the formula from the gods you now have to do something with it. I now deem you worthy of selecting those foods you actually enjoy eating and insert them into your meals. You can now quickly create 6 meals that will give you a 6 pack by following these rules. Like everything else, it's easy once you know what you're doing.

10 Simple Steps for creating a daily menu (50-55% carbs, 30% protein, 15-20% fat)

Step 1: Choose a lean protein from the list for every meal.

Step 2: Choose a starchy carbohydrate from the list for every meal

Step 3: Choose your simple carbohydrates for your breakfasts

Step 4: Choose your fibrous carbs for your lunches and dinners

Step 5: Add essential fats if insufficient quantities are present in your foods

Step 6: Count your meal subtotals and grand totals.

Step 7: Compare your totals to your calorie target and adjust the serving sizes

Step 8: Assign a time a time for each meal

Step 9: Do it now!

Step 10: Keep doing it

BFFM Breakfasts (meals one and two)

Because you’ll be eating five or six meals a day and the first two meals will

probably be in the morning, we’ll call meals one and two “breakfasts” for simplicity. The

first step in creating a breakfast is to select a lean protein such as egg whites. The second

step is to choose a starchy carbohydrate such as oatmeal. The third step, which is

optional, is to pick a natural simple carbohydrate such as an orange(if you're into that kind of thing). Now all you have to do is adjust your portion sizes to fit your personal calorie needs. There you have it – now you can give flab a right hook to the face as you tone your body with a bad ass breakfast.

Here are several examples.

Example 1 Egg white omelet oatmeal orange

Example 2 Protein Powder Oatmeal banana

Example 3 Egg White Omelet whole wheat toast all-fruit jelly

Example 4 Shredded Wheat Skim Milk protein shake

Listen, you can have cauliflower and turkey for breakfast if that’s what you want. 

However, most people aren't weird enough to consider that an appetizing or “traditional”

breakfast. Most breakfasts usually consist of oatmeal or cereal for complex

carbs, a piece of fruit for simple carbohydrates and egg whites, protein powder or

a dairy product for protein.

BFFM Lunches and dinners (meals three through six)

Meals three through six will typically fall within the afternoon and evening, so let's

group these meals together and name them something crazy like “lunches and dinners”. As with all

meals, start by selecting a lean protein such as fish or chicken breast. Second, you

choose a starchy carbohydrate such as a sweet potato. Third, pick a fibrous

carbohydrate such as asparagus. 

Here are four examples:

Example 1  Chicken breast Baked Potato Broccoli

Example 2 Top Round Steak Yam Green Beans

Example 3 Salmon, Brown Rice, Asparagus

Example 4 Tuna, Low Fat Mayo, Whole Wheat Bread, Salad

The menu template for the baseline diet
You can use this to structure all of your future meals. Just take a food from the appropriate category and plug it into correct slot. Make sure to adjust the portion sizes for your caloric goals.

Meal 1:

Lean Protein, Starchy Carb, Simple carb (dairy or fruit)

Meal 2:

Lean Protein, Starchy Carb, Simple carb (dairy or fruit)

Meal 3:

Lean Protein, Starchy Carb, Fibrous carb (vegetable/salad)

Meal 4:

Lean Protein, Starchy Carb, Fibrous carb (vegetable/salad)

Meal 5:

Lean Protein, Starchy Carb, Fibrous carb (vegetable/salad)

Meal 6:

Lean Protein, Starchy Carb (small serving), Fibrous carb (vegetable/salad), essential fat

A lot of information, maybe too much. Just take it in strides. You'll get addicted once you see the results.


Source for this information came from 'Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle' by Tom Venuto

Tip of the Week: Don't wait till the New Year to change your program. Do it now! The longer you think about doing something the harder it gets.