Looking for Input on Carb Cycling Diet

SquatAddict17

SquatAddict17

Well-known member
Trusted Member
Hey All,

I know this topic has been covered in previous posts, but looking for a little input on my personal layout for my current carb cycling diet. Currently a few weeks in, and have yet to step back on the scale. But pre-diet was 240lb 25%BF, heaviest I have ever been, surprisingly not the fattest. Looking for steady loss, 1-1.5lb/week, I'm in the gym 6-7 days/week weight training, with ~150min of SS cardio (stairs, steep incline walk, cycling) per week. Feeling pretty good, and won't know exactly how it's been going until I get another scan, but wanted to get some opinions. Maintenance calories are ~3,400 (BMR - 2,103)

Here's the layout:

M - High Carb (35%C, 25%F, 40%P) 250g Protein minimum on the day, ~70g Fat, & 200g Carbs. Cals: 2,570

T/W/T - Med Carb (30%C, 25%F, 45%P) 250g Protein, 65g Fat, 160g Carbs. Cals: 2,215

F/S/S - Low Carb (20%C, 35%F, 45%P) 290g Protein, 100g Fat, 130g Carbs. Cals: 2,570

I started this out on a much more aggressive schedule, but noticed the cravings for dirty food were way too much to handle, so I bumped all the numbers up. I was using a plan from when I was cutting at ~220lb BW, so not ideal. With this layout, I'm definitely hungry, but not to the point where I feel the need to buy a cheeseburger on the way home from the gym. Gym sessions feel good and strength is coming back.

Any input on something you guys see could use some improvement would be awesome, always wanting to try something new. I've had good success in the past with carb cycling, so wanted to give it another run this go around. TIA
 
SquatAddict17 said:
Hey All,

I know this topic has been covered in previous posts, but looking for a little input on my personal layout for my current carb cycling diet. Currently a few weeks in, and have yet to step back on the scale. But pre-diet was 240lb 25%BF, heaviest I have ever been, surprisingly not the fattest. Looking for steady loss, 1-1.5lb/week, I'm in the gym 6-7 days/week weight training, with ~150min of SS cardio (stairs, steep incline walk, cycling) per week. Feeling pretty good, and won't know exactly how it's been going until I get another scan, but wanted to get some opinions. Maintenance calories are ~3,400 (BMR - 2,103)

Here's the layout:

M - High Carb (35%C, 25%F, 40%P) 250g Protein minimum on the day, ~70g Fat, & 200g Carbs. Cals: 2,570

T/W/T - Med Carb (30%C, 25%F, 45%P) 250g Protein, 65g Fat, 160g Carbs. Cals: 2,215

F/S/S - Low Carb (20%C, 35%F, 45%P) 290g Protein, 100g Fat, 130g Carbs. Cals: 2,570

I started this out on a much more aggressive schedule, but noticed the cravings for dirty food were way too much to handle, so I bumped all the numbers up. I was using a plan from when I was cutting at ~220lb BW, so not ideal. With this layout, I'm definitely hungry, but not to the point where I feel the need to buy a cheeseburger on the way home from the gym. Gym sessions feel good and strength is coming back.

Any input on something you guys see could use some improvement would be awesome, always wanting to try something new. I've had good success in the past with carb cycling, so wanted to give it another run this go around. TIA
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Usually how I get around the dirty food cravings is to allow myself a tiny bit every day. My go to right now is nacho chips. I’ll eat 5 a day.
 
Sorbate said:
Usually how I get around the dirty food cravings is to allow myself a tiny bit every day. My go to right now is nacho chips. I’ll eat 5 a day.
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I never understood cheat day.
I see it as cheat a tiny bit, before or during exersize everyday lol. If ur gunna burn it then fuck it, right. Just keep the macros in check afterwards
 
Palmer1991 said:
I never understood cheat day.
I see it as cheat a tiny bit, before or during exersize everyday lol. If ur gunna burn it then fuck it, right. Just keep the macros in check afterwards
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I think if we needed to get below 10-12% you need to really be strict and hit the right macros, but for lean guys like us, just being careful and not eating too much shit will get us to 10-12%
 
Sorbate said:
I think if we needed to get below 10-12% you need to really be strict and hit the right macros, but for lean guys like us, just being careful and not eating too much shit will get us to 10-12%
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Totally, im always sitting at 10-12. And have never cut. The closest i did to a cut, but i did do it for a long time, is carbs in the morning i was prob 8-9% but ive never denied myself whatever i wanna eat i just chose to eat the carb heavy stuff in the morning.
If the stereotype of needing to eat only chicken and rice and avocado was true, i couldnt do it. I would just say fuck getting jacked; like 4200 calories of chicken and rice??? Ummm no. Luckily its a over hyped belief with very little truth to it.
 
Palmer1991 said:
Totally, im always sitting at 10-12. And have never cut. The closest i did to a cut, but i did do it for a long time, is carbs in the morning i was prob 8-9% but ive never denied myself whatever i wanna eat i just chose to eat the carb heavy stuff in the morning.
If the stereotype of needing to eat only chicken and rice and avocado was true, i couldnt do it. I would just say fuck getting jacked; like 4200 calories of chicken and rice??? Ummm no. Luckily its a over hyped belief with very little truth to it.
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I love my carbs in potato chips.

Until I hit 40 my whole life gaining weight was a huge chore. I drank 2 l of 2% milk every day. Would drink milkshakes with 5 whole eggs post workout.
I was usually around 8-10% bodyfat. I could see the fanning in my obliques.

So now I have to watch it more. So more chicken and rice, lol. Avocado is only good in guac.
Fucking enjoy your youth, lol. You lucky bastard.
 
Op, just a few tips. Take it or leave it serious cutting is something ive only read a bunch about, never actually practiced. I have a foster brother i told what to do and he went from 245 to 170 once, without steroids. He gained it all back now hes gunna do it with steroids to start getting jacked.
Anyways.

Macros look good

I wouldnt do 1200 calorie deficiency for any reason but that might just be a personal preference.

If u are gunna cut so crazy id have every 4th or 5th day being a maintenance calorie day

If ur not juicing at least pack on the gluatmine and other anticatabolics.

Are u doing intermittent fasting or juicing or taking any thermogenics?
 
Palmer1991 said:
Is there a reason your on a 1200 calorie deficiency?
Are u juicing?
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Currently on a cycle of 400mg/w of Test E.

I only mentioned my maintenance being 3,400 because I was multiplying by an activity level factor. I’m in the gym 6-7 days a week so from my understanding. If I read somewhere correctly, the factor of 1.6 for very active.

To be completely honest, I’ve been enjoying the 2,200-2,500 calories with no craving really at all. Playing with lower carbs mid day and more in the AM. But mostly trying to be 250+gr of protein minimum. Everything is up, strength, endurance, and I’ve put on 9-10lb of muscle since starting.

Reason I was eating in such a gnarly deficit to start was I was higher BF% than I wanted to be before starting a cycle. So took it pretty aggressively.

Today, I scanned in at 235lb @ 18%BF.

I’m curious as to whether or not I can keep dropping the BF% but up the calories. I just don’t get that feeling of hunger at the current calories. And I’ve been pretty flexible with cheats here and there as I want them, knowing I’m in a substantial deficit.
 
Palmer1991 said:
Op, just a few tips. Take it or leave it serious cutting is something ive only read a bunch about, never actually practiced. I have a foster brother i told what to do and he went from 245 to 170 once, without steroids. He gained it all back now hes gunna do it with steroids to start getting jacked.
Anyways.

Macros look good

I wouldnt do 1200 calorie deficiency for any reason but that might just be a personal preference.

If u are gunna cut so crazy id have every 4th or 5th day being a maintenance calorie day

If ur not juicing at least pack on the gluatmine and other anticatabolics.

Are u doing intermittent fasting or juicing or taking any thermogenics?
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Appreciate the input, I know it’s pretty aggressive, once I lean out to that 12-15% range, the plan was to go maintainence or slightly below, and really work on keeping/building strength post cycle.

I’m unfortunately the opposite body type, I could put on 10lb in a week if I put my mind to it, just trying to be mindful of not getting into a poor habit like I did previously. I guess I’ve taken it to the other extreme
 
If the gym is your only activity i wouldnt say your that active... i say im in the same category as you but i exersize about 12 hours a day, between walking everywhere, my 2 jobs and the gym.
Losing 14-15pounds of fat while gaining 9-10 pounds is highly unlikely in a few weeks. But anyways, if its working keep at it, i only say eat a maintenance day or two so u dont risk ur thyroid. But im starting to think ur maintenance isnt what u thought it was.
Just keep at it
 
Palmer1991 said:
If the gym is your only activity i wouldnt say your that active... i say im in the same category as you but i exersize about 12 hours a day, between walking everywhere, my 2 jobs and the gym.
Losing 14-15pounds of fat while gaining 9-10 pounds is highly unlikely in a few weeks. But anyways, if its working keep at it, i only say eat a maintenance day or two so u dont risk ur thyroid. But im starting to think ur maintenance isnt what u thought it was.
Just keep at it
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Work has me usually around 10-12k steps, and pretty minimal manual labour, but here and there. I manage construction.

Then I’m lifting 5-6 days a week, with extra cardio Sundays. Totally fair point, I was only using that multiplication factor based on how they categorized it, which was physically active 5-7 days per week.

I think it might be fair to say it’s likely closer to 3,000
 
Thats why its good to start at what it says ur maintenance is and build or drop from there so theres less guess work. But i get the importance of quick results r.n. lol.
I havent done anything above 600mg/w in prob 6+ years, but having to use my home gym during covid i wanna go hard so im now on over a gram of juice lol
 
Palmer1991 said:
Thats why its good to start at what it says ur maintenance is and build or drop from there so theres less guess work. But i get the importance of quick results r.n. lol.
I havent done anything above 600mg/w in prob 6+ years, but having to use my home gym during covid i wanna go hard so im now on over a gram of juice lol
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We all get carried away for a bit. My max was a bit over 2 grams of total gear not including winny.
I won’t go there again. But it was fun.
 
Palmer1991 said:
Thats why its good to start at what it says ur maintenance is and build or drop from there so theres less guess work. But i get the importance of quick results r.n. lol.
I havent done anything above 600mg/w in prob 6+ years, but having to use my home gym during covid i wanna go hard so im now on over a gram of juice lol
Click to expand...
Agreed, I went about it the hard way for sure. Fuck around and find out you did it wrong lol

I think I really packed on the muscle quickly in the first few weeks of cycle just from the combination of being an experienced lifter from before, but having a large span of time off with COVID. I was out for 18mo from the gym, got fat. Then hopped back in the gym and have been going hard.

I can only go by what the scans say, but I’ll be on week 6 this weekend, and I’m up 10lb muscle, and my body fat mass is apparently down 21lb. Hence the slight weight loss noted from the beginning.
 
Is it just me or is counting every single calorie like annoying as fuck. I'm just aiming for rough estimates on my numbers. When it comes to work or grocery day after they jack gas prices and food prices, it's next to impossible to keep perfect track of every calorie. For me anyway.
 
SquatAddict17 said:
Hey All,

I know this topic has been covered in previous posts, but looking for a little input on my personal layout for my current carb cycling diet. Currently a few weeks in, and have yet to step back on the scale. But pre-diet was 240lb 25%BF, heaviest I have ever been, surprisingly not the fattest. Looking for steady loss, 1-1.5lb/week, I'm in the gym 6-7 days/week weight training, with ~150min of SS cardio (stairs, steep incline walk, cycling) per week. Feeling pretty good, and won't know exactly how it's been going until I get another scan, but wanted to get some opinions. Maintenance calories are ~3,400 (BMR - 2,103)

Here's the layout:

M - High Carb (35%C, 25%F, 40%P) 250g Protein minimum on the day, ~70g Fat, & 200g Carbs. Cals: 2,570

T/W/T - Med Carb (30%C, 25%F, 45%P) 250g Protein, 65g Fat, 160g Carbs. Cals: 2,215

F/S/S - Low Carb (20%C, 35%F, 45%P) 290g Protein, 100g Fat, 130g Carbs. Cals: 2,570

I started this out on a much more aggressive schedule, but noticed the cravings for dirty food were way too much to handle, so I bumped all the numbers up. I was using a plan from when I was cutting at ~220lb BW, so not ideal. With this layout, I'm definitely hungry, but not to the point where I feel the need to buy a cheeseburger on the way home from the gym. Gym sessions feel good and strength is coming back.

Any input on something you guys see could use some improvement would be awesome, always wanting to try something new. I've had good success in the past with carb cycling, so wanted to give it another run this go around. TIA
Click to expand...
Look into Eliot Hulse’s Hybrid Diet. Did this years ago with good success. Was able to lean out and add muscle.

It’s not easy to follow as there is one day of fasting until dinner but it does work.
 
Jerbear said:
Is it just me or is counting every single calorie like annoying as fuck. I'm just aiming for rough estimates on my numbers. When it comes to work or grocery day after they jack gas prices and food prices, it's next to impossible to keep perfect track of every calorie. For me anyway.
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Agreed, it's definitely ridiculously tedious. I'm not the kind of guy that's tracking the 25gr of sauce I add to a bowl of burger mix or anything, just tracking the general intake to make sure I'm still in my deficit, and as close to macros as possible.
 
Idk ithink if ur on a real cut you gotta be strict on ur macro count... bulking, have a minimum calorie intake, example i eat 4500cals, a 800 surplus, but since i have measured how much 250ml is for my cups i drink out of, or how high i fill my bowl for this thing, i just count that, so i have forsure at leadt s 600 cal surplus, i dont count sauces or fruits or veggies so chances are im on 1000 surplus... but if ur on a 300 cal deficiency, eyeing out 2500 cals with only a 300 cal window just seems impractical, imo.
But i guess u can have a 500-700cal deficiency as long as u have some maintenance days inthere to not fuck ur thyroid.


But i heard people who wanna get 5-6%bf and they say even being off 100 cals can fuck everything
 
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