The diet log that I am maintaining on this site has only one weight per week, so it is hard for you to see how great the fluctuations are. Typically during my 3 days of carb up, I gain between 5 and 10 pounds. This weight then comes off very fast once I begin my carb down. I think that the fluctuations are due primarily to water retention. So, if you try carb cycling, don't freak out over the rapid weight gain following your first up cycle. Try to step back and look at your long term weight changes or simply focus on your waste and hips measurements.
Loosely following a diet of under 45 net carbs daily for 6 months resulted in an average weekly weight loss of 2.3 pounds per week or 0.78% of total body weight. The rate of weight loss slowed over time. So, if only looking at the last 2 of 6 months, the average weekly loss was 0.7 pounds or 0.25% of total body weight ).
5-2 carb cycling (5 days under 45 net carbs, 2 days over 190*) for 5 weeks resulted in an average weekly loss of 0.4 pounds or 0.15% of total body weight.
11-3 carb cycling (11 days under 45 net carbs, 3 days over 190*) for 7 weeks resulted in an average weekly loss of 0.66 pounds or 0.24% of total body weight.
So far, it seems obvious that the 5-2 cycling (taking every weekend off from your low-carb diet) does not work nearly as good as low carb every day. However, the 11-3 cycling (taking a slightly longer weekend off every other week) seems to work almost as well as low-carb every day. Keep in mind that the leaner I get, the harder it is to lose weight. So, my 0.66 pounds per week might be the same or greater than what I would have lost had I taken no carb-up days. Hopefully some of my fellow low-carb bloggers willfollow suit so that we can compare results.
It is still not apparent whether or not the carb-up days will result in increased metabolism.
Regardless, even if cycling does not impact metabolism, it is comforting to have some weekends off of the diet and not feel like my will power is broken.
*For me, carb up days seem to usually wind up somewhere between 300 and 400 net carbs per day.
The diet log that I am maintaining on this site has only one weight per week, so it is hard for you to see how great the fluctuations are. Typically during my 3 days of carb up, I gain between 5 and 10 pounds. This weight then comes off very fast once I begin my carb down. I think that the fluctuations are due primarily to water retention. So, if you try carb cycling, don't freak out over the rapid weight gain following your first up cycle. Try to step back and look at your long term weight changes or simply focus on your waste and hips measurements.
Loosely following a diet of under 45 net carbs daily for 6 months resulted in an average weekly weight loss of 2.3 pounds per week or 0.78% of total body weight. The rate of weight loss slowed over time. So, if only looking at the last 2 of 6 months, the average weekly loss was 0.7 pounds or 0.25% of total body weight ).
5-2 carb cycling (5 days under 45 net carbs, 2 days over 190*) for 5 weeks resulted in an average weekly loss of 0.4 pounds or 0.15% of total body weight.
11-3 carb cycling (11 days under 45 net carbs, 3 days over 190*) for 7 weeks resulted in an average weekly loss of 0.66 pounds or 0.24% of total body weight.
So far, it seems obvious that the 5-2 cycling (taking every weekend off from your low-carb diet) does not work nearly as good as low carb every day. However, the 11-3 cycling (taking a slightly longer weekend off every other week) seems to work almost as well as low-carb every day. Keep in mind that the leaner I get, the harder it is to lose weight. So, my 0.66 pounds per week might be the same or greater than what I would have lost had I taken no carb-up days. Hopefully some of my fellow low-carb bloggers willfollow suit so that we can compare results.
It is still not apparent whether or not the carb-up days will result in increased metabolism.
Regardless, even if cycling does not impact metabolism, it is comforting to have some weekends off of the diet and not feel like my will power is broken.
*For me, carb up days seem to usually wind up somewhere between 300 and 400 net carbs per day.