Fitdad Week 5

Week 5 aka half way and I’ve just received my new “carb cycling” diet.  For those who don’t know what carb cycling is let me give you a little run down.  Carb cycling is a very effective method that is used by all top level physique competitors and bodybuilders because it ALWAYS yields great fat loss results.

It works by using carbohydrates to increase the speed of your metabolism especially when you are quite carb sensitive (this means that when sugars enter your blood you burn them quickly and utilise the nutrients rather than storing them as fat).

When your metabolism has been ramped up by an increase of good complex carbohydrates carb cycling demands that you drop them much lower for a couple of days to benefit from the faster metabolism to burn of fat.  The trick to carb cycling is not to keep the low carb days too low as that will slow the metabolism so this necessitates that you must drop up and down in the best pattern for you.  My schedule, for instance, goes like this:

Low – 100g carbs
Low – 100g carbs
Medium – 150g carbs
Low – 100g carbs
Low – 100g carbs
Medium – 150g carbs
High – 300g carbs

Everyone is different and the first plan is a work in progress as it is monitored by checking how you look after certain days and after asking certain questions.  For example:

How did I look on Monday after the high day on Sunday?

I looked leaner and veins were more pronounced = great, keep the high day in as the spike in sugars has tightened me up and burnt more fat or
I looked a bit softer or look a little bloated = ok, it was too much carbs and next time it should be less carbohydrates or we should keep it lower for longer beforehand.

Everything needs to be taken into account…….but that’s not my job this time that’s Gabriel’s…good!

This new plan has come at the right time mentally as last week you’ll notice I finished the week a sad little husk of a man that found typing too difficult for my little fingers.  As with any transformation whether it be a 12 week program such as my Warrior Workout or just your standard “I just wanna lose a bit of fat” program psychology is important.  If I am feeling down or pissed off then I won’t perform so as they say sometimes a change can be as good as a break and this break was needed.  Have you noticed that that was just a long winded excuse for my pathetic article last week??

However, (there is always a however on a journey like this) I would definitely not say I am enjoying the diet as I now live in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory where every cupboard has a stash of different chocolate bars, chocolate cereals or chocolate pastries and I get to see Lauren getting the only shred of enjoyment that pregnancy has allowed her.  Poor little(ish) Lauren pregnancy is being a bit of a bastard to her back and now has decided to take away her ability to breathe through her nose 🙁

Before I wrap this up I want to salute the cheat meal for it is one of the only things stopping me from going insane and it gives me a chance to take the missus out as well.  This week it was pizza, garlic bread, beer and then I literally hovered up/made love to a family bag of revels.  I even ate the coffee ones.  Yum yum bloody yum. Bring on week 6 I’m coming for you…..

Me after leaving the keyboard: