Macros, Carb Cycling and Daily Eats

Hello, hello. I’m still here counting macros, grinding out workouts, and making magic happen. I know it’s been awhile. I’ve been sitting on this post for a while. I guess you could say it’s been hard for me to put it in writing.

Anyway, let’s dive in. It’s been a year and a half since I started counting macros and roughly three months since I started carb cycling. When I first started “counting macros” I had the same macro breakdown every day. Then I decided I needed to change something because I was bored with food plus I needed more out of my workouts. After giving a number of things some thought I decided to give carb cycling a try. Of course, I decided to do this smack dab in the middle of the holidays and travel! Call me crazy but I made it work.

It took around a month for my body to adjust to the new numbers. Probably because of the crazy swing in the carb and fat grams. But it has paid off! In the last month, I’ve seen changes in my body and gains in the gym. I can’t wait to see what happens after a few more months.

So what exactly is Carb Cycling?

Carb cycling is a dietary approach in which you alternate carb intake on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

It is commonly used to lose fat, maintain physical performance while dieting, or overcome a weight loss plateau.

Some people adjust their carb intake day-to-day, while others may do longer periods of low, moderate and high-carb diets.

In short, carb cycling aims to time carbohydrate intake to when it provides maximum benefit and exclude carbs when they’re not needed. – Healthline.com

I’m currently cycling three days (rest, low volume and high volume) based on my training for that day. Basically, I’m looking to fuel my workouts, recovery, etc.

REST DAY MACROS: 200C/85F/120P

Rest can include anything from doing nothing to walking the dog, yoga, or other forms of active recovery. What’s crazy is that I’m still eating around 2,000 calories a day! Here’s a sample day of food. Clearly, you can see I’m eating a wide range of food!

HIGH VOLUME MACROS: 385C/60/120P
High volume days for me means I’m doing all the things. Lifting, cardio, gymnastics, etc. It can also be LONG runs, powder days, or other intense activities. This particular day I focused on macro dense meals with carb sources such as potatoes, rice & oats. Again ALL the food!

LOW VOLUME MACROS: 285C/70F/120P
I look at low volume days as training days that fall between rest and HV days. It can be just lifting or cardio, an hour-ish combo workout, hike, etc. This LV sample day was also a Saturday and I managed to fit in pizza!

I’m currently loving carb cycling! However, if you’re new to macros I highly suggest starting with the same daily breakdown. There’s no need to overly complicate the “macro” learning curve. If you’ve been counting for a while and feel bored, want more out of workouts, etc. I highly suggest giving carb cycling a try.

Ok, I’m sure you have a ton of questions so feel free to ask away!