I can't get this carb cycling right.. help!

[Tearose]

ok My calories for a low carb day are supposed to be 1,530


I am supposed to have 168 g protain
50g carbs
45 g of fat
it comes to 1356 calories, isn;t this too low for someone who is 5'5" 188 lbs?? I am confused :confused: Its probably something simple but I can't seem to think today.

[Leah]

How did you determine the 1530 for your low day?

[Tearose]

I can't remember :(

[Erik]

Originally posted by Tearose@May 17 2006, 11:50 PM
I can't remember :(
Better start there ...

[The13ig13adWolf]

instead of working off your low day, find your medium day and work off that...it's just easier.

[Tearose]

Well I thought thats what i did, Thunder you helped with this and leah did too, not the calories just how many grams of protain, fat and carbs, so maybe i shouldn't stress over the calories? they will take care of themselves if I have the protein, carbs and fat right?

[Erik]

Originally posted by Tearose@May 18 2006, 06:34 PM
Well I thought thats what i did, Thunder you helped with this and leah did too, not the calories just how many grams of protain, fat and carbs, so maybe i shouldn't stress over the calories? they will take care of themselves if I have the protein, carbs and fat right?
Did you read the Carb Cycling article?

Medium days set to 12x bodyweight with the macro specifications outlined. The calories for the high and low days will take care of themselves if you adjust off the medium day.

[Tearose]

I did read it, twice, :( I'll read it again ... somethings not sinking in :oops:

[Tearose]

my bodyweight is 188lbs.... so thats 2,256? thats what my calories are supposed to be for my med day? and i still don't know what it means by "make up the rest of your calories with fats" :confused:

[Tearose]

bump :huh:

[Tearose]

ok I re-read it again, here is what i don't get.... I understand how to come up with the calories for the medium day, but how do you come up with the calories for the high and low days? Do you just add 500 up for high and subtract 500 for the low day?

[Erik]

Originally posted by Tearose@May 19 2006, 07:31 PM
ok I re-read it again, here is what i don't get.... I understand how to come up with the calories for the medium day, but how do you come up with the calories for the high and low days? Do you just add 500 up for high and subtract 500 for the low day?
If you have the calories for the medium day that means you have the protein, carbs, and fats for the medium day too. If the protein and fat stays constant b/w all three days, that means you also have the protein and fats for the high and low days. Carbs are what is getting manipulated and the article tells you how to change your carbs b/w the high, medium and low days.

So, therefore you now have the protein, carbs, and fats for all days, which means you can calculate the calories.

[Tearose]

:oops: I don't know whats wrong with me... it suddenly seems clear, this is what I have:
12 x my bw = 2256

protein- 1 g. per lb of lean mass, which is 135= 135g

carbsfor med day 1 g per lb of lean mass = 135g
for high day 2g. per lb of lean mass = 270 g

Protein 168 g = 672 calories
carbs 135 g = 540 calories
270 g = 1080 calories
fat - need 116 g. to make up the rest of the caloriesfor the med day

Low day- 168 g protein = 672 cal , 50 g carbs = 200 cal, fat 116 g = 1044cal = 540 cal= total calories = 1916
Med Day - protein 168 g. , carbs 135g , fat 117 g = 2256

High day - protein 168g, carbs 270g, fat116g . = 2796

How does this look? If this is wrong I am going to shoot myself in the head
:suicide: :uuhh:
Does this look right for a 5'5" 188lb with about 135lbs lbm girl?

[Erik]

Originally posted by Tearose@May 19 2006, 07:56 PM
:oops: I don't know whats wrong with me... it suddenly seems clear, this is what I have:
12 x my bw = 2256 - 500 (deficit) = 1756 the calories for my med day
Don't do the -500 thing. It's too cookie cutter. I shouldn't have wrote that.

12X BW IS your medium day. It is not maintenance.

[Tearose]

ooh got it, so other then that its all good? But wait that leaves 117 g of fat..... is that right? I also edited the above post to reflect the change.

[Erik]

Originally posted by Tearose@May 19 2006, 08:09 PM
ooh got it, so other then that its all good?
Other than that it's good?

That one mistake affects the rest of the set up. :blink:

[Tearose]

Originally posted by Thunder@May 19 2006, 07:10 PM
Other than that it's good?

That one mistake affects the rest of the set up. :blink:
yeah, I realized that after I potsed, I fixed the rest of it, does it look right now? 116 g of fat isn't too much? :eek:

[Erik]

Bump the protein and use TBW for the carb numbers, not LBM.

[Tearose]

Originally posted by Thunder@May 19 2006, 07:22 PM
Bump the protein and use TBW for the carb numbers, not LBM.
bump the protein? up? how far up? what should I use as a gauge? gotcha on the carbs

[Erik]

Originally posted by Tearose@May 19 2006, 08:24 PM
bump the protein? up? how far up? what should I use as a gauge? gotcha on the carbs
In your case, I'd probably just go 1g/lb TBW.

[Tearose]

ok this is what I have:

Low Day
188 g protein=752 cal
50g carbs = 200 cal
77 g fat = 693 cal
Total = 1645


Med day
188 g protein = 752 cal
188 g carbs = 752 cal
77 g fat = 693 cal
Total = 2200


High day
188 g protain = 752 cal
376 g carbs = 1504 cal
77 g fat = 693 cal
Total = 2949

right? wrong?

[Erik]

Those calculations are correct, but in your case I think I'd probably make the carbs

50
150
250

for your three days.

[Strive2Define]

ok this is what confuses me..the article gives you the way to calculate it and you say the calculations are correct so why not use those ..why are your numbers lower for the high day than what the calculations come out to?Your reasoning behind this?

[Erik]

Originally posted by Strive2Define@May 19 2006, 09:58 PM
ok this is what confuses me..the article gives you the way to calculate it and you say the calculations are correct so why not use those ..why are your numbers lower for the high day than what the calculations come out to?Your reasoning behind this?
I wrote the article ....

And it's just ONE way of doing it. It isn't the only way to cycle carbohydrates. Given her weight, etc I decided it'd be better to lower the carb recommendations. Close to 400g of carbs on a high day when you're about 50lbs over your LBM numbers is likely going to be too high.

[Strive2Define]

Well I knew you had written the article silly ..THAT is why it confused me..I couldn't understand why you were changing numbers around but now that you explained it, I understand better.

[Tearose]

ok thanks Thunder , is it ok to cycle them like this?

M- High carb - weights
T- low carb - HIIT
W- Med carb - weights
Th- Low carb - HIIT
F - high carb - weights
S- low carb ss cardio
S Med carb

I know I'm going to be working with you really soon, but I just want to do the best I can until then since I only have 21 weeks till my competition :)

[Erik]

I wouldn't do HIIT on low days.

[Strive2Define]

How do you get enough fats in on the low carb days when your cals are lower but your fat remains the same?I thought I was doing fairly well but when I break it down this way..I am not getting anywhere near these totals( I used my numbers to calculate)

[Erik]

Originally posted by Strive2Define@May 19 2006, 10:57 PM
How do you get enough fats in on the low carb days when your cals are lower but your fat remains the same?I thought I was doing fairly well but when I break it down this way..I am not getting anywhere near these totals( I used my numbers to calculate)
Wouldn't the fat *potentially* not change from your medium day? Low days are low to get a greater caloric deficit.

[Strive2Define]

Right..so the totals( as in fat cal totals) would be the same..correct..well when I calculated...that was 73 g of fat ..657 cals. Well..hth does one even eat 73 g worth of good fat..especially when your calories are lower than your medium days.

Am I not understanding this?

[Erik]

Originally posted by Strive2Define@May 19 2006, 11:02 PM
Right..so the totals( as in fat cal totals) would be the same..correct..well when I calculated...that was 73 g of fat ..657 cals. Well..hth does one even eat 73 g worth of good fat..especially when your calories are lower than your medium days.

Am I not understanding this?
Post your three day numbers?

[Strive2Define]

Okay this is what I got:

high
2285-total
pro-157
carb-314(i calculated on 250 since 314 seemed high to me)
fat-73g

med
1884
p-157
f-73
c-157

low
1485
p-157
f-73
c-50

[Erik]

Do you weigh 157?

[Strive2Define]

Yes..157.4 to be exact..down from 161..on 4/19

[Erik]

Redo the numbers with 1.25g pro/lb TBW.

[Strive2Define]

I have to tell you..the numbers I am eating now don't even total up to my medium day using these calculations..am I undereating??

[Erik]

Originally posted by Strive2Define@May 19 2006, 11:16 PM
I have to tell you..the numbers I am eating now don't even total up to my medium day using these calculations..am I undereating??
Yes

[Strive2Define]

ok I dont know that these are any better..the low day is throwing me off.

high
2285
p-196
f-56
c-314( I still calculated @250)

Medium
1884
p-196
f-35
c-196

Low
1299(????)
p-196
f-35
c-I used 50 again

Am I getting closer...

[Strive2Define]

sorry I edited..noticed I forgot to put the total cals for the med day

[Tearose]

Originally posted by Thunder@May 19 2006, 09:34 PM
I wouldn't do HIIT on low days.
How would you cycle it with 3 weight days 2 HIIT days and one ss cardio?
Btw thanbks so much for helping me figure this out. :)

[threepeasnc]

Originally posted by Tearose@May 20 2006, 01:59 AM
How would you cycle it with 3 weight days 2 HIIT days and one ss cardio?
Btw thanbks so much for helping me figure this out. :)
I would do SS cardio and Off days as your low ones. I think HIIT has to be done at a min on a Medium Day. I'm not sure if 3 High days (weight days) would be too many High days during the week, but definitely don't do HIIT or weights on a Low day.

[Tearose]

ok this where I am stuck, I have 3 weight days , 2 hiit, and a ss cardio and no where to put them because of carb cycling , what am I supposed to do? do HIIT on weight days? that seems like overkill. :scratch: :uuhh:

[Erik]

On lower body days during a separate training session.

[Tearose]

oh. thank you :)