Updated: March 27th, 2023

The Carb Cycling Diet is a weekly eating plan that alternates high-carb days with low-carb days to keep your metabolism in a regular cycle of burning fat.

There are several versions of the carb cycling diet plan where two or more high-carb days will be followed by low-carb days or some variation thereof.

On high-carb days, you can increase your carb intake while decreasing your fat intake. On low-carb days, you can choose to eat fewer carbs or eliminate them altogether, while increasing your intake of fat and protein.

Athletes and people who exercise regularly often choose to synchronize their high-carb days with exercise or workouts when their energy levels are high. You may want to consider this for a few days when you are particularly active.

How carb cycling diet works?

Carbs are the main food group that “fuel” our metabolism, making it burn calories and give us energy. Carbs are also very filling. Hence, diets that reduce or strictly limit carb intake make us feel tired and lethargic. They also make us irritable, hungry and prone to binge.

With carb cycling diet plan, one consumes carbs to boost metabolism. This plan uses carb-rich foods to help the body function at optimum peak, burn fat and build muscle. The result is weight loss with less flab. It’s that easy! This is what makes the carb cycling diet unique and revolutionary.

But there’s a catch. That doesn’t mean going overboard with carbs and eating too many of them during the day. The catch is that you follow a carb cycling diet plan where you eat more carbs on certain days and less or no carbs on other days. This allows your body to “cycle” your carb intake so that you can lose weight and build muscle.

The theory behind this is that on days when your carb intake is low and fat intake is high, your body is forced to burn fat for energy. This is what causes weight loss. The purpose of high-carb days is to energize your metabolism and function at peak levels, providing you with energy.

Why carb cycling diet?

Your body is never static. It conducts a symphony of metabolic reactions every moment. As your metabolic furnace burns (either on low heat or red-hot) every minute of every day, nutrients are continuously shuttled into or out of your muscles and fat cells or as fuel for important metabolic reactions. Used to keep you alive.

On high-carb/high-calorie days, your body is mainly in an anabolic state. The term anabolic describes the period when nutrients are being transferred to your cells, and you are in a state of erection. It’s in a catabolic state when your body breaks down fat tissue to fuel your cells (on your low-carb/low-calorie days). To achieve fat loss, you want most of the fuel your body burns to come from your fat cells. So you want to be catabolized most of the time!

Now, keep in mind that you don’t want to be catapulted all the time. They have their beauty in both anabolic and catabolic states. In the anabolic state, you’re building muscle and turning up your metabolic thermostat: Your muscle furnace heats up. When you are catabolic, your metabolic thermostat is turned off. Your muscle furnace cools down slowly, but with a carb cycling diet, you’re burning fat faster!

Can you control your furnace’s on and off switch?

Yes you can! You control when you build muscle and increase your metabolic rate and when you burn fat. Control the switch and you control your body.

How?

With The Carb Cycling Diet, You Can! Carbohydrates are anabolic foods: When they are broken down into glucose, the body triggers the hormone insulin to drive nutrients into the cells. During this process, your metabolic thermostat is turned on. So when you stop eating carbs, your body goes into a predominantly catabolic state, maximizing the storage and burning of fat for fuel.

When you consume carbs in a day, you move nutrients into your cells, build muscle and rev up your metabolic furnace. The next day, you cut your carbs, essentially flipping the switch to turn your body into a prime-time fat-burning furnace!

How to create carb cycling diet for fat loss?

Follow the recommended daily intake of carbs, protein and fat on high-carb and low-carb days:

High-carb day

Type	grams per pound of bodyweight
Carbs	1.2 g
Proteins	1.2 g
Fats	0.5 g

Choose your calories’ consumption

For men:

Bodyweights	Calories
<150 lb	(P/C/F=168/168/70)= 1974 cal
151-165 lb	(P/C/F=181/181/75)= 2128 cal
166-180 lb	(P/C/F=199/199/83)=2339 cal
181-195 lb	(P/C/F=216/216/90)= 2538 cal
196 lb <	(P/C/F=235/235/98)= 2762 cal

For women:

Bodyweights	Calories
<110 lb	(P/C/F=126/126/52)= 1480 cal
111-124 lb	(P/C/F=138/138/57)= 1621 cal
125-139 lb	(P/C/F=150/150/62)= 1762 cal
140-154 lb	(P/C/F=168/168/70)= 1974 cal
155 lb <	(P/C/F=186/186/77)= 2185 cal

Low-carb day

Type	grams per pound of bodyweight
Carbs	0.7 g
Proteins	1.2 g
Fats	0.5 g

Choose your calories’ consumption

For men:

Bodyweights	Calories
<150 lb	(P/C/F=168/98/70)= 1694 cal
151-165 lb	(P/C/F=181/105/75)= 1825 cal
166-180 lb	(P/C/F=199/116/83)= 2007 cal
181-195 lb	(P/C/F=216/126/90)= 2178 cal
196 lb <	(P/C/F=235/137/98)= 2370 cal

For women:

Bodyweights	Calories
<110 lb	(P/C/F=126/73/52)= 1270 cal
111-124 lb	(P/C/F=138/80/57)= 1391 cal
125-139 lb	(P/C/F=150/87/62)= 1512 cal
140-154 lb	(P/C/F=168/98/70)= 1694 cal
155 lb <	(P/C/F=186/108/77)= 1875 cal

No-carb day

Type	grams per pound of bodyweight
Carbs	0 g
Proteins	1.2 g
Fats	0.5 g

Choose your calories’ consumption

For men:

Bodyweight	Calories
<150 lb	(P/C/F=168/0/70)= 1407 cal
151-165 lb	(P/C/F=181/0/75)= 2339 cal
166-180 lb	(P/C/F=199/0/83)= 1543 cal
181-195 lb	(P/C/F=216/0/90)= 1674 cal
196 lb <	(P/C/F=235/0/98)= 1822 cal

For women:

Bodyweight	Calories
<110 lb	(P/C/F=126/0/52)= 976 cal
111-124 lb	(P/C/F=138/0/57)= 1162 cal
125-139 lb	(P/C/F=150/0/62)= 1162 cal
140-154 lb	(P/C/F=168/0/70)= 1301 cal
155 lb <	(P/C/F=186/0/77)= 1441 cal

7 days fat loss carb cycling schedule

Days	Carb Type
Monday	Low-carb
Tuesday	Low-carb
Wednesday	Low-carb
Thursday	High-carb
Friday	No-carb
Saturday	No-carb
Sunday	High-carb

Low-carb day: Sample meal plan for 1816 calories

Upon wake-up

Ingredients	Quanties
Carnitine (Supplement optional)	500 mg

Breakfast

Ingredients	Quantities
Apple	1
Boiled Egg Whites	7
Boiled Whole Eggs	2
CLA (Supplement optional)	1 g

Morning snack

Ingredients	Quantities
Plain greek yogurt	1 cup
Roasted peanuts	20g
Cinnamon	1g

Lunch

Ingredients	Quantities
Grilled chicken breast	100g
Kidney beans or Rajma	½ cup
Green bell pepper	½ cup
Broccoli or Cauliflower	½ cup
Onion	2 sp
Tomato	2 sp
Olive oil	1 sp

Dinner

Ingredients	Quantities
Grilled White-fish	100 g
Large Roti or whole wheat bread	1
Chickpeas	½ cup
Onions	2 sp
Tomato	2 sp
Yogurt	1 sp
Ketchup	1 sp
Salt/Pepper/Garlic Powder	—

Pre-workout

Ingredients	Quantities
Coffee	½ tbs
Hot Water	240 ml
Carnitine (Supplement optional)	500 mg

Post-workout

Ingredients	Quantities
Whey protein	1-2 scoop
Cold water	300 ml

Before bed

Ingredients	Quantities
Low-fat milk	1 cup
Green cardamom	1
Cloves	2
Cinnamon	1 pinch
Whey protein	2/3 sp
Almond (crushed)	20
CLA (Supplement optional)	1 g

High-carb day: Sample meal plan for 2090 calories

Upon wake-up

Ingredients	Quantities
Carnitine (Supplement optional)	500mg

Breakfast

Ingredients	Quantities
Apple	1
Oats	1 cup
Cinnamon	1 pinch
Boiled egg white	5
CLA (Supplement optional)	1 g

Morning snack

Ingredients	Quantities
Plain Greek-yogurt	1 cup
Cheerio (sugar-free)	1 cup
Cinnamon	1 g

Lunch

Ingredients	Quantities
Grilled chicken breast	80 g
Kidney Beans (Rajma)	½ cup
Sweet potato	180 g
Green bell pepper	½ cup
Broccoli (or Cauliflower)	½ cup
Onion	2 sp
Tomato	2 sp
Olive Oil	½ sp

Dinner

Ingredients	Quantities
Grilled white fish	100g
Brown rice	1 cup
Lemon	½
Green Salad	½ Plate

Pre-workout

Ingredients	Quantities
Coffee	½ tbs
Hot water	240 ml
Carnitine (Supplement optional)	500 mg

Post-workout

Ingredients	Quantities
Whey Protein	1-2 scoop
Cold Water	300 ml

Before bed

Ingredients	Quantities
Low-fat milk	1 cup
Green cardamom	2
Cloves	2
Cinnamon	1 pinch
Whey protein	½ sp
Almond (crushed)	20
CLA (Supplement optional)	1g

No-carb day: Sample meal plan for 1716 calories

Breakfast

Ingredients	Quantities
Egg white	6
Bacon (thin slice)	4
Avocado	15 g
Whey Protein isolate	½ scoop
Walnuts	28 g

Morning snack

Ingredients	Quantities
Beef Jerky	25 g
Whey Protein isolate	1 sp

Lunch

Ingredients	Quantities
Romain lettuce or cos (shredded)	1 cup
Chicken breast	100 g
Olive oil	1 tbsp
Whey protein (low-carb)	½ sp (scoop)

Evening snack

Ingredients	Quantities
Cheese	25 g
Whey protein isolate	1.25 scoop

Dinner

Ingredients	Quantities
Salmon	100g
Zucchini	25g
Sunflower seed (dried)	1/3 cup
Mushrooms	1 cup
Olive oil	1 tbsp

Before bed

Ingredients	Quantities
Whey Protein (low-carb)	15g
Water	1 cup

Note:

(1) Drink 3-4 litres of water;
(2) Drink 2 cups of green tea a day;
(3) Eat every 2-3 hours;
(4) Calculate your calories according to your height, weight, age and adjust the calories;
(5) Avoid the use of oil. Use what we recommend;
(6) For some time, you can use lentils and black grams instead of Chiku and kidney beans;
(7) Take walnuts once or twice a week instead of peanuts or almonds;
(8) If possible eat salad twice a day (cucumber, tomato, lettuce, carrot);
(9) Avoid eating white sugar, soda, candy, fried foods, white bread, etc;
(10) Alternative supplements: casein protein, BCAA, multivitamins, fish oil, etc;