When your diet isn't cutting it - literally (Part 2)

“When your diet isn’t cutting it - literally.” (Part 2)

 

If you listened to part 1 of this podcast, you learned that carb cycling can be a nutritional option for someone who isn’t getting the physical results they want.  However, individuals are different.  As mentioned before, adrenal function, hormone production, sleep, stress, and hydration are just a few of the factors that can drastically affect the nutritional needs of an athlete, and if someone is not keeping those variables constant, it becomes very difficult to determine exactly how or what to tweak.  Assuming that you have normal adrenal and thyroid function (which is only accurately determined with detailed blood-panels), and that your sleep and fitness are at a optimal levels, a 3 day carb cycle that rotates between 100, 75, and 50% of your average daily carbohydrate consumption may not be adequate.  There are several additional options.  You could consider trying a 3 day carb cycle that never gets above 75% of your average daily carb consumption by rotating between 75, 50, and 25% of that average.  Some individuals just look, feel, and perform better when consuming more fat and fewer carbs.  However, if after 2, 3, or even 4 months of accurate and deliberate macronutrient tracking you still aren’t noticing the results or changes you want, you could consider intermittent fasting.  In summary, intermittent fasting is a scheduled fast at specific intervals throughout the week, usually performed first thing in the morning.  An example fasting schedule would sound like something like this: on Monday morning consume a fat, protein, and carbohydrate for breakfast.  On Tuesday morning eat a fat and protein, and on Wednesday morning, skip your morning meal but drink a hot coffee, tea, or other beverage of choice with 1 tbsp of grassfed Kerrygold butter or 1 tbsp of coconut oil blended in.  By giving your body a healthy dose of fat first thing in the morning, you are encouraging your body to use fat for fuel.  The first several times you fast, go at least 2 hours without eating anything else.  After several successful attempts, you can stretch that time to 3 hours.  Additionally, on fasting days, your first whole-food meal should be completely void of starchy carbohydrates.  Eggs, meats, and green veggies are all great options.  The human body is incredibly smart, and it will always burn carbohydrates for fuel first, if they are present (i.e. if you want your body to use fat for fuel you should not eat a bunch of carbohydrates with your fats.)  To some, this information may sound similar to a ketogenic diet, which is simply a diet that focuses primarily on healthy fats for fuel as opposed to carbohydrates.  However, simply eating more fat and fewer carbs does not mean you are ketonic.  To properly determine if you are in a state of consistent ketosis, you would need to have regular blood work done or use keto-sticks that can be purchased at your local drug store.  These sticks measure the level of ketones present in the urine.  Depending on how you feel, intermittent fasting can be performed multiple times per week, and it too can be tweaked.  For example, I routinely fast in the morning, but I add a collagen protein powder to my coffee in addition to the grassfed butter.  Since I regularly exercise multiple times per day, I want to be sure that my body has the sustenance it needs to properly recover and repair the muscle tissue that I break down.  This collagen protein is void of all additives, chemicals, carbs, and sugars, and the only thing it contains is collagen.  

Even though intermittent fasting can be another tool in your arsenal, macronutrient timing in general is incredibly important.  One of the most common mistakes people make comes in the evening.  Most people in America work a 9 to 5 job for a living or more accurately, a 8 to 6 job, and because of their work and workout schedule their biggest meal of the day is often consumed at dinner.  Even though healthy fats, proteins, and carbohydrates are all essential in their relative capacities to your overall health and performance, starchy carbohydrates should be avoided before bed.  Obviously, every rule has its exceptions, and depending on your goals these rules can vary drastically, but generally speaking, people who are trying to lose weight, trim, tone, and firm up areas of their body should avoid consuming carbohydrates in the evening.  If you follow this simple guideline, much fewer of the carbs you eat will convert into glucose, a simple sugar the body either uses for fuel or conserves for later use, and be stored as fat.  In most cases, a dinner comprised of healthy fat, green vegetables, and quality proteins should be more than enough to satiate even the most aggressive food cravings.