As promised, following my Maffetone 2 week test, Easter Splurge, and last blog post; here is the update on Carb Cycling. I am down 3 more pounds in 21 days. The is roughly 1 pound/week. A respectable loss.
I followed the guidance in Chris and Heidi Powell's 21 Day Transformation. The book provides detailed meal plans. But it doesn't stop with the meals, you get a shopping list for each week and there is a meal prep strategy guide for each week. Takes the thinking out of what to eat. And there is a training/fitness plan included.
From a food standpoint, the recipes are quite tasty. I only found a couple that I will not be including in my on going plan. I really loved the sweet potato breakfast fritters!
Word to the wise, the recipes are generally written for 1 serving, so you will have to make some adjustments if more than one person will be sharing the meal. And your family won't mind eating your "diet food." There are some savory dishes here.
I found the high carb days provided adequate energy for my planned workouts and because I had done the Maff test, I was prepared for the low carb days and possible struggles. Those didn't happen. The high carbs days and the reset day apparently replenish glycogen adequately to sustain activity for low carb days. I mean there are only 2 of them, so after 2 weeks on the Maff test, that is nothing.
Wait, back up, What is a reset day? A glorious day where you don't count calories and don't worry about the carb content of food. I didn't go nuts on those days, but did go out to eat and followed my rule of 2. (I will write another post about my dining out rule of 2). The other meals were sensible as were the snacks.
The book does recommend some workouts. I already have an agressive training plan, so I didn't try those.
In short, I recommend this book and the plan as a sensible approach to carbs in a carb fearing world.