So for those of you who want to know what I am eating in a day that constitutes carb cycling, here it is.
I am following Chris Powell's Choose To Lose 7 day carb cycling plan book to the tee. In it he gives lists of how much you can have of what group of foods, how to make up your menus, even how to bulk prepare your food, exercise, why carb cycling works, help with plateaus and ... well... everything! (this means you should get the book for all the nitty gritty)
Essentially, carb cycling means you alternate between high carb days and low carb days. You do not count calories since you are only eating from his approved lists of foods - so as long as you stick to those lists and amounts all the time every time you eat...you'll be fine.
And for those of you worried about losing too much weight too fast...I'm not lol. I am eating food. I am eating enough food. I am eating enough calories. And anytime you start a whole foods based' eating regimen, you WILL lose a lot of weight at first. But it slows way down after the first week or two at most, because that's just water weight - your body flushing out all the junk you've been feeding it and getting that clean slate to start fresh. While the 7+ lb lost in 3 days sure is nice!...it's not going to be that way for much longer lol. So let me enjoy it!!! Because in a few days, this super duper quick loss will be a distant memory and my weight will drop at a normal rate, just as anyone else on a plan that's working for them would. Cool? Okie dokie.
I eat at regular intervals throughout the day, to keep my metabolism high and my body from thinking when it gets to eat again. This makes your body relaaaaaaaaax and let go of the fat stores. Our bodies were made to survive! When food is scarce, it will hold on to every last fat molecule it can. And when food is plenty, it says hey - no big deal, I'll eat again soon, so here's some fat cells! Yay!
Here are the foods rotating in my current eating plan. Of course when I get bored, I may add a different veggie or protein, so this is always changing! As to what's in my fridge right now? I have:
- cabbage
- curried cauliflower
-roasted red bell pepper sauce
- long grain brown rice
- whole grain pasta
- chicken breasts
- lean ground turkey breast
- bananas
- spinach
- tomatoes
- cucumbers
- ezekiel bread
- protein powder
- oats
- natural peanut butter
- fat free plain greek yogurt
- walnuts
- kashi cereal
- carrots
- summer squash
- rutabaga
- sweet potatoes
- whole green beans
- lemons
- olive oil
- avocados
- spaghetti squash
- mangos
- almond milk
- string cheese
- almonds
- herbs and spices
- salt substitute
- coffee (YES coffee, are you crazy, I can't give that up)
- tea
- pumpkin
WHEW! So yes..I am eating. Mostly clean, some not but really close. And when you eat like this every day, you will drop weight. Chris' plan says to lose weight you have to eat a lot! Not starve! And I do eat. And I am never, ever hungry.
I'm not going to regurgitate the book here because, well, that wouldn't be fair to Chris :) But I will say, that if you read it, and make notes, and really study what he's saying, you'll understand it and be up and running in no time. (yes again I'm saying to.... get the book! it's awesome!)
Do I know if this will get me to my goal weight? No, I just started it lol. Thus the quick loss. wink wink. But I hope it does. So I'm going to keep going, one day at a time.