A new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast is now up. This episode is all about why we overeat and how to stop. Enjoy!
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Seven Things to Expect When Carb-Cycling With Dirty Carbs (Written)
Carb-cycling is generally thought of as a healthy part of your low-carb lifestyle. This means that as part of your eating protocol it is OK and even beneficial to eat a large amount carbs once every week or two. However, this brings us to an important question: What kind of carbs should you eat on your heavy carb-days? For example, should one carb up with a bunch of bananas or a pizza? Does it matter?
The truth is different experts have different opinions on this topic. Some recommend a cheat meal where no food is prohibited. Some (a very few) recommend that you should only carb-up with things like pizza and ice. Others recommend that you should only use fruit and starchy vegetables on your high-carb day.
This article is not intended to sift though all this information and tell you what is the right protocol for you. Nor am I your moral judge who is going to think less of you if you eat a pizza on your carb-day instead of a sweet potato. The truth is, I have had carbed up using both. However, if you do chose to eat “dirty” carbs for your high-carb meals, here is what you can expect:
Cravings
What I have noticed is that if I carb-up on “clean” carbs, I do not have strong cravings for bad food the next day. However, if I eat, for example, Chinese food, I really want more high-carb food the next day. In fact, I have noticed that it takes a day or two for my cravings to go away.
Over Eating
Another problem is overeating. Many dirty carbs have MSG and other excito-toxins that stimulate appetite. This is why, personally speaking, I can open up a bag of Doritos and eat the whole thing, but if I open a bag of organic, non-GMO corn chips, I cannot eat the whole bag. I’m sure many of the readers could identify.
Weight Gain
Weight gain happens any time you carbo-load. This is mostly water and has to do with glycogyn and processes I’m not going to go into here. But, in my own personal experience, I gain much more when I carb up with dirty carbs.
In addition, I have noticed that it takes much longer to lose this weight. For example, if I carb up with clean carbs I’m normally back down to my regular weight by the end of the next day. But with dirty carbs, it takes at least two and sometimes three days to lose those extra pounds.
Headache
Headache is another phenomenon. This has to do with inflammation. Carbs in general can cause inflammation on their own. However, inflammation is heightened with dirty carbs because of all the added toxins found in these carb sources.
Brain Fog
Brain fog happens for the same reason as headache. Toxins in your food will have an affect on your ability to think clearly.
Sluggishness
It’s not only your brain that suffers. Your body suffers too. Toxins just make you feel lazy like every movement takes extra effort.
Diarrhea
Finally there is disaster pants. This happens because the body is just trying its best to get those dirty carbs out of your system. Why? because if you eat low-carb and clean all week long, you body gets use to those types of foods. It is not use to not high-carb, refined food. When it hits your system your body just wants to get rid of it.
Should You Cheat With Dirty Carbs
Given all the above data, some might wonder if they should eat dirty carbs or not. Like I said above, I am not your moral judge. If you decide to carb-cycle with pizza instead of bananas, that is up to you. In fact, I have chosen the dirty carb over the clean one more often than I would like to admit. In fact, what I have noticed for myself is that when I first started to carb-cycle, I pretty much used all dirty carbs. This was due to the fact that those were the foods I was craving. So when I would have my free meal, I would go nuts. But the longer I have been healthy, the less I want those foods even on a free day/meal. So if you want to eat a dirty carb, that is your decision. You just need to be aware of the results and take them into consideration when you make that choice.
What to Expect When Carb-Cycling With Dirty Carbs
A new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast is now available. In this episode, we talk about the seven things you can expect when you use dirty carbs for your cheat meal. Also, what makes a carb dirty as opposed to clean.
Re-introducing Carbs Back Into Your Diet?
A new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast is now available. In this episode we will talk about why I have been experimenting with re-introducing carbs back into my diet and what the results have been. Enjoy!
Take Your Gym Bag With You
It can be difficult at times to stay dedicated to your workout plan. There are many things that can get in the way. However, here is one thing you can do in order to make your commitment to your workout a little easier–take your gym bag with you.
Now, I understand that many people who are dedicated to working out do so at home or in the morning. This will not apply to you.
However, if you are one of those people who go to the gym after work, this will help. Why? You can imagine why for yourself. You leave work with every intention of going home, changing, and going to the gym. But when you get home personal business gets in the way. The phone rings, you need to pick up something for dinner…. The list could go on. Or you get home and you want to sit down for just a second and once you do you realize that you are too tired to make it to the gym.
Has this happened to you? My post-work workout has been derailed more than I’d like to admit because of things like this. The way to avoid this is by simply bringing your gym bag with you. You will avoid going home and getting tangled up in everyday life.
Of course I’m not saying that bringing you gym bag with you will magically solve all the obstacles that could get in the way of your post-work gym session, but it is one easy thing you can do in order to stack the deck in your favor. So, if you are going to go to the gym after work, take your gym bag with you!
Intermittent Fasting Wars PT. 4
This is the final installment in this short series of articles on intermittent fasting (IF). In this article, I will explain what IF protocol I used and why. Also, I will give you some tips on choosing an intermittent fasting protocol for yourself.
Which IF I Used
I chose the Warrior Diet because it was, in my opinion, the easiest to follow. Why? First off it is a daily plan. I did not have to remember whether this was a day I was eating or not. I just did the same thing every day.
Also, on the Warrior Diet I got to eat every day which made it easier to stick to my low-carb lifestyle. This did not always happen as I will explain later, but being able to eat every day made low-carb a more viable option. On the other hand, when I experimented with alternate day fasting and Eat Stop Eat one of the biggest problems I had with these diets is that after 24 hours of fasting, I wanted to eat everything in sight. On these diets you are allowed to eat normally which I have described in previous posts. But after a 24 hour fast I wanted to eat like it was Thanksgiving.
Like I said above, I did not always eat low-carb when I was on the Warrior Diet. And the truth is that you do not have to. But I did eat low-carb most of the time. However, the ability to eat whatever I wanted during my eating window allowed me to be more flexible while eating with my friends and family.
Which IF Plan Should You Do?
First off, do not be afraid to experiment. And do not be afraid to switch to another plan if one is not working out. But you must be able to chose a plan that you will stick to and that will fit into your life. If you live alone and do not mind skipping a day of eating, you might do better on alternate day fasting or Eat Stop Eat. If you have a family and you eat with them every night, you might do better on the Warrior Diet. Just remember the best plan is the one you will actually do.
Final Observation
One more thing I noticed about IF that I wanted to mention has to do with the fact that a lot of these plans allow you to have carbs during your eating window. However, what I noticed is that the the longer your eating window is the more low-carb you need to go in order to see results. For example, if you are going to break your fast between 14-18 hours and give yourself a longer eating window, you need to really be cautious of the carbs you are eating. Basically you need to stick to a low-carb diet. On the other hand if you fast for 20 plus hours you have a greater tolerance for carbs. This means that if you only eat for say two hours, you can eat more carbs and still lose weight.
Why Low Carb Is Not Enough (Audio)
In this episode, Ian Carlin talks about why low carb dieting is a great place to start but it will most likely will not get you to optimal health. Also, what you need to know about switching gyms. Enjoy!
Ways to Make Your Commitment to Weight Loss Easier (Audio)
In this episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast, Ian gives advice on how to make keeping your goals much easier. Enjoy!
Intermittent Fasting Wars PT. 3
There are many, many IF plans out there. It is the latest craze (for good reason). However, in my opinion, there are only three main protocols. Everything else is a variant of these three plans. So what are these there plans.
- Alternate Day.
- Eat Stop Eat.
- The Warrior Diet.
Alternate Day
First there is alternate day fasting. It is what it sounds like. You fast for 24 hours every other day. For example, on day one, you would wake up and eat normally until 5 P. M. Then you would stop eating until the next day at 5 P. M. After that, you repeat the process.
Eat Stop Eat
This method advocates two 24 hour fasts a week. Then, the participant can eat normally throughout the non-fast days. So it may look something like this: Thursday, stop eating at 5:00 P.M. Fast until Friday 5:00 P.M. Then eat normally over the weekend until Sunday at 5:00 PM. Fast until Monday at 5:00 P.M. Then eat normally from Monday until Thursday.
It’s important to note that eating normally does not mean that you eat like it is Thanksgiving . However, it does mean that you can eat more high-carb foods. So if you are going out for breakfast, you do not have to eat just the eggs and bacon. You are welcome to eat the hash-browns, and toast as well. Likewise, if you are going to have a steak for dinner. You can also eat a potato.
Warrior Diet
The Warrior Diet is a daily fast of 20 hours. Then there is a four hour eating window. During the four hour eating window you are encouraged to do a few things. One is to eat a salad and a good amount of protean. However, you can eat anything. This would include pizza and ice cream. Also, you are encouraged to overeat. That’s right. You are encouraged to overeat.
Other IF Plans
Many other plans are simply a mixing or modification of the three above. For example Bulletproof IF is like Eat Stop Eat in some ways and in some ways it is like the Warrior Diet. You may only choose to IF two days a week. In that way it is like Eat Stop Eat. But you may fast for 20 hours on those days. In that way it is like the Warrior Diet. However, it is not recommended on Bulletproof that you eat high-carb or processed food. So you cannot eat just anything. Also, you are allowed to have Bulletproof coffee which contains fats.
Another plan in Lean Gains. This is kind of like the Warrior diet. On this plan you daily fast but for only 16 hours. However, your meals should be sensible without a lot of high-carb foods.
Over Simplification
I have to admit that I am over simplifying these diets quite a bit. I do this for two reasons. One is for the sake of time. The second reason is that I do not want to give away these authors diet plans for free. That would be unethical. So if there is something I missed please remember that I am over simplifying on purpose.
Closing Remarks
The list of IF plans is plentiful. In the final article of this series, I will talk about the plan I used to lose 20 pounds in 5 weeks, which plan you should choose, and some closing observations about IF.
Out Door Fitness With Alyx Cave From Chisel Outdoors (Audio)
This is a new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast. In this episode Ean Carlin talks to Alyx Cave’ from Chisel Outdoors about hiking, biking, and general outdoor fitness. What you need to know to make the most of your outdoor workout and how to stay safe. Enjoy!
PS sorry about the sound quality. Our first mike was not working out so we had to switch just before the show.
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