So it has been over a full week now of using this new eating plan. And as I take a look at my results I am starting to not feel so strongly about it. I have gained 4 pounds (204) and gained .5% of body fat (10.8%), I do not care so much about the weight gain but do care about that body fat gain. Yesterday I started to re-read the article where I found the plan, I noticed he was not counting calories and everything else like I was. He simply cut out/allowed certain foods on certain days. I feel that as I counted calories I was actually doing more harm then good, you see when you cut out certain foods like bread, pasta, starchy veggies… not only are they high in carbohydrates but they are also high in calories, even in Whole Wheat form. Although I was eating less then 100 carbs a day I was still consuming my normal 2300 calories. I feel the writer has the right intention and I would like to thank him for helping me realize something… Its about CALORIE cycling… You see because he was substituting starchy higher caloric foods for lower caloric foods he was in essence Calorie cycling. Although I do feel that the higher carbohydrate consumption powered my heavy workouts, I feel a hell of a lot stronger and I have already gained 5 pounds on my Bench Press max(345). I am going to take on a new form of this plan, named Calorie Cycling.
Calorie Cycling Plan and Day 1
So here is my new plan for the upcoming weeks, it may change/evolve much like the Carbohydrate cycle did. On days I left heavy I will be consuming 2400 calories, on light lifting days I will be consuming 2100 calories and on off days or cardio only days(I do cardio 6 days a week) I will be consuming 1900 calories. In weeks time I am going look over my results, and if I am gaining weight I will cut each day by 100 calories, if I am maintaining I will cut by 50 calories, if I am loosing .5lbs – 2lbs a week I will keep the same calorie goals and if I am loosing over 2lbs a week I will increase the calorie consumption each day by 50. My cycle will look much like this:
- Monday-High Calorie *Chest/Back*
- Tuesday-Low Calorie *Bi/Core*
- Wednesday-High Calorie *Legs/Tri*
- Thursday-Lower Calorie *Light Cardio w/ Yoga, Tai Chi or long stretch*
- Friday-Low Calorie *Pushups*
- Saturday-Low Calorie *Light Cardio*
- Sunday-Lower Calorie *off*
Day 1 eating
So far today I ate whole wheat french toast for breakfast with peanut butter and bananas, A protein shake post workout and a bag of baby carrots for snacks. For Lunch today I plan on having some left over grilled chicken in an omelet with a whole wheat bagel, and Dinner will be…. I haven’t decided yet, but I am leaning towards a baked sweet potato with turkey burgers… or maybe turkey burgers on a whole wheat kaiser roll.