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Low Carb Diets Are Hard to Do - Maybe Carb Cycling Can Help!
Ever Get That Starving Feeling?
It was one of those rainy days in the cooler Spring in eastern Iowa. Nothing to do outside and most everyone was hunkered down neglecting any errands that needed to be accomplished. It was just too miserable outside. The sun was hunkered down holding back its warmth from this muddy cold mess below.
What better time to claim the best seat on the softest coach in the family room and resume a day of binge-watching on Netflix. The Downton Abbey series was a quick love of mine the last raining day a few months ago.
As time passed my stomach began to speak to me. It made gurgling noises to remind me I had neglected it for too long. I looked at my grandfather clock. 2:30 pm. Had it really only been 20 minutes since I ate? I shouldn’t be hungry yet. I just consumed half, well not quite half, of the medium Casey’s pizza. Oh, and a delicious cheesy breadstick.
If this story sounds familiar, you are not alone. In fact, you are the norm. There is a simple reason why this happens and you may not even realize you’re aiding the cycle constantly.
Why We Feed The Beast
- The primary reason is that we listen to our stomach’s poor communication skills, then we feed the beast within with whatever it desires. We are poor parents and give in to the whines and pangs because we don’t want to discipline and teach it to stop having a temper tantrum. It’s much easier to silence it and just give it what it wants, then go back to what we were doing in peace.
- Another reason we give in to our stomach’s revolts is that we conditioned it. Like a toddler, if they know they can get away with screaming in the grocery store until Mom buys them the large bag of skittles and their favorite orange soda, they let it out until their ransom is satisfied. We too applaud the same behavior when we neglect the same discipline with our own stomach – beast, screaming within.
Stop Wandering Around
Do you ever meander in the kitchen without really knowing what you are doing there? Maybe you walk in and think, I’m going to get something to eat. You don’t really know what to eat, but you know you don’t want anything in the vegetable food group, especially anything that is green and leafy. Fruit, maybe? No, you really want something quick and crunchy.
Instead of picking an apple off the counter you wander toward the cabinet that holds your sinful delectables. The foods we know we shouldn’t, but no ones stopping you now. You worked hard all week and deserve to feed the yearning coming from deep within. You need to award yourself for exercising without skipping a workout.
The mental decision has happened. You are going to eat whatever sounds good, whatever looks good, and you’ll even drive to the store to go get it. (try go-to lists to stop foraging for food).
Coping With Failing Diets
Diets are a good thing if they work and actually promote a lifestyle change. Let’s be honest. You most likely have tried some diet, challenge, or plan to help you curb your hunger, lose weight, or make better decisions in the kitchen. It’s hard to stick to a diet. This is an obvious statement because diets are tough stuff. They ask us to do all these crazy things, restrict for days on end for the carrot at the end of the designated time.
Restrictions can sustain us for only so long, then we break down and binge-eat/wreck most of our progress. We may even hide and sneak our food, making sure no one sees our weaknesses. Striving for another diet makes us feel like failures when we don’t finish well. We hop on the scale and only see a 2-5 pound difference in the 3-weeks of utter restriction. Ugh!
Diets can definitely work well for some. There are many all over the Internet with pictures proving it. This is because not every diet is for everyone. You may love carbs, so if I ask you to take a low-carb diet, which is probably what is really needed, you’d likely want to try something else like a cleanse or a workout program instead.
If someone loved chocolate and I made them take it away from their nightly routine, they’d only last so long.
Food restriction diets only work well when two things happen:
- When it’s done with a specific replacement plan
- When the person has a specific defining reason why they are doing it
Yes, it is very hard to lose weight sometimes. This is why you need to arm yourself with a resonating answer as to why you are doing this in the first place. Below is a quick plan to possess a resonating answer, so when your challenges arise against the beast within, it won’t pull you to old habits and thwart your progress.
Make a specific and RESONATING answer for each number:
- Why do you want to lose weight?
- What will it do for you in the long run?
- Will anyone appreciate your sacrifice?
- Are you truly willing to say no to your beast within and hold on to your 3 answers above?
- On a scale from 1-10, how likely will you finish a new diet?
- Are you really ready to say no to the beast, with all it’s angry temper tantrums, and remember your answers?
What Do You Really Want?
Before you entertain any new lifestyle plan or diet, you have to ask yourself the proverbial question and respond with a reasoning answer.
If I ask you, ‘Why do you really want to go on a diet?’ you will need to have a better answer than, ‘I want to lose weight.’ Almost every person I know wants to lose weight. But, that doesn’t mean they will.
- Do you want to be healthy enough to keep up with your grandkids?
- Do you want to look good in the swimsuit this summer?
- Do you have a pressing medical issue and you need to lose some weight?
- Do you want to have more energy?
- Do you want to be able to exercise?
- Do you see yourself gaining weight and can’t stop?
- Do you want to be a good example to your children?
- Do you just want to be more healthy?
These are all VALID reasons to lose weight. They are pressing and demand a response. Losing weight is so much harder than putting it on. I’m not sure why God made it this way, but it’s a basic law. If we consume too many calories day after day and don’t burn them off before we hit out pillow at night, we will gain weight.
What is Carb Cycling?
Carb cycling is one of the fastest ways to lose weight without feeling like you are starving to death. This is because this plan doesn’t restrict carbs for days or weeks on end – there is light at the end of the tunnel. There are different types of Carb cycling. I will show you which steps to take to make sure you are cycling correctly. * Calorie or carbohydrate restriction is not for everyone, especially those with a metabolic disease, pregnant, etc.
The Carbolicious Carb Cycling plan is quite simple. You alternate days on when you eat a certain amount of carbohydrates. You limit your carbs on specific days and refuel and consume a bit more on others. You can take it to a deeper level by choosing faster weight loss or a slower approach. It all depends on YOUR personal level of commitment.
Remember, you still have to put some hard work into any lifestyle or diet plan. The more work put in, the faster you’ll see results.
There are many levels and different forms of carb cycling, some of which are excellent and some can be disruptive to your body. God made your body beautifully balanced, and if you disrupt that balance too much, you’ll see repercussions. You absolutely need carbs for your everyday life and you should never restrict them completely from your diet.
The Carbolicious Carb Cycling Plan Will Help You:
- get on a schedule that is healthy and safe
- help reduce your intake of sugars, carbs, and processed foods
- be stress-free because your meals are planned out - you just have to put the work in
- be accountable, by checking things off on your worksheet and getting a friend involved
- with your budget - cheaper than a latte!
40-Day Carb Cycling eBook
* 5 Detailed Meal Plans
* Helps, Tips, & Tricks for a Healthier Lifestyle
* Plan Recipes (like Lava cake!)
* By a certified Nutrition Specialist & Personal Trainer
1. LONG TERM Vs SHORT TERM CARB CYCLING
It’s important to understand the difference between short-term and long-term effects of carbohydrate restriction.
God created us with the ability to handle short-term deprivation relatively well, however, a strict nutritional regimen of low carbohydrates can be hard on the body for long periods of time. It also depends on how many carbs you are holding back on. Missing a meal here or there, or dropping carbohydrates very low for a few days, isn’t disastrous when it’s occasional or brief. An example would be fasting.
God calls His people to periods of fasting. There is much evidence that suggests brief periods of fasting and caloric restriction are actually advantageous for both physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. (read more on fasting in the Bible). For believers in Christ, the focus of fasting isn’t on weight loss, but rather their intimate relationship with Jesus. This is the biggest reason and blessing of all too fast. Plus, there is a deeper peace knowing you are connecting with The Creator of all.
(The Bible says Jesus fasted for 40-days. I’ll never suggest such a feat, however, I’m suggesting a 40-day, light carb cycling plan for the sole purpose of changing your lifestyle to a healthier one.)
2. IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT CALORIES
The common theme behind carb cycling is that protein and fat intake stay relatively constant while carbohydrate intake is altered. An example of carb cycling is following a strict or moderate lower-carb diet 5 days per week and consuming additional carbohydrates on the other 1-2 days. If we lower our calories, we will lose weight, but, it depends on WHAT we are actually eating.
It’s no secret that if we restrict calories we will lose weight. What most don’t realize is that the real zinger is to restrict carbs, not proteins and fats.
3. YOU GET A ‘TREAT’ MEAL!
Yup, you get a treat meal every week on this plan. It just can’t go over 600 calories. You could eat whatever you want, but I want to challenge you with a little story.
If I swing into McDonald’s and purchase a sandwich and small fries for 600 calories and you go home for dinner and make a power salad with tuna for 600 calories, whose meal is better? Obviously yours. You consumed loads of nutrient-dense foods which means you are getting so much more vitamins and minerals than I did.
These vitamins and minerals are going to rejuvenate your body and charge you up correctly. We can cheat and have a treat all we want, but our bodies will tell us later how we did. If we consume packaged foods that are loaded with salt, preservatives, saturated fats, and carbs, it’s not going to help us in the long run. Even if we consume only 600 calories of it.
Addictions start easily enough by consuming the wrong foods often. This plan is here to help you combat that. After 40-days of making awesome decisions and still being able to have that treat meal, you’ll be so thankful you chose good treat meals.
4. NEVER RESTRICT 100% CARBS
We must have carbs to function. We can’t live without them. They are our primary energy source. So if you restrict too much, you basically aren’t good for much. You’ll feel lethargic and your mind will play tricks on.
You must maintain a healthy amount of the majority of your days. FDA and general nutritional guidelines suggest the average person consume 40-60% of their food from carbohydrates.
If you want to lose weight, you’d consume the lower portion of 40% on this scale. If you want to gain weight, you’d consumer closer to 60%. If you consume lower on the scale towards the 40% range and you feel weak, can’t think straight, , then your body is telling you to consume more carbs.
If you only feel hungry, but really aren’t, this could be a food addiction or a habit. This is something this plan may help you combat.
5. USE THE HUNGER SCALE
An easy indicator if you are truly hungry or not is to use the Hunger Scale. It’s simple enough. Just use a scale from 1-10. 1 is bored and 10 is starving. You want to eat at about 7 or 8.
Ask yourself if you are really hungry and could actually eat a horse (10) or if you are moderately hungry and could wait another 30 minutes (5). There are more tips in the Carb Cycling plan. Buy it today and start yourself on a lifestyle change that could help you in the long haul.
ARE YOU READY?
If you are ready to learn more about carb cycling and are ready to start something new, here’s your chance. My 40-Day Carb Cycling Plan may just be right for you. I made it dirt cheap so you could afford to take advantage of this opportunity to change your nutritional lifestyle.
Tell your friends and get them to do this with you. Accountability is key with any new lifestyle plan.
Just $2.99
This is a great plan to jump start a weight loss goal or to freshemn up before a vacation. But really it's more than that. Use it to make a lifestyle change. It will teach you to start and end each day with a focus for tomorrow.
