Diet diet diet diet . . . .what is the correct way to eat?

I had training all day today so no workout. I should have gone but I haven't taken a day off in two weeks almost. I got out at 4 but just decided to relax. I am totally ready for a refeed. Proabably Saturday. I ate a low carb tortilla just a minute ago because I wanted something but not too many carbs. It had only 5 net carbs and boy was it good. I was so tired of eating only veggies.

My calories were in the 1600-1800 range but the last week have been majorly high - as high as even 2900. I have been so tired because of my low carb stores. I'm biking an extra hour as well at least 4 times per week.

So, my sodium is always low with my hyponatremia condition. I've been thinking of doing carb cycling as suggested to me by another member.

Today I totally had a relevation about carbs! I finally get them! Okay, not all of them but I'm understanding the basics about digestion and the chemical make up of carbs. Carbs are just soooooo confusing.

I love the chemistry behind food and learning slowly but surely. I read lots of articles of what carbs are and how they are digested. I took my notebook with me today full of notes and read it over and over. I am finally pulling together that carbs are made up of monosaccharides. I never understood all the types - disaccharides, monosaccharides, starches, fibers, and the differences between maltose vs. sucrose, lactose vs. glactose, fructose vs. sucrose. I realized that disaccharides are just two monosachharides together. I was always confused on of "what is lactose vs galactose? They are both milk sugar but what's the difference?" I learned today that they are really the same! Duh. Lactose is galactose + glucose, Sucrose is fructose + glucose, maltose is a glucose + glucose! The light finally came on. lol Then my notes went on to oligosaccharides and starches. Also, sachhrine means "sugar."
Why didn't I ever get this before?

Starches still confuse me. I've cut them out of my diet so long that I don't know what is good and what is bad. I have the basics down but the difference between grade A and grade B still has me confused. The GI index is relatively simple I just am very suprised by some foods.
So, the carb cycling diet I've been reading about is on bodybuilding.com. I took notes and here is it. Let me know if I have it correct. I studied all day yesterday and today on this.
Basics
- Cycle every 3 days - High, Low, No carbs
- 5 to 6 meals per day (I would do 6)
- 1.5 grams of protein per lb of body weight (155 grams = 620 calories)
- all protein evenly divided between 5 or 6 meals
- 4 of 6 meals have protein source that come from lean cuts of meat in the grade food list (<10% calories from fat). The other 2 can be from higher fat content proteins. If doing all lean cuts then add extra fat in those 2 meals.
- 40-80 grams fiber per day
High Carb Day

- 4 of 6 meals must have carbs. Eat however many carbs you want during this time but be sure it balances with protein and calories for the overall day. My Goal: ~1800 calories daily.
- Every meal must have fruit. Avoid bananas, kiwis, avacodos. Shoot between 50-100 calories of fruit per meal
- Get daily protein divided by 6 at each meal (155 grams for me).

Low Carb Day

- 3 to 4 of 6 meals must have carbs.
- Get one gram of carb per lb body weight
- Every meal must have fruit - same as high carb day
- Get daily protein divided by 6 at each meal

No Carb Day
- All protein. Get daily protein divided by 6 at each meal
- Limited veggies. < 50 calories of veggies per meal optional.
- No extra fat, no fruit

But I'm really confused with carb cycling. with this diet I cannot do a high fat diet correct? That means no hamburger or cheap cuts of meat. Also, it doesn't say how much fat per day. In a fat cutting diet I would want to do a Fat/Carb/Protein of 20/40/40 I think. On low carb days though I'm not sure if those macros change

I've done some calculations and this is what I come up with

If I'm 155 lbs I need 1800 calories per day to lose 1 pound per week. With 6 meals that is about 300 calories per meal. So, in a 20/40/40 I would get the following per day in calories and in grams on a high carb day.

Total Calories Total Grams
Fat 20% 360 40
Carb 40% 720 180
Fiber 0 0
Protein 40% 720 180

On a low carb day I cut down the percent carb to say 20% then where does that other 20% go? Into fat, protein or into nowhere and have lower calories that day? If I adjust macros I get this for a low carb day. I upped fat 10% and protein 10 %


Total Calories Total Grams
Fat 30% 540 60
Carb 20% 360 90
Fiber 0 0
Protein 50% 900 225


So on a no carb day, where do my macros go? How much protein can I eat in one day without that spilling over into glucose, say 240? let's say I do the following macros


Total Calories Total Grams
Fat 40% 720 80
Carb 10% 180 45
Fiber 0 0
Protein 50% 900 225


Now the hard part becomes splitting my meals on high carb and low carb days between 4 of 6 meals. I'm thinking that the 2 meals that have higher fat cuts of meat will be the meals without starch and eating only veggies and fruit on my low carb and high carb days.

carbs are so confusing. I don't even know the nutrional info on carbs. I know carbs, calories, and fat for every protein and fat out there but carbs - don't have a clue. I can put a diet plan together in my head no problem if I don't eat carbs because I know the nutritional breakdown but geez, carb cycling is going to give me a major headache.


I've been researching the paleo diet, raw food diet, and other plans such as the no flour diet and have read a lot about the dangers of grains. The body ecology diet talks a lot about which carbs are good and which are bad. The same about dairy - is it good or bad???? Now with the raw food diet fruits are good and the best source of energy but from what I've read on the body building websites, fruit is not the best source of fuel as it cannot be stored as glycogen in the muscles. I'm so confused here. To me it sounds like this:

if you do atkins it doesn't matter the type of fat, protein, or carb you get - just limit dairy, no grains, and non starchy veggies
if you do the paleo diet you eat meat, fruit, veggies, and anything really caveman like. No dairy, grains, or starchy veggies
if you do raw you eat no meat, no dairy, no grains and only consume food from plant sources
if you do the body ecology diet you don't eat grains at all and eat very specific carbs
the raw food diet is similar to the body ecology diet.

There is one common diet secret between all of these diets - coconut oil IS healthy, no grains, limit dairy or cut it out completely. However, they differ in that some are high protein while the others are limited protein and get most foods from veggies. Talk about a major headache.


BBBBBBUUUUUUTTTT, Bodybuilders only talk about grains and fruit with lean protein. I hardly hear about bodybuilders talking about their "raw" diets - even though I've read about some. There aren't many bodybuilders who train without carbs. So the question becomes - to grain or not to grain.

If I do a carb cycle or even a refeed this week I want to stick with low GI stuff if possible since I'm not use to high starch carbs. I like berries or all types but want to avoid bananas, melons, kiwis, oranges, ect. . .

With this training I'm doing I know I'm not eating right. Where is my energy coming from? I feel scared that I'm using my own muscle for energy sometimes and not fat. Am I just constantly refueling my liver glycogen everyday with veggie and dairy carbs and then depeleting it when I workout? Is that why my weight takes such a dramatic shift everyday and I hold a ton of water? I've read that you retain around 3 lbs of water for every gram of glycogen in your body.

All in all, those are my thoughts. I'll try to stick this CKD out for a while longer but if it doesn't work I'll give the carb cycling thing a try. I want to make it simple and if that means eating the same thing all day I will have to do it. It is going to be a major challenge for me to adjust. I'm so use to my meat, meat, meat . . . mmmmmmm . . .meat. And fat. This is why I purely love CKD.

Talk to ya all later!