the true meaning of carbo loading..

[eggplant]

into my 4th week of diet..everything is going fine..the first 2 weeks i had a cheat meal each week..and on the 3rd week..i decided to do a carbo load(clean food) to see which works best..actually i wanted to avoid cheat meals for 2 weeks..but was afraid of losing too much..so i experimented with a carbo load. and this in turn brought me to a question..i've been thinking of this..and now i need ur views on it..

when i carbo load..i take in 2-2.5g of carbs per pound of bodyweight..proteins are down to 1g per pound. and fats stayed around the same..and i realised that the total calories on my carbo load day is actually lesser than my usual calories on diet day..so does this mean that a carbo load does not need to be high in calories? will i be able to replenish muscle glycogen if carbs are high, but overall calories are low? which is more important? carbs or overall calories?? do u guys get what i'm trying to say?

an example..on diet day: 330g prot
200g carbs
77g fats
total cal:2813

carb load day: 158g prot
316 carbs
77g fats

total cal: 2589

actually i'm not very sure whether i should drop my fats on carb load day, since i drop my protein from 2g per pound of bodyweight to 1g..so if i further drop my fats..total calories will be much more lower..i'm confused bros...help~!

[SwoleCat]

Drop the fats lower, and up the protein more.

It's fine if the total caloric amount at the end of the day is lower than normal days, as you are ingesting most of those calories in the form of a macro you sparingly eat those other 6 days of the week. You'll still get fully "glycogenated" and have a successful carb load, as it's the carbs that do the loading, not the total amount of calories at the end of the day. Now, if u were eating the reduced caloric amount in fat/protein, well, then of course that's different.

Another thing to consider that I just thought of is this. What is the purpose of your carb load? Meaning, the last week during preparation for a shoot or show, I carb load for 3 days. Total Kcals are LOWER on those carb load days, than the days before this leading up to the show that were primarily fat/protein days. My purpose for the carb load is to "blow up" and dry out and appear with nice/tight round muscle bellies, so it's the carbs that I really want to help me w/this look, not the amont of Kcals.

If you are doing this for reasons similar to mine, the total kcals don't matter much. If you are doing it to speed metabolism, u may want to at least match your total kcals to those other days, simply because to speed metabolism you need an influx of calories. (not just an excessive amount of one kind)

Hope that makes sense!

~SC~

[usualsuspect]

It really depends on your goals and intentions like Swole said. If your carb loading for a show, picture shoot, or just to "blow up" then focus on carbs in a similar fashion suggested above (high carbs, moderate protein, low fat).

However, if your having a carb load day in order to provide a psychological break from dieting and (kick your thyroid in the nutts) then I would focus on eating a influx of cals consisting of a large increase in carbs. On carb load days I usually double the amount of my regular calories and eat anywhere from 500 to 600 grams of carbs. This seemed to work very well for me. I felt like I was refueling my energy tank for the next 6 days of dieting. But keep in mind everyone responds differently to refeedings so experimentation is the only way to know what works best.

[eggplant]

hey swole and suspect..i'm doing the carb load not for preparation for a show..as my show is in july..i'm just trying to see how my body reacts to carb load compared to a cheat meal..and of course, try to refuel my 'muscles' give them a break from those carb depletion..i hope that i would not put on any significant amount of water and fats on this high carb day would i??

[SwoleCat]

You aren't going to put on fat, no, but you will add water weight for sure! Each carb molecule holds water, so the more carbs you eat and the more water you drink, you are going to add weight in this fashion. The amount of salt ingested with these carbs and water will also determine how much you "gain" on this day. The weight gain is not fat, it's salt/water, and is usually gone 2-3 days later, usually sooner. Limiting the amount of salt/seasoning you ADD to foods on this day can help u remain tighter the next day, and I'd aim for about 3/4 of your normal water allotment so you don't spill-over like mad and appear very bloated. If done right, u can wake up pumped, full, and not bloated. You'll weigh more, but it'll feel/look like ain air gun pumped you up in all the correct places.

~SC~

[eggplant]

aight....! hey man...really appreciatted all this advice u just gave me...thats real gd info..at least to me..as i'm still learning as much as i can..everytime i shoot a question in AR, i get gd replies and answers..and i felt really relieved after all my doubts and insecurities are cleared...thanx to all guys here again...

[SwoleCat]

Egg, see my other reply in the thread about cardio.

If you're interested that is.

~SC~

[eggplant]

aight..thanx again bro

[xenithon]

Sorry I didn't respond to this before - my PC was down for a while.

I am in a similar situation - training days are low/medium carb, off days are low carb except for one which is a carb up. What I do is double my carb intake, and bring my protein intake down so that total calories is equivalent to a training day's amount (though it's an off day from the gym). I try to minimize all fat for this day as I want to shock the body which is used to using a fair amount of fat during the rest of the week into utilizing all the carbs I put in.