Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Carb Back Loading Misstep

So I'm toying with the Carb Back Loading protocol. Here's the high level overview:

1) Have coffee with heavy cream when you wake up and wait 2-3 hours to eat.

2) After you do eat, stay under 30 grams of carbohydrates.

3) Train later in the afternoon or evening. By training, we're talking only about serious, kick-ass resistance training. Not CrossFit, not HIIT, not endurance work, no matter how hard you kick your own ass at it.

4) On days that you train hard (resistance train, no HIIT, CrossFit, or endurance), you have about an hour of time to eat high glycemic index carbs.


While my weight hasn't really budged enough to say I've lost or gained, I do feel like I'm starting to slowly shed some fat and my training doesn't feel flat the way it did when I was doing the ketogenic Paleo diet at the beginning of the year.

And another perk: if I don't train, like REALLY train, I'm not allowed my designated carb load of mango and sticky rice. Hows that for motivation to pick up some heavy weights?

So, as mentioned, my go to is mango and sticky rice. I found an easy recipe that turned out pretty well. And unlike sushi rice, sticky rice keeps okay. Not great, but okay enough to make a few days worth. Well, Monday comes around and I'm somehow out of pre-sliced mango (ManFriend, grumble grumble), so I guess I gotta back load with something else.

Enter the local coffee shops and one particular cookie bar. Dimensions about 2in x 3in x 1.5in. Starting at the bottom, the layers were graham crust, marshmallow cream, peanut butter, and rice crispie with chocolate chips pressed in. The first bite was pure heaven. The last bite was torture.

I'm going to go out on a limb and blame not just the inordinate amount of sugar, but also the peanut butter and the likely low quality ingredients in general.

Lesson learned. Time to go buy more mango and a lock box to keep it in.

4 comments:

  1. See the latest article on Kiefer's website. He recommends, for max fat loss, to keep fat out of the first 1-2meals while back-loading. Then, for the last meal, back-load fat right along with the carbs for increased insulin release. Also, carbs other than glucose (including sucrose and fructose) should be left out of the post workout window.

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    1. Thanks for the heads up! I'll have to read more on that, since previous reading I've done indicates that high levels of protein w/o fat can induce an insulin response. I can't tell you if that's good or bad, but worth looking further into.

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  2. Hi, Kristin!

    How is it going with your Carb Back Loading? Do you still doing it? Tell us your progres, please.

    Best wishes from Barcelona, Spain.

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    1. I'm not doing it anymore. I've switched over to Carb Nite which fits my current training schedule and eating mentality. Basically, conditioning my psyche to eat carbs each night, then it's crazy inducing to not eat carbs when I don't train. :)

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