Carb Cycling? Has anyone looked into it / tried it?

I love Chris Powell of Extreme Weight Loss.  If I had a coach like that I might not have chosen to do surgery... but I know surgery was the right decision for me, absent Chris!  I am 86 lbs down, and so happy with these results as I am smaller than I was when I married, but I am aiming to lose 27 more pounds to really get to my goal.  I have been less focused on carbs and more focused on nutrition and eating healthy, and meal planning so that I have items in my pantry & fridge for healthy meals for my family and I.  I still eat small portions, drink lots of water and try to avoid refined sugar... some days more successfully than others of course, but I do not let small stumbles stop me.   However, that said, my weight loss has significantly slowed, which is somewhat expected after a year.

However, to get to my question... I read Chris's new book Chose More Lose More for Life (NOT an advertisement, as I am a fan and wanted to read it) and learned about the concept of Carb Cycling (which he did not invent, but he presents clearly).  I like the idea of alternating low carb and high carb days.  The premise is that the carb cycling confuses your body and helps you keep up weight loss.  

Has anyone else here tried this type of eating?

If so, what did you think?  Did it help or hinder weight loss?  Too complicated?  Too much planning?  (I already plan meals, so the planning worries me less, but I am curious what anyone thinks.)

I really don't have much to add other than I love that Chris Powell too!   I've read a little bit about carb-cycling and would be interested in hearing if there are any VSGers who have done it.    

It has been my experience that the simpler I make my plan, the better I am at following it long term.  My doctor wants us to keep calories and carbs low and his patients, on average, do extremely well.  I am sure there are people that have used many different diet tricks to lose weight, you will find people that have lost weight doing almost anything.  It would be my suggestion to first find a group of people that have done well and than do what they did.  That tends to be my philosophy with almost anything.  Lately, that is what I have done with exercise.  I looked for a group of similar women who looked the way that I wanted to look and learned what they do to get and keep that look.  Works for me. 

That's the best that I have, good luck finding the right program for you.

Love Chris Powell, his show, his books. I've read them too and while i know a lot of people on body building forums who cycle carbs and are happy with it i can tell you it's not for me. I'm a low carb lifer. Carbs just open me up to too much temptation and through me off track so i save em for special occasions. I even tried the while cheat day thing and it's not a good idea...at least for me. You might like it. All i can say is if what you're doing is working and your content with your diet, i wouldn't rock the boat for yet another eating trend that has come and gone over the years. Kinda the old saying, if it's not broke don't fix it.

I do this, but without planning it. I do sort of a low cal high protein for a couple days, and then don't care about my protein intake but still watch my calories, then a day of kind of like I don't care what I eat (but still do care, so Im not eating like McD or anything like that). It works SO much better for me. Mentally and I do lose more weight. Im almost 4 months out (on the 4th) and Ive been doing this for the last few weeks and have lost on average close to 1 lb a day! Works for me :) Ive lost 60 lbs since day of surgery and Im at 68 since a week prior to surgery when I started my liquid diet.

I will add, I don't really do "high carb" days. I know people who have no problem with 50-80 carbs a day. a high carb day to me will still be only like 30 carbs

I think it is complicated. I know professional athletes are using carb cycling synced with cardio and strength training based on the cycle to bulk up and build muscle in our current steroid free era. I heard it explained on a sports show, but I realize what they are doing is complex. I know a couple baseball players who came into spring training looking completely different than they did at the end of September. There's fitness companies specializing in it.

You're near the end. Don't buy into tricks like this, up your exercise. Make sure you are eating enough calories to sustain your workouts. It's the best thing to do and you can carry this simple plan into your future.

I just turned 50, I am 11 months out from surgery, below my original goal weight, and in the best shape of my life. Yes the last pounds are tough, but totally do-able. If you are not sweating, then you aren't working hard enough.

I did carb cycling but without much thought. I just did low carb days - 30 or less and higher carb days - under 50. I did fairly well with my weight loss although due to my own issues (yes I will take my own blame) I have been plateau'd. I lost continuously for 7 months without a stall though.

I avoided refined sugars and white starches. Mainly my carbs come from veggies and fruits still but once in a while I do have a slice of light wheat bread, peanut butter, oats, things like that. 

I am going back to the basics this week and focusing on 12 cups of water, protein only, I have let the carb monster in my head too long. Also doing workout videos each day this week and see what my results look like on Friday (when I weigh myself).

Best of luck!

I think Keith knows quite a bit about this.  Hopefully he will see this post, if not maybe PM him.  It sounds like a good idea and worth using to me.   Good Luck!!