What is the best way to up calories after a cut cycle?

Hyperion

Hyperion

Member
Awards
0
So about 10 days ago I came off a 3-month cut cycle. I weighed in at 145lbs, and since then I have upped my calories from 1,500 per day with virtually no carbs, to about 1,800-2,000 with maybe 80gr of carbs.

Needless to say I'm about 4lbs heavier, which I suspect is water retention due to the re-introduction of carbs. Should I refrain from carbs for a few days, drop back down to 145lbs and then simply up my calories but STILL leave out carbs?

Should I be more concerned with getting my calories up to 2,500 (which is average maintenance) first, and then introducing perhaps 1 carb meal a day?

I have no problem with waiting another 3-4 weeks to eat carbs again, I'm just unsure as to which is best for maintaining lower water-retention.
 
jumpshot903

jumpshot903

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
Depends what your goals are im a big believer in carbs and a big disbeliever in no-carb diets so my thoughts will be a little skewed. You need carbs to build muscle and contrary to popular belief if you pick the right sources and manage them well there not gonna be the cause of fat gain. My advice is especially if your trying to bulk you need to incorporate carbs if your trying to stay lean but add muscle which will obviously take more time limit your carbs i mean no one knows your body better then you and how they react to certain foods.
 
Hyperion

Hyperion

Member
Awards
0
I am wanting to build muscle, but first I'd like to get my body and metabolism used to me weighing 145lbs. I know 4lbs isn't really something to worry about and I'm sure that if I go off carbs for 5 days I'll drop back down no problem, I just want to avoid these swings when re-introducing carbs.

I find that having any kind of carbs during the day leads to a sudden sugar-craving, even though the only carbs I'm having are 2 CNP pro flapjacks that have 38grs of carbs of which 6gr are sugars.

Ex. I did my chest and traps work-out on Tuesday around noon. Right before I went I had a CNP bar for breakfast and afetr my workout had a salad with chicken, and then about 2 hours after that, my other CNP bar for the day. Not 3 minutes after I finished it I felt hungrier than I did before I had it!

I ended up eating about 500 calories worth of roasted peanuts in one sitting just to counter the hunger feeling.
 
Hyperion

Hyperion

Member
Awards
0
Right, so I went on the no-carb cycle again for 10 days and dropped down to 142lbs.

I'm currently eating 5 meals a day, 300kcal, every 3 hours.

My plan is this:

week 1: have a 6th meal in the day, also 300kcal, only space them out every 2,5 hours (1,800kcal daily)
week 2: have a 7th 300 kcal meal, space them out every 2 hours (2,100kcal daily)
week 3: add 50kcal to each meal, ergo 7 x 350 = 2,450kcal, eat every 2 hours
week 4: add 50 kcal more, but eat 6 times a day, ergo 6 x 400 = 2,400kcal, eat every 2,5 hours

All through-out these 4 weeks, I will still be on a virtually no-carb diet, with only one cheat day (Sundays) were I will eat the same amount of calories, with only certain kinds of carbs (brown bread/pasta, oats etc).

That will get me to the end of November, so for the month of December I will:

week 1: introduce protein shake as a replacement meal for pwo (the brand I have right now has about 8grams of carbs per serving, so 2 servings will be 16grams, of which 10 will be sugars, high I know, but I paid £40 for the damn thing, I'm going to use it), and for the 2nd meal of the day on my rest days, keeping it as the 2nd meal each day (I tend to work out after breakfast usually)

week 2: introduce 30gr of carbs (again from healthy options) at breakfast, along with the standard shake, while keeping kcalories at 2,400-2,500
week 3: add one more 30gr of carbs meal after my work-out and pwo shake, again staying in the 2,400-2,500kcal mark for each day
week 4: make each carb meal contain 50gr of carbs, and still keep the overall calories at 2,400-2,500.

This will take my almost to January (give or take 5-6 days) at which point I hope to still be in the region of 140-150lbs, and then I can think about perhaps upping calories again by maybe 250 per meal per day, per week and see what happens by the end of March.

What do you guys think?
 

Similar threads


Top