This step will be a favorite for most of you, as it gives you the opportunity to eat some of the foods you may have been craving on a low-carb diet.
Once carbs drop to 0.5 grams per pound of body weight or lower, it’s advisable to include a higher carb day every week or so. This can help to keep your metabolic rate higher even though your carbs and calorie intake is so low. Plus, it works well as an incentive to get through the week. Most people find that they better police themselves when they know they have a high-carb day in the near future. When that day comes, they can feel like they earned it. And once you’ve enjoyed the high-carb day, it’s easier to go back to the low-carb diet.
It doesn’t matter what day of the week your high-carb day falls on, but you don’t want to go any more frequent than once every seven days. A weekend day works best for most people.
Protein and fat should stay about the same, but you can drop them somewhat on your higher-carb day. Just don’t allow protein to drop much lower than 1 gram per pound of body weight and fat to go any lower than 0.25 gram per pound.
Dieting 101 Key: How Many Carbs and What Types?
You should shoot for about 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight on high-carb days. That’s about 400 grams for the 200-pounder.
When it comes to the high-carb foods to choose, your best options are low-glycemic index (GI) or slow-digesting carbs, such as oatmeal, whole-wheat breads, pastas and sweet potatoes. However, if you train on your high-carb day, you should still consume high-glycemic carbs immediately after the workout.
While the majority of your carbs should come from low-GI carbs, you can enjoy some high-GI carbs throughout the day. Having a boost in insulin will help keep your metabolism high and will allow you to enjoy some of the sweets you may have been craving.
Breakfast
Fat-burning supplements (take between breakfast and late-morning snack)
Late-morning snack
Lunch
Fat-burning supplements (take between lunch and afternoon snack)
Afternoon snack
Dinner
Before Bed Supplements (taken at least 1 hour after dinner and at least 1 hour prior to before-bed snack)
Before-Bed Snack
Pre-workout (30-45 minutes before workouts)
Post-workout (within 30 minutes after workouts)
On days you don’t train, continue taking 2-4 grams of CarnoSyn® beta-alanine, taking one scoop of Pre JYM and/or one scoop of Post JYM at whatever time of day you like. (Pre JYM and Post JYM each contain 2 grams of CarnoSyn® beta-alanine.)