| T.I.A | Think Without Limits |

 When I first heard about carb back-loading I thought it was too good to be true. Eat lots of ice cream and pizza….keep all the strength and hard work you gained AND get lean too? Yeah right! But I soon found that this new way of eating actually works. 

Here’s a quick run down of how it works:

• The first 10 days are AGONY. 10 DAYS OF 30G OF CARBS OR LESS. This is like an induction into the lifestyle and to get your body ready.

• You back load your carbs so that you eat them AFTER your workout.

• Before your workout you eat your proteins and fats (no carbs what so ever).

• 1-2g of carbs per lb of bodyweight (dependent on your goals and if you’re male or female). If you want to drop body fat keep it at 1g or less. If you want gains but want to stay lean, go for 2g. 

• Protein intake is roughly 1g per lb of bodyweight (again, it is dependent on your goals and also whether you are male or female).

• On workout days you carb back load.

• On rest days/light days you stick to 30g of carbs or less (like the induction). Some may need more carbs on rest days than others. If for example, you workout 5-7 days a week and lift heavy…you may need more. 

• Fat intake is not that important, eat as much as you like. Just keep it healthy.

• Don’t bother looking at the scales. Just have a look in the mirror. if you’re feeling leaner…you’re on the right track or may even need to up the carbs. If you feel a bit bloated then just lower your carbs slightly. 

• If you’re already doing IF or Lean Gains you’ll fit into this new lifestyle with ease. 

The 10 Day Induction Phase

This hurt my brain, heart and stomach all at the same time when I first realised that I had to do this first. Kiefer (the creator of CBL) recommends 10 days….of 30g of carbs or less to prime your body to this new way of eating….I honestly thought I would die of carb deprivation. The first 5 days where just absolute hell, especially since I was doing leangains too and as a girl….my hormones were all over the place and being deprived of yummy carby goodness just turned me into a grumpy sod. By day six however it started to ease up on me and it wasn’t so bad. I seriously recommend just upping your protein to 2g of protein per lb of bodyweight for these 10 days, especially if like me, you’re training a lot and always hungry. AND DRINK UP! 

Onto The Fun Stuff

I can tell you now that by day 11 I trained my ass off and then sunk my teeth into a huge white chocolate cheesecake (8 slices all for me), it was so good my jaw tingled. Go easy on your stomach, I made the mistake of shoving so much in my mouth and tummy I felt stupidly sick afterwards….so use the several hours you have to split all those delicious carbs up :P And remember that brown rice and porridge won’t do…you have to shovel cookies, pizza, donuts, ben and jerry’s….all the “junk” we’ve been told to lay off. That’s what is going to get you lean….surprisingly!

The Science 

I would go on to explain it all but i’ll just provide the link for you all since the guy that actually created CBL explains it far better :P

Under The Hood: How Carb Back Loading Works

Another great article to read - Cookie Monster - Thoughts On CBL

Conclusion

I love CBL. It’s simple and it works. Currently I’m trying to gain more muscle using CBL and it’s working really well for me! I’m just as excited to “cut” for my meet in december. If you’re a carb fiend like me, THIS IS THE LIFESTYLE FOR YOU! Once you’ve done the 10 days you can now officially say that you have just dived head first into the world of carb back-loading. Just stick to the guidelines and see how it goes for you!