Simply put a CKD is cycling out carbs. I would go 6 days with essentially no carbs (trying to keep them under 20 grams) and then on the 7th day, I would essentially carb load, eating 300-500 grams of carbs. Every day, I eat a sufficient amount of protien. On the low carb days I eat a lot of fat, on the carb up days, I would try to eat virtually no fat.

The diet is great to preserve muscle mass while benefitting from the low carb fat loss. Plus you get to satisfy your carb cravings once a week.

Check out my food logs to see what I ate.

http://www.scottysbody.com/january_08_food.php

Scotty

I haven't been over here to the Active Low-Carber forums much lately but I just wanted to pop in and thank you guys for checking out my progress. I've still got a little work to do to get down to 7% body fat but I'm moving toward that goal.

Talk to you soon.

Scotty

Scotty, I'm very new to the whole low carb diet but I've learned enough from my experience in weight training to point you in the right direction.

If you've read as much as I've read about low carb in the past couple of weeks, you might have come across some arguments that exercise has little to do with fat loss while diet has everything to do with fat loss. Well, I agree with that completely. With one exception. Where exercise comes in is with Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).

As you probably know already, BMR is the rate at which we use energy. The higher our BMR, the faster we use energy. There are two ways to affect BMR. Exercise. Diet. With diet it's simple. The more we eat, the higher our BMR gets. With exercise, it's more subtle. With exercise, it's not a function of the amount of exercise we do. Instead, it's a function of the intensity of the exercise. The higher the intensity, the higher our BMR gets.

If you've heard of HIIT (high intensity interval training) or the Tabata protocol, you already know how intense this type of training can be. That kind of intensity translates into a proportional BMR increase. One cool thing about HIIT/Tabata is the extent of its effect. Its effect on BMR lasts a couple of days or more perhaps. This means it's entirely possible to do one HIIT session every three or four days and still get the full benefit. In other words, no need to work so hard on those last few pounds. But here's the best part about the Tabata protocol. It takes only four minutes to do.

Thanks for the insight Levac. You are obviously very knowledgable on this. I have actually started re-incorporating HIIT and am experiencing the benefits you described.

Scotty

wow you look amazing!!

Hey thanks! I've still got a ways to go but I'm well on my way.

Scotty

Looking good. You're lucky, I seem to have lost even more on my arms and legs than in the middle. Doc told me not to lose anymore weight. I went to Academy and brought home a 35lb "Iron Core" Kettlebell the same day

I've heard lots of good things about Kettlebell training but never tried it myself. Let me know what you think of it.

Scotty

Hey I have a question, well maybe more than one. Do you think this sort of training / diet would work well for females as well? I think I'd be worried that the carb load day would make me gain as opposed to losing. And I understand that men and their metabolism is very much different than womens.

I've just been doing some research on the highly popular low fat / low calorie weight lifting diet as opposed to low carb. During my weight loss journey I found that I easily stalled out around 160 which was about +22 lbs from my goal. At that point I was unclear if I needed to change my work out routine or my diet, low carb to low calorie etc.... Then of course I got pregnant.

I guess what I'm asking is, I'm trying to find my way through all of this nutrition information and so much of it seems to be conflicting and confusing.

Lift heavy, lift light and burn up the cardio, low cal, low fat, low carb, no carb....etc....

I enjoy running tremendously and hope to do some 8 mile relays this year but at the same time i don't want to lose muscle mass by training too hard. My body tends to hang out to muscle pretty easy (AKA stocky legs, unless I run long LONG distances).

Any advise would be greatly appreciated, your progress is amazing.

Thanks again! Oh and if there is a better place for me to post this, sorry! I wasn't sure where to post and saw your amazing progress....

wow, this is very inspiring. thanks for creating such an informative site.
also, your baby is SOOOOO cute!! am i the only one who wants to see more pictures of the kid?

Yes, this type of diet will work great for woman. The carb load days, if done correctly, won't make you gain much weight (you may hold a little water for a day or two but not actual fat). They are good for losing fat while preserving muscle. The carb load days keep you from losing precious muscle. Even women should want to preserve their muscle.

If you are hitting a stall, I would suggest changing up your diet. Your body is very smart and will try to get to a place where it is not losing (survival) so drastically changing your diet can help.

Hope this helps you out. If you want more info, head over to my forums at...

http://forums.scottysbody.com

and I can probably answer your questions more quickly.

Scotty

I have done free weights for years and various sports, but there is nothing like the kettlebells. After the first workout you will feel it. The best way I can describe it is it gives a more connected strength through the whole body more like gymnastics or martial arts only the results are faster. My back and shoulders are much stronger already, I can do more push-ups and pull-ups and am using heavier dumbbells than ever before. Its costing me $$ buying more weights this month

http://www.theothersideofstrength.com/db_KBells.aspx

For now, in addition to my free weights, I am doing the KB double swings, cleans, some presses (they are hard), bend over rowing, double chins, side bends and double squats with a 35lb KB. I may get another smaller (ladies) one since I have a long standing rotator cuff injury. I find using it 3 times a week is plenty and I seldom do more than 2 sets of 12 of each exercise.

They are pricey, my "Iron Core" was $75 at Academy Sports, but its a nice rubber coated one sold by a lady instructor and includes an entry level DVD. The handle is quite ample for my large hands.

Sweet! Thanks for the info Bro.

Scotty

I spent my gift cert today towards a lighter weight "kettle bell" a 25 pounder. Now I can do over the head stuff like clean&press. Its quite the workout-- nothing like using a 25 lb dumbbell. Next will be twin KB in both sizes. They are selling them out fast at Academy Sports.

Wow, you are so amazing looking. Congratulations! I showed my husband and he is intrigued. He would like to look as good as you! I really love how you are so straightforward and open about what you did and how you got there, so that others may follow.