Musings on a low-carb diet

So I've been low-carbing it for a few days now. Yesterday was the last day of my low carb cycle and today is HIGH CARB DAY!!!!!

Eating less than 60 carbs a day while still maintaining muscle mass and working out every day is extremely difficult. The majority of my carbs were coming from breakfast and were in the form of brown rice, which should last me all day, right? Wrong. Come 3 or 4 in the afternoon the honey buns were looking mighty good, as was anything else sweet or starchy. I did get a minor carb burst every afternoon in the form of some strawberries in my protein shake but they didn't help much.

Seems like the first couple nights were the worst. I'm used to taking a break at work between 7 and 8 in the evening and eating typically a turkey sandwich (on whole wheat bread) and a little something sweet. Can't do that any more.

The "mental fog" most people have on a low carb diet didn't affect me. I dunno, maybe I'm immune. Or maybe I'm far smarter than most morons who post on the Internet. Take your pick.

High carb day is gonna be fun. Instead of my usual 6 fried eggs in the morning, I had 2 fried egg sandwiches. I'm thinking... "I LOVE fried egg sandwiches! With a little mayo, and a little ketchup, and a slice of cheese, it'll be just like Mom used to make every Sunday for lunch."

WRONG.

Fried egg sandwiches on white bread are frakking awesome.

I can't have white bread.

Let's put it this way... I'd rather not even have the bread if I have to eat a fried egg sandwich on whole wheat EVER again. I'll pass, thanks.

Switching to a 6-day split, and carb cycling

So I'm going from my current 3-day lifting split to a 6-day split to allow me to concentrate more on specific body parts. More concentration = more growth.

Also carb cycling the diet. On my low-carb days I'll be consuming between .25 and .5g of carbs per pound of bodyweight (closer to the bottom limit, which puts me at about 60g per day... HARD to do), 1-1.5g protein per pound, and not too particular about the fat intake (I'm not going to eat an entire stick of butter but I'm also not going to cut fat out entirely, as I'm trying to get my body used to burning it for fuel). On high carb days (those glorious days!) every fourth day, I'm going to get between .75 and 1g carb per pound.

I'm cycling back up to keep my body guessing, lose fat, and keep the ketosis going while maintaining my sanity with a "good" day every fourth day. Hopefully I'll go from 237 lbs and 30% or so bodyfat to... maybe 220 and 12%? In maybe 6 months or so...

Favorite pre- and post-workout shake

6-8 fresh or frozen strawberries (about 1/2-1 cup)
1-2 cups water
1 serving (2 heaping teaspoons) Universal EAA Stack, Fruit Punch Kicker
2 servings (2 heaping scoops) Universal Ultra Iso Whey, Lemonade Chiller

Combine the strawberries and water in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the EAA and protein; blend until mixed. Consume and enjoy.

Most protein shakes taste like ass. This one tastes like a good smoothie.

40g protein (and it's fast-digesting to get into your muscles quick), about 10g carbs (also VERY fast to boost insulin uptake, helping shuttle protein and the aminos from the stack into your muscles). No fat.