Q:  What’s  this zig-zag diet that is meant to get you extra lean?

A:  I think you’re referring to the concept of carbohydrate cycling. This is a tool that many bodybuilders have been using for many years to strip body-fat from their physiques. You may have read about the dangers of staying on a low carb regime for an extended period of time. In fact, you shouldn’t stay on a low carb diet for more than three days. Beyond that your glycogen levels will be severely depleted, you will being losing energy and your metabolism will slow down. That’s where carb cycling comes in. Every fourth day, you simply switch to a high carb diet. This will have the effect of giving your entire system a boost – your energy levels will surge, your muscles will fill out and your metabolism gets a kick. Another advantage of this type of plan is that your body does not become an exclusive fat feeder. While the idea of your body gorging exclusively on your fat stores sounds appealing, it does have a down side. If you cut out carbs for too long, your body will become very inefficient at converting carbs into energy. Then, when you eventually come off your low carb diet, guess what’s going to happen? Yep – you’ll be resembling the Goodyear blimp in no time flat. But, if you have a high carb day every fourth day, your body fully retains it’s ability to convert carbs into glycogen.

So, how many carbs should you consume on your low and high days? The average male trainer should be getting in around 175 grams of carbs on the three low days. On high days shoot for about 350 grams. Women should be trying to consume about 110 grams on low carb days and around 225 grams on high days. As a final note, eat proteins with starchy carbs early in the day on your low carb days. Later in the day eat proteins with fibrous carbs. On your high days you can eat fibrous carbs at any time.