Carbohydrate alternation. Principle of nutrition, burning fat

Everyone who has ever adhered to a rigid low-calorie diet knows that the side effect of weight loss is muscle wasting. That is, as a result of serious limitations, we will get a worse, but also a more loose body. Naturally, this result suits far from all.

Of course, you can advise slimming during a diet to actively engage in sports. But, firstly, if the rigid diet is observed, the organism will necessarily pass to the "strict economy" regime, trying to keep the fatty layer. And, secondly, when you only have a green salad and chicken breast in your menu, you do not really want to do the spot somehow, because a feeling of weakness with such a diet will appear.

There is an opinion that the situation can be corrected using the principles of the protein diet. However, a strict restriction of carbohydrates is unlikely to cause a surge of enthusiasm in sports training. What kind of gym, if even laziness?

Fortunately, today there is a technique that allows not only to get rid of excess fat, but also to save muscles. This technique is called carbohydrate alternation. This method of losing weight is very popular among athletes, especially those who are fond of bodybuilding. However, even those who are engaged in sports only to keep fit, can fully benefit from this diet.

Carbohydrate alternation is based on the fact that the daily diet constantly changes the amount of carbohydrates. They are strictly limited, then, on the contrary, they are introduced in large quantities. The entire period of weight loss on this diet is divided into four-day cycles. In the first two days the amount of carbohydrates is minimized, but protein in the diet should be enough. So, the norms for athletes of bodybuilders prescribe in low-carbohydrate days to consume 3-4 grams of protein and 0.5-1.5 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of weight. The third day of the diet is high-carbohydrate, during this period it is recommended to consume 5-6 grams of carbohydrates and 1-1.5 grams of protein per kilogram (recall that these norms are calculated for athletes who actively train). The fourth day suggests that the amount of protein and carbohydrates in the diet will equal, that is, per kilogram of weight will have 2-3 grams of protein and the same amount of carbohydrates. At the end of the four-day cycle, everything repeats. To achieve the result, as a rule, it is recommended to repeat the carbohydrate alternation within 10-15 cycles. As a result of using this system, the weight decreases, and the muscles remain in the same state.

Carbohydrate alternation is not a "miraculous" diet, everything happens quite naturally, as in the textbook of physiology. Lacking in the first two days of carbohydrates, the body has to switch to using its own energy source - fatty tissue. By the end of the second day of carbohydrate "starvation" the process of splitting of fats reaches a maximum. It would seem, why not continue in the same spirit, creating in the body an artificial deficit of "fuel"? The fact is that the human body has the ability to quickly adapt to different situations. And if carbohydrate fasting lasts longer than two days, stress mechanisms are included. The organism perceives a situation with insufficient intake of carbohydrates as a danger to survival and begins to conscientiously save valuable substance for preserving life substance-fat, by starting to "process" the less valuable in this plan muscle cells.

It is for this reason that a diet called carbohydrate alternation recommends increasing carbohydrate intake on the third day to give the body time to "calm down" and "understand" that it has enough carbohydrates to form glycogen stores. The fourth day of the diet is necessary to fix the result.

Thus, the body continues to lose fat, and muscle tissue remains in the same state. In this and the advantage of the diet is carbohydrate alternation. The menu of low-carbohydrate days of this diet includes the consumption of cottage cheese, eggs, beef, chicken, fish. In addition to these products, salads prepared from non-starchy vegetables or vegetable stew are recommended. In high-carbohydrate days it is recommended to eat porridge from oatmeal, buckwheat, rice, fruit, pasta. As a protein component, you can prepare chicken breast or fish. The menu of the fourth day is a balanced menu, in which the amount of proteins and carbohydrates is approximately equal.

But how fast can you lose weight by applying carbohydrate alternation? The results, of course, will all be different, but, on average, with strict adherence to recommendations for one four-day cycle, it takes about a kilogram of pure fat.

Another plus of this diet is its good psychological tolerance. After all, the diet is quite diverse, in high-carbohydrate days sweet tooth can please yourself with something delicious (of course, in moderation). Well, the most important advantage of using this diet is that in the process of losing weight it goes just fat, therefore, the diet contributes to improving the appearance and athletic form of losing weight.