CARB AND CALORIE CYCLING

PALEO LEAP CHEAT SHEET

Copyright © 2013-2014 by Paleo Leap, LLC.

All material in this cheat sheet is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action

or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents oæf this information; instead, readers should consult appropriate health

professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

There’s a BIG CATCH-22 involved in dieting:

- To lose weight, you need an energy def icit and a healthy metabolism (s table blood sugar, insulin sensit ivit y, etc.).

- From a dietary perspective, this means eating fewer calories than you burn. For most people coming from a typical Western diet , it also means eating fewer carbs.

- But prolonged calorie and carb restric tion signals your body to conserve energy and f ight back against weight loss.

To avoid this problem, many people f ind it helpful to vary their carb and calorie intake. (You can learn more about why this works here). The point of all these plans is to reduce carbs and calories most of the time, but occasionally increase them just enough to reassure your body that you

aren’ t starving.

IF YOU WORK OUT REGULARLY…

You can move the workout to any point during the day; just eat lower-carb at other meals and add carbs to the meal right after your workout.

THE POINT OF THIS PLAN IS TO STRATEGICALLY

TIME YOUR HIGHER-CARB “BREAKS” FROM DIETING SO THAT THEY

ALSO PROVIDE OPTIMAL WORKOUT RECOVERY

NUTRITION.

HERE ARE A COUPLE DIFFERENT SCHEDULES FOR

VARYING CARB AND CALORIE INTAKE. NO ONE PLAN IS

PERFECT FOR EVERYONE, BUT TAKE A LOOK AND SEE IF

YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRY ONE OF THEM.

This does not mean that you need to count calories! The

great advantage of Paleo is that it creates an energy

def icit without the need for calorie -counting. Here’s

more on why calorie-counting is not helpful.

WORKOUT DAY REST DAY

Breakfast Low-carb Low-carb

Lunch Low-carb Low-carb

Workout Workout No workout

Dinner (post-workout)

Add carbs to the dinner you would normally eat on

a rest day

Low-carb

IF YOU DON’T WORK OUT REGULARLY…VARIATION 1

VARIATION 2

*You can pick any day; Saturday is just an example.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday*

Medium-high carb (add the carbs on top

of your regular meals)

Week 1 LOW-CARB

Week 2 LOW-CARB

Week 3 LOW-CARB

Week 4 LOW-CARB

Week 5 LOW-CARB

Week 6 LOW-CARB

Week 7Higher carb all week (add the carbs on top

of your regular meals).

LOW CARB

LOW CARB

LOW CARB

LOW CARB

LOW CARB

LOW CARB

This is a good plan if you want to make a holiday week or special occasion work to your advantage!

Then return to Week 1 and start

the cycle again.

CARB SOURCES AND SAMPLE HIGHER-CARB MEALS

SWEET POTATOES

PLANTAINS

WHITE POTATOES

BANANAS

You don’t have to “cheat” to get carbs. Here are some Paleo carb sources:

YES, white potatoes!

TO ADD CARBS TO A MEAL, YOU CAN SIMPLY BAKE A POTATO OR SWEET POTATO AND PUT IT ON YOUR PLATE: VOILA, CARBS ADDED!

Alternately, here are some examples of higher-carb meals:

*Carbs at desser t can count as part of “dinner” for the purposes of the plans above.

Breakfast Lunches Dinners Desserts*

Twice baked sweet potatoes with eggs

Zucchini and sweet potato frittata

Flourless banana pancakes

Chipotle sweet potato salad with grilled chicken breast

Pulled pork stuffed sweet potatoes

Apple and squash stuffing

Sweet potato buffalo chicken casserole

Banana ice cream

TWEAKS AND VARIATIONS

If you’re doing a whole day of higher

carb intake, you don’t need to add carbs

at every single meal; it ’s f ine to eat

2 higher-carb and 1 lower-carb meal.

Apply these to any of the plans above to make them work bet ter for you.

Calorie variations without carbs:

…simply do any of the above, but instead of adding carbs to

your regular meals, add more fat and protein. Consider it your

chance to experiment with the bacon-wrapped bacon variety of

Paleo recipes, if that ’s your guilty pleasure, or what about some

delicious duck eggs and a big pile of guacamole?

Bear in mind that you will not get exactly the same hormonal

benef its from this, especially when it comes to exercise. But it ’s

there as an option.

Intermittent fasting:

…follow any of the above, but combine breakfast and lunch

into one big meal around 11:00 or noon. Eat dinner around 6-7

in the evening, and don’t eat again until breakfast /lunch the

next day. The goal is to get the same total number of calories,

but compressed into a smaller space of time. This has some

metabolic benef its, and also lets you eat bigger meals, which

some people like.

Intermit tent fasting isn’t right for everyone; don’t do it if it

makes you feel dizzy, miserable, cranky, or exhausted.