A couple of weeks ago someone posted a question on one of my YouTube videos that I posted last year called “Cutting Calories, Exercising and Still Not Losing Weight?”  Click here if you want to check it out.

In the video I was talking about the “set point theory” and its effects on weight loss and the dreaded plateau.  Our bodies were amazingly designed and the body really wants to maintain homeostasis:  during times of abundance (overfed) and during times of food scarcity (starvation, famine, dieting).

That’s why it’s a really bad idea to suddenly drop your calories drastically in your efforts to lose weight.  It all seems great at first, but it can really backfire on you with a weight loss plateau or even rebound weight gain.

The question that was asked was “What do you think about carb cycling? Can you touch on that please?”

I think carb-cycling is a useful tool for the right person that is at the right “Nutritional Age”.

Guess you can can call me a boogerhead. 🙂

I have three daughters that are 11, 7 and 5 years old. I would not let my daughters drive my car, drink alcohol or watch certain movies because it is not age appropriate. (And short sexy dresses with a lot of makeup are out too – f-o-r-e-v-e-r!)

We all have a “nutritional age” too. This “nutritional age” is not based at all on how old you are. Some people stay babies for life.

You can think of “nutritional age” in terms of Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3.  (Below I will show you how to figure out your “nutritional age.”)

It is not wise to overload someone with some advanced strategies (like carb-cycling) if they are still mastering the basics – or “The 10 Habits” as we refer to them in our boot camp.

Most of the ladies in our fitness camp will never need to go past Level 1 or 2.   It’s just not necessary to get fabulous results.  Most of the ladies that come to our fitness boot camp want to have a fit, beautiful body, have abundant energy, increase their performance, be healthy and have a life too, and there is nothing wrong with that!   Level 1 and 2 is perfect for this and is all about mastering the “10 Habits”.

Side note:  If you’re not in camp and you’d like to get a sneak peak of 5 of the 10 habits, please be sure to sign up for my “Top 5 Fat Loss Strategies for Lasting Weight Loss” video course in the sign up box towards the top right of this page.

Level 2’s would be advanced recreational athletes who already eat pretty good and want to step it up a notch. They consistently execute the “10 habits” and they are able to maneuver through whatever life has to throw at them most of the time. They are less prone to getting derailed.  Plus, they are getting a little more detailed in quantities and timing of certain foods. i.e. nutrient timing, caloric values, etc.. They are also probably coming to our “Turbo” camps during the weeks off.  (More on that in a future post.)

Level 3’s would be professional athletes, bodybuilders and others that make a living off of their bodies.

So if you’re a Level 1 (which most of us are), it’s important to master the basics, consistently.

There is no need to try and give advanced “college courses” to ladies that are just getting their feet wet and trying to master “The 10 Habits” that we teach in camp. You will see awesome improvements by making small, sustainable positive changes in your exercise and nutritional choices.  It’s like saying, if you could get the same fat loss results from 20-minutes of intervals as you could from 60-minutes of intervals, then why would you do 60-minutes?

If you are not sure of your nutritional age ask yourself

1.      How much do I really know?

2.      What do I do?

3.      How well do I do this consistently?

So, what are your goals?

Where do you want to go?

If you are like most of the ladies in our camps you do not want to be a professional athlete. Maybe you do, but for most of the ladies in our boot camps this is not the path that they have chosen.

I believe this is really important because this gives us perspective. It helps us to know what we should be focusing on and that clarity gives us power and confidence in executing our one to two habits we are working on at any given time.

As for “carb-cycling”, that is fine but as Stephen Covey said in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Let’s keep the main thing the main thing.”

What habit(s) are you working on now?

Focus on that.

John

PS – Did you find this blog post helpful?  I’d love to hear your comments!