5 Reasons Why Women Should Cycle Carbs on the Keto Diet

Are you curious about cycling carbs on keto but aren't sure what the benefits are? In this video, I'm going to share 5 reasons you should cycle carbs as a female.

Hello, my name is Lesya Holzapfel, I'm a Nutritionist who helps professional women shed fat using a Holistic Clean Keto and Carb Cycling Lifestyle

This video is the second video in a series all about Clean Keto Carb Cycling. If you haven't watched the video where I cover what Clean Keto Carb Cycling is, make sure to do that first.

In today's videos, I'm going to cover 5 reasons you should cycle carbs on keto as a female.

Make sure you stick to the end because I'm going to give you a bonus reason which happens to be my favorite.

Also, I have a Keto Carb Cycling For Fat Loss guide that you can download so go check that out in the description as well.

Let's get to it!

Reason #1 of why you would want to cycle carbs with keto is because you want to wean off of a strict keto way of eating without gaining all your weight back.

Maybe you hit your goal weight on keto, but every time you went back to eating carbs, you gained the weight back.

Carb Cycling is a great way to transition back into eating carbs without gaining all the weight that you lost on keto.

You're able to still maintain the benefits of ketosis because you will still have keto days, whether that be weekly, monthly, or seasonally, there are so many ways to do it, (I'll cover this in another video so make sure to subscribe and turn on notifications) but you'll still get those benefits while incorporating the higher carb days, which is going to give you the flexibility to add healthier carbs in your diet like without blowing up like a balloon.

If you've been doing keto for a while and ever had a cheat day, you know what happens; you blow up like a balloon, you gain a bunch of water weight and you feel super bloated.

This is because your body's not used to all that glucose and doesn't know what to do with it because you haven't had it in so long. (this is also known as glucose intolerance)

Carb Cycling is how you can make sure that your body can remember how to use glucose again.

This makes maintaining the weight you lost on keto easy without having to stay on keto forever or gain all the weight back if you go back to the standard American Diet

#2 The second reason you should consider cycling carbs on keto is that you want some sexy muscles.

Who doesn't want sexy muscles right? I think that as a woman there's nothing sexier than having lean, noticeable muscles.

Cycling carbs on keto is going to help you do this because the unfortunate thing with keto, in my belief, is that a lot of women that follow a ketogenic diet long term don't  look fit, (there are some exceptions, of course, exceptions are not the rule.)

The reason why carbs help with muscle growth is that they put your body in an anabolic state, (which is the state where your body wants to grow new cells and build muscle tissue while strengthening your bones),  so you'll want to start experimenting with adding more carbs if having more muscle is your goal.

Now, Why would you want to have more muscle as a woman?

Besides the aesthetic reason, there are so many reasons why you should make muscle building a priority, whether or not you want to look like you have muscles for just personal vanity reasons.

Having more muscle amounts to healthier and stronger bones, especially as we age. Not to mention, the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be, and fat burning will be quicker for you.

There are so many benefits to having more muscle, and unfortunately, most of the women I work with that follow a strict low-carb ketogenic diet, simply don't have enough strength and energy to lift heavy enough to experience all of these benefits.

#3 The third and in my opinion, the most important reason to cycle carbs on keto is for your hormones.

I learned the hard way after 5 years of strict keto that keto and stress do not mix well. 

I ended up with adrenal burnout, high cortisol, and 50 extra pounds on my body because of this.

When it comes to hormones, we know that every hormone has a different role in our body, and there are certain hormones that the ketogenic diet is perfect for such as insulin, but when it comes to things like adrenals, thyroid, or cortisol, a long term ketogenic way of eating can be problematic on those hormones for women.

This is especially important for women who are still in their menstrual years.

If you look at female biology, it seems like we've completely missed the mark when it comes to how to eat during our menstrual cycle, throughout different hormonal phases, and our 28-Day female cycle

We need more carbs during certain times of the month, while at other times, we need to add more fat, and at other times, protein is very important.

However, most women eat the same thing day in and day out and follow the same diet rules that they’ve had for months, even years at a time, and this is why so many women get weight loss stalls, struggle with terrible PMS symptoms, feel bloated and stay suck on the diet cycle.

Carb cycling is a way that you can align with the changes that your body goes through in a given month to help ease those symptoms and enjoy the experience of being in the female body because it's pretty amazing, we could do some awesome stuff, and we need to start appreciating that more and work with our bodies and not against.

On the other hand, with the adrenals and the thyroid, there has been researching done about how carb cycling can help support burned-out adrenals, thyroid issues, and elevated cortisol, so if you're dealing with any of those issues, it would strongly consider you start cycling carbs to help with those issues and rebalance those hormones.

If you're getting value so far out of this video, please hit that like button and consider subscribing to my channel.

#4 Reason you should cycle carbs on keto is that it prevents weight loss stalls.

Let me know in the comments if you ever experienced a weight loss stall.

Who hasn't am I right?

I think we all have!

First of all, it's important to know why weight loss stalls happen.

If you are truly following your diet, you will lose weight, but you will still eventually hit a plateau because your body's going to adapt to your new diet and return to homeostasis.

I talk about homeostasis a lot in my programs, because it's crucial but often neglected in the weight loss space.

Your body's goal is one thing; homeostasis. Homeostasis is a state of balance, so whatever we do, our body is always going to want to go back and reach that balance.

When you go on a diet and cut calories, you are not maintaining a steady internal condition of balance, which is going to cause your body systems to get all wacky, and if you follow that diet long enough, your body's going to adapt.

After a while, if you stick to the same thing over and over and over again, (which we should never do), then it becomes a new homeostatic base, and that is when the weight loss stalls.

This is where the beautiful process of clean keto carb cycling comes in. Since you're confusing your body with clean keto carb cycling, it never gets a chance to adapt.

If we think about it, in a given week, if we're doing keto one day, carb cycling the next, keto the next day, carb cycling, your body's like “Wait, what do we do? It never gets the chance to adapt and hit a stall.

When you carb cycle, you're going to rev up your metabolism and burn fuel more efficiently.

If you eat more, you're going to rev up your metabolism, instead of cooling it down with less food.

So not only do you get to eat more food in the form of yummy carbs, but you also get the benefit of not hitting the dreaded stalls because of it. Sounds like a win-win to me!

#5 The fifth reason you should cycle carbs on keto is for Metabolic Flexibility

Metabolic flexibility means that your body is flexible and can use both glucose and fat for fuel efficiently.

You're able to eat all of the macronutrients, and your body knows how to store them properly without turning them into fat.

If you've done keto for a while, and then had a cheat day you know how bloated you feel and how much water weight you retain, and that is because your body has become fat-adapted (which is a good thing we want that) but it then forgets how to use glucose for fuel.

And that means you're not metabolically flexible.

Carb cycling teaches your body how to use the carbs you ate instead of storing them as fat because we're strategic about what, how, and when we are going to eat those carbs.

It's the best of both worlds and it works amazingly well with my female clients.

In my humble opinion, this is the definition of a healthy and fit woman; one that can use both carbs and fat efficiently without feeling bad.

Metabolic flexibility is the standard when it comes to ideal health and fitness.

Ok, so since you're still with me, I want to share a bonus reason why you should cycle carbs with keto which is my favorite; I call it a Treat Yourself Day inside my carb cycling coaching program, the CKCC Blueprint.

A treat yourself day is when you set up a protocol that allows you to eat whatever you want without gaining weight.

Whether that is because you're going to a party, event, social gathering, or traveling and are a huge foodie like me, this protocol gives you the freedom to enjoy yourself without gaining weight and feeling like crap.

Don't forget to grab your Keto Carb Cycling Fat Loss guide in the description and go watch the next video in this series where I talk about who should cycle carbs with keto so you know whether it's the right way of eating for you specifically.