This message isn't directed at anyone in particular, it's just a warning for those coming along reading and wondering if perhaps they should try this.
Do you know how you get a little annoyed when people come up to you, when they know you're on Atkins, and tell you that they tried it once but they couldn't handle giving up vegetables and fruit and they don't understand how you could possibly do it?
The term "Carb blow out days" kinda makes me bristle that way. Just as people out there 'doing Atkins' w/o having read the book don't have their information straight, people using carb loading, as they think it should be done, to bust a stall, haven't got their information straight either.
Carb loading is part of two plans, used by bodybuilders to retain lean muscle mass while dieting down. These plans are called BodyOpus and the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD). They involve a keto phase (think very strict Induction) and a carb up phase (weekends for 24-48 hours). Many bodybuilders swear by them - they work very well.
Recent scientific information has revealed a little information on why these plans work so well. This information was not available when these plans were created, btw. This information has also caused a bit of a stir in the popular media (and on message boards, like this one). Science has uncovered another hormone that works along with insulin and glucagon to regulate body fat, called
Leptin. Essentially, restricting calories lowers your leptin levels signaling the body to conserve fat reserves. Overfeeding for 24-36 hours stuffs fat cells and causes leptin production to rise. This turns off the flashing sign "conserve, conserve, conserve" and allows fat burning to continue again.
It is much more complicated than that, of course.
And there are guidelines and rules about refeeds - eating donuts, icecream, mcdonalds burgers w/ fries and drinking beer aren't part of them.
If you don't do Atkins right it's not going to work the way it's supposed to. It could even make things worse. If you try a 'carb blow out day' w/o the basic,
correct information you could make your own situation worse.
Please do your research. And
if you are a carb addict, and you know you're a carb addict, stay very far away from this, it's not for you.
-Nat