We love Carbs. But they get a bad reputation. If you are getting in shape, rice, potatoes, oats, and fruit aren't the enemy. Your body sees carbohydrates as fuel. Beyond: “Are carbs good or bad?” Focus on: “How much fuel do I need today?”

In Edition #158, welcome to carb cycling.

How many steps do you usually get per day?

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🚶 Under 5K
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👟 5K–7K
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔥 7K–10K
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🏆 10K+

Carbohydrates are one of your three main macronutrients:

🥩 Protein → building & repair
🥑 Fat → cells, hormones & energy
🍚 Carbohydrates → readily available energy

Your body breaks carbohydrates into glucose.

That glucose can be:

➡️ used for energy
➡️ stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver
➡️ stored as body fat when overall energy intake is consistently excessive

Your brain also relies heavily on glucose under normal conditions.

You don't need to be an athlete to benefit from understanding carbohydrates.

The minimum RDA is 130g. For adults, carbohydrates are generally recommended to provide around 45 to 65% of daily calories.

For example, on a 2,000 kcal diet, that works out to roughly:

🍚 225 to 325 g carbohydrate/day

Your personal needs can be higher or lower depending on your body size, activity, and goals.

Because they're useful—and often delicious.

Carbohydrates provide relatively quick energy, while foods containing carbs can also provide:

🌾 Fibre
🍎 Vitamins & minerals
🫘 Plant compounds
💧 Water
⚡ Fuel for exercise

Think:

🍚 Rice
🥔 Potatoes
🌾 Oats
🍌 Bananas
🍎 Fruit
🫘 Beans
🍞 Whole grains

Not just cookies and candy.

With Carb cycling, you adjust your carbohydrate intake according to your activity and energy demands.

Instead of eating the same amount every day:

🔥 Higher-carb days → more activity
⚖️ Moderate-carb days → normal activity
🛋️ Lower-carb days → rest or light activity

In short match your fuel to your demand.

The commonly cited ratio is approximately 1 g of stored glycogen (carbohydrates) to 3 g of water.

When you eat more carbohydrates and replenish glycogen, your body can temporarily store more water.

That's why:

🍚 More carbs → ↑ glycogen → ↑ water stored

and:

🍚 Fewer carbs → ↓ glycogen → ↓ associated water

Your scale can therefore move without a corresponding change in body fat.

Carbs didn't suddenly make you gain 2 lb / 0.9 kg of fat overnight.

You may simply be carrying more glycogen and water.

Both provide energy, but they're particularly useful in different situations.

Your body can access carbohydrate energy relatively quickly.

They're especially useful for:

🏃 Running
🚴 Cycling
🏊 Swimming
🏋️ Weight training
🥊 MMA & boxing
⚽ Soccer
🏀 Basketball
🏒 Hockey
🎾 Tennis

Repeated bursts of high-intensity activity rely heavily on carbohydrate and stored.

For the average person, keep it simple.

You don't need complicated calculations.

Use when you're:

🏋️ Training hard
🏃 Running
🚴 Cycling
⚽ Playing sport
🥾 Hiking

Example:

🍳 Breakfast → oats + banana
🍚 Lunch → rice + chicken + vegetables
🍌 Snack → fruit + yogurt
🥔 Dinner → potatoes + fish + vegetables

Normal work + normal activity.

Keep carbohydrate portions moderate and spread throughout the day.

Rest day or very light activity.

You can reduce some starches while keeping:

🥩 Protein
🥦 Vegetables
🍎 Fruit
🥑 Healthy fats
💧 Fluids

Lower-carb doesn't mean zero-carb.

Athletes have dramatically different energy demands from day to day.

Sports-nutrition guidelines commonly use body weight and training load:

🟢 Light activity: 3 to 5 g/kg/day
🟡 Moderate training: 5 to 7 g/kg/day
🔴 High training: 6 to 10 g/kg/day
🔥 Very high/prolonged training: 8 to 12 g/kg/day

For a 75 kg / 165 lb athlete, that's roughly:

225 to 375 g/day on lighter days

and potentially 600 to 900 g/day during extremely demanding training periods.

That's a lot of carbs—but these higher ranges are intended for athletes doing substantial training, not someone sitting at a desk all day.

Carbs help maintain glycogen during prolonged running.

Long rides can require more carbohydrates intake before, during, and after training.

Repeated sprinting + running requires frequent carbohydrate demands.

Short explosive efforts repeated throughout a game make glycogen important.

High-intensity shifts create substantial carbohydrate demands.

Training volume can be enormous, particularly for competitive swimmers.

Long matches combine repeated explosive movements with endurance.

Rounds combine movement, striking, grappling, and repeated high-intensity efforts.

Different sport. Different workload. Different fuel requirements.

The exact grams depend on the athlete. The principle stays the same:

Fuel the work.

Match carbs to training days.

Increase carbohydrate availability during heavy training blocks.

Reduce it somewhat during deloads or lighter periods.

Then repeat.

Carb cycling isn't magic.

It can become:

❌ unnecessarily complicated
❌ restrictive
❌ difficult socially
❌ an excuse to binge on “high-carb” days
❌ a problem if low-carb days leave you under-fuelled

And remember:

Carbohydrates don't automatically make you fat.

Consistently consuming more energy than you need is the bigger issue.

Carbs aren't good. Carbs aren't bad. They're fuel.

For everyday people:

For athletes:

Don’t fear carbohydrates. Use them intelligently

For one week, don't obsess over grams. Instead, match your carbohydrates to your activity.

Add a carbohydrate source to your meals.

Eat your usual balanced portions.

Reduce some starch if you're less hungry or less active.

Then ask:

You're learning how your body responds, rather than following a diet blindly.

You’re why I spend hours researching and crafting these editions so you can read more OVE’s Guide and eat carbs when you need it.

Until Next Edition,

Coach DC
OVE’S GUIDE 👁️

^{The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your circumstances. Overman Perspective Inc. does not provide medical or licensed advice. Please get in touch with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.}