How to Lose Weight on an Alternating Foods Diet

An alternating foods diet helps you lose weight by timing meal type to correspond to your level of activity. In the most basic form of an alternating diet, you adjust your intake of carbohydrates (a macronutrient largely present in foods such as breads, grains and other starchy items) to your daily exercise levels. According to clinical nutritionist Jay Robb and fitness coach Christian Thibaudeau, this diet system helps to provide your body with the quick fuel of carbs where required, while avoiding carb consumption during times when it would be more likely to help you lose fat.

Instructions

Alternating Foods Diet

1

Decide in advance which days of the week you will be working out, whether that means weight training, aerobic activity or simple exercise like walking or yard work. The days when you perform the greatest amount of activity will be the days you will be allowed to consume more carbs in your diet, thereby alternating your food intake to facilitate weight loss. The bulk of your carb consumption should come from natural foods, such as fruits, veggies and whole grains.

2

Determine the expected intensity of your activities to determine how many carbs you should allocate to any particular day.

When you perform high intensity work like sprinting, weight training or a long stint of aerobic activity (one to two hours), consume anywhere from 200 to 300 grams of carbs spread evenly throughout the day to fuel your activity.

On days when you will perform only a moderate amount of exercise, such as brisk walking, basic aerobics or a relatively large amount of yard work, consume only 100 to 200 grams of carbs.

Consume no more than 50 to 100 grams of carbs on days where you are performing a nominal amount of physical activity, such as walking the dog for a half hour or performing a minor amount of cleaning or yard work.

3

Plan your meals around your daily carb allocation. You can find the carbohydrate amounts for different foods on the nutritional label or on the web site Nutritional Data for Food. Through this you will be able to see how many grams of carbohydrates are present in a serving of each particular food. Note these amounts against your daily carb limits to keep track of your total carb intake level. Use a food scale to ensure that your serving size is correct in order to more accurately estimate your carbohydrate intake.

4

Ensure that you lose weight by restricting your intake of "junk" foods, processed foods, alcohol, sugars and other empty calories, while getting most of your calories from wholesome, nutrient-dense foods like lean meat, seafood, nuts, seeds, fruits, veggies, whole grains and the like.