Genius Foods

more important to continue following an extremely
carbohydrate-restricted diet (20 to 40 grams of net carbs per
day) to drop the excess weight and regain metabolic
resilience. Your goal should be to become insulin sensitive
first (i.e., to reduce fasting insulin and glucose) before
experimenting with higher-carb refeeds.
For a metabolically healthy, fat-adapted person (revisit
page to see what being fat adapted means and how it should
feel), an occasional post-workout higher-carb, low-fat meal
may be beneficial. For example, with high-intensity
exercise, post-workout carbs can actually help increase
performance. Normally, cells require insulin to wrangle
glucose transporters and bring them to the surface of cell
membranes, but in the window following strength training,
muscles act as a sponge for sugar, pulling glucose out of the
blood without the need for insulin. These carbohydrates are
less likely to be stored as fat, and reentering fat-burning
mode will be much hastier. The resultant increase in muscle
mass will increase your overall metabolism and provide an
additional buffer for excess calories.
Ripe spotted bananas, berries, white or brown rice, and
starchy vegetables and other low-fructose foods are
excellent choices for a carb refeed, and anywhere between
75 and 150 grams of net carbs may be consumed to provide
an anabolic stimulus without compromising fat adaptation.
(This is still dramatically less than the standard American
carbohydrate intake of 300-plus grams per day.) Individual
experimentation may be warranted, but try to keep the
consumption of these carbs close to the exercise session to
help minimize fat storage. Depending on how advanced