Too many Carbs + Cutting = bloated stomach

Ok, so I started cutting at the start of mid Dec, to begin I dropped the carbs way down to like 130-150g, taking the rest of my cals from fat and protein avg 40 fat/35 pro/25carb. Carbs in first 3 meals other 2 just ptotein,fat and vegees.
I don't recall why i did this but I did. Anyway i figured after a few weeks, prob about a week or so ago I figured I needed to up them so that i wouldn't lose whatever muscle I have. So lately i've been struggling (not to find the food -- got plenty of oats!) to add some more, trying to get to like 200g or so but with doing that I've been feeling horrible, my gut has been heavy, bloated and slightly constipated feeling toward the end of the day. I didn't feel this at all with 150g carb and lower. My main Q is am I ok to average at 150g a day? Making up the rest (cutting at 2300-2400) from fat and protein?

Help peeps! 

IMO yes 150 is ok its wat ur brain needs to function so just keep on that diet if u can

ok cool. I'm thinking of getting maltodextrin/dextrose for post workout. This Ok while cutting? I can't imagine there'd be a prob for post workout - not any other time tho... i find that much easier on the stomach ( I do have IBS too so whatever I can do to help that) just haven't bought any recently.

Post workout at the mo is
1 scoop whey + 5g BCAA (powdered stuff..tastes like  s-hit, any good ways to take it?)
banana + 40g oats w milk.
Switch up to
1 scoop whey + 5g BCAA + 50g malto

I dont eat any carbs when I cut save 25g or so of something sugary pwo. 

I carb up once a week though.

That fat burning metabolism has more sustained energy too and I dont get tired at certain periods of tha day from insulin fluctuations.  I basically feel excellent all day long and energized and there is no bloat whatsoever.

working on explosive phase
vertical: 35
weight: 206

Big 3: 300/440/515

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.

i think your CNS needs 40grams a day of carbs to properly function. i wouldnt recomment anything less than that.

Bench Press Max - 170kg @ 100kg
Squat Max - 220kg @100kg
Deadlift Max - 275kg @100kg

Weight - 90kg

 leeman //

I don't think I'll be going lower than 130, that seemed to be my lowest when i lowered them. Thanks for the advice though. Will try and get 150 and leave it at that. Yesterday I forced an extra 50g down, making 200 for the day, that was before tea/meal 4...I felt like i had a brick in my gut

Rollingstone //
How do you ever bulk up with that little carbs?
That was going to be another Q of mine. Once I've cut down, I want to slowly bulk up, getting as much lean mass as possible. It will take time I know but that's the ideal way I'd like to do it.
Your physique is basically where I want to be, bf maybe a touch higher. What size are your arms, just for reference! :-)

bread is really the only carb that bloats me, so i try and avoid eating so much of it these days, but as a sandwich/toast lover i really do become tempted.
in actual response to your opiginal question, if you dont feel lethargic with 150carbs a day, you should be fine. thats 600calories, but finding the remaining 1300 calories (assuming youre limited to 60g of fat per day - 540calories) purely from protein is going to be quite tough.

Bench Press Max - 170kg @ 100kg
Squat Max - 220kg @100kg
Deadlift Max - 275kg @100kg

Weight - 90kg

I was eating around 80-100g of fat and like 160-200g of protein. High fat isn't gonna be a problem is it? After all fat alone doesn't make you fat. I'm aiming for like 2300 cals really, max 2500 but I think lower end would be best.

sorry i was talking from personal experience - higher fat is a bit of a problem for me, but obviously wont apply to everyone on a calorie controlled diet as long as theyre good fats.

Bench Press Max - 170kg @ 100kg
Squat Max - 220kg @100kg
Deadlift Max - 275kg @100kg

Weight - 90kg

motokouk


leeman //

I don't think I'll be going lower than 130, that seemed to be my lowest when i lowered them. Thanks for the advice though. Will try and get 150 and leave it at that. Yesterday I forced an extra 50g down, making 200 for the day, that was before tea/meal 4...I felt like i had a brick in my gut

Rollingstone //
How do you ever bulk up with that little carbs?
That was going to be another Q of mine. Once I've cut down, I want to slowly bulk up, getting as much lean mass as possible. It will take time I know but that's the ideal way I'd like to do it.
Your physique is basically where I want to be, bf maybe a touch higher. What size are your arms, just for reference! :-)

When i bulk i dont follow tha same macronutrients at all, i pretty much eat tons of everything.  Its hard to keep up tha same intensity when you dont eat carbs which is tha reason for tha carb up day once a week.  My arms are 15.5", though in my avatar pic they were more like 14.75"

Everyone will be different but I cut best with macros around 65/30/5  fat/protein/carbs

lots of fat.

working on explosive phase
vertical: 35
weight: 206

Big 3: 300/440/515

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.

 in what way is it a problem for you? I'm intrigued!

 So when you bulk your macros change somewhat? Do you eat a lot of carbs? How much is necessary. I tried bulking last year eating average 3,900-4,000 a day..Bad move..I just gained a ton of fat, and no muscle. I don't want to do that again. So I'm getting rid of that fat I created and then looking to slow bulk.

At the mo my macros are 45 fat/30 pro/25 carb on average anyway. At the mo I don't care about getting bigger, although i don't want to get any smaller, as I'm pretty small anyway. That's the main reason I worried about carb intake effecting muscle size etc. I just want to lean out ready to slowly add mass. My arms aren't great right now L 13.5 flex and R 14 flex I want to get both to about 14.5-15 and that's it.

If right now im cutting w 150g carbs how much more would I need to bulk..I think to bulk I'd need say 3,000?

motokouk


So when you bulk your macros change somewhat? Do you eat a lot of carbs? How much is necessary. I tried bulking last year eating average 3,900-4,000 a day..Bad move..I just gained a ton of fat, and no muscle. I don't want to do that again. So I'm getting rid of that fat I created and then looking to slow bulk.

At the mo my macros are 45 fat/30 pro/25 carb on average anyway. At the mo I don't care about getting bigger, although i don't want to get any smaller, as I'm pretty small anyway. That's the main reason I worried about carb intake effecting muscle size etc. I just want to lean out ready to slowly add mass. My arms aren't great right now L 13.5 flex and R 14 flex I want to get both to about 14.5-15 and that's it.

If right now im cutting w 150g carbs how much more would I need to bulk..I think to bulk I'd need say 3,000?

Yes, I eat alot of carbs when I bulk.  I dont count macros when Im bulking, mainly because I dont gain fat no matter what I eat so I just try to pack down as many calories a day as I can.  You said you gained a ton of fat so that probably wouldnt work for you like it does for me.  I cant really help you there because i have no experience experimenting with macros while bulking. 

I have experimented alot with cutting though and found tha anabolic diet to work best for me.

Youll lose weight as long as youre in a caloric deficit but tha carbs will really affect tha way you look as a result of tha amount of glycogen stored in tha muscles.  After a week of no carbs ill look real lean but also alot smaller than usual because theres no glycogen stores in my muscles.  When I carb up, I get more muscular and vascular looking.  This is tha best I look all week and has a very anabolic effect on tha body.  I put my most important workout on this day, arms and shoulders, because they are my weakest points.  Then theres a certain point where instead of pumping up my muscles Ill start to get a more smooth look.  Right then is when I stop carbing up and go back to the high fat ratios. 

working on explosive phase
vertical: 35
weight: 206

Big 3: 300/440/515

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.

how much do you weigh? judgiing from your stats, maybe 160, in which case i think youre going to struggle cutting at 2300 calories to be honest, as that would pretty much be your maintenance weight. as for 4000 calories per day - that would gain you 2 1/2 to 3lbs a week if your maintenance intake is 2500 calories per day, and as you cant really gain more than 1lbs of muscle a week, there is no wonder you were gaining a lot of fat.

do you know youre maintenance weight? i suggest using a calculator. to lose weight, minus 500calories per day, and to gain weight add 500 calories per day.

Bench Press Max - 170kg @ 100kg
Squat Max - 220kg @100kg
Deadlift Max - 275kg @100kg

Weight - 90kg

 wow that sounds complicated man! I think I'm going to keep carbs in just have them lower that's all. I may consider trying what you do but I'll wait a few weeks and see how I'm doing.  Your lucky in some ways to be an ecto, but i guess in some other ways not! I'm jealous anyway! :-)
Thanks for the info though, very helpful. 
Leeman, Yeah I'm 165/75kg before my bulk was 155 after my bulk i was 187..So your saying I need to drop cals to about 1900/2000? And what like 2800/2900 for bulking? Yeah 4,000 was overkill. I was expecting things too fast, wasn't seeing changes, was pm with silverfox and he was trying to help me out, suggested upping and upping! When my girl said...'wow you've gotten fat' that's when it was time to make a change!! how do i figure maintanence?

http://www.freedomfly.net/Documents/calorie_calculator.xls

this is a good calculator. if you dont know your bodyfat, its not a problem with the second calculator.

i dont think you will meet anyone on the board who has not wanted too much too fast mate. i reached my maxes last august with nothing in mind but lifting as much as i possibly could. i then went on holiday and when i got back and checked out the photos, i couldnt beleive how bad i looked, and what i had sacraficed for the sake of a few big lifts. slow progression either up or down in weight is the key. if youre gaiing more than a pound a week, the chances are youre gaining as much fat as you are muscle, and anything more than a pound a week lost you are sacraficing muscle as well as fat.

Bench Press Max - 170kg @ 100kg
Squat Max - 220kg @100kg
Deadlift Max - 275kg @100kg

Weight - 90kg

Ace, thanks for that dude...Funny I already have the calculator. I put weight/height age moderate  active..2341cals for loss, 2841 maintain. Should I stick to that or what?

youre welcome, mate
thats quite a high maintenance for your weight - i take it youre very active! yeah i would stick to it in that case. if you can lose a pound a week (slow and steady wins the race) you will not compromise your strength. if after say 4 weeks you have only lost a couple of pounds, knock another 250 off per day

Bench Press Max - 170kg @ 100kg
Squat Max - 220kg @100kg
Deadlift Max - 275kg @100kg

Weight - 90kg

well no i'm not active..sit at the desk all day..Weights 3 times a week and that's it! I think i need to go to lightly active(excercies 1-3 times a week) in that case, brings me to 2020/2142? I'm adding HIIT once/twice now that make a difference?

yeah that sounds about right mate. HIIT is good for keeping your metabolism up and burning extra calories. best of luck with it.

Bench Press Max - 170kg @ 100kg
Squat Max - 220kg @100kg
Deadlift Max - 275kg @100kg

Weight - 90kg

Thanks! Ok one more Q, until I get some maltodextrin, ordering today prob, is 200ml orange juice and poss and apple ok for post workout carbs? Before I was doing 40g oats w milk and an apple. Thanks for your help duder!

thats exactly what i have post work out mate, most times just the orange juice. protein too soon after lifting always made me feel lethargic, so i just drink orange these days and maybe snack on an apple.  

Bench Press Max - 170kg @ 100kg
Squat Max - 220kg @100kg
Deadlift Max - 275kg @100kg

Weight - 90kg