Duchaine documented some of the rapid changes such as these. I remember losing 14 lbs total weight in about a week, it was totally fucked up. After about 8 days of being brain dead I loaded up on Cheerio’s which made me puke my guts up, when I got over the nausea I felt great but then even more tired.
[quote]Dr. Stig wrote:
Duchaine documented some of the rapid changes such as these. I remember losing 14 lbs total weight in about a week, it was totally fucked up. After about 8 days of being brain dead I loaded up on Cheerio’s which made me puke my guts up, when I got over the nausea I felt great but then even more tired.[/quote]
yea, i’ve heard similar things, apparently that good friend of mine had lucky charms after no carbs for 3 weeks or so and passed out half way through…Any more suggestions doc? I don’t know why I have’nt had dramatic weight loss like that, maybe it’s coming, but I do keep water intake high.
X-Factor,
Frequency of refeeds are really dependant on the individual, their goals, their current BF%, how far below maintenance their cals are and how long they’ve been that way.
If you follow the very-low carbohydrate approach you have been (sub 30 grams of CHO is ideal even on training days) then I would do a refeed/CHO load on the Sunday of that second week.
Moving forward, I would then use Poliquin’s refeed/CHO loading schedule of one meal (preferably in the evening or PWO) every 4 days. For example, if you CHO load on a sunday night, then your next load would come on Thursday night. Stick to low GI foods to begin with (oatmeal, etc.) and try eating before bed so you don’t have to worry about feeling tired after all the carbs. As you get leaner and leaner, you can up the amount of carbs you take in at any given load. One thing to keep in mind you should try and get a good solid whack of CHO calories during these meal times. Try shooting for at least 200-250 grams but don’t worry about going over.
What this will do for you is re-balance your leptin levels (which tell your body that it’s not starving and signal that it’s ok to release stored fat). It will release a nice chunk of insulin stuff your muscle bellies with glycogen. It will give your metabolic rate a good kick and improve the fat burning process. And you’ll sleep like an absolute champ that night, ready to go for a serious training session the next day. I would also supplement with R-ALA to improve glycogen delivery to your muscles.
Hope that helps and let us know how you get on.
Cheers,
Sasha
thanks sasha,
I appreciate it. I think i’m really starting to get into ketosis now, i’m not feeling super tired anymore…as fr carbs, for example I think I had sub20 yesterday, and i’m pretty sure it was fibre…can you recommend certain foods that are easy to get, eat and are calorie dense?
[quote]X-Factor wrote:
thanks sasha,
I appreciate it. I think i’m really starting to get into ketosis now, i’m not feeling super tired anymore…as fr carbs, for example I think I had sub20 yesterday, and i’m pretty sure it was fibre…can you recommend certain foods that are easy to get, eat and are calorie dense?[/quote]
X-Factor,
If you follow the schedule I recommended (the 2-week low CHO with subsequential CHO loads) you need to keep your fat levels high to ensure that you’re actively shifting your body through ketosis into a fat burning state. It’ll also help avoid being exhausted all the time. What we don’t want during these two weeks is for you to begin synthesizing proteins for energy.
Your fat balance should be a ratio of 1:1:1 of saturates, polyunsaturates and monounsaturates. Good foods for a diet like this are:
Olive oils
Fish Oils
Walnuts, Brazil nuts, seeds
Steak
Fish
Cheese (low-CHO only)
This preliminary phase is exactly what folks on the Anabolic Diet and Poliquin’s 4:1 are doing to prime their body for the CHO load cycling they go through. I suggest you have a peek on the thread there for LOADS of information on this style of dieting.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Cheers,
Sasha
The first time I ever did it (years ago) I felt quite lightheaded for much of the first or second day. I literally had to lie down for a spell that second afternoon. Nowadays, having done very-low-carb (or sometimes no-carb) diets more frequently over the years, from time to time anyway, when I do start a near-zero-carb (ketosis) diet after having been eating a higher-carb diet for a while, my body makes the transition much more smoothly. No lightheadedness anymore. It’s actually a non-event.
Regarding physical changes, I do seem to look slightly leaner and definately drier (less water retention) when super-low-carbing it. The loss of water retention might be a large part of that visual effect, but I will say that I look my absolute BEST when I’ve been low-carbing it for several days and then I carb up for a day (or a couple of meals). The re-carbing is enough to balloon up the muscles, enough to have a real visual effect, without yet being enough to spill over and cause water retention. Just kind of interesting . . .