My Experience on the Anabolic Diet Part IV

Nutrition
301

[quote]Snydiesel609 wrote:
Also, a lot of us take ground flax seed (2-4tbsp) to keep things regular, I found a brand with equal grams of CHO and fiber. WATER is very important when eating like this, I go for at least a gallon a day.
[/quote]

i buy the bob’s mills stuff. it says 4 grams carbs, but its 3 grams insoluble fiber and 1 grams soluble. even if you’d count the soluble fiber, which some people do, it’s still only 2 grams carbs, 6 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber per 2 tablespoons (120 cals). and its delish! do most of you subtract the soluble fiber also? i’ve heard mixed views.

302

[quote]Blackaggar wrote:
Do you guys find that you could lose fat very fast if say your calories were kept very low (2000) on weekdays and then a bit higher 3000+ on weekend[/quote]

depends on your bodyweight and how intense and effective your workouts are. you should lose fat pretty fast, and if its not as fast as you want you can always adjust the carb up as needed.

303

Hello everyone.

I’ve been on the anabolic diet for fatloss for 5 weeks now and I’m getting good results. I plan on staying on it for about 6-7 more weeks.

I have a few questions regarding the transition between a fatloss stage and a mass-gaining stage in regards to the anabolic diet:

  1. Should I slowly add the calories back until I reach a number above maintenance?

  2. How many calories above maintenance should I work up to (I’m assuming there is a rebound effect after a fatloss stage)?

  3. Should the ratio of proteins to fats stay the same as in the fatloss stage?

Please keep in mind that I gain fat very quickly–I hope that the anabolic diet is the way to go in terms of keeping my bodyfat percentage at bay while making lean gains.

304

[quote]talenaah wrote:

[quote]Artemisia wrote:
Hi to Talenaah and Tams88…

I’m also a girl…this is the end of my seventh week on the AD. Love it. I’m trying to lose a bit of bodyfat - yes, those last few are really stubborn - without sacrificing strength or muscle. So far, it’s been awesome. I’ve made strength gains and can tell I’ve leaned out a bit at the same time.

Oddly enough, some of it seems to be redistribution of some sort, if that makes sense. I’ve always had a bit of fat below my stomach, and my waist was at about 26" (36" hips)…my waist measurement hasn’t changed much, but that bit of fat seems to be melting away. Needless to say, I’m pleased.

Easiest eating pattern I’ve ever tried, for sure.

By the way, I found out a couple of days ago that heavy cream has carbs in it. I feel like a total idiot because I thought I was being awesome and meticulous with this gigantic spreadsheet I made to track carbs down to the half-gram and everything…fail! Thought I’d share.[/quote]

hi Artemisia (and everyone else!)

still fighting this cold so i’m not completely back on the AD. i had to have juice and such for this wicked cold, so i’m hoping to be back on the AD in full swing by next week. still watching the carbs though. i’ve got homemade chicken soup mexican-kinda style (tomoatillos, onion, roasted pasilla pepers, tomatoes LOTS of spices) so hopefully this will be my only source of carbs for the rest of the week aside from a little blueberry acai juice.

girls, can i ask what your current stats are and goals (height, BF%) and how many cals you are eating? i was pretty consistent around 1800 and results seem to be slow for being on this 6 weeks. although it looked like i was making a break through right before i got sick. i don’t live by the scale but damn, i sure would like to see that # drop.

i’m thinking that i will start doing some calorie cycling when i get back on (few low days of 1400-ish here and there)

fellas, please jump in here with advice. i’m sure you can appreciate it’s a bit harder to figure out the calories for females with less body mass. i do NOT want to lose muscle so i’m always fearful of too low cals.

i just read someone mentioned it taking 6 months to really get into the effects? that seems sooo long. :confused: when i was a bit fat 7+ years ago, i did atkins style and i dropped pretty quickly. but that’s always the case when you have more to lose. i’m looking to drop what i guess is about 10-12 lbs of fat.

thanks all!

[/quote]

Hi! Yeah, I’m a smidge over 5’7", my weight hovers between 124-126 lbs, and while I’ve never had my bodyfat measured (aside from some arm pad infrared thingy that put me at an insane 28%…put my super-lean bodybuilder buddy at 18%, lol!)…I usually estimate it to be around 18-20%. I am leaner on the top than the bottom; nice arm and back definition and visible top abs, but annoying-starting-to-go-away lower ab fat, inner thighs, etc. I was doing 18xbw for about six weeks, then these past two switched it to 15xbw (1875 kcals) and have been noticing a definite increase in shifting fat. I do sometimes eat a bit more on training days, and a bit less on off days, but it pretty much averages out to 15xbw. I’m just going to hang out at that number until I plateau. Doing 3 full-body workouts a week. I get really bored on splits.

Goals? To lean out my lower half, build more muscle on top, and keep pushing strength PRs.

Get well soon!

305

[quote]Aphamos wrote:
Hello everyone.

I’ve been on the anabolic diet for fatloss for 5 weeks now and I’m getting good results. I plan on staying on it for about 6-7 more weeks.

I have a few questions regarding the transition between a fatloss stage and a mass-gaining stage in regards to the anabolic diet:

  1. Should I slowly add the calories back until I reach a number above maintenance?

  2. How many calories above maintenance should I work up to (I’m assuming there is a rebound effect after a fatloss stage)?

  3. Should the ratio of proteins to fats stay the same as in the fatloss stage?

Please keep in mind that I gain fat very quickly–I hope that the anabolic diet is the way to go in terms of keeping my bodyfat percentage at bay while making lean gains.[/quote]

I’ve tried adding in calories too quickly and it didn’t work out using the formula in the book. Go slower. To make a long story short… DH has recomended that you add 200 calories a day a week till you start gaining. When you stop, add in another 200 calories per week until you start again… etc. That should help keep fat in check.

306

[quote]Vegetable Man wrote:
i buy the bob’s mills stuff. it says 4 grams carbs, but its 3 grams insoluble fiber and 1 grams soluble. even if you’d count the soluble fiber, which some people do, it’s still only 2 grams carbs, 6 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber per 2 tablespoons (120 cals). and its delish! do most of you subtract the soluble fiber also? i’ve heard mixed views.[/quote]

I buy Bob’s Ground Flax and, if I am not mistaken, it is 4g fiber and 4g carbs.

307

[quote]Aphamos wrote:
Hello everyone.

I’ve been on the anabolic diet for fatloss for 5 weeks now and I’m getting good results. I plan on staying on it for about 6-7 more weeks.

I have a few questions regarding the transition between a fatloss stage and a mass-gaining stage in regards to the anabolic diet:

  1. Should I slowly add the calories back until I reach a number above maintenance?

  2. How many calories above maintenance should I work up to (I’m assuming there is a rebound effect after a fatloss stage)?

  3. Should the ratio of proteins to fats stay the same as in the fatloss stage?

Please keep in mind that I gain fat very quickly–I hope that the anabolic diet is the way to go in terms of keeping my bodyfat percentage at bay while making lean gains.[/quote]

6-7 weeks? I will say you are selling yourself and this diet short. This diet takes time to fully reep(sp) the benefits. I would say dial your calories back to maintenance, let your body adapt for a little and then slowly amp up to bulking calories (up to 25x bodyweight). Let the diet do its job over the course of time.

  1. Yes. Keep the ratios the same and the carbs under 30.
308

Snydiesel609. How long have you been on and what have you acheived?

309

Did the AD for 6 months about a year ago and started back up the first week of February. What have I achieved? I have achieved lower body fat levels and increased strength, pretty much what everyone should achieve if doing the AD the right way.

Stats?
21
5’ 10
190 (average)
No idea my BF% but if I were to guess I am sure it is somewhere in the 14-18% range. Never lifted a weight until a year ago. Two years ago I was 235lbs at 26% BF. I lost weight through cardio and strict diet. Then decided I didn’t want to look like a noodle and started lifting. Fucked around with some BB programs while doing thr AD and did much learning the hard way before I started doing the big lifts while working on form. Now I do 5/3/1 with a strict AD.
Lifts:
Bench 240x1
Squat 295x1
Dead 275x1
Overhead 145x1

310

Hi everyone!

I have been wanting to go on the anabolic diet for awhile now, but I’m still on the meal plan at college. My school has the nutritional info of all their food on their website, but I’m worried that I won’t be getting the same serving in person. I could estimate, but I’m afraid it will throw off my numbers and stuff.

Has anyone here dealt with the meal plan while doing the anabolic diet? I’d really appreciate advice of any sort.

311

[quote]Snydiesel609 wrote:
Did the AD for 6 months about a year ago and started back up the first week of February. What have I achieved? I have achieved lower body fat levels and increased strength, pretty much what everyone should achieve if doing the AD the right way.

Stats?
21
5’ 10
190 (average)
No idea my BF% but if I were to guess I am sure it is somewhere in the 14-18% range. Never lifted a weight until a year ago. Two years ago I was 235lbs at 26% BF. I lost weight through cardio and strict diet. Then decided I didn’t want to look like a noodle and started lifting. Fucked around with some BB programs while doing thr AD and did much learning the hard way before I started doing the big lifts while working on form. Now I do 5/3/1 with a strict AD.
Lifts:
Bench 240x1
Squat 295x1
Dead 275x1
Overhead 145x1[/quote]

way to make progress man and see through the bb routine bullshit. one question, how is your deadlift less than your squat?

312

[quote]Vegetable Man wrote:

way to make progress man and see through the bb routine bullshit. one question, how is your deadlift less than your squat? [/quote]

I thought that was weird too lol. Congrats on the progress though, sounds like we have very similar backgrounds. I was 136 lb less than a year ago, now I’m up to a little over 170 (6’ or 6’1"). Started out front squatting around 135 X 5 (probably not even parallel), best lifts as of recently are:

Deadlift 285 X 10
Bench 195 X 4, 210 X 1
Squat 210 X 7 (bellow parallel, not quite ATG)
Standing MP 120 X 5

I’m also on 5/3/1, coming up on my 4th block. Very solid program

-Adam

313

Thanks DJS and Snydiesel. I have a few more questions concerning the anabolic diet for mass-gaining:

  1. I’ve been reading through the forums and several people have said that they are gaining muscle and steadily losing fat at the same time. Is there something about the anabolic diet that makes this possible? What number in terms of caloric intake makes this possible?

  2. In terms of the fat gain on the anabolic diet–I’ve read that it is much slower than say a traditional mass-gaining diet. Does it therefore mean that muscle gains will be slower as well?

  3. Once I’ve achieved my desired body fat percentage, will increasing the calories steadily and bringing them up to my new maintenance level end up putting some fat on me?

314

[quote]Aphamos wrote:
Thanks DJS and Snydiesel. I have a few more questions concerning the anabolic diet for mass-gaining:

  1. I’ve been reading through the forums and several people have said that they are gaining muscle and steadily losing fat at the same time. Is there something about the anabolic diet that makes this possible? What number in terms of caloric intake makes this possible?

  2. In terms of the fat gain on the anabolic diet–I’ve read that it is much slower than say a traditional mass-gaining diet. Does it therefore mean that muscle gains will be slower as well?

  3. Once I’ve achieved my desired body fat percentage, will increasing the calories steadily and bringing them up to my new maintenance level end up putting some fat on me?[/quote]

Here is my experience for what its worth…

  1. What makes that possible is A) the AD really does a job jacking up your natural hormone levels. For me… the sweet spot of increasing lean mass and decreasing fat was between 15x and 18x bodyweight. This won’t work forever but if you do that for a while you should get leaner and put on some muscle. Everyone is different… your sweet spot may be different.

  2. I think that depends on the person but for many I’d say no.

  3. That depends completly on your body and what your desired body fat % is. Just remember to do small adjustments and you’ll be fine.

315

[quote]Vegetable Man wrote:

[quote]Snydiesel609 wrote:
Did the AD for 6 months about a year ago and started back up the first week of February. What have I achieved? I have achieved lower body fat levels and increased strength, pretty much what everyone should achieve if doing the AD the right way.

Stats?
21
5’ 10
190 (average)
No idea my BF% but if I were to guess I am sure it is somewhere in the 14-18% range. Never lifted a weight until a year ago. Two years ago I was 235lbs at 26% BF. I lost weight through cardio and strict diet. Then decided I didn’t want to look like a noodle and started lifting. Fucked around with some BB programs while doing thr AD and did much learning the hard way before I started doing the big lifts while working on form. Now I do 5/3/1 with a strict AD.
Lifts:
Bench 240x1
Squat 295x1
Dead 275x1
Overhead 145x1[/quote]

way to make progress man and see through the bb routine bullshit. one question, how is your deadlift less than your squat? [/quote]

Hahaha excellent question VM. I just recently started deadlifting. I am keeping my training weight low for the next couple of months so I can get the form down before I start playing with bigger working sets.

316

Hi Guys don’t mean to be a downer on this thread, but I’m kind of in need of help at the moment.
I am putting on a hell of a lot of fat, whilst I am bulking and don’t expect to to gain totally clean; the fat gain has been quite staggering to me lol. I just seem to be getting fatter and fatter.
I have tried to counter this by cutting down my carb-up period to 12 hours, however still does not seem to work.
I have read on the muscle shack forum to possibly do a 2 week cut and see where I get to. Essentially though considering my research on the diet; the effects on me seem out of the ordinary.

By the way my carb intake is below 30g daily.

Any opinions or advice?

Cheers all

317

[quote]banga wrote:
Hi Guys don’t mean to be a downer on this thread, but I’m kind of in need of help at the moment.
I am putting on a hell of a lot of fat, whilst I am bulking and don’t expect to to gain totally clean; the fat gain has been quite staggering to me lol. I just seem to be getting fatter and fatter.
I have tried to counter this by cutting down my carb-up period to 12 hours, however still does not seem to work.
I have read on the muscle shack forum to possibly do a 2 week cut and see where I get to. Essentially though considering my research on the diet; the effects on me seem out of the ordinary.

By the way my carb intake is below 30g daily.

Any opinions or advice?

Cheers all[/quote]

Hey Banaga!

What have your CHO loads been like? Not just the recent 12 hours but all of them. Did you go through the 12-day induction phase? What is your training like? What are your body/lifting stats as of now?

Sorry for all of the questions lol but it helps to know what the problem is. Feel free to throw out any other info you want. Remember, the effects of the diet are greater the longer you’re on it. I’m seeing better and better results each week, coming up on week 12 and plan on staying on for the long haul

-Adam

318

Hey Adam,
Thanks for the reply.

My carb loads have been quite clean for the past month, mainly due to the fact I was gaining too much bodyfat.
When I first started the AD I did a one or two dirty CHO where I would have some all you can eat (pizza, Indian food); in saying this I shorted these loads to about 15 hours because I was scarred that I would lay down too much fat lol.Essentially I have only done 2 carb loads longer than 15 hours.
Apart from the couple of dirty loads essentially my Carb-loads have been, Cereal (Wheetbix, Oats), Brown rice, tuna and brown bread.
I have been on the AD since Mid January (16th) and when I started the plan I went through the proper 12 day induction phase at less than 20g of carbs daily.

My body fat before I started the AD was at 10% which is now up to 15% (I was hoping this mark would be my absolute maximum bf%).
Some stats:

Friday 5th February 2010
Weight: 62.80 kg BMI:18.3 Chest:89 cm Waist:80.50 cm Hips: 86.50cm Thighs: 46.50

Wednesday 17th March, 2010
Weight: 70.20 kg BMI:20.5 Chest:90.20 cm Waist:83.60 cm Hips: 90.80 cm Thighs:52.20 cm

I have gained some lean body mass mind you, but a lot of fat to boot as well…

I am thinking that maybe increasing the carbs on weekdays would be a better idea and instead of the carb load have a cheat meal.

My strength has also definitely gone up, I have bettered gym results and I am still pretty fit (although I feel really fat lol). I have to start documenting my weights again, I swapped over to a compound body workout about a month ago and stopped documenting my lifts so I will start doing that ASAP as well.

319

[quote]AmericanGirl wrote:
Hi everyone!

I have been wanting to go on the anabolic diet for awhile now, but I’m still on the meal plan at college. My school has the nutritional info of all their food on their website, but I’m worried that I won’t be getting the same serving in person. I could estimate, but I’m afraid it will throw off my numbers and stuff.

Has anyone here dealt with the meal plan while doing the anabolic diet? I’d really appreciate advice of any sort. [/quote]

i have not so i’m not sure how hard it would be. it’s tough for girls because we have such a smaller caloric range to play with before we are under or over maintenance. if you have a lot to lose, then that isn’t so much a problem. if you are looking like your avi, you will need to have a decent idea of your cals. one thing that comes with experience of tracking/weighing food is you get to know serving sizes pretty damn good by eye-balling them.

i would think you may not have the amount of protein and good fats needed on a school meal plan. can you supplement that meal plan at all? good luck. i’m new to the AD per se, but have been a low-carber for 7 years.

320

[quote]Artemisia wrote:

Hi! Yeah, I’m a smidge over 5’7", my weight hovers between 124-126 lbs, and while I’ve never had my bodyfat measured (aside from some arm pad infrared thingy that put me at an insane 28%…put my super-lean bodybuilder buddy at 18%, lol!)…I usually estimate it to be around 18-20%. I am leaner on the top than the bottom; nice arm and back definition and visible top abs, but annoying-starting-to-go-away lower ab fat, inner thighs, etc. I was doing 18xbw for about six weeks, then these past two switched it to 15xbw (1875 kcals) and have been noticing a definite increase in shifting fat. I do sometimes eat a bit more on training days, and a bit less on off days, but it pretty much averages out to 15xbw. I’m just going to hang out at that number until I plateau. Doing 3 full-body workouts a week. I get really bored on splits.

Goals? To lean out my lower half, build more muscle on top, and keep pushing strength PRs.

Get well soon![/quote]

i recognized your avi from the other side. you have a training log there or here? at 5’ 7" and your stats, you must be pretty damn lean as it is. :slight_smile: great to hear you are making solid progress. i don’t live by the scale, but what are you seeing there? at some point i know i will have to see that drop…GD it!! :slight_smile:

and i envy your lean up top…i’m opposite. don’t have much fat at all lower, carry it on my damn arms and it drives me insane! seriously, i joke about lipo on my arms. they aren’t that bad but i want them LEAN!!