Somewhat common. Just get your fiber supp, veggies, and a good multi each day. Some really ride it rough to get through the barrier.
DH
[quote]Arctos wrote:
Today is day 3 for me. I am experiencing quite a bit of GI distress. The nausea makes it a bit harder to eat all I should. Any of you vets have advice here? Somebody tell me this doesn’t last too long.[/quote]
ON CRAMPING:
This is sometimes an issue. Not too uncommon. Had the EXACT experience that V mentions too. ;-).
Keep water high (3/4 gallon or more) and make sure that your mineral intake is good.
You get plenty of sodium on the AD so make sure you get some potassium too.
I like an ionic mineral drink and some ZMA too.
The fluctuations of water and electrolytes must be accounted for by optimizing nutrient intake. This really is like a mini-bodybuilding contest cycle each week.
DH
Once you are fully adapted, play around with your cycles to coordinate it with your competition, MD. Once you see the big picture here, you can muck around with a longershorter time frame before a full load to hit a particular event by hittin mini-loads in between. NOTE: This is specific to PL and SM compeititors.
For example:
Thurdsay competition:
Do only a Saturday load (12-15 hours) instead of the full weekend. Then hit another load Wednesday for the same duration. On Thursday keep the fat/protein normal (but vary calories and quantity to your body). This will be the day to compete so a little fat and pro will be good since you’ve filled your glycogen stores. You can also do one of the variations I mentioned earlier in the thread. MD, you may even find that a Tuesday load would be better for a Thur competition. Everyone is a bit different. Even though the concepts are written in stone, the application can have some flux.
I’d like to see if anybody has the AS for Powerlifters? I’m curious as to how Doc might time these things out. Might just have to break the piggy bank and see if the “sister” version is much different.
DH
[quote]mdragon wrote:
Did strongman on Sunday. I’m not real happy with how it went. I pooped out on the farmers again. My weakest event. I flipped the tire six times instead of five on my second set. We did zercher deads 135x5 225x5 250x4 275x2 300x1. Never done zercher deads before and my back is burning! We then did 200lb 300lb and 345lb carry for about 50 yards. This is done in a manner in which you squeez the weight to your chest as if you were rowing it. My back is screaming today! Did some forearm stuff then since my right hand keeps giving during the farmers. I will get better in that event.
August 13th is the competition in Las Vegas NM. This morning I had 6 eggs and 5 pieces of bacon for the first meal and I just had 6 pieces sausage second meal. Trying to eat more…[/quote]
[quote]Arctos wrote:
bino,
Thanks for the info on the 12-day break in period. Does the Anabolic Solution book contain more useful tidbits like this, enough to make it worth buying in addition to the Anabolic Diet book? What are your thoughts.[/quote]
As you may have noticed, Disc Hoss prefers the original Anabolic Diet to the Anabolic Solution. Since DH is our resident de facto AD guru, I’d be remiss not mention that; however, with all due respect to the good frolfer if you were to go with one or other, I’d go with the Anabolic Solution. It contains all the same info, plus a bit more. Some of which is useful, some of which is not, but I’d prefer to have more than I need and weed out the chaff, rather than risk some wheat.
That said, you already have AD, so unless you really have $40 burning a hole in your pocket, just stick with that. Truthfully, there is more useful and practical info in this thread than the whole of the book. You’d be better off printing this thread out, binding it, and keeping it somewhere for safekeeping–all for free!
One of the differences in AS that I’ll mention, is that Dr. D states that the range for an adapted person is 30-70 grams CHO per day, and that each person should experiment to determine their own tolerance–provided that you’ve already completed the strict 30 gram break-in period and have fully adapted. That’s probably the biggest difference in the books.
Bino moves to the top of the class. Good to see you, bro! Yes, adding the AD and/or AS are not of any real benefit if you already have one or the other. Better to buy some steak with the $. The two are the same animal. The biggest benefit is probably format. The AD is not in hard copy now. But it has the video w/it. The AS is currently in print. Either way, you’re good to go. No worries.
And, it should be stated again, practical application is the completion of the theory. Stick around on the thread for the best of both.
Doc D and I have talked about how the concepts here are golden, and once adaptation has occurred, you can make some intelligent tweeking. Nothing crazy. Just like training, you know…
Room for individual variability WITHOUT destroying the diet. The more you drive this performance vehicle the more you “know” it and your responses.
I just cannot emphasize enough, NO alterations for a few months (say 3-4). You have to be able to compare the “tweeks” to the original responses. Everybody needs a map before they set sail. Otherwise hitting your destination is as likely as the survival of that proverbial snowball somewhere south. 
DH
For all the impatient guys out there:
The first tweek that one CAN do, not necessary and I usually don’t, is to add about 25-30g CHO as a pre or post workout drink. The research (DB’s article) shows that this, mixed with some aminos or hydrolyzed whey, can boost your protein synthesis. BUT, you don’t need those carbos. I usually don’t. The right protein is fast enough to give you enough of a hit , too. Especially if you want to lean up.
DO NOT:
think that this is necessary or even optimal for everyone. If we push our glycogen levels too high then the carb load will NOT work. So less is more here, with added emphasis. Don’t exceed the 25-30g. We are different animals to a significant degree once we alter energy substrate usage following the shift. What has one effect in the “other” world can be something different on the AD. You MUST understand that.
add this step until you have 3 months stict adherence to compare yourself to. This also allows for insurance on making sure you are a full fat burner AND that you have seen what type/quantity CHO you need to get the best result.
Best,
DH
Where do you guys get this olive oil packed in tin cans? I’ve never seen it here in the midwest. How much more expensive is it than the opaque glass or plastic packaged oil I usually get and is it really worth it?
Go to whatever your “finer” chain of grocery stores is out there. At least here in CO, they only have the plastic bottles at Walmart and the other “cheap” stores. I paid $18.99 for a 3L tin of Star brand cold pressed extra virgin.
I am convinced that light shielding is critical to keep the oil the freshest and avoid damage to the more unsaturated FA chains. If you are interested in learning more, I highly recommend “Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill”, by Udo Erasmus. It is a fantastic book that explains just about everything you could wish to know about fats and oils.
Hope this helps.
[quote]conorh wrote:
Where do you guys get this olive oil packed in tin cans? I’ve never seen it here in the midwest. How much more expensive is it than the opaque glass or plastic packaged oil I usually get and is it really worth it?[/quote]
[quote]Disc Hoss wrote:
Once you are fully adapted, play around with your cycles to coordinate it with your competition, MD. Once you see the big picture here, you can muck around with a longershorter time frame before a full load to hit a particular event by hittin mini-loads in between. NOTE: This is specific to PL and SM compeititors.
For example:
Thurdsay competition:
Do only a Saturday load (12-15 hours) instead of the full weekend. Then hit another load Wednesday for the same duration. On Thursday keep the fat/protein normal (but vary calories and quantity to your body). This will be the day to compete so a little fat and pro will be good since you’ve filled your glycogen stores. You can also do one of the variations I mentioned earlier in the thread. MD, you may even find that a Tuesday load would be better for a Thur competition. Everyone is a bit different. Even though the concepts are written in stone, the application can have some flux.
I’d like to see if anybody has the AS for Powerlifters? I’m curious as to how Doc might time these things out. Might just have to break the piggy bank and see if the “sister” version is much different.
DH
mdragon wrote:
Did strongman on Sunday. I’m not real happy with how it went. I pooped out on the farmers again. My weakest event. I flipped the tire six times instead of five on my second set. We did zercher deads 135x5 225x5 250x4 275x2 300x1. Never done zercher deads before and my back is burning! We then did 200lb 300lb and 345lb carry for about 50 yards. This is done in a manner in which you squeez the weight to your chest as if you were rowing it. My back is screaming today! Did some forearm stuff then since my right hand keeps giving during the farmers. I will get better in that event.
August 13th is the competition in Las Vegas NM. This morning I had 6 eggs and 5 pieces of bacon for the first meal and I just had 6 pieces sausage second meal. Trying to eat more…
[/quote]
DH
Thanks buddy. One of the ADers sent me the PLAD in e-mail. I can see how these things would help. This week is going much better and I’ve really upped my cals and fat intake. Amazing how full I feel all the time. When on high carbs I felt hungry almost all day long.
MD
Is there any issues if I do not get up to the 30 Grams of carbs. I only took in about 5 on Monday and it was my first day on the diet.
Day nine for me. I’m anticipating the crash coming any day now, perhaps today. I’m taking Thursday and Friday off from work, which means I will just have to deal with it if it happens today or tommorow. I’ve been sleeping way better these last few nights, seems like the first 3 or 4 days of the diet made me really wired, making it difficult to sleep.
I’ve been getting an average of 4000 cals/day, with about 63%Fat, 34%Pro, 3%CHO. I’ve been taking 3g EPA/2g DHA in per day, as well as a goodly bit of olive oil. I’m getting my fiber in mainly from flax seed (whole and milled), other nuts/seeds like pumpkin and walnuts, cruciferous vegetables, and fresh spinach, with sweet bell peppers thrown in for good measure.
The only “problem” I’ve been having really is with the carb counts of things. I don’t know whether to go by the manufacturer’s statements, or by the listings on nutritiondata.com/ calorieking.com. For example, eggs are listed online to have around .5g CHO/egg right? The Omega-3 eggs I eat list that they have 1gCHO/egg, so I count that against my 30g/day. On the other hand, the cheddar cheese I get says it has 0gCHO/oz., but online it says that cheddar cheese has 1gCHO/oz.
I’ve been figuring that since it differs from product to product, I should go by the manufacturer’s listings, but I dunno. What do you guys think, manufacturer’s statements or online statements?
Other than that, lovin’ the diet. I’m hoping we continue this thread for awhile, (hence the rather long entry).
Being new to the AD myself (4th day), I’m hardly the best person to answer this, except to say that I’d bet you are getting much more than 5 grams. Those sneaky carbs are lurking everywhere, and just 1 or 2 grams here and there will add up quickly.
For example, even things like ham and beef jerky will typically have several grams of CHO due to the sugar in the curing mix. Some cheeses have a gram or two per serving. Nuts have a few grams. Of course your veggies, which you need, will also have some legitimate carbs in addition to their fiber content.
I’m finding that even if I shoot for “zero” carbs, I end up right around 20 grams/day. Today I’m adding 1/2 cup of raspberries to get an additional 5 grams. Personally, I’m all for getting as close to 30 as I can. I’m getting desperate for even two or three molecules of sugar 
[quote]njstomp wrote:
Is there any issues if I do not get up to the 30 Grams of carbs. I only took in about 5 on Monday and it was my first day on the diet.[/quote]
Hey Hoss,
As per your recommendations, I picked up NHE by Rob Faigin. Succintly put, its a fantastic read, with ample references.
Although its very similar to Mauro’s ideas, it looks like Faigins 3rd/7th day refeed meal plan would be a optimal plan for adding LBM while keepimg fat gain to a minimum. (Reason being, a shorter refeed may work best when in a hyper-caloric state.) But for fat loss, a modest caloric deficit with Mauro’s AD 36 hour refeed plan ever 7 days looks better.
What are your thoughts on each method for both fat loss and lean mass gains?
Bryan
[quote]Disc Hoss wrote:
For all the impatient guys out there:
The first tweek that one CAN do, not necessary and I usually don’t, is to add about 25-30g CHO as a pre or post workout drink. The research (DB’s article) shows that this, mixed with some aminos or hydrolyzed whey, can boost your protein synthesis. BUT, you don’t need those carbos. I usually don’t. The right protein is fast enough to give you enough of a hit , too. Especially if you want to lean up.
DO NOT:
think that this is necessary or even optimal for everyone. If we push our glycogen levels too high then the carb load will NOT work. So less is more here, with added emphasis. Don’t exceed the 25-30g. We are different animals to a significant degree once we alter energy substrate usage following the shift. What has one effect in the “other” world can be something different on the AD. You MUST understand that.
add this step until you have 3 months stict adherence to compare yourself to. This also allows for insurance on making sure you are a full fat burner AND that you have seen what type/quantity CHO you need to get the best result.
Best,
DH
[/quote]
Arctos,
You are most likely correct in saying that I take in more then I think. Just realized that I am getting some from Benefiber and some pepperoni that I forgot about. But other then that my diet consists of Beef, eggs and pork. Guess I need to get some veggies in there somewhere.
[quote]njstomp wrote:
Is there any issues if I do not get up to the 30 Grams of carbs. I only took in about 5 on Monday and it was my first day on the diet.[/quote]
There is an issue here in that a near zero CHO diet is ketogenic, and despite the claims of some, the AD is not intended to be ketogenic, nor a cyclical ketogenic diet.
If I were to restate your question as, “is it detrimental to consume too few grams CHO during non-carb load days,” then the answer is yes. You want to be near ketogenic, but not in it. Why? I could make a sloppy attempt to answer, but I’ll leave it to DH to jump in here; I’m sure he could do a better job explaining it than I.
Hey, DH, paging DH…
[quote]bino wrote:
njstomp wrote:
Is there any issues if I do not get up to the 30 Grams of carbs. I only took in about 5 on Monday and it was my first day on the diet.
There is an issue here in that a near zero CHO diet is ketogenic, and despite the claims of some, the AD is not intended to be ketogenic, nor a cyclical ketogenic diet.
If I were to restate your question as, “is it detrimental to consume too few grams CHO during non-carb load days,” then the answer is yes. You want to be near ketogenic, but not in it. Why? I could make a sloppy attempt to answer, but I’ll leave it to DH to jump in here; I’m sure he could do a better job explaining it than I.
Hey, DH, paging DH…
[/quote]
I’m going to disagree and say that you will leave ketosis at some point even on zero carbs, because you will be fully fat adapted and not running on ketone bodies, but I’d like to hear what DH has to say about it.
I am in the process of the mutations series. Would this diet be good for a person with about 23% bf?..if I am reading these articles correctly I would say yes…but want to make sure.
In my opinion, this diet would be about the best you could get to lose some fat while protecting muscle. I lost 20 lbs of fat a couple of years ago in just six weeks by only loosely following a similar diet plan. At the same time, my strength/mass held steady and even increased some. I am looking forward to even better results by strictly following the AD.
[quote]Magma299 wrote:
I am in the process of the mutations series. Would this diet be good for a person with about 23% bf?..if I am reading these articles correctly I would say yes…but want to make sure.[/quote]
[quote]conorh wrote:
I’m going to disagree and say that you will leave ketosis at some point even on zero carbs, because you will be fully fat adapted and not running on ketone bodies, but I’d like to hear what DH has to say about it.
[/quote]
Now that you mention it, that does seem more in line with the theory behind the AD. Does this mean I have to move to the rear of the class?.. I just got up front. 
Seems to me that there is still a rationale to wanting to get ~30 grams, and not merely “not more than” 30 grams. I guess I’ll quit wasting bandwidth and wait for someone smart to say something.
[quote]Magma299 wrote:
I am in the process of the mutations series. Would this diet be good for a person with about 23% bf?..if I am reading these articles correctly I would say yes…but want to make sure.[/quote]
You’ve found the diet. Best diet bar none to lose fat/keep muscle. One word of caution: patience. The AD works like a charm but it will take awhile before the cuts start to show. There have been a few guys post that they’ve started the AD and gone down to zero carbs. Don’t do this. It is highly unlikely in the first place that they are truly at ‘zero’ carbs and there are hard scientific reasons behind the 30 grams per day rule.
With 23% bodyfat you may have some serious carb cravings to deal with. Try sugar free jello with cool whip. It will surprise you how lo carb cool whip is. There are also some great lo carb yogurts that come in at 5 grams/serving. Heed the warnings about the crash. I have seen the higher the bdyfat the harder the crash. It’s easy to read/write about but till you try it…well I’ve seen some pretty hard core dudes cash it in when the crash came. Another thing, don’t be a slave to the scale. After your first carb up you will probably even gain scale weight. Don’t even get on a scale till after 3-4 months on the AD. Go for it and keep us posted.
Barry