My Experience On the Anabolic Diet

Nutrition
3322

[quote]SashaG wrote:
AlphaDragon wrote:
Okay AD bretheren,

Truth hurts, I guess.

I was getting 3800-4200 cals/day until today.

That article by CT got me thinking about changing stuff up…and Sashas post kinda drove it home.

-good to see ya again Sasha, btw.

My current stats:

165 lbs
21% bf. (they use that crappy method, but regardless, it’s not 10% or under).

So I’m going to go with the assumption my LBM=about 132 lbs (ACK…that’s what I mean by truth hurting…A frickin lot).

So I gotta get to about 10% bf, huh? So this is going to be my newest attempt…

Maintance for my lbm is approx 2000 cal.
To maintain a 10%bf is approx 146lbs

So 146x15=2190 cals/day. (That’s it???..I’m so used to nearly 4000/day, I’m going to starve SO often).

So, does that seem like to little to anyone else but me?

Remember, I’m going to try for that 10%.

Crap…now I’m “Aiming” for being a 150lb skinny dude…. Man, that sucks.

Any thoughts? And, should I just jump into it or drop gradually? Today I dropped to about 3300 cals.

AlphaDragon,

A couple quick ones . . .

  1. Have you been eating at maintenance or above for the past 4 weeks?

  2. What type of training have you been doing?

What I think would be best is to modularise your fat loss plan. What I mean by this is progressively diet for 4-5 weeks, gradually dropping your calories, then take 2-3 weeks where you’re gradually upping your calories. So given that you’re at 4000 now, week one would look like 3500, week two 3000, week 3 and 4 2500, then either drop 500 for one more week or, if you’re feeling really depleted and not seeing continuous improvement, then bump week 5 up to 2750, week 6 3000 and week 7 between 3250 and 3500.

For weeks 1-4 (or 5) reduce your fat percentage and up your protein intake. When you start to increase your cals again, reverse it. Carb ups should remain clean, controlled and relatively short in duration. I would follow Lyle MacDonald’s recommendations from 3 or 4 pages ago.

As for training, for weeks 1-4 (or 5 if you choose to conitnue reducing calories) focus on a combination of strength training (think 5x5s, wave loading, etc.) and HIIT. Once you start increasing your calories again, hypertrophy time. Up your rep range to the 6-12 mark, drop your sets, drop your rest time, use supersets, giant sets, etc.

HIIT is always a good move but if you’re doing cardio after training, I would just focus on steady state as your heart rate will be nicely elevated from the hypertrophy training.

What we’re trying to do with this is maintain if not increase your strength levels while constantly evolving your calorie intake. What you want with a fat loss program is constant flux. Whether it would be up or down, we want change, not a steady state.

The most important thing is to monitor your progress. If this doesn’t work, then change it. The key to any program, diet or whatever is personalisation.

Hope that helps.

Sasha

[/quote]

Sasha,

Thanks for the indephness of your reply.

I’ll answer your questions now:

  1. I have been at maintenance for maybe 3 weeks then increased to about 3800-4200/day over the subsequent 2-3 weeks.

  2. For the first 3 weeks, I did a pseudo-CW TBT with the 100 rep days 2x/week. For the last 2 weeks, I’ve done 6day/week bodypart splits. Cardio has been practically nonexistant, except for necessary bike riding (a few miles once a week on my off day).

Your advice helped me a ton…thanks again for the indepthness of it.

One question: You said up the Protein and drop the fat levels for the fat loss time (week 1-4 or 5). Now, do you mean go outside the guidelines of the AD book or do this within th guidelines?

I’m coming to realize the flexibility of this program. So I want to thank everyone for their help and patience.

AD

3323

[quote]
Just as a friendly observation. You strike me as being an impulsive type of guy who maybe would do well to slow down and be a little more patient. We’ve never met and I’m going only by what can be gleaned from this forum. I don’t mean to sound like your mama and only say that with the most constructive intent.

You just seem like you’re hurrying yourself. One of the things CT talks about in his bulking article. For what it’s worth.

–Tiribulus->[/quote]

LMAO. That is the first time I’ve ever been called impuslive. Usually I weigh decisions and logically make decisions…but inbetween “problem and action” are lots of theories I put together. At that moment of the post you refer to, I was almost sleeping and still trying to figure stuff out (not a good thing). =P

This is the first eating plan I’ve ever done, and man am I getting lots of flack for it (even if it’s not directly mentioned, you get that “knowing feeling” from people) from just about everyone (of course, most of them “know it all” but don’t “feel” like doing it…as if it’s a waste of their precious movie/tv time).

I don’t want to fail…I don’t want these fools to have more ammo to fuel their arguement if I mess up on this. So I’m trying to minimalize the chances of dealing with that stuff. Ya know? :wink:

Yeah…part of it is I want to stuff it in their faces as soon as possible. :smiley:

No offense taken at all Tirib.

3324

[quote]TigerJim wrote:

Anyone else enjoy the lo-carb phase of the diet more than the carb up?

[/quote]

The low carb phase ROCKS…sometimes I don’t even want to eat carb-y foods…but, of course, always do. :wink:

3325

[quote]AlphaDragon wrote:
SashaG wrote:
AlphaDragon wrote:
[/quote]

AD,

I would stick to within the guidelines to begin with as far as protein intake goes but if you feel good enough with your energy levels you can further increase them. One thing we do not want to do is slip into a glucogenisis type situation where your body is relying on converting dietary and muscular protein for energy. It’s that fine balance sort of thing.

Hope that helps mate and keep us posted.

Sasha

3326

guys im hear to say this diet works. in the beginning i hated bloating but i learned how to use it to my advantage. i went from 270lbs. down now to 243lbs. in a few months. eating tons of great meat gives me soo much more energy than carbs do. im a AD’er for life!

3327

I’m really dissapointed today. I weighed in at 178.5 on my digital scale first thing, and 177.5 after a 20 min. HIIT session. Last week, it said I weighed 173. I also have an old-fashion analog scale that puts me closer to 165. I’m really confused. In the meantime, I’ve become more concious of my love handles(getting bigge?) and am really getting discouraged. It’s not the right attitude to have but this skinny fat-ness is really pissing me off. I have what seems like loose skin and pockets of fat in my lower back and stomach. I completely lack definition. Still, I look lean in clothes. I’m thinking of ending the “Mass” phase.

It says in the AD book that while in the maintainence phase, you can lose fat and build muscle, and basically maintain your weight. For 170-180 lbs, I don’t think I look good at all. I’m thinking of slowly going back to the maintainence phase and see what happens after a couple months of training. I feel like I’m being impatient, but I also feel like I’m screwing up. I used to be REALLY thin, like 6’1"-6’2", 140-145 lbs, at the beginning of this year. In the spring, I decided to quit the anorexic cardio bunny shit and bulk. Needless to say, I probably added mostly fat(although I look healthier than I used to). As I said, I’m an FFB, and am petrified of becoming my former self.

I like the AD, a lot. I just don’t think 4000 calories a day is right for me, especially with today’s results. I don’t even know if I should be “bulking”. It will take years of training before I am even close to what I want to look like(probably), and being impatient just because I’m unhappy with how small my arms are and how physically weak I feel compared to peers will probably leave me more unsatisfied than I was when I was “stick-man”. I will try to take some pics later tonight. I’m 18, BTW.

3328

if you don’t like your results then make adjustments. what’s the problem? you have to first give the diet a chance and then make adjustments to meet your goals. Are you less than 10%? If not you shouldn’t bulk. The maintenence phase could add mass while loosing fat, but this is typically a slow process no matter how one balances their macros. If you don’t like the diet you should try something different, but any diet can work for virtually anyone if tuned in properly.

3329

[quote]msundi83 wrote:
if you don’t like your results then make adjustments. what’s the problem? you have to first give the diet a chance and then make adjustments to meet your goals. Are you less than 10%? If not you shouldn’t bulk. The maintenence phase could add mass while loosing fat, but this is typically a slow process no matter how one balances their macros. If you don’t like the diet you should try something different, but any diet can work for virtually anyone if tuned in properly.[/quote]

You’re right. I just get panicky when it comes to too much weight gain too quickly. It triggers some emotional response(due to bad memories of being a fat ass). I have no clue what why BF % is, but I doubt it’s 10%. As I said, I’m skinny fat. Even though my waistline is 31/32 inches, I by no means have abs. It’s mostly loose skin and flab to be honest. But I don’t seem to carry BF to any great degree anywhere else other than my abdomen and low/mid back.

I think I will test the waters of the maintainence phase(or slightly above) for a while and see how it goes. I do like the AD and the concept for it. It just seems like the book was written for one specific set only(professional bodybuilders preparing for a contest). For this reason, it’s probably not best for someone such as myself to follow it word for word(at least when it comes to bulking and the # of calories one should consume).

3330

Where exactly is the 12 day no carb in the book? I swore that he said start with 5 on and then 2 off. I don’t remember seeing 12 in the book.

3331

its in the beginning of where he explains the basics of the diet. actually, he recommends more than two weeks, but two should be fine i guess. just make sure you read the whole book, I tend to skim and i end up missing key points a lot.

3332

abcd…

i understand. i’m a ffb too. just understand that there is nothing preventing you from keeping the body you like or want to achieve. you just need to get you kcals in the right range. once you accept this (no matter what diet you are on) you can rest easy without getting an anxiety attack.

If you tend to pig out on the carb ups then i can understand your anxiety. those can be a problem when we don’t show some restriction. if there is any point where your anxiety is justified it is during a carbup where you don’t restrict yourself. if thats not a problem awsome, you are in a better position than a lot of people who attempt this diet.

also, the diet is designed for professional bodybuilders. if that was the case then it wouldn’t sell many copies. anyone can have success with this…even those who just wanna look better. the calories might be a bit high for a lot of people. they are just starting points, you can adjust if you aren’t getting progess.

you are not alone. there are a ton of ffbs in your shoes, but do yourself a favor and try to think this all through and understand that you are in control of what you put into your body so you are in control of how it will look. you’ll be fine. good luck.

3333

[quote]msundi83 wrote:
its in the beginning of where he explains the basics of the diet. actually, he recommends more than two weeks, but two should be fine i guess. just make sure you read the whole book, I tend to skim and i end up missing key points a lot.[/quote]

I looked again and don’t see anything about a 12 day no carb cycle. He states that you should stay in the maintenence cycle for more than 3 weeks before you go into a mass phase, but I don’t see anything about a 12 day or two week cycle of no carbs before you carb up.

When I read the book, I took it as you always go 5 days/2 including at the beginning. It’s possible that I might have missed it as I was reading it at work, but does anyone have a refence page(s) for this?

If not then you (collectively not individually) are telling people to do something that is not in his book and probably making it even harder for people to do…

3334

This carbup is going to be cleaner than last weeks. No yogurt with tons of added sugars or restaurant food this weekend. I’m sticking to oats, beans, whole grain breads, brown rice, and the like. The highest GI thing I’ll have is mabey some Gatorade powder PWO(as it’s the only thing with dextrose that I have here). I’m no where near ready to give up on this diet. I actually like it a lot, eating low carb. It’s very satisfying and I feel much better. I wasn’t even looking forward to the carbup, and I will kind of miss being able to eat fatty cuts of lamb or bacon for two whole days. Ah well.

On a side note, my workouts are starting to improve. Last night,for example, I was able to dumbell press 10 lbs(each dumbell) more than I was a week ago. My workouts are definitely not suffering anymore, which is positive and motivating for me. During the induction phase(and the intitial week after), I was pretty stagnant in all my lifts.

3335

[quote]Julius_Caesar wrote:
I looked again and don’t see anything about a 12 day no carb cycle. He states that you should stay in the maintenence cycle for more than 3 weeks before you go into a mass phase, but I don’t see anything about a 12 day or two week cycle of no carbs before you carb up.

When I read the book, I took it as you always go 5 days/2 including at the beginning. It’s possible that I might have missed it as I was reading it at work, but does anyone have a refence page(s) for this?

If not then you (collectively not individually) are telling people to do something that is not in his book and probably making it even harder for people to do…
[/quote]

Perhaps this will help:

On page 19 of The Anabolic Solution:

“For the first cycle, stick to the low-carb phase for a full 12 days before beginning the high-carb phase.”

…and:

“Once you’re fat adapted, usually after the first two weeks, change the calorie level depending on the phase you’re in, i.e. mass, strength or cutting phase.”

Then again on page 122:

“Begin first 12 days, then weekend carb-up, then 5-6 days low-carb with 1-2 days high-carb.”

There are a few more…but that’s the jist of it.

peace

3336

[quote]Pauli D wrote:

Perhaps this will help:

On page 19 of The Anabolic Solution:

“For the first cycle, stick to the low-carb phase for a full 12 days before beginning the high-carb phase.”

…and:

“Once you’re fat adapted, usually after the first two weeks, change the calorie level depending on the phase you’re in, i.e. mass, strength or cutting phase.”

Then again on page 122:

“Begin first 12 days, then weekend carb-up, then 5-6 days low-carb with 1-2 days high-carb.”

There are a few more…but that’s the jist of it.

peace[/quote]

I have the e-book which doesn’t even have a page 122, so I don’t think that our pages match up. Does anyone with the e-book know the page numbers there?

3337

[quote]abcd1234 wrote:
I’m really dissapointed today. I weighed in at 178.5 on my digital scale first thing, and 177.5 after a 20 min. HIIT session. Last week, it said I weighed 173. I also have an old-fashion analog scale that puts me closer to 165. I’m really confused. In the meantime, I’ve become more concious of my love handles(getting bigge?) and am really getting discouraged. It’s not the right attitude to have but this skinny fat-ness is really pissing me off. I have what seems like loose skin and pockets of fat in my lower back and stomach. I completely lack definition. Still, I look lean in clothes. I’m thinking of ending the “Mass” phase.

It says in the AD book that while in the maintainence phase, you can lose fat and build muscle, and basically maintain your weight. For 170-180 lbs, I don’t think I look good at all. I’m thinking of slowly going back to the maintainence phase and see what happens after a couple months of training. I feel like I’m being impatient, but I also feel like I’m screwing up. I used to be REALLY thin, like 6’1"-6’2", 140-145 lbs, at the beginning of this year. In the spring, I decided to quit the anorexic cardio bunny shit and bulk. Needless to say, I probably added mostly fat(although I look healthier than I used to). As I said, I’m an FFB, and am petrified of becoming my former self.

I like the AD, a lot. I just don’t think 4000 calories a day is right for me, especially with today’s results. I don’t even know if I should be “bulking”. It will take years of training before I am even close to what I want to look like(probably), and being impatient just because I’m unhappy with how small my arms are and how physically weak I feel compared to peers will probably leave me more unsatisfied than I was when I was “stick-man”. I will try to take some pics later tonight. I’m 18, BTW. [/quote]

abcd1234,

Mate . . . don’t worry . . . we’ve been where you are right now. You have some FFB, including myself, on your side that will help guide you through. If i’m not mistaken, you are new to the AD way of eating correct? If so, your body will need some time to adjust to this new way of eating. Also, keep in mind that scale weight is a very deceiving guide on the AD. Also be mindful of water fluxuations in the early stages . . . this one really got me when I first started.

Right now you are at 6’1" and approximately 180 lbs. What you must decide right now is whether you want to go up or down. If done right, and I do believe that this is unique to the AD, you can gain and still appear leaner than you were before. The inverse is also possible as well. You just need to be quite careful with your macros and carb ups is either case.

The bottom line is you need to be realistic with your goals and what you think/want to achieve. What I would say is make sure you give the AD enough time to settle in before making any major adjustments. Plus, with this lifestyle and being 18 your testosterone levels are going to shoot through the roof!

Pick a direction and let’s get it sorted.

Cheers,

Sasha

3338

[quote]Julius_Caesar wrote:
Pauli D wrote:

Perhaps this will help:

On page 19 of The Anabolic Solution:

“For the first cycle, stick to the low-carb phase for a full 12 days before beginning the high-carb phase.”

…and:

“Once you’re fat adapted, usually after the first two weeks, change the calorie level depending on the phase you’re in, i.e. mass, strength or cutting phase.”

Then again on page 122:

“Begin first 12 days, then weekend carb-up, then 5-6 days low-carb with 1-2 days high-carb.”

There are a few more…but that’s the jist of it.

peace

I have the e-book which doesn’t even have a page 122, so I don’t think that our pages match up. Does anyone with the e-book know the page numbers there?

[/quote]dear friend u arew right …even the ebook i have that is the anabolic diet it is not mentioned in that but …as pauli d tol;d u anabolic sloution was the book which was later published by the dr which is suppose to be a revised edition of the anabolic diet in that book the dr has mentioned that and u got the refrences from pauli d and no 1 here are giving advices from there own mind …12 days is induction phase were u switch ur body from carb burner into a fat burner …it become s easier for the comming 5/2 or 5/1 cycle …u can also do 5 days no carb and 2 or 1 day carb …but the metabolic shift will take some time maybe a month or even more …so the 12 days become more imp …and all of us on this thread are on this diet for 4 , 6 8 months and vets like disc hoss and il cazzo are here on this diet for years maybe decades and we all follow there advice because there advice is honest and smart and all of us have got result …so will be great i mean every 1 here who has followed the diet for a while will suggest u to do the 12 days induction phase rest is ur choice hope u get ur desired results from this anabolic lifestlye regards-raviraj

3339

[quote]SashaG wrote:

Right now you are at 6’1" and approximately 180 lbs. What you must decide right now is whether you want to go up or down. If done right, and I do believe that this is unique to the AD, you can gain and still appear leaner than you were before. The inverse is also possible as well. You just need to be quite careful with your macros and carb ups is either case.

Pick a direction and let’s get it sorted.

Cheers,

Sasha
[/quote]

Of course I’d love to be bigger and leaner than I am now. I feel both scrawny and fat at the same time, some times. A lot of it is probably psychological, and much of my negative self-image has improved since getting my gyno removed a couple months back.Still, I think I have a lot of loose skin that decieves me and discourages me(it’s especially bad when I sit down, as all my skin seems to sag around my stomach).

Right now, I’m eating about 3500 a day, less than last week but still above maintainence. I would like to slowly gain, to ensure that there isn’t too much fat gain. My ultimate goal(see long term, not in the next year or two, even), would be a lean 200lbs or so.

So, what tips can you give me? Should I eat only low-GI carbs on weekends, being an FFB and all? That’s what I’ve done so far today. Should I stick slightly above maintainence, as I’m doing? My marcos seem to be conforming with the AD outlines, and my carbup marcos are going to be better this week(less protein, more carbs/fat).

I fear that if I decide to cut, I will be taking steps backward towards my ultimate goal. I’m also afraid that if I bulk, I’ll put on a lot of fat and will never get lean and big. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

3340

[quote]raviraj wrote:
Julius_Caesar wrote:
Pauli D wrote:

Perhaps this will help:

On page 19 of The Anabolic Solution:

“For the first cycle, stick to the low-carb phase for a full 12 days before beginning the high-carb phase.”

…and:

“Once you’re fat adapted, usually after the first two weeks, change the calorie level depending on the phase you’re in, i.e. mass, strength or cutting phase.”

Then again on page 122:

“Begin first 12 days, then weekend carb-up, then 5-6 days low-carb with 1-2 days high-carb.”

There are a few more…but that’s the jist of it.

peace

I have the e-book which doesn’t even have a page 122, so I don’t think that our pages match up. Does anyone with the e-book know the page numbers there?

dear friend u arew right …even the ebook i have that is the anabolic diet it is not mentioned in that but …as pauli d tol;d u anabolic sloution was the book which was later published by the dr which is suppose to be a revised edition of the anabolic diet in that book the dr has mentioned that and u got the refrences from pauli d and no 1 here are giving advices from there own mind …12 days is induction phase were u switch ur body from carb burner into a fat burner …it become s easier for the comming 5/2 or 5/1 cycle …u can also do 5 days no carb and 2 or 1 day carb …but the metabolic shift will take some time maybe a month or even more …so the 12 days become more imp …and all of us on this thread are on this diet for 4 , 6 8 months and vets like disc hoss and il cazzo are here on this diet for years maybe decades and we all follow there advice because there advice is honest and smart and all of us have got result …so will be great i mean every 1 here who has followed the diet for a while will suggest u to do the 12 days induction phase rest is ur choice hope u get ur desired results from this anabolic lifestlye regards-raviraj

[/quote]

I have a slight problem…

I read the e-book and didn’t see anything about the 12 days, so…

I can only do it for 9 days and then I have a wedding to go to and it will be almost impossible to not carb up them.
I hope that I can get away with 9/2 and then back to 5/2? Or should I try the 12 after the wedding?

3341

[quote]Julius_Caesar wrote:
raviraj wrote:
Julius_Caesar wrote:
Pauli D wrote:

Perhaps this will help:

On page 19 of The Anabolic Solution:

“For the first cycle, stick to the low-carb phase for a full 12 days before beginning the high-carb phase.”

…and:

“Once you’re fat adapted, usually after the first two weeks, change the calorie level depending on the phase you’re in, i.e. mass, strength or cutting phase.”

Then again on page 122:

“Begin first 12 days, then weekend carb-up, then 5-6 days low-carb with 1-2 days high-carb.”

There are a few more…but that’s the jist of it.

peace

I have the e-book which doesn’t even have a page 122, so I don’t think that our pages match up. Does anyone with the e-book know the page numbers there?

dear friend u arew right …even the ebook i have that is the anabolic diet it is not mentioned in that but …as pauli d tol;d u anabolic sloution was the book which was later published by the dr which is suppose to be a revised edition of the anabolic diet in that book the dr has mentioned that and u got the refrences from pauli d and no 1 here are giving advices from there own mind …12 days is induction phase were u switch ur body from carb burner into a fat burner …it become s easier for the comming 5/2 or 5/1 cycle …u can also do 5 days no carb and 2 or 1 day carb …but the metabolic shift will take some time maybe a month or even more …so the 12 days become more imp …and all of us on this thread are on this diet for 4 , 6 8 months and vets like disc hoss and il cazzo are here on this diet for years maybe decades and we all follow there advice because there advice is honest and smart and all of us have got result …so will be great i mean every 1 here who has followed the diet for a while will suggest u to do the 12 days induction phase rest is ur choice hope u get ur desired results from this anabolic lifestlye regards-raviraj

I have a slight problem…

I read the e-book and didn’t see anything about the 12 days, so…

I can only do it for 9 days and then I have a wedding to go to and it will be almost impossible to not carb up them.
I hope that I can get away with 9/2 and then back to 5/2? Or should I try the 12 after the wedding?

[/quote]

have au already started the ad ? i mean are u already in the induction phase ? if not then finish the weeding have ur great treat and then start the induction phase but if u are already in the induction phase …

then i would urge and request u to have some control on the weeding day maybe go on a salad or something like that or maybe have a nice heavy ad meal and go to the weeding as u know after having a nice tasty heavy ad meal it becomes impossible to eat anything righta after.

i can understand when i was doing my induction belive me i wnet through similar things …being an artist i have to go for parties and all that stuff and cakes pasterires deserts are allways around to check ur resovle. would be wonderful if u can resist the urge to eat there . but if still things are out of control which we can understand then just go for 1 carb meal and try have ur training around that meal maybe u can have a nice full body session and then go for the weeding if posisble …

or simply have that 1 meal and then dont go for the full 2 day carb up just have that 1 meal and wait for 5 days and then do ur 2 days carb up . and still just look at it if u are already in the induction u must have reaaly taken so great efforts so why to just kill those efforts for 1 day …i mean u will be already 9 days in the induction and just 3 days to go for ur major carbup …

i and every 1 here will reaaly undersatnd ur problem but still will urge u to hold on and let the induction finish and the have ur carb up . and if u were eating low carb or even carbs somewhere around 70gms per day before ad then it was ok …but if u were eating more of carbs before u started ad …

then the induction becomes even more imp. on my recent tour to usa i met some guys who are doing ad for more then 4 years …and 1 of them was reaaly fat i mean he was obese …he said for 4 months he was just eating carbs after 12 days only 3 or 4 meals one day after 12 days …i mean he did the induction now and then …

and when he was in decent shape he started the 6 days on and 1 day off cycle and u cant simple belive that he was a obese man some years before. …so the end of the story try and stay with the induction or else just go for 1 weeding meal …

and have that if posisble after ur weight training session and then stop there and go ad for 5 days again . but the best option will be still to stick with ur induction and iam sure sasha and tribilus and other guys will also give u some more options . hope it helps -raviraj