My Experience On the Anabolic Diet

Nutrition
3562

[quote]eic wrote:
Fellas,

I’m on Day 4 of my metabolic-shift phase. I have fairly good energy despite the lack of carbs, but two things concern me:

  1. Sleep has been tough going on this diet. Stress is normal but for some reason I’ll fall asleep normally, then wake up around 4:00 a.m. or so and just have tons of difficulty failling asleep. I also have trouble in that my sleep seems to be very shallow. Is this a normal part of the transition? If so, will it pass?

  2. I tend to feel somewhat nauseous at times. Is this due to the fact that my body is not used to the high levels of fat in the gut? Again, is this normal, and if so, will it too pass?

Other than the above two issues, I could be on this diet for the rest of my life. [/quote]

It takes several weeks for all the highs and lows to pan out. I had sleep issues, energy issues and even some occasional sexual dysfunction for the first 4 - 6 weeks. Especially the first couple, you’ll prbably wonder from time to time if this was such a great idea. The doc talks about this in the book. All that has completely leveled off now.

3563

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
eic wrote:
Fellas,

I’m on Day 4 of my metabolic-shift phase. I have fairly good energy despite the lack of carbs, but two things concern me:

  1. Sleep has been tough going on this diet. Stress is normal but for some reason I’ll fall asleep normally, then wake up around 4:00 a.m. or so and just have tons of difficulty failling asleep. I also have trouble in that my sleep seems to be very shallow. Is this a normal part of the transition? If so, will it pass?

  2. I tend to feel somewhat nauseous at times. Is this due to the fact that my body is not used to the high levels of fat in the gut? Again, is this normal, and if so, will it too pass?

Other than the above two issues, I could be on this diet for the rest of my life.

It takes several weeks for all the highs and lows to pan out. I had sleep issues, energy issues and even some occasional sexual dysfunction for the first 4 - 6 weeks. Especially the first couple, you’ll prbably wonder from time to time if this was such a great idea. The doc talks about this in the book. All that has completely leveled off now.[/quote]

Agreed. I’m on week 6 of my second run on this diet and am still fighting some of these symptoms, most notably a slightly depressed immune system. I’ve been battling cold/flu-like symptoms off and on, but I feel like I’m starting to pull through.

My advice is to STICK WITH IT! Eventually this will all pass and you’ll feel like a completely different person (literally). Many people drop out if this lasts for a few weeks, but it really takes a full three months to get into the groove with this diet. Just hang in there and let us know if you have any more questions.

Zac

3564

[quote]AlphaDragon wrote:
I’d rather edit my last post but I want to say this before I forget:

The label specifically says: “For those watching their carbs, count 12g toward your daily allowance.”

then is a little smaller font:

“The remaining carbs have a lesser and minimal effect on blood sugar.”

Then it also has 4g of fiber…so I suppose technically it’s only 27g CHO…or is it 8g CHO??

Hope this is clear enough.

thanks

AD[/quote]

AD,

All carbohydrates, sugar alcohols included, should be included towards your daily allowance. The reason being is because while it may not an effect on insulin secretion, those carbohydrates will still be seen as an energy source. This is also why the consumption of alcohol during the week is not advised.

I would steer clear of protein bars during the week and use them in moderation on the weekend as sugar alcohols can lead to unnecessary bloating during an important eating time.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Sasha

3565

I don’t remember when it was last said so I’ll throw it out there again. Make sure you are getting PLENTY of water. I drink probably a gallon over a day. Keeps the kidneys happy among other things.

3566

Tirib and SashaG,

Thanks for the advice and input, as always.

AD

3567

DH, or other vets, wondering if you could help me out. I’m more than halfway through this thread and it’s really great.

I’m on day 1. Feeling good. I’ve been on a pretty low carb diet for awhile now and was interested in upping my fat intake and lowering protein to help with my energy levels when I came across the AD.

Anyway I’m a model in NYC and so I really can’t afford to gain weight. Before starting the AD I would eat 7 meals, each about 300 calories. Some weeks my daily caloric intake would be up around 2300 - 2400 depending on how I was feeling.

It seems like everyone on the AD is consuming way more than this. Should I up my calories significantly for the 12 day period? Here’s my diet for today:

3 eggs scrambled, 1 tbs olive oil

Buffet bar place in the city (beef, salmon, chicken, sausage)

Shake: 1 scoop casien/whey mix, 2 eggwhites, 1/2 tbs olive oil, 1 fish cap, 1 omega 3 cap.

post work out: whey

stirfry: 7% fat ground turkey, cabbage, half a pepper, half an onion, half a zucchini.

Shake: 1 scoop casein/why mix, 2 tbls natty PB, 1 eggwhite

next meal: stir fry same as above

final meal: shake same as second shake

How does this look?

3568

It sounds like you’re mainly interested in energy as a goal. It also sounds to me like you’ve been eating low carb enough to kill your energy, but not low enough in carbs or high enough in fat to adapt your metabolism to prefer fat as your primary fuel which is where everything, but the anaerobic contractions of weight training come from on a diet like this…

This diet will take several weeks minimum to provide completely consistent energy in most cases. That’s number one. From what you’ve said you’re not even approaching enough fat, especially during the induction phase, to force adaptation.

To be perfectly honest with you if you don’t have a couple of months to spare for energy, water and some fat fluctuations before you can dial in you may want to think about a different plan.

I’m not trying to be unduly negative, but if your livelihood depends on a certain body composition that can’t vary by much you might find yourself in trouble.

Also, this diet is designed to create an anabolic environment with enhanced nitrogen balance. For that to happen truly frightening amounts of food that are wrongly vilified by the mainstream media will have to be consumed. I mean this relative to what most people are used to.

This is especially true when forcing lipid adaptation during the induction period. I eat 12-15 whole eggs(6 fried in real butter), 3/4 of a pound of beef, 15 ounces of salmon, 6-8 ounces of full fat cheese and lots of EVOO and fish oils on average every day among a few other things. No. I’m neither fat nor getting there.

You’re welcome to give it a shot and we’ll help as best we can, but again, to be perfectly honest, you don’t sound like the ideal candidate in my opinion. I don’t mean to discourage you, but I’m not gonna lie to ya either.

–Tiribulus->

3569

Tribulus,
Thanks for the honest assesment. I’m still thinking about giving it a shot at least, but I will have give what you’ve said some more thought.

To clarify though. Is it necessary to up my calories well above maintenance for the 12 days? If I only up my calories by about 200 but totally shift my macros to get 55-60% fat won’t my body adapt?

The diet really appeals to me in that I was only eating oatmeal in the mornings, then after that I was getting all my carbs from veggies anyway. The problem was most of my other calories were coming from protein but I’m learning that’s not a good ratio so if I’m going to up my fat I wanted to give this a shot.

Should I expect drastic body comp changes at first? I’m not so much worried about the scale as I am about keeping my abs.

Thanks so much for you help

3570

[quote]dunbar wrote:
To clarify though. Is it necessary to up my calories well above maintenance for the 12 days? If I only up my calories by about 200 but totally shift my macros to get 55-60% fat won’t my body adapt?
[/quote]

You’ll probably adapt, but it may also make some of the other temporary adjustments even tougher. It’s not so much that you want to go way over maintenance as it is that you just don’t want to go too low. Most of the time when somebody’s very concerned about getting too much they underestimate what they need.

[quote]dunbar wrote:
The diet really appeals to me in that I was only eating oatmeal in the mornings, then after that I was getting all my carbs from veggies anyway. The problem was most of my other calories were coming from protein but I’m learning that’s not a good ratio so if I’m going to up my fat I wanted to give this a shot.
[/quote]

You definitely have to decide whether you want fat or carbs to be your primary fuel unless you want to lose your muscle. A lot of protein in the absence of either will make your metabolism comfortable with gluconeogenesis where aminos are converted to glucose and you know what your muscles are largely made of. Where you are now you aren’t getting enough carbs or fat to keep your energy up.

[quote]dunbar wrote:
Should I expect drastic body comp changes at first? I’m not so much worried about the scale as I am about keeping my abs.

Thanks so much for you help
[/quote]

You can expect some fairly drastic fluctuations which for you may seem even more drastic still. Fluctuations that are not permanent, but will probably be quite disconcerting. It’s the adjustment after the initial phase that may actually give you the most trouble.

If you knew you had a few months before you had to show up somewhere with a guaranteed look it’d be no problem. Once all the adjustment takes place you can pretty much plan how things are going to go.

You cannot do this half assed though. If you decide to go forward DO NOT fear the fat. You have to have it. Your body will be looking for it’s familiar carbs to sustain itself and you have to grab it by the scruff of the neck and stick it’s face in the fat offering no other practical alternative. Once it gets the message things get smoother and smoother.

BTW, do you or do you plan on training with weights at all? I guess I should’ve asked that before.

3571

Has anyone ever noticed their sex drive increase when they have olive oil? It’s really weird, I noticed the past few days that I have been way hornier and full of energy than usual. I didn’t know why and then it occured to me earlier today that I had replaced my cheese intake with olive oil.

And today, while I was sitting around readin stuff online I started feeling tired, all of a sudden I felt a craving for olive oil, so I went and had some… my energy increased in like 1 min and I was horny as hell… =).

Its kinda weird but it seems to be happening to me. With cheese I noticed a kinda depressed state in me, has anyone noticed that at all? It may all just be in my mind but I dunno why it would because I never thought about it before until now.

3572

[quote]Bizmark wrote:
Has anyone ever noticed their sex drive increase when they have olive oil? …[/quote]

I don’t know if I’m happy or sad to report that I have not ;]

3573

[quote]Bizmark wrote:
With cheese I noticed a kinda depressed state in me, has anyone noticed that at all? It may all just be in my mind but I dunno why it would because I never thought about it before until now.[/quote]

I think I understand why cheese has this effect on you. Cheese in particular is high in casein protein, and casein has opiate-like effects on the brain. Hence, the tired feelings after eating cheese.

3574

eic,

Welcome to the thread!

I had the same responses to the AD at first, so I can sympathize.
As for your sleeplessness, I’d recommend ZMA if your aren’t taking it already. This too (the ZMA) will take some ‘getting used to’ -but will benefit you greatly in the long run.

And I also suffered from that “queasy feeling” at first, and I too attributed it to the high fat content.
To combat this, eat tons of veggies -brocolli works well for me.

To quote my pal Sasha:

"Fibre aside, the biggest benefit that vegetables provide on the AD is reducing the acidity in the gut from all the fat and protein we eat. Keeping our veggies up helps us to ensure that our GI track is healthy and we can make use of all these great nutrients we ingest.

Cheers,

Sasha"

…that’s the science of it, and I can attest to the practicality of what he’s saying…It Works!

peace

[quote]eic wrote:
Fellas,

I’m on Day 4 of my metabolic-shift phase. I have fairly good energy despite the lack of carbs, but two things concern me:

  1. Sleep has been tough going on this diet. Stress is normal but for some reason I’ll fall asleep normally, then wake up around 4:00 a.m. or so and just have tons of difficulty failling asleep. I also have trouble in that my sleep seems to be very shallow. Is this a normal part of the transition? If so, will it pass?

  2. I tend to feel somewhat nauseous at times. Is this due to the fact that my body is not used to the high levels of fat in the gut? Again, is this normal, and if so, will it too pass?

Other than the above two issues, I could be on this diet for the rest of my life. [/quote]

3575

Hey guys – just wanted to say Thanks to all frequent posters for all their insights. Just finished the thread – took me about 2 weeks, but I started ADing it the second day, so I’m already past the transition week and starting my second carb-up tomorrow. Everything’s going well, I’ll be sure to post a few Qs later, though.

BTW – DH started an AD post over at abcbodybuilding.com, and we’re keeping it alive and have a few people trying it out. That’s actually where I first heard of this thread. Luck to everyone and thanks again!

3576

BTW, do you or do you plan on training with weights at all? I guess I should’ve asked that before.[/quote]

Yeah right now I do:

Sun: Chest
Mon: Back
Tues: cardio
Wed: bi’s/ tri’s
Thurs: shoulders
Fri: cardio
Sat: off

Should I tone it down during the 12 days?

3577

[quote]dunbar wrote:
Should I tone it down during the 12 days?
[/quote]

No, but depending on how hard you train you will probably have the infamous “glycogen depleted where did all my strength go” syndrome starting toward the middle of the second week. Again, temporary. It wll return in spades.

3578

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
dunbar wrote:
Should I tone it down during the 12 days?

No, but depending on how hard you train you will probably have the infamous “glycogen depleted where did all my strength go” syndrome starting toward the middle of the second week. Again, temporary. It wll return in spades.[/quote]

May we ask why no lower body training?

3579

May we ask why no lower body training?
[/quote]

Good question I need to add legs back into my routine, I’ve just been slacking I guess.

3580

Hello,

Like many before me, I’ve been lurking here for about two weeks and finally reached the current posts.
I just wanted to stick my head out and become part of this thread.

I’ve been on the AD for almost two months, but, at first I was following from Dr. D’s book and was making a few mistakes.
After reading 20 or so pages of this thread I realized I was consuming too many carbs during the week. (not counting veggies at all and overall just not watching carbs with a magnifying glass.)

This thread is pure gold as I’m sure you all know, so I won’t waste any more space with nonsense.

Paulv

3581

Another report from an athlete on the diet, I’ve tried playing on carb-up days…not good, too much food in the stomach plus you are like 10 lbs heavier than during the week, again ill say that I’ve had some of my greatest energy have a olive oil shake before a game on friday when I lasted carbed the sat before, now soccer is over, time to gain some size!