My Experience On the Anabolic Diet

Nutrition
4522

[quote]IrishMarc wrote:
Whats up guys started this diet on Monday and I must say its dammed tasty!

I just came off the V-Diet last week and I feel this would be a nice natural progressing to bulk up a bit without throwing on a ton of fat.

I am currently weighing 200lbs @ 10%bf

What I ate yesterday -

400g Burger meat (handful of spinach)
1 - Whey Shake (low carb)
350g Grill Steak - 3eggs (handful of spinach)
1 - Whey Shake (low carb)
3 Small steaks - 3 eggs (handful of spinach)
2 gammon steaks (250g) 3eggs (handful of spinach)

Any ideas of things to add take away, I’m curious on how you guys have found the calorie intake on this diet, I’m going to add in 2 tablespoons of flax into each shake to meet fiber and Omega Demands.

Any ideas as to any nice oils I could drizzle onto meals (currently using olive oil) [/quote]

Start getting into some cheese barring you have no allergies to it. Cheese is a smokin source of fats and will really help you send you body the message that it’s fat time.

Also explore the wonders of low CHO sausage (really look at the label, people put all kinds of sugar and monkey dick bullshit in these) just bafore bedtime. A sausage and spinach salad with EV Olive Oil will ensure you are N+ during the whole night. You will likely wake up not hungry.

remember avocados, they make your wee wee bigger, but none of us have to worry about that of course. I’m just putting it out there, so to speak. Have fun eating while i go tell everyone that i’m NOT hung like an infant. Or at least I won’t be after my avocado binge.

-chris

4523

How many of my fellow ADer’s use BCAA? If so, what do you think about this “BCAA, unlike other amino acids, are used to provide energy.” and AD lifestyle? Any comments on energy source as fat on AD and BCAA interference?

As for me, i would always like to use fat as energy source, whenever possible, to promote positive body comp changes. I am wondering how BCAA fits into AD lifestyle. I am thinking about using it as an anticatabolic agent during intense cardio (hiking) that last about 4 hours. Thanks everyone

4524

[quote]SilentQuest wrote:
How many of my fellow ADer’s use BCAA? If so, what do you think about this “BCAA, unlike other amino acids, are used to provide energy.” and AD lifestyle? Any comments on energy source as fat on AD and BCAA interference?

As for me, i would always like to use fat as energy source, whenever possible, to promote positive body comp changes. I am wondering how BCAA fits into AD lifestyle. I am thinking about using it as an anticatabolic agent during intense cardio (hiking) that last about 4 hours. Thanks everyone[/quote]

I’ve tried BCAAs…can’t say I’m a big advocate though. At least not while utilizing the AD.
And when I say “try” -I mean four 6 tablet servings of Biotest’s BCAAs per day for 6 weeks.

I even “tried” CT’s protocol of creatine, BCAAs, glutamine and glycerol, 4-5 servings a day for 6 weeks…nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary anyway -and certainly no where close to AAS type results (as some have claimed).

Don’t get me wrong…I’ve made gains -nice gains too. But those gains were from hard work and a lot of AD style eating…nothing more -nothing less.

As an aside, red meat is an excellent source of BCAAs…

Got Steak?

:wink:
peace

4525

[quote]Stingblood wrote:
Hello guys!

I have a problem with snacks at 9:00 am and 15:00 pm I don’t know what to eat without shocking my colleagues at work (I mean without taking out of my bag a piece of steak or cheese) this is kind of problematic with this diet even if for the lunch at restaurant I can still follow the AD protocol ba taking a steak with some veggies…so if anyone has a solution…I would appreciate (maybe some high protein high FAT low carb bars would be Fucking crazy!!!)

Thanks![/quote]

Hi,

I think I may have a solution, taking two of these bars http://www.netrition.com/iss_oh_yeah_wafer_bars.html

and one of this and this sums up to 30g protein with 42g of fat with 1g sugar and 14 g of fber…AMAZING not? What do you think of Palm oil (I found that it is 50% satured fat, 40% mono and 10% poly…what do you think guys do these bars respect AD protocol in terms of quality fats??? Opinions are welcome!

Thanks…rocking Thread!

4526

[quote]Stingblood wrote:
Stingblood wrote:
Hello guys!

I have a problem with snacks at 9:00 am and 15:00 pm I don’t know what to eat without shocking my colleagues at work (I mean without taking out of my bag a piece of steak or cheese) this is kind of problematic with this diet even if for the lunch at restaurant I can still follow the AD protocol ba taking a steak with some veggies…so if anyone has a solution…I would appreciate (maybe some high protein high FAT low carb bars would be Fucking crazy!!!)

Thanks!

Hi,

I think I may have a solution, taking two of these bars http://www.netrition.com/iss_oh_yeah_wafer_bars.html

and one of this and this sums up to 30g protein with 42g of fat with 1g sugar and 14 g of fber…AMAZING not? What do you think of Palm oil (I found that it is 50% satured fat, 40% mono and 10% poly…what do you think guys do these bars respect AD protocol in terms of quality fats??? Opinions are welcome!

Thanks…rocking Thread!
[/quote]

ofcourse palm oil is good . but still i bet more on olive oil thts allways a better choice …just pls try and keep those vegetables oil like sunflowers corn and soyabean oil to minimum they r the ones who give ur heart a lot of problems because they get rancid very fast

4527

[quote]realpeanutbutter wrote:
josh.shafer wrote:
Hello _kitty wrote:
Guys,

Just wanted to share with you this wonderful product I bought yesterday. It’s cod livers in cod liver oil. It’s a Russian thing (I remembered it from my childhood when we used to spread it on bread like pate)and sold in Russian shops. Maybe you have a small community where you live. We have two of these shops in London.

It’s pure Omega 3. Few tablespoons and you’re not hungry. Maybe it’s not everyone’s thing but I love the taste, it’s very mild and not too fishy.

Good point. I’ve been using cod liver oil since I started on the diet. It’s very potent in EPA/DHA and like $6 a bottle. I take 7 teaspoons a day to get my 6gs of EPA/DHA per day. Great for the joints, heart health, and supposedly metabolism.

I know it’s easy and I know it’s cheap but…

Beware the vitamin D content of the liver oil. I doubt you need as much Vit D as you are getting and in that case it tends to accumulate in your liver. this can cause all types of problems including liver cancer. A good replacement is omega 3 fish oil. Has none of the vit D and even better concentration of EPA/DHA.

-chris[/quote]

Chris,
Thanks for the heads up. I knew about the vit. d, but I had no idea the side effects were that severe. Thanks again!

4528

Thx Pauli D; I am surprise to see that not too many are taking bcaa, judging from the lack of response?

I originally asked CT in his thread regarding how to go about limiting catabolism during long duration of high intensity activity such as hiking for about 4 hours, while living the AD life. He suggested that AD lifestyle can bring about catabolism relatively quickly (due to depletion) and to try out small amounts of bcaa, glutamine and whey combo every hour or so duration of the activity, which made sense to me. Then it got me thinking about how bcaa can act as an energy source and how that might look in general AD lifestyle regardless of intense activity…
anyway, thanks for sharing your exp.

[quote]Pauli D wrote:
SilentQuest wrote:
How many of my fellow ADer’s use BCAA? If so, what do you think about this “BCAA, unlike other amino acids, are used to provide energy.” and AD lifestyle? Any comments on energy source as fat on AD and BCAA interference?

As for me, i would always like to use fat as energy source, whenever possible, to promote positive body comp changes. I am wondering how BCAA fits into AD lifestyle. I am thinking about using it as an anticatabolic agent during intense cardio (hiking) that last about 4 hours. Thanks everyone

I’ve tried BCAAs…can’t say I’m a big advocate though. At least not while utilizing the AD.
And when I say “try” -I mean four 6 tablet servings of Biotest’s BCAAs per day for 6 weeks.

I even “tried” CT’s protocol of creatine, BCAAs, glutamine and glycerol, 4-5 servings a day for 6 weeks…nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary anyway -and certainly no where close to AAS type results (as some have claimed).

Don’t get me wrong…I’ve made gains -nice gains too. But those gains were from hard work and a lot of AD style eating…nothing more -nothing less.

As an aside, red meat is an excellent source of BCAAs…

Got Steak?

:wink:
peace [/quote]

4529

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve noticed some sensitivity to wheat and, to a lesser extent, oats. Symptoms tend to include: (1) spaced out/drugged out feeling (2) gastro-intestinal distress that continues for days after consumption (3) fat gain.

After doing some research on the topic, I’ve been following a gluten-free diet, having eliminated wheat, rye, barley, and oats (although I understand oats are less of an irritant… still, I’ve eliminated them to be on the safe side). The elimination of said foods has eliminated all the symptoms, so I’d say I found the culprit.

Obviously, eliminating these foods limits my carb sources significantly and inconveniently. To get a better feel for alternate carb sources, I looked in to Thib’s and Berardi’s recommendations. Interestingly, neither of them include wheat, barley, and rye (although they do include oats… again, oats tend to be a less of an irritant).

There definitely had to be a reason as to why wheat, rye, and barley were not included on the list of recommended carbs, so I queried Thib. Below is the exchange.

ovalpline wrote:
Christian,

I’ve noticed that both you and Dr. Berardi recommend starchy carb sources that don’t contain wheat (rice, sweet potatoes, oats, etc). Interestingly, I have noticed that my body doesn’t seem to handle wheat very well (intestinal distress and even weight gain)… something I attribute to a sensitivity to gluten.

Lately I’ve been reading that a majority of people have some issues with gluten, albeit to varying degrees. Is this the reason why you omit wheat products when you are recommending starchy carb sources?

  • Stu

Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

Gluten, acidity levels, rate of absorption and insulinemic responses are all part of the reason for dropping wheat products as much as possible.

So there you have it. Wheat sucks. No, I kid. I just wanted to share this with you and suggest that you all give a carb-load minus wheat, rye, and barley a try.

Let me know about your experiences.

4530

Interesting things you learn while on these freak diets…

One thing I just realized: I really love high-fat foods. I always craved carb-based foods (or so I thought), but the carbs I’ve craved have always also had a very high fat content (pizza, cheese sticks, cheese and crackers, cake, etc.)

I’d much rather eat a crispy strip of bacon with a hunk of cheddar on top than cheese and crackers – though before bread and cheese or cheese and crackers was something I majorly craved. Now I realize it was the cheeze I was after.

All this time I’ve really been craving fats. Who knew?

When eating isocalorically, I’d have to curtail my intake of things like avocados, nuts, etc. Now I have 800-1000 free calories available. So I get to eat all the pecans, almonds, macadamias, and avocados I want.

I’m on day 5 and loving the new eating habits. Today I ate chicken w/caesar dressing smeared all over it and loved it.

What a life.

4531

[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Interesting things you learn while on these freak diets…

One thing I just realized: I really love high-fat foods. I always craved carb-based foods (or so I thought), but the carbs I’ve craved have always also had a very high fat content (pizza, cheese sticks, cheese and crackers, cake, etc.)

I’d much rather eat a crispy strip of bacon with a hunk of cheddar on top than cheese and crackers – though before bread and cheese or cheese and crackers was something I majorly craved. Now I realize it was the cheeze I was after.

All this time I’ve really been craving fats. Who knew?

When eating isocalorically, I’d have to curtail my intake of things like avocados, nuts, etc. Now I have 800-1000 free calories available. So I get to eat all the pecans, almonds, macadamias, and avocados I want.

I’m on day 5 and loving the new eating habits. Today I ate chicken w/caesar dressing smeared all over it and loved it.

What a life.[/quote]

Ain’t it the truth…and addictive, too. :wink:

4532

I think BCAAs may have their place. I also think that ‘place’ is probably a bit more limited for one utilizing the AD protocol.

If one were dieting hard for instance. BCAAs may be helpful in that case -even though most (CT included) would agree that the AD is likely the most muscle sparing dieting protocol there is.

As for energy production though?
I’m not convinced. The studies I’ve seen don’t show that to be the case conclusively -barely anecdotally really.
And afterall…if it’s energy we’re after -we certainly have better, healthier and tastier choices -right?

Disc Hoss (et al) have stated that BCAAs peri-workout lessen DOMS -that very well may be. Although I’ve never experienced a difference myself.

peace

[quote]SilentQuest wrote:
Thx Pauli D; I am surprise to see that not too many are taking bcaa, judging from the lack of response?

I originally asked CT in his thread regarding how to go about limiting catabolism during long duration of high intensity activity such as hiking for about 4 hours, while living the AD life. He suggested that AD lifestyle can bring about catabolism relatively quickly (due to depletion) and to try out small amounts of bcaa, glutamine and whey combo every hour or so duration of the activity, which made sense to me. Then it got me thinking about how bcaa can act as an energy source and how that might look in general AD lifestyle regardless of intense activity…
anyway, thanks for sharing your exp.
[/quote]

4533

Yesterday (day 4) I woke up feeling like I had the flu. Felt like crap today, too. Anyone else go through this? Is this a sign I’ve made the “shift”?

Also, where does the 12 days number come from? I’ve read the AD book and don’t see it mentioned in there.

4534

[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Yesterday (day 4) I woke up feeling like I had the flu. Felt like crap today, too. Anyone else go through this? Is this a sign I’ve made the “shift”?

Also, where does the 12 days number come from? I’ve read the AD book and don’t see it mentioned in there.[/quote]

Its in the new one, message me ur e-mail address and Ill send it to you.

4535

Because of this thread, and the help of the very cool members who sent me the ebook, I am going to give this diet a shot.

I have done Atkins and South Beach before, and while they did cut me up the catabolic nature of ketosis and the loss of functional strength always made me go back to carb filled eating.

So tomorrow is day one on the diet for me.

BTW, I never saw this question on here yet…what about creatine on the AD? Is it pointless without the sugar?

4536

[quote]effinggoof wrote:
BTW, I never saw this question on here yet…what about creatine on the AD? Is it pointless without the sugar?[/quote]

You don’t need an insulin spike for creatine to work.

4537

Oval’s comments about hiking have me thinking. I’ve been doing the AD for a while now, and enjoying the lifestyle.

That being said, I’m planning on a road trip through the southwest at the beginning of this summer, and I’m going to be doing a LOT of hiking (like 8+ hours a day for a number of days in a row). Am I setting myself up for disaster with the AD and long hiking?

I’ve started adding in some cardio every day to prepare myself for it. My plan is to start this week with 10 mins of jogging or biking a day, then add time until I’ve developed a really high work capacity. Do you think this is the best way to get ready for this kind of activity?

I also do regulary hiking in 3 or 4 hour sessions, but I’ve never really considered it exercise.

4538

The subject of hiking really gets my attention, too. Every spring, summer, and fall, I spend at least a couple days a week on long hikes, some lasting 10-12 hours. I have always eaten plenty to stave off catabolism, and this last summer even ate low carb. I think that if you keep your calories up, you will probably be alright, but still, I wonder.

If it is only one day a week you could carb up during the hike, and make sure that you carb up really well afterward. The terrain around where I live is very steep, as they are very young mountains geologically speaking. This makes for some pretty intense hiking.

I like the idea of shakes every hour or so, but then you would have to make sure they were zero carb shakes since you were having so many.

Those are just some of my thoughts. I’d be very interested in hearing the thoughts of others.

4539

Hey guys, I started the Anabolic diet this week, and feel great on it! On my prevoius diet I found that I got better results when increasing the fats, and decreasing the carbs, so I figured this diet mite suite my body type better.

For the last 5 or so weeks I was away for work, I had dropped my carbs a far bit, to around 120 g/day,High Pro, moderat fats with 1 carb up day while I was away. This is the 1st week I have actually bumped the fats right up, and the carbs down because I have more control over my diet now.

How essential is it that I stay on it for 12 days before my 1st carb up considering I had started dropping the carbs earlier?? Will it hurt if I carbed up this weekend?

Thanks

4540

[quote]Gymjunkie wrote:
Hey guys, I started the Anabolic diet this week, and feel great on it! On my prevoius diet I found that I got better results when increasing the fats, and decreasing the carbs, so I figured this diet mite suite my body type better.

For the last 5 or so weeks I was away for work, I had dropped my carbs a far bit, to around 120 g/day,High Pro, moderat fats with 1 carb up day while I was away. This is the 1st week I have actually bumped the fats right up, and the carbs down because I have more control over my diet now.

How essential is it that I stay on it for 12 days before my 1st carb up considering I had started dropping the carbs earlier?? Will it hurt if I carbed up this weekend?

Thanks[/quote]

The book actually says 12 days is the best amount of time to make sure your body has made the switch for sure, 5 days is enough time.and inface the older versions of the book didnt have th 12days so it might be ok to do that…personally i did the 12 and seems to work.

4541

Hey guys, I finished reading Natural Hormonal Enhancement. here is the sum up of it that I posted on another thread, the NHE eating plan might actually be exactly what you hikers are looking for… here it is:

I just got done reading Natural Hormonal Enhancement by Rob Faigin, and unlike the AD he recommends taking 7 days to transition to fat burning rather than 12.

After the transition he says to cycle carbs in a 3/4 split. So you go 3 days 30g carbs and then on the third day after working out u have a starchy carb meal (or for us guys who workout hardcore you have two starchy carb meals). Then you go 4 days 30g carbs and have a starchy carb meal after working out on the 4th day. Then 3, then 4, etc…

This way appeals to me WAY more than the AD. One because it seems that my muscles only become depleted of carbs after 4 days of 30g CHO. So this means my muscles will look fuller longer… And two because I hate carbloading a full day. Its almost one of the worst experiences I’ve ever gone through. Tho it has gotten way better now, I still don’t like it.

So I’m thinking this may be in the middle of a CKD and TKD. And I’m definently going to be trying it within the next few months, but currently I’m sticking with the AD to see what unfolds. So far I’ve lost fat and gained muscle, so when results stagnate thats when I’ll make the change.

Also if your wondering how credible Rob Faigin is he has about 50 references to studies at the end of every single chapter in Natural Hormonal Enhancement, and most of the studies listed are based on humans. So he has done his homework. Anyway I think his eating plan is a good one which I’m looking forward to trying.

I also read alot of Vince Gironda’s stuff and Gironda did the high fat low carb thing for an extra long time, and he recommends eating almost exactly how faigin recommends, just without all the studies listed after each chapter as his ideas were based on observations not actual scientific studies like nowadays.

Sooo there it is…