My Experience On the Anabolic Diet

Nutrition
4702

[quote]ovalpline wrote:
Whether you are bulking or cutting…

As I am sure you already know, Thib, Dr. D, and Berardi all espouse staying under 10% at all times to maximize muscle gains. From my personal experience, this rings true.

I experienced my best gains after I dropped down to 7-8% BF. I have since dropped down to ~6% BF on the AD and been making slow, steady gains following a more or less maintenance calorie low carb-phase with very high carb totals (1200+ grams), high protein, and low fat over the weekends.

There’s no denying it, you got to eat to gain muscle, and you got to be willing to pack on unwanted pounds if you’re serious about it, but I truly believe that I experience a better muscle:fat gain ratio with a lower BF %. Not to mention the benefits of looking and feeling better, improved confidence, better overall health, and catching lady-friends stealing looks.

I’m also reminded of a saying, “The path of the best ship is rarely a straight line.” I did it, I used a lame proverb to further a point, but it really is relevant. You jut may (and I’m betting on it) end up with more LBM over the next couple of years if you dedicate a couple months to getting leaner. And, of course, there are also those perks I listed above.

Didn’t mean to push my agenda on all you… just a thought… I’m sure you will all reach your goals if you train with intensity and consistency, but do so smartly, and make concerted nutritional choices.

Godspeed.[/quote]

Well my current goal for 3 months is to be down to 8% bodyfat. So by june 11th Ive gotta be 8%, I’ve got several bets on this with my friends too. Shouldnt be too hard, I figure I could get to that in a month, but I talked them into three months. Maybe Ill shoot for more around 6% in three months, as that will be harder. But anyway, Im looking forward to cutting.

Theres always something that I have liked about cutting… maybe its the dicapline required or whatever, but I have always liked it better than bulking.

4703

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
Being that I’ll be 43 on the 17th and am approaching the downhill end of life I doubt that I’ll actually cut until I stop growing. I may piddle around with intake a bit here and there, but I don’t have 20 years left for making gains, at least not optimally and I want to get as big as I can. Sorry for the non answer.[/quote]

You say 43 like it’s old!
You’re still young. Just remember, it’s not just how long you’ve got, but the quality time you spend doing what you love and with those that you love.

4704

the whole 1-2 carbup meals after 2 work outs sounds good to me. A whole day of carbing up leaves me feeling shitting and i get all depressive when im alone. Ive been doin this for almost 8 months now so i think im going to experiment now. Are there any rules that anyone can share while i dedicate myself to this type of carb up

4705

[quote]Cthulhu wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
Being that I’ll be 43 on the 17th and am approaching the downhill end of life I doubt that I’ll actually cut until I stop growing. I may piddle around with intake a bit here and there, but I don’t have 20 years left for making gains, at least not optimally and I want to get as big as I can. Sorry for the non answer.

You say 43 like it’s old!
You’re still young. Just remember, it’s not just how long you’ve got, but the quality time you spend doing what you love and with those that you love.[/quote]

Well, I just mean that those prime years when growing muscle is easiest, years which nowadays are devoted by so many to the rectus abdominus are forever behind me. There are times when I look long faced in the mirror lamenting what could’ve been if I had not wasted my entire 3rd decade plus (and my daughter’s 1st) on alcohol and ice cream, especially when I absolutely knew better.

Your point is well taken though. I’m not quite a geriatric and am growing steadily. My family likes me better conscious too BTW.

I have found a sweet spot where I’m getting bigger, but not fatter. I’m not fat either, my abs, which are actually decent are visible, but pretty blurry. I’ll worry about sharpening up when the gains slow way down.

I also don’t want to give the impression that I think I’m huge, but for a guy who really he believed he was all washed up I am thrilled with my progress and am operating under the “if ain’t broke” paradigm for now.

4706

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
Cthulhu wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
Being that I’ll be 43 on the 17th and am approaching the downhill end of life I doubt that I’ll actually cut until I stop growing. I may piddle around with intake a bit here and there, but I don’t have 20 years left for making gains, at least not optimally and I want to get as big as I can. Sorry for the non answer.

You say 43 like it’s old!
You’re still young. Just remember, it’s not just how long you’ve got, but the quality time you spend doing what you love and with those that you love.

Well, I just mean that those prime years when growing muscle is easiest, years which nowadays are devoted by so many to the rectus abdominus are forever behind me. There are times when I look long faced in the mirror lamenting what could’ve been if I had not wasted my entire 3rd decade plus (and my daughter’s 1st) on alcohol and ice cream, especially when I absolutely knew better.

Your point is well taken though. I’m not quite a geriatric and am growing steadily. My family likes me better conscious too BTW.

I have found a sweet spot where I’m getting bigger, but not fatter. I’m not fat either, my abs, which are actually decent are visible, but pretty blurry. I’ll worry about sharpening up when the gains slow way down.

I also don’t want to give the impression that I think I’m huge, but for a guy who really he believed he was all washed up I am thrilled with my progress and am operating under the “if ain’t broke” paradigm for now.[/quote]

I was actually told by a “strong man” (does strongman competitions) the other day that it was actually toward mid life that he started putting on his “man muscle” (thats what he called it, lol). This guy was in his 40’s and he looked pretty jacked, so I saw no reason not to believe him.

He told me that in his 20’s and early 30’s he always had a hard time putting on muscle but then the muscle started coming in his mid 30’s. I had always been under the impression that younger ppl do have a better chance of putting on muscle… but then again we wouldn’t be seeing all these emo skinny kids in the gym working out every day would we?

So trib, i think the muscle will definently come, maybe even better than when you were younger… but it all depends upon the person I guess. Anyway, just have fun working out, in my opinion thats the whole point of doing it.

4707

Sorry I’ve been asking so many questions lately butttt… I have another one… :-).

Do any of you have much information about the carb/calorie count in flavored coffees? I’m not talking about the stuff that has sugar in it. I’m talking about just regular flavored coffee. For instance my mom gets this cinnamon ginger coffee. I guess the flavor is added to the beans before they are ground. Well thats what she says…

But I’m not so sure if there are hidden carbs in it or not, I know theres no sugar. But its so enjoyable to drink that I don’t know how there couldnt be hidden carbs… lol.

Anyway, do any of you have information on this?

4708

I have to disagree. If you are cutting you don’t need the midweek carbup. Keep your carbups to 24 hours at the maximum. You are defeating the purpose of depleting your glycogen stores by doing so.

4709

[quote]Bizmark wrote:
Just a quick question, but who all is cutting currently? And what are your current strategies for doing so?

I’ve got it down to a 1 day carbload, but I’m not so sure about it. I’m thinking that I may possibly stick with a 2 day, or maybe 36hour. What are your views on this?

I am also toying with going to a NHE type plan. Where I do about 2 carb meals after working out in a Saturday/Wednesday split.

Any ideas or opinions you all may have would be helpful. I’m sure that most anything will work as long as I’m exercising, eating healthy, and eating below maintenance, but I was just wondering what you guys would recommend doing or whatnot. Possibly any vets who have gone through a cutting phase before could shed some light on this.
Thanks

-Biz[/quote]

i will just mention my strategy here now this can be very silly for many but iam going to try this . last 1 month i observed . , what i did i was i did a induction of 14 days again and i lost some weight not like when i did it for the first time but i did lose inches this time his week what iam going to do is …a 5 day spilt and one body part everyday will throw a rest day in the middle . and on sunday will just have 1 huge carb meal as much as i can in 1 sitting , will check then after if i feel weak in the gym then will throw 1 more carb meal maybe on wed basically the NHE plan …but first i will try and stick to just 1 carb meal a week and see what happens . something which coach poliquin also recommends. when april starts i will again do a 14 day induction . iam doing all this because iam now more then a year now on ad so thought to change somethings and see what happens . goal is to get ripped so even if i dont have any strenght gains its fine for me

4710

[quote]raviraj wrote:
i will just mention my strategy here now this can be very silly for many but iam going to try this . last 1 month i observed . , what i did i was i did a induction of 14 days again and i lost some weight not like when i did it for the first time but i did lose inches this time his week what iam going to do is …a 5 day spilt and one body part everyday will throw a rest day in the middle . and on sunday will just have 1 huge carb meal as much as i can in 1 sitting , will check then after if i feel weak in the gym then will throw 1 more carb meal maybe on wed basically the NHE plan …but first i will try and stick to just 1 carb meal a week and see what happens . something which coach poliquin also recommends. when april starts i will again do a 14 day induction . iam doing all this because iam now more then a year now on ad so thought to change somethings and see what happens . goal is to get ripped so even if i dont have any strenght gains its fine for me [/quote]

Ravi, I’ve been meaning to ask how the progress has been coming. Are you getting closer to 7-8%?

4711

Ok, had my first fairly clean carb up over the weekend, and trained chest and tri’s yesterday. I usaully wear a single with a t-shirt andremove the t shirt when I get real sweaty. When I did(which was just after chest), I couldnt believe what I saw and neither could my mates. One of which saw me in a singlet just before the carb up at gym. I had the the best freaking pump and muscles looked super full. I LOVE THIS DIET!! thanks! Now, I have to decide whether to gain some more or cut. If I keep my cals the same(maintainence) will I change body comp, ie lose fat and gain muscle at a slower rate?

4712

No offense, guys, but I gotta say this diet has been very easy. I am from the “old school” of low-carb diets - Bodyopus and CKDs where you were allowed ZERO grams of carbs during the week.

The food selection is endless. No ketogenic mind funk. No loss of strength. Just good eating and steady energy. Never thought I’d be on a “diet” where I could eat butter on brocolli and full-fat dressing on my romaine.

I did a one-day carb-up on Saturday. Had 500 grams of carbs including a large stack of buckwheat pancakes w/maple syrup and blackberries, TCBY frozen yogurt with hot fudge, and a huge bowl of oatmeal w/brown sugar. No GI distress at all. I also didn’t get the “carb sleepies.” It was nice to see my bicep and forearm veins return.

This week I dropped cals to hit 2 lbs. of fat loss per week. Since I ate a moderate carb diet for months (100-200 gms.), the transition has been smooth as silk for me. (I did have those nasty flu-like symptoms for days 2-5, though.) I think I was genetically wired to eat like this.

4713

[quote]ovalpline wrote:
raviraj wrote:
i will just mention my strategy here now this can be very silly for many but iam going to try this . last 1 month i observed . , what i did i was i did a induction of 14 days again and i lost some weight not like when i did it for the first time but i did lose inches this time his week what iam going to do is …a 5 day spilt and one body part everyday will throw a rest day in the middle . and on sunday will just have 1 huge carb meal as much as i can in 1 sitting , will check then after if i feel weak in the gym then will throw 1 more carb meal maybe on wed basically the NHE plan …but first i will try and stick to just 1 carb meal a week and see what happens . something which coach poliquin also recommends. when april starts i will again do a 14 day induction . iam doing all this because iam now more then a year now on ad so thought to change somethings and see what happens . goal is to get ripped so even if i dont have any strenght gains its fine for me

Ravi, I’ve been meaning to ask how the progress has been coming. Are you getting closer to 7-8%?[/quote]

ovalpline i started bodybuilding with 34% bodyfat with 122kgs now iam somewhere to 14%bodyfat so i think iam moving towards lower range iam 14 months old in bodybuilding and on the ad for past 1 year this is the pic …before i started bodybuilding so u can have a rough idea on my progress

4714

[quote]ovalpline wrote:
raviraj wrote:
i will just mention my strategy here now this can be very silly for many but iam going to try this . last 1 month i observed . , what i did i was i did a induction of 14 days again and i lost some weight not like when i did it for the first time but i did lose inches this time his week what iam going to do is …a 5 day spilt and one body part everyday will throw a rest day in the middle . and on sunday will just have 1 huge carb meal as much as i can in 1 sitting , will check then after if i feel weak in the gym then will throw 1 more carb meal maybe on wed basically the NHE plan …but first i will try and stick to just 1 carb meal a week and see what happens . something which coach poliquin also recommends. when april starts i will again do a 14 day induction . iam doing all this because iam now more then a year now on ad so thought to change somethings and see what happens . goal is to get ripped so even if i dont have any strenght gains its fine for me

Ravi, I’ve been meaning to ask how the progress has been coming. Are you getting closer to 7-8%?[/quote]

and this now how i look this pic is a month old i had previously posted this on the thread …pls free to give me some suggestions or anything u feel like which can take me to the 7 to 8% bodyfat range faster thanx in advance looking forward to hear from u

4715

apart from losing a decent amount of body fat …the drmatic changes were in my skin my skin became a lot better hair fall was slow …but after the ad style eating it stopped , blemishes on the skin went away , energy was great and i had tooth ache problems which drmatically vanished . so in short for me the ad diet gave me many more benfits other then fat loss.

4716

Looking good bro…keep up the work!

4717

OK…I started the AD yesterday after reading the Anabolic Solution book, reading much of this thread, and taking tons of notes. I don’t miss the carbs (I only ate about 212g of carbs per day before), but then again it’s only been one day. The book says not to change calories for the first 12 days (from what I was eating before).

So, I replaced the carb calories with fat calories. The book also says that you should never be hungry. Does this apply to the initial 12-day period, too? I find myself getting hungry an hour or so after breakfast and again in the evening.

My calories are almost exactly what they were before, but more evenly distributed throughout the day, so my breakfast is actually a bit bigger when it comes to total calories. Is it OK to have a couple ounces of cheese or something when I get hungry during this phase?

Thanks,
Mike

4718

Mike,

Yes you are correct in all your observations.
Don’t allow yourslef to get hungry -no reason to. Cheese works well to abate hunger as do walnuts, filberts and almonds. The fiber content balances/cancels the impact of the carbs so no worries!

Try snacking throughout the day as needed and some cottage cheese before bed works well too.

Keep us posted!

peace

[quote]storemike wrote:
OK…I started the AD yesterday after reading the Anabolic Solution book, reading much of this thread, and taking tons of notes. I don’t miss the carbs (I only ate about 212g of carbs per day before), but then again it’s only been one day. The book says not to change calories for the first 12 days (from what I was eating before).

So, I replaced the carb calories with fat calories. The book also says that you should never be hungry. Does this apply to the initial 12-day period, too? I find myself getting hungry an hour or so after breakfast and again in the evening.

My calories are almost exactly what they were before, but more evenly distributed throughout the day, so my breakfast is acutally a bit bigger when it comes to total calories. Is it OK to have a couple ounces of cheese or something when I get hungry during this phase?

Thanks,
Mike[/quote]

4719

[quote]storemike wrote:
OK…I started the AD yesterday after reading the Anabolic Solution book, reading much of this thread, and taking tons of notes. I don’t miss the carbs (I only ate about 212g of carbs per day before), but then again it’s only been one day. The book says not to change calories for the first 12 days (from what I was eating before).

So, I replaced the carb calories with fat calories. The book also says that you should never be hungry. Does this apply to the initial 12-day period, too? I find myself getting hungry an hour or so after breakfast and again in the evening.

My calories are almost exactly what they were before, but more evenly distributed throughout the day, so my breakfast is actually a bit bigger when it comes to total calories. Is it OK to have a couple ounces of cheese or something when I get hungry during this phase?

Thanks,
Mike[/quote]

Eat as much cheese as you want man… just make sure its the 0g carbs kind.

4720

Thanks again, Pauli. I’m allergic to nuts, so I’ll stick with cheese, which happens to be one of my favorite foods anyway.

Mike

[quote]Pauli D wrote:
Mike,

Yes you are correct in all your observations.
Don’t allow yourslef to get hungry -no reason to. Cheese works well to abate hunger as do walnuts, filberts and almonds. The fiber content balances/cancels the impact of the carbs so no worries!

Try snacking throughout the day as needed and some cottage cheese before bed works well too.

Keep us posted!

peace
[/quote]

4721

Hey guys… next time someone tries to talk bad about the AD just refer them to this article.

And then laugh at them a few months later when they lose all their muscle while dieting and you maintain it.