My Experience On the Anabolic Diet

Nutrition
6062

I gotcha, that makes sense, thanks Miserere for the insight, much appreciated.

[quote]Miserere wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:
My question is: would anyone recommend the AD for fat/weight loss?

Jen Heath, T-Nation author and natural bodybuilder uses the AD to diet for contests.

And remember that Dr Di Pasquale created this diet to help bodybuilders get in the best possible shape come contest day. It’s both a mass-gaining and fat-losing diet; you just have to tweak calories to be in one state or the other.[/quote]

6063

[quote]raviraj wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:
I’ve been on the AD for 2 weeks now. About 3 days in, my body just shut down and my workouts sucked (I’m assuming from the low-carbs), but I’ve recovered and am doing much better now.

My question is: would anyone recommend the AD for fat/weight loss? I’m trying to lose a significant amount of weight, and have lost 22 pounds so far just by cleaning up my diet and exercising hard. I know that essentially your body goes from burning carbs to burning fat, because the carbs are low and that you start to burn fat after a certain amount of time, but would this be recommended for a long-term solution to losing weight?

Any feedback would be much appreicated.

more then anything this was a diet mainly made for fat loss and preserve lean mass while doing so u are on the right track dont worry give it a shot[/quote]

Sounds good raviraj, it’s been working good for me so far, have a long ways to go, but gotta start somewhere.

6064

[quote]Brant_Drake wrote:
raviraj wrote:
more then anything this was a diet mainly made for fat loss and preserve lean mass while doing so u are on the right track dont worry give it a shot

I know this is a minor detail, but I think it needs to be restated. This diet was made as a muscle-GAINING diet, while simultaneously keeping fat gain to a minimum. It still is a very effective weight-loss tool, but that is not its intended purpose.

/anal semantic nitpicking[/quote]

u know in a way i have to agree with u because iam eating this way for last 1 and a half year and made my best ever gains on size and strenght …so people who say low carbs are not good for size they are totally wrong u can on this diet with much more ease then the carb diet …and anyway eating butter, and some really fatty stuff and gaining and yet at the same time not getting bloated is something we all want and this style of eating gives that :)lower the cals and u have a nice steady fat loss up the cals and ur gaining quality lean mass both way it is helpfull regardless of what the dr actually made it for :):):slight_smile:

6065

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
raviraj wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:
I’ve been on the AD for 2 weeks now. About 3 days in, my body just shut down and my workouts sucked (I’m assuming from the low-carbs), but I’ve recovered and am doing much better now.

My question is: would anyone recommend the AD for fat/weight loss? I’m trying to lose a significant amount of weight, and have lost 22 pounds so far just by cleaning up my diet and exercising hard. I know that essentially your body goes from burning carbs to burning fat, because the carbs are low and that you start to burn fat after a certain amount of time, but would this be recommended for a long-term solution to losing weight?

Any feedback would be much appreicated.

more then anything this was a diet mainly made for fat loss and preserve lean mass while doing so u are on the right track dont worry give it a shot

Sounds good raviraj, it’s been working good for me so far, have a long ways to go, but gotta start somewhere.[/quote] i would also sugegst you to go for 24 hour carb load if u need to loss fat fast …in that 24 hours keep your first 2 or 3 meals liquid with simple carbs and protien shake and rest with complex stuff like brown rice , yams and so on in my expereince i lost fat more …when i just did 3 meals on low carb days …instead of 6meals. somewhere we need to stop some fat comming in the body from foods so the body can tap the stored body fat …and it can be done by eating 3 meals and dont worry abt lean mass loss it wont happen belive me i did that and i dint lose anything other then fat . infact i became more vascular …

and i can say that because …u can see my profile this is how i look now 88kgs …and i came to this weight from 122kgs where i was fat and obese …but to switich on 3 meals …first prime urself really well maybe some good months …and iam doing it now after eating this style for last 1 and a half year. this stlye of eating will surely improve you body comp more faster and without pains and most imp preserving your hard earned lean mass

6066

I know I said that I wasn’t posting on these forums again but when I saw this I figured it was too important not to post… especially now when everyone is on the “carbs and protein” post workout bandwagon.

www.metabolicdiet.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=931

Dr. DiPasquale shoots down the idea that carbs are needed post workout. He say’s its even counterproductive. He adds a little supplement promotion in the end, but the studies he includes check out, so it’s not like hes just promoting his supplement.

Oh yeah, and sorry if someone already posted this, I haven’t been following the forums much.

6067

[quote]raviraj wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:
raviraj wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:

i would also sugegst you to go for 24 hour carb load if u need to loss fat fast …in that 24 hours keep your first 2 or 3 meals liquid with simple carbs and protien shake and rest with complex stuff like brown rice , yams and so on in my expereince i lost fat more …when i just did 3 meals on low carb days …instead of 6meals. somewhere we need to stop some fat comming in the body from foods so the body can tap the stored body fat …and it can be done by eating 3 meals and dont worry abt lean mass loss it wont happen belive me i did that and i dint lose anything other then fat . infact i became more vascular …

and i can say that because …u can see my profile this is how i look now 88kgs …and i came to this weight from 122kgs where i was fat and obese …but to switich on 3 meals …first prime urself really well maybe some good months …and iam doing it now after eating this style for last 1 and a half year. this stlye of eating will surely improve you body comp more faster and without pains and most imp preserving your hard earned lean mass

[/quote]

Hey raviraj, when you say 3 meals instead of 6, do you mean just eat 3 whole meals without protein shakes in between the meals, or maybe have 2 food meals and 1 meal that is a protein shake? Are you saying for low-carb days, just have 3 meals total?

Solid advice bro, thanks greatly.

6068

Hi all… just thought I’d chime in with my experience on the AD… This nutrition plan is the easiest and most effective that I have tried… Going into week 6 I have lost fat and gotten stronger WITHOUT counting calories and just eating instinctually… I;ve been working out and experimenting with food plans for 14 years now and this is the easiest and most enjoyable plan for sure…

I like looking forward to eating carbs every weekend and not counting calories is great for me… I’ve been losing fat good on a 24 hour carb load regimine, which has included evrything from fruits and veg to ice cream and cookies. I repeatedly amazed every weekend when I pound back the food and wake up the next day tighter and leaner… its like a dream you know? FYI my typical weekday:

  1. eggs/mushroom/onion/pepper/cheese/bacon or ham/fish oil and greens+
    (at work over 8-12 hour period:
  2. any combo of: beef burgers or chicken burger/greek salad/pepperoni/celery/almonds or cashews/coffee with cream/cheese/any other meat or fish/fish oil caps/diet pop/lots of water/jerky/etc…
  3. dinner: big salad of organic greens and cesar or olive oil dressing OR steamed broccoli or asparagus
    whatever meat/fish/smokies I got in fridge/more fish oil/ground flax

Weekend carb load:
WHATEVER, but at least 5 fruits servings/1 loaf grain bread/greens+ and fish oils/cake or cookies whatever comes my way/its eat out day:) eg: today I’ll hit the fruits and have a loaf of grain bread with honey and PB, then get with some friends tonight for poker and eat whatever junk they have there…

I always get 25-30g fish oil every day and a serving of greens+ with a multivitamin or 2 for good luck. Also, ground flax and 5-8 servings of veg during the week keep everything flowing good. In 5 weeks I’m down 5mm off the ab caliper fat measurement but sitting at the same weight (205) as when I started… It feels SO DAMN GOOD to go to the beach and my buddies girlfriend says I look leaner than when she saw me last month- and I’m eating JUNK! (on top of all the healthy foods of course)

Training: Mostly bodyweight stuff now to keep healthy joints and high metabolism… I just do what I feel needs to be done- lots of chins, dips, pushups,squats,deads,etc and all as fast as possible with as little rest as possible… oh yeah, and for all the haters out there- I’m getting stronger working out on an EMPTY STOMACH in morning and NOT EATING for an hour afterwards… I’m a big Art DEvany fan so maybe thats where it comes in… and NO PROTEIN POWDER. so thats just my experience, hope it helps!

6069

[quote]Bizmark wrote:
I know I said that I wasn’t posting on these forums again but when I saw this I figured it was too important not to post… especially now when everyone is on the “carbs and protein” post workout bandwagon.

www.metabolicdiet.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=931

Dr. DiPasquale shoots down the idea that carbs are needed post workout. He say’s its even counterproductive. He adds a little supplement promotion in the end, but the studies he includes check out, so it’s not like hes just promoting his supplement.

Oh yeah, and sorry if someone already posted this, I haven’t been following the forums much.[/quote]

Bump this post. I mentioned this a few pages ago, but I couldn’t remember where the link was to the Docs article.

6070

Hey, thanks to peteman and everyone else who keeps posting their success stories. Please keep 'em coming. Like someone else has said before, the thread is titled the “experience” on the anabolic diet and I can’t get enough.

It’s motivational and it makes it easier to stick it out (especially this transition phase).

6071

Jen Heath has a thread on the MWA site “The Anabolic Diet: Its a Lifestyle”.

I am confused because over there they are saying to do the induction phase at
10 or 12 x bodyweight for fat loss
18 x bodyweight for maintenance

and this during the induction phase.

Over here you are saying don’t worry about calories during the induction phase.

I am on my 7th day and I spent those days not counting calories so I don’t know if I have done the first 7 days wrong.

I also have a question about nuts, they have carbs but they also have dietary fiber, is that the same as insoluble fiber and can I subtract that from the total carbs?

Any help would be appreciated.

6072

[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:
Jen Heath has a thread on the MWA site “The Anabolic Diet: Its a Lifestyle”.

I am confused because over there they are saying to do the induction phase at
10 or 12 x bodyweight for fat loss
18 x bodyweight for maintenance

and this during the induction phase.

Over here you are saying don’t worry about calories during the induction phase.

I am on my 7th day and I spent those days not counting calories so I don’t know if I have done the first 7 days wrong.

I also have a question about nuts, they have carbs but they also have dietary fiber, is that the same as insoluble fiber and can I subtract that from the total carbs?

Any help would be appreciated.[/quote]

Hi Octobergirl, in my opinion whether you count calories or not depends on what kind of person you are: instinct or mental, you know? I have counted and not counted and I prefer to just listen to my body and eat when it tells me to. That is, I don’t let myself go hungry and I eat until comfortably full… the induction phase is meant to kick start your body into LEARNING to burn fat: ie: force it to create the enzymeatic(sp?) pathways to utilize fat efficiently by depriving the body of carbs. So the only thing I count is carbs, and I’ve been doing it so long now I just know all the foods I eat or read the label. NO fibre does NOT count towards your 30 grams. To tell the truth, I am probably in the 40-50g range for carbs during the week with all the nuts and veggies I have…its all an individual thing I guess.

But I’m like Christian Thibideau: I don’t worry about counting green veggies AT ALL for carb intake ie: spinach,celery,asparagus,broccoli, etc… you need to incorporate this stuff for sure…

Things like pepperoni, ham, sausage and burgers can be deceiving though, like 5 grams carbs per burger when you eat 6 in a day that could be a problem:)

Summary: count carbs, not fibre…eat protein every meal…eat ample fats every meal…eat plenty of veggies…eat ground flax (ZERO net carbs) and if you feel tired then either a: take a nap or b: eat some fat for crying out loud! :slight_smile:

This is all just IMO

Take care and be consistent,
Pete

6073

One more thing Octobergirl…

IMO any fibre doesnt count towards carbs… if you feel fine the first 7 days then you’re doing great, I just don;t think you have to chart out your calories if you have enough experience with living a fit lifestyle and eating healthy, you know? Let the AD work its magic over TIME and adopt it as a new LIFESTYLE:)

6074

[quote]Peteman wrote:
Hi Octobergirl, in my opinion whether you count calories or not depends on what kind of person you are: instinct or mental, you know? I have counted and not counted and I prefer to just listen to my body and eat when it tells me to. That is, I don’t let myself go hungry and I eat until comfortably full… the induction phase is meant to kick start your body into LEARNING to burn fat: ie: force it to create the enzymeatic(sp?) pathways to utilize fat efficiently by depriving the body of carbs.

So the only thing I count is carbs, and I’ve been doing it so long now I just know all the foods I eat or read the label. NO fibre does NOT count towards your 30 grams. To tell the truth, I am probably in the 40-50g range for carbs during the week with all the nuts and veggies I have…its all an individual thing I guess.

But I’m like Christian Thibideau: I don’t worry about counting green veggies AT ALL for carb intake ie: spinach,celery,asparagus,broccoli, etc… you need to incorporate this stuff for sure…

Things like pepperoni, ham, sausage and burgers can be deceiving though, like 5 grams carbs per burger when you eat 6 in a day that could be a problem:)

Summary: count carbs, not fibre…eat protein every meal…eat ample fats every meal…eat plenty of veggies…eat ground flax (ZERO net carbs) and if you feel tired then either a: take a nap or b: eat some fat for crying out loud! :slight_smile:

This is all just IMO

Take care and be consistent,
Pete[/quote]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the tips. This has been the easiest way of eating I have ever tried so I was sure I was doing it wrong.

I am down 5lbs this first week so I am not going to freak out and change things. I was concerned about the nuts so it is good I can have them in moderation.

I have been a total grazer with all the veggies so that is good.

Thanks again for the reply!

Celeste

6075

[quote]as wrote:
Question for Hagar. I noticed in one of your previous posts that you transitioned to the Anabolic Diet from the Body Opus Diet. I am doing the same thing right now after being on Body Opus for 4 weeks. I’ve always been a big fan of Body Opus, always gave me the quickest and most fat loss with the least amount of muscle loss. My questions for you are how does the Anabolic Diet compare to Body Opus in this respect for you? I think Brant Drake already mentioned it’s more of a lean mass gain diet but I wanted to see your experience between the two.

I also still have about 6-8lbs of fat to lose in 5 weeks (trying to hit 6-7% for a trip) should I even bother switching over or keep doing what I’m doing. Also am I fat adapted since I didn’t go for 12 days straight on low carbs but instead did a series of 5 and 2. My last question is other than the 30gms of carbs a day and not going into ketosis I don’t really see a great difference in this diet and Body Opus.[/quote]

Sorry I missed you post. The AD is definitely easier. On the surface the main difference between the two is the the carb up and the grand depletion w/o. Now metabolically the two are quite different, since triglycerides are your primary fuel source on the AD and not ketones.

Keep in mind that there is a still a bit of adaptation with the AD since your not relying on those ketones as a fuel source anymore. The good news is the transition between the two is a breath of fresh air. That extra 30g of carbs might not sound like much but after bodyopus you’ll have an extra appreciation for them. Personally, since you want to get leaned up for your trip, I’d stay on bodyopus since you already have that dialed in. There’s always a learning curve when transitioning to a new diet so I won’t make any drastic changes IMO.

6076

[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:
Jen Heath has a thread on the MWA site “The Anabolic Diet: Its a Lifestyle”.

I am confused because over there they are saying to do the induction phase at
10 or 12 x bodyweight for fat loss
18 x bodyweight for maintenance

and this during the induction phase.

Over here you are saying don’t worry about calories during the induction phase.

I am on my 7th day and I spent those days not counting calories so I don’t know if I have done the first 7 days wrong.

I also have a question about nuts, they have carbs but they also have dietary fiber, is that the same as insoluble fiber and can I subtract that from the total carbs?

Any help would be appreciated.[/quote]

The Doc actually states that you should count ever gram of soluble fiber as 0.5 grams of carbs. Now good luck trying to do that. I just count 1 carb for every 4g of fiber.
Me personally, I keep track of calories. I notice I have better results without the guess work. By having this awareness I can easily make adjustments if I’m losing to much muscle mass, not gaining enough muscle, gaining to much fat, or not losing enough fat. Once I get that sweet spot I know what to do right away to meet my goals. As of now I’m bulking so I just keep a rough estimate around 340g pro and 200g fat. If you can get ripped without losing too much LBM and without counting cals that I really do envy you. For me its not so easy.

6077

[quote]cesliwakan wrote:
so tomorrow is day 14 (started early) and i start my first carb up. im not craving anything too badly.

the ONE major thing that sucks for me is I cant drink cream or eat any cheese ordairy product! I am allergic and i get congested quite badly. i really LOVE cheese in my eggs and cream in my shakes but I just cant do it.

Sucks!

all eggs, meat and protein powder for me.

but whew first 13 daysover[/quote]

If you try raw raw milk, raw cream I think you will be ok. I had that problem, but raw cream was fine. They also make raw cheese too.

6078

carb up question:

from what ive read, my understanding of the carb up is that you initially gain weight (which ive been doing, average a 9lb increase from friday night to sunday night) and then it is supposed to go down over the course of the week. however, after i go to the bathroom after my carb up stops, my weight will be closer to 2-3 lbs over my friday night weight. it seems to me that the carbs are being processed too fast. anyone else experience this?

6079

well, after my first carb weekend, i’m considering staying low carb longer. I feel so good during the week with smooth energy and good lifts and then I crashed this weekend. I really like this way of eating so far. still have a lot more to learn and some tweaking to do as well. thanks for all the great info, keep it coming

6080

Okay so here i go:
i have been on the AD for about 3 weeks. i just finished my first load and here is my experience soo far. I wanted to post this because, I’m a woman (and I think we need more women posting their results) and I would love feedback!

So the first week of induction sucked. I was extremely tired almost everyday. I realized that I wasn’t eating enough fat during the day and trying to make up for it at night to get energy…argh! well, at least i have fitday to thank for that help!

I have been counting cals. I found that it’s best to count them, at least for a while because i need to know what works for me. I started with 18xbw (2400)and try to keep it between (1900 and 2400) i even went over a few times the first week.

The second week was better. I started eating less calories and feeling more full without noticing it. so i ended up cycling my cals (its just what my body wanted) between 1600-2400 cals.

carb up: i was freaking scared/craving sweets too! the first day was hard because i had to travel all day so i ate 4 apples, 2 pieces of scone type breads (with nuts and raisons in it) from the local store (im in germany for the summer), 8 cookies with frosting, .5 can beans, 4 breakfast bars, one serving of cereal, applesauce.

I noticed that starting out with fruit almost instantly hurt my pancreas. I did not bloat the first day but was much more hungrey due to the low fiber content.

the second day i had 2 servings of all bran high fiber cereal and was fine but then i had 2 cups oatmeal (cooked) and bloated like a COW. My stomache was big allll day and it hurt.

all in all i THINK i got around 600g carbs. but some of those were from fruit…

today i worked out and had no pump…i think i didnt get enough carbs because i didnt feel strong at all…it sucked…

i dont know what to do about the oatmeal thing- it seems like every time i eat oatmeal i bloat and feel VERY backed up and have pains during the day. maybe i have a gluten intolerance???

also realized that eating too much cheese or dairy makes me feel like i have sinus problems in my throat…anyone else?

other than that, I LOVE THIS DIET!

i did notice that on my first day of carb up I could almost instantly see my muscles building up but when i ate that oatmeal the second day, i just felt fat (not sure if that means i was spilling over or if it was my sensitivty to the oats)…and if i was spilling over- why didnt i have a pump in the gym?

I have “binged” on carbs (actually the day b4 i started the AD) and the next day I had wonderful lifts! But this time i didnt really eat as much and so ???

sorry its sooo long!

6081

Well, I just finished my second carb-up weekend and I figured I’d check back in with some progress. I haven’t felt this awesome all the time in a while, and my strength is going up pretty solidly. My only concern is I’m putting on a bit too much fat than I want.

I’m trying for pure lean gains, so I think I need to fudge with my total caloric intake a bit. I basically doubled (12000 to 24000kcal) my weekly calories coming into this diet. I think I’m going to pull in the reigns on my P/F days calorie-wise from about 3250 to 2750 and see how my body responds.

Oh, and I’ve been experiencing a strange phenomenon during my CHO loads. I tend to “smooth out” about 20 minutes after meals during the latter half of my load, but then I lean up again about an hour later. This is making it really hard to gauge when I should cease CHO loading. Anyone else have similar experience?