My Experience On the Anabolic Diet

Nutrition
6102

[quote]TravisCS84 wrote:
Greekdawg’s milkshake is the bomb. Man, I feel like I’m cheating it tastes so good!

Here’s what I used:

Crushed ice
Splash of water
5 Tbsp. heavy cream
3 raw eggs
1 scoop chocolate Muscle Milk
2 scoops French vanilla ON 100% Whey Gold Standard

This shake was great. Next time I’m leaving out the water. I do have to think of a way to make it a little more low carb. This shake had at least 14g of carbs (6g from MM and 8g from the ON 100%).

I didn’t use vanilla extract because I decided mine has been on the spice rack for way too long and I need to throw it away.

Kudos to Greekdawg! May I ask, do you have any other variations that have worked well? This one is great. [/quote]

YOu don’t need the water at all, or else it will be too runny. Also, you need to invest in a good protein powder that isn’t loaded with sugar carbs. The vanilla extract makes it taste good. Also, sometimes I put in a little bit of coconut oil, good for you and gives it a nice flavor.

6103

I posted these on the other anabolic diet Jen posted but here goes…

If i’m looking to lose BF, is doing cardio on the days that I goto the gym a good idea, or should I only do cardio 1 or 2 times a week?

Also, is there a certain day in conjunction with the carb up where I will lose the most BF by doing cardio?

Which intensity of cardio will maximize loss of BF?

Is there a certain macronutrient I should focus on eating pre workout to have a better workout? Post workout?

Thanks in advance!!

6104

[quote]Inner Hulk wrote:
Miserere wrote:
There’s nothing magical about Saturday and Sunday, except that those are the days most people have off work and that is when they will most likely go out, visit with friends, etc, so it makes sense to be able to eat whatever you want on those days.

If you work weekends, and have other days in the week off, then maybe you should carb up on those. It makes more sense to carb up on days off than on days you’ll be working.

That’s my $0.02.

Right. I just was wondering how badly carb up’s affect your guys energy levels. I can only go off from what you guys have experienced with it. I suppose I’ll change my carb up days to tues and wednesday and just see how my energy levels are effected.[/quote]

I’ve had some experience with the dreaded carb coma, mostly when I start out my carb load with sugary junk. I still haven’t dialed it in completely, but basically it’s all about experimentation.

6105

[quote]greekdawg wrote:

YOu don’t need the water at all, or else it will be too runny. Also, you need to invest in a good protein powder that isn’t loaded with sugar carbs. The vanilla extract makes it taste good. Also, sometimes I put in a little bit of coconut oil, good for you and gives it a nice flavor.[/quote]

What do you mean about a protein powder without sugar carbs? I guess you’re referring to the Muscle Milk? Yeah, the MM does have way too many carbs (12g per 2 scoop serv.). I didn’t use the MM today when I made it.

But the ON 100% Gold Standard only has 4g carbs per scoop, same as Metabolic Drive.

I’m going to get some vanilla extract. Any other variations you’ve tried? Thanks for the recipe.

6106

[quote]Brant_Drake wrote:
For some people, fiber plugs the pipes. Especially as fat acts as a stool softener. Once your body gets used to processing fatty foods, the introduction of a large amount of fiber will cause everything to clog up. So it’s not despite the fiber, but rather, BECAUSE of it.

Try alternation fibrous carb meals with junk carb meals, instead of a junk carb day and a fiber carb day. That should help with a more even spacing of fiber intake.

Also, fuzzm, any water retention will be intramuscular, so there is no reason to cut back your water intake. [/quote]

ok thanks. i’ll make some adjustments. i’m definitely one of THOSE people when it comes to fiber. experimented with a strict low carb diet last year (less than 40 g carbs for 3-4 months) and had no gastrointestinal issues despite almost no fiber intake…no veggies. all i ate basically was meat, cheese, and eggs with only carbs being from natural peanut butter and condiments. digestion was much improved from a standard mixed diet.

my diet all my life has been really low on the vegetable spectrum, and adding them in on the AD has been problematic. started eating ALOT of spinach last week and since then i feel like there has been a brick sitting in my stomach. i think i’m going to cut back on the fiber, drink more water, and add fiber back in sloooowly this time.

6107

[quote]TravisCS84 wrote:
greekdawg wrote:

YOu don’t need the water at all, or else it will be too runny. Also, you need to invest in a good protein powder that isn’t loaded with sugar carbs. The vanilla extract makes it taste good. Also, sometimes I put in a little bit of coconut oil, good for you and gives it a nice flavor.

What do you mean about a protein powder without sugar carbs? I guess you’re referring to the Muscle Milk? Yeah, the MM does have way too many carbs (12g per 2 scoop serv.). I didn’t use the MM today when I made it.

But the ON 100% Gold Standard only has 4g carbs per scoop, same as Metabolic Drive.

I’m going to get some vanilla extract. Any other variations you’ve tried? Thanks for the recipe. [/quote]

What I mean is muscle milk has dextrose or maltodextrin sugars in it, as do most protein powders. I’m actually looking into getting a 92% milk and egg protein that has no sugar whatsoever in it. I found a source, if it works out and is reasonably priced I will report back here and tell you guys. Otherwise I think I might go and mix up my own milk and egg protein powder like Gironda suggested back in the day.

Especially on the AD diet, its important to eliminate unncessary carbs

6108

Well, a quick milkshake update:

I just came back from the store, and I purchased some organic cocoa powder (has less than 1g carb and I’m sure it’s mostly fibrous).

Ice
3 raw Omega 3 eggs
5 tbsp. heavy cream
1 heaping tbsp. organic cocoa powder
1 scoop ON 100% Whey G. Std.

Delicious. Now it tastes just like the Muscle Milk but without most of the carbs.

Carb cout = ~4g.

6109

Hey guys, I have recently come off a gaining phase…but only for 6 weeks til Im back on. Just trying to drop a bit of midsection fat. Just letting the AD crew know, OMC recommended adding some maltodextrin and dextrose to my post workout shake, about 50g carbs on top of the fibrous carbs from veggies. I got some great results!

Got strong, and added some good muscle…Dropped it for now to lose some fat and also been taking some BCAA’s and fish oil instead of the high amounts of olive oil…This diet is great for strength/muscle gain and fat loss!

GOODLUCK TO US ALL

6110

heres an interesting Q&A with Thib:

“I was wondering, regarding your carb-up requirements in your refined physique transformation. Why is it that you recommend such a low amount of carbs for carb-up, compared with diets like the anabolic diet, which recommends quite alot.”

CTs reply:

My definition of a carb-up is to refill the muscle glycogen. Most above-sized trainee can hold around 400-500g of carbs in their muscles/liver. So eating more than that for a carb-up makes little sense. And even having that much is not necessary since RARELY will your muscle actually be fully depleted: your body can make glucose out of amino acids and generally do so to some extent during a low-carbs diet. Chances are that you need closer to 200-300g of fill your glycogen stores.

Now, some peoples like the freedom and mental relief of having a HUGE carb-up day, but really, there is no physiological reason to go over a certain amount. In fact I’ve seen many guys actually gain fat becaused they carbed up excessively.

anyone have thoughts about this? particularly the 2-300 carb thing?

6111

I am 100+ pages in and want to ask a question that may be answered in the other 150+ I didn’t get to yet but I’m going to ask now anyway. I am midway through my 3rd week had my first load this past weekend.

  1. Carb loads: I should be getting anywhere between 800-1000g of carbs correct? Can I load for until I reach that range and stop? I feel like I am losing my leanness. I did a 36 hour and I think it might be a bit too much.

  2. On the free foods:
    Asparagus
    Broccoli
    Cauliflower
    Celery
    Lettuce
    Mushrooms
    Radish
    Spinach.

Do you count carbs minus fiber? or just not count any carbs from these?

Thanks

6112

[quote]thegreatone wrote:
I am 100+ pages in and want to ask a question that may be answered in the other 150+ I didn’t get to yet but I’m going to ask now anyway. I am midway through my 3rd week had my first load this past weekend.

  1. Carb loads: I should be getting anywhere between 800-1000g of carbs correct? Can I load for until I reach that range and stop? I feel like I am losing my leanness. I did a 36 hour and I think it might be a bit too much.

  2. On the free foods:
    Asparagus
    Broccoli
    Cauliflower
    Celery
    Lettuce
    Mushrooms
    Radish
    Spinach.

Do you count carbs minus fiber? or just not count any carbs from these?

Thanks[/quote]

Those are pretty basic questions that have been asked over and over. You should try to download the ebook, its on the net.

I’ll give you my two cents though:

1.) I think 800-1000 is way way too much. Read the quote from Christian Thib. direcdtly above yours. Unles you are very heavy and very lean I don’t see going that high being necessary. When I first started, I would pig out on carbs for 3 days straight. I overdid it, and would myself getting smooth and bloated.

Now I have scaled back considerably to 1 day sometimes even 1 carb meal.

In the old days, Gironda would recommend a single carb load meal. It seems to do the trick for me. If you take in too many carbs, you are only fooling yourself and you will get fat.

2.) Some count the carbs in veggies, I dont and my reasoning is this, they are not carb based foods and the little bit of carbs they have is going to have a negligible effect on your bloodsugar and your physique.

The thing is this, I don’t eat any carb based foods at all during the week, not even post workout so I’m not worried about going over the limit. I feel great and don’t ever have any brainfog.

You gotta find what limit, if any, works for you. Either way , I doubt a few grams of carbs from green cruciferous or leafy veggies is really going to make a difference. Just be sure to make sure you stay away from starchy veggies like carrots, peas, etc.

6113

ugh…I hate when I dont get my subscrbied topic update and come back to see 15 new pages!

6114

What type of protein do you guys use for post workout?

I think I saw Hagar or DH mentioning hydrolyzed protein? Or was I seeing things?

…God they need to make a search function for individual threads

6115

[quote]cesliwakan wrote:
heres an interesting Q&A with Thib:

“I was wondering, regarding your carb-up requirements in your refined physique transformation. Why is it that you recommend such a low amount of carbs for carb-up, compared with diets like the anabolic diet, which recommends quite alot.”

CTs reply:

My definition of a carb-up is to refill the muscle glycogen. Most above-sized trainee can hold around 400-500g of carbs in their muscles/liver. So eating more than that for a carb-up makes little sense. And even having that much is not necessary since RARELY will your muscle actually be fully depleted: your body can make glucose out of amino acids and generally do so to some extent during a low-carbs diet. Chances are that you need closer to 200-300g of fill your glycogen stores.

Now, some peoples like the freedom and mental relief of having a HUGE carb-up day, but really, there is no physiological reason to go over a certain amount. In fact I’ve seen many guys actually gain fat becaused they carbed up excessively.

anyone have thoughts about this? particularly the 2-300 carb thing?[/quote]

celsiewaken,

Alot of people miss the point of glycogen recomp on the weekends on the AD. I think the main thing that people forget is that EVERYBODY has a Basal Metabolic Rate and if you were to do nothing, then you would still burn calories.

Take this for example:

I am 6’ 2" and weigh 205

My BMR is @2100 Calories. Now following AD carb up guidelines I take in F/P/C of 30/10/60 on the carbloads. Now, just my BMR alone will use up 315g carbs, about 52g protein, and 70g fat. How would I be filling up my glycogen stores if I took in 200-300g even at MY weight? My glycogen stores are nonexistent at that point. And I have seen the difference. I usually take in 800-900g carbs on Day #1 which is used for my BMR AND my glycogen stores(@315g+500g{as CT suggests is our glycogen stores}). See how it all works out, I mean it’s not perfect, but pretty darn close HUH? I am usually jacked and humming right along burning fat after the carb up.

We are not automobiles where usually you get a specified MPG. Food increases your metabolism as does exercise and I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure everybody visiting this thread exercises. The thing is to find your balance.

Hope this helps.

Best, UE

6116

[quote]cesliwakan wrote:
heres an interesting Q&A with Thib:

“I was wondering, regarding your carb-up requirements in your refined physique transformation. Why is it that you recommend such a low amount of carbs for carb-up, compared with diets like the anabolic diet, which recommends quite alot.”

CTs reply:

My definition of a carb-up is to refill the muscle glycogen. Most above-sized trainee can hold around 400-500g of carbs in their muscles/liver. So eating more than that for a carb-up makes little sense. And even having that much is not necessary since RARELY will your muscle actually be fully depleted: your body can make glucose out of amino acids and generally do so to some extent during a low-carbs diet. Chances are that you need closer to 200-300g of fill your glycogen stores.

Now, some peoples like the freedom and mental relief of having a HUGE carb-up day, but really, there is no physiological reason to go over a certain amount. In fact I’ve seen many guys actually gain fat becaused they carbed up excessively.

anyone have thoughts about this? particularly the 2-300 carb thing?[/quote]

I’m not sure about this. I was taking in 1800 GRAMs(not cals) of carbs during the weekend at 180 lbs when I did bodyopus and I still got ripped. It should be noted that I did a 2.5 hour depletion workout before the carb up:P Plus I was on restricted cals during the week.

6117

[quote]Inner Hulk wrote:
What type of protein do you guys use for post workout?

I think I saw Hagar or DH mentioning hydrolyzed protein? Or was I seeing things?

…God they need to make a search function for individual threads[/quote]

Sometimes I’ll take in whey protein post work. Lately I’ve been using some expired Methoxy-pro that I got for dirt cheap. It mainly consists of whey protein with some other stuff added in. Sometimes I’ll eat ground beef or eggs post workout other times I use a Maxpro protien drink from Max Muscle. I like it because its a good source of potassium. Something thats easy to become deficient in on the AD. There’s a glutamine concoction that you can use post w/o but really I don’t think it helped at all so I ditched that idea.

Now I should add that I take in 30 to 40g of BCAA’s during my w/o. I know I’ve said this 40 times already but I think it negates the purpose of a post w/o drink. If you haven’t tried this holy shit your missing out! BCAA’s rule! For example I struggled to get 3 reps of 365 on the bench last week and I could only do that for one set. This week I got 375 for a triple for 3 sets, easy. I know could of got in another rep or two also. Ever week I get stronger with hardly ever a step backwards. So I must be doing something right.

6118

[quote]Hagar wrote:
Inner Hulk wrote:
What type of protein do you guys use for post workout?

I think I saw Hagar or DH mentioning hydrolyzed protein? Or was I seeing things?

…God they need to make a search function for individual threads

Sometimes I’ll take in whey protein post work. Lately I’ve been using some expired Methoxy-pro that I got for dirt cheap. It mainly consists of whey protein with some other stuff added in. Sometimes I’ll eat ground beef or eggs post workout other times I use a Maxpro protien drink from Max Muscle. I like it because its a good source of potassium. Something thats easy to become deficient in on the AD. There’s a glutamine concoction that you can use post w/o but really I don’t think it helped at all so I ditched that idea.

Now I should add that I take in 30 to 40g of BCAA’s during my w/o. I know I’ve said this 40 times already but I think it negates the purpose of a post w/o drink. If you haven’t tried this holy shit your missing out! BCAA’s rule! For example I struggled to get 3 reps of 365 on the bench last week and I could only do that for one set. This week I got 375 for a triple for 3 sets, easy. I know could of got in another rep or two also. Ever week I get stronger with hardly ever a step backwards. So I must be doing something right.[/quote]

Hagar, I also started doing the 30-40g of BCAA’s during my workout but I’m burping it up during the whole workout and even aterwards, so I started drinking half on my way to the gym and the rest during the workout, and still feel like it doesn’t digest. Even tried drinking the whole thing before I got there.

I also don’t notice any benefits from it like endurance or strength any ideas? Maybe I’m just not digesting it? I did much better with whey isolate and gatorade. Amazing pumps and strength and digested easily.

6119

[quote]Hagar wrote:
cesliwakan wrote:
heres an interesting Q&A with Thib:

“I was wondering, regarding your carb-up requirements in your refined physique transformation. Why is it that you recommend such a low amount of carbs for carb-up, compared with diets like the anabolic diet, which recommends quite alot.”

CTs reply:

My definition of a carb-up is to refill the muscle glycogen. Most above-sized trainee can hold around 400-500g of carbs in their muscles/liver. So eating more than that for a carb-up makes little sense. And even having that much is not necessary since RARELY will your muscle actually be fully depleted: your body can make glucose out of amino acids and generally do so to some extent during a low-carbs diet. Chances are that you need closer to 200-300g of fill your glycogen stores.

Now, some peoples like the freedom and mental relief of having a HUGE carb-up day, but really, there is no physiological reason to go over a certain amount. In fact I’ve seen many guys actually gain fat becaused they carbed up excessively.

anyone have thoughts about this? particularly the 2-300 carb thing?

I’m not sure about this. I was taking in 1800 GRAMs(not cals) of carbs during the weekend at 180 lbs when I did bodyopus and I still got ripped. It should be noted that I did a 2.5 hour depletion workout before the carb up:P Plus I was on restricted cals during the week.
[/quote]

I’m with Hagar on this one. When I do Body Opus I have to get in at least 1500gms of carbs on the weekend otherwise I don’t fill out and my workouts begin to suffer. But when I jacked up the carbs to anywhere from 1500-1800, come monday I was full, vascular and throwing weight around in gym, and still got ripped. It’s probably an individual thing and you have to practice and customize it for yourself.

6120

does anyone get pimples on their back shoulders and chest? i mean WTF all of a sudden…ive been doin this diet for a little over a year now…hhmmm

6121

[quote]Underestimated wrote:
cesliwakan wrote:
heres an interesting Q&A with Thib:

“I was wondering, regarding your carb-up requirements in your refined physique transformation. Why is it that you recommend such a low amount of carbs for carb-up, compared with diets like the anabolic diet, which recommends quite alot.”

CTs reply:

My definition of a carb-up is to refill the muscle glycogen. Most above-sized trainee can hold around 400-500g of carbs in their muscles/liver. So eating more than that for a carb-up makes little sense. And even having that much is not necessary since RARELY will your muscle actually be fully depleted: your body can make glucose out of amino acids and generally do so to some extent during a low-carbs diet. Chances are that you need closer to 200-300g of fill your glycogen stores.

Now, some peoples like the freedom and mental relief of having a HUGE carb-up day, but really, there is no physiological reason to go over a certain amount. In fact I’ve seen many guys actually gain fat becaused they carbed up excessively.

anyone have thoughts about this? particularly the 2-300 carb thing?

celsiewaken,

Alot of people miss the point of glycogen recomp on the weekends on the AD. I think the main thing that people forget is that EVERYBODY has a Basal Metabolic Rate and if you were to do nothing, then you would still burn calories.

Take this for example:

I am 6’ 2" and weigh 205

My BMR is @2100 Calories. Now following AD carb up guidelines I take in F/P/C of 30/10/60 on the carbloads. Now, just my BMR alone will use up 315g carbs, about 52g protein, and 70g fat. How would I be filling up my glycogen stores if I took in 200-300g even at MY weight? My glycogen stores are nonexistent at that point. And I have seen the difference. I usually take in 800-900g carbs on Day #1 which is used for my BMR AND my glycogen stores(@315g+500g{as CT suggests is our glycogen stores}). See how it all works out, I mean it’s not perfect, but pretty darn close HUH? I am usually jacked and humming right along burning fat after the carb up.

We are not automobiles where usually you get a specified MPG. Food increases your metabolism as does exercise and I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure everybody visiting this thread exercises. The thing is to find your balance.

Hope this helps.

Best, UE[/quote]

You are correct in principle, but you won’t likely burn the food you eat in those proportions. To reiterate though, I agree with you, eat like a big boy on your carb-ups.