My Experience On the Anabolic Diet

Nutrition
6142

[quote]nycsoccax wrote:
Hagar wrote:
Our goals are different. I want to get very big and strong then cut down with loosing the least amount of muscle possible. You would like to stay small but get lean. Hey thats alright, and I have nothing against that but DIETING BECOMES A WHOLE LOT MORE COMPLICATED WHEN YOUR TRYING TO HOLD ON TO GAINS. Because of your lack of muscle I believe you are not qualified to give out advice to most of the people on this web site but I’m sure you do well on the weight watchers forum.

Hmm, you’re kind of misinterpreting what i’m saying. I bulked the first two months. I’m already as big as I can get without looking unproportional.

My arms already look big for my body and I don’t want to bench more than what I can now(295 once or twice, which may be nothing compared to most people but weighing 150 thats enough for me), so I feel it’s strictly cutting for me while maintaining what I can already lift – and NOT increase any weights. Which is why i’m leaning towards the very low end of carb intake during the carb ups.
[/quote]

Personally I think you should of bulked up a bit more, to make up for what you’ll probable lose when you diet down into the low bf% Unless you have good genetics, dieting 9% and under with or without drugs can be a real pain in the ass. Almost everyone will lose some muscle doing this. A 295 bench is respectable especially at 150.

6143

hey everyone-
so i had my carb up last weekend (first one) and i was at 131 lbs. before that first carb up.
this is the second week and its friday and im at 133 lbs…I haven’t started my second carb up yet.

im worried about this! i gained .5 inch on my chest but this might be my error. the rest is the same as before. i want to lose at least one inch off of my waist and thighs.
im a girl by the way.

has anyone else experienced this? should i be freaking out or just chill- i know it takes a while to dial in this diet…
pilgrim

6144

Just chill, when you take in a surplus of carbs on your carb up weight gain may occur. When you store carbs you also retain some water.

It’s only been a few weeks, let your body become adapted to the diet.

6145

[quote]Hagar wrote:
nycsoccax wrote:
Hagar wrote:
Our goals are different. I want to get very big and strong then cut down with loosing the least amount of muscle possible. You would like to stay small but get lean. Hey thats alright, and I have nothing against that but DIETING BECOMES A WHOLE LOT MORE COMPLICATED WHEN YOUR TRYING TO HOLD ON TO GAINS. Because of your lack of muscle I believe you are not qualified to give out advice to most of the people on this web site but I’m sure you do well on the weight watchers forum.

Hmm, you’re kind of misinterpreting what i’m saying. I bulked the first two months. I’m already as big as I can get without looking unproportional.

My arms already look big for my body and I don’t want to bench more than what I can now(295 once or twice, which may be nothing compared to most people but weighing 150 thats enough for me), so I feel it’s strictly cutting for me while maintaining what I can already lift – and NOT increase any weights. Which is why i’m leaning towards the very low end of carb intake during the carb ups.

Personally I think you should of bulked up a bit more, to make up for what you’ll probable lose when you diet down into the low bf% Unless you have good genetics, dieting 9% and under with or without drugs can be a real pain in the ass. Almost everyone will lose some muscle doing this. A 295 bench is respectable especially at 150. [/quote]

Eh, like i said i don’t really mind losing some of the muscle as long as i’m overall shredded, its the summer & i’m impatient =]. Plus, this diet allows you to maintain most of the muscle mass.

Also, I wasn’t really telling people to stay on the lower end of the carb up (150-300 grams), I was going to try that method and see how it worked for me. This thread is your EXPERIENCE on the diet and different variations. I’m sure there are other posters that might want the same thing as me & may benefit based on my experience of varying my carb-up intake. I’ll let you guys know the results on Monday =]

6146

nycsoccax, how tall are you?

6147

Blood work results are in!

This should be an informative post for those of you thinking of starting the AD or in the first few weeks (like me). I’ve been on this for 6 or 7 weeks now. I have followed it to a T and have not fooled around with the macros yet.

My total chol. is 144, and optimal is 200 or less
HDL is 45, optimal is anything greater than 40
LDL is 92, optimal is anything less than 100
Triglycerides are 37, and optimal is 150 or less
Liver panel is normal

last year, on a standard diet involving carbs, my total chol was 140, HDL was 28 (considered low, doc told me to get more exercise…lol) and LDL was 90 (good). Triglycerides were 111 !

I haven’t skimped on the fat at all these 7 weeks; eating 4 whole eggs + bacon + EVOO every morning, then following it up with 3oz cheddar cheese + 1oz pepperoni for my second meal. This is more evidence that this diet is perfectly healthy. I’ll probably want to get more blood work done in another 5 months or so just to compare.

Question: For those of you who are more knowledgeable about the physiological aspects of this diet, what is up with my triglycerides?? is 37 odd, optimal, or what? A layman such as myself would assume that it would be high considering i’m getting over 200g of fat each day. Is my body using most of the tri’s for fuel, hence my blood work shows a low amount?

Can anyone help me out - i’m extremely curious. Anyway, good luck to everyone!

6148

Wow. 37 is incredibly low. I had my cholesterol taken back in summer '04. If memory serves me correctly, I want to say my triglycerides were 192.

I haven’t checked my cholesterol in a couple years but hopefully this diet has a positive effect.

6149

There was a discussion on fruit/fructose during the carb ups. I’ve been skimming, but I can’t seem to find it.

What’s the general rule on fruit during the carb up? Fructose replenishes the liver, but not our muscles? Is that right?

Will fruit help at all in replenishing my glycogen stores in my muscles?

Could anyone shed some light. Thanks so much.

6150

Travis,

I think,for optimal muscle gain and recovery during the carb up, your carbs should consist of anything low GI. Oats, brown rice, yogurt, fruit, yogurts muesli bars are all on the top of my list. I would have to say that fruit is essential but not in every meal during the carb up. For example, I usually have some fruit and yogurt for my mid morning meal on saturday.

Depeding on your goals, one of your meals can be whatever carbs you want, ie high GI junk…we need it ey. But may have to give it up to get really cut up.

Goodluck

6151

Thanks.

This damn thread is like a maze and I keep getting lost; I never know where I was last when I read something useful. I swear just recently there was a discussion on fructose during the carb up, but after reviewing the last several pages I couldn’t find it.

So anyway, fructose is completely fine on the carb up, i.e., it will get the job done (replenish muscle glycogen, etc)?

I really hope so, because so far, this weekend carb up has been more difficult than I expected. I get so full so easy from carbs, and it would be nice to be able to snack on grapes, berries, etc between meals (which I’ve been doing anyway…just hoping it’s also has a benefit).

Thanks.

6152

Ok, actually I just read an article from a link on page 216. Cleared everything up.

Sorry for so many posts.

6153

hey guys-
so in my previous post i said that i had gained about 2lbs from the week before (this is my second carb up weekend). well I carbed up yesturday (around 300-400g carbs…mostly clean) and i had a bowl of oatmeal this am.
i weighted in again this morning (sunday)and i have only gained 1 more pound.
since its my carb up, shouldn’t i be gaining like 5-10lbs? should i eat more carbs? even though i want to lose weight.

july 27: 130.8 lbs
aug 3: 133 lbs
aug 5: 134.6lbs

i dont know what to do because last monday i didnt get that “pump” so maybe i need to decrease cals during the week and increase carbs on weekends? what do you think?

6154

[quote]sinjam wrote:
Hey-oo,

One Finnish girl signing up. On my 4th day of the break-in-phase and feeeeeling goooood.
My stats are:
25
172cm (67.7 inches)
Been training hard for a couple of years now after some quite serious health problems with my metabolism - now everything is fixed (or has been at least 1,5 years). Won’t get to that, since it’s a long story:D
I did loose 21kg (46 pounds) in 8,5 months on the normal high CHO/PRO and low FAT-diet but started to enter in a plateau. And plus to that, I’ve always had suspicion on being a bit insulin resistant. So after the initial phase I’ll start cutting again. Still 22-25lbs to go:)

Haven’t crashed yet and feel pretty much normal - which is nice since i was expecting some real difficulties on starting. Running to the toilet like a crazy person and sleeping very nicely.

Lost 2lbs of water weight already.
Have read almost the whole thread and ordered the book from amazon a week ago (should arrive to Finland soon enough) so I really don’t have any questions at all. Just wanted to give you heads up for more updates later:)

THANK YOU for everyone who has contributed for this thread - big big thanks to Charles Atlas, DH and Il specially:)

More later:
Tiu[/quote]

Welcome aboard. There are some helpful people here, so chime in if you have questions.

Keep us updated.

AD

6155

I have to bike to work (about 1 hour each way) at 6AM (no busses run out here before 6:30) each day for 2 weeks.

Yes, there is a “downside” to living on a tropical island. (Ok, I just wanted to say that again).

Moving on:

While I’m not worried about the extra “workout” as it’s not grueling or sprinting, I am concerned about the steady-state cardio thing.

and I’m out of BCAA’s…my gym ran out.

So, I figure I’ll add in an extra meal (maybe 350-400 cals) toward the end of the day but keep the meal plan otherwise the same.

I’m still on a restricted cal diet (1750 on nonworkout days and 2000 on workout days), and this would increase the totals to 2250 and 2400.

So the plan is:

6AM Liquid breakfast (Pro shake and olive oil)

6:05AM Leave pretty much immediately afterward(6am)

9AM-2nd Breakfast-still liquid and fish caps as I’m on the go still.

12noon-lunch (hopefully solid food if they are serving pro-AD foods). If not, I’ll find some eggs somehow.

1pm: ride home

2-2:30: Shower/get ready for other job

2:30-3pm: trip to other job

3pm (immediately before I teach a class): Meal 4 (liquid and fish caps)

6PM (1hr before leaving for the gym): Meal 5 (prob liquid/olive oil)

7PM workout

9PM Simple BBQ Lamb or Beef with shake.

Yeah, I know it’s not a lot of solid food, but for the next 2 weeks there is very little options (timewise).

Just throwing out the situation and my idea to cope with it in order to see if anyone has any suggestions about dealing with it.

AD

6156

Ok, I am just going to come right out and say it… “I’m scared of this diet”. I have read the first 15 pages of threads, I bought the pdf on Ebay for $2 and I went shopping yesterday, so I am committed to trying this. I know there are things in life where we have to “take a step” backwards in order to get further ahead. I think this is one of those instances. Here’s why I am scared in a nutshell:

I have logged my food for the past 6 months or so and I get on average 45g of fiber a day (some days as high as 70g).

This diet goes against everything I ask my clients to do (I am a personal trainer)

PWO shake - how do I not do my pwo that I love doing?

I just had my annual physical and all my numbers (cholesterol, blood pressure, trigly, testost) are all very good.

I am 40 years old, 6’, 185-190 and my body fat is around 14%.

I’ll be honest… I just need some reassurance from someone that felt the same way I am feeling right now as I embark on my new journey. Thank you in advance.

JJ

6157

During the first 24 hours of carb-loading, carbohydrate intake should be 10 grams per kilogram of lean body mass or 4.5 grams of carbs per pound of lean body mass . This will represent 70% of the total calories consumed. The remaining calories will be divided evenly between fat (15% of total calories) and protein (15% of total calories). Figure 1 gives estimated amounts of carbohydrate, protein and fat for various amounts of lean body mass.

Figure 1: Summary of nutrient intake during first 24 hours of carb-loading

LBM CHO F P CAL
100 450 43 98 2600
120 540 51 115 3100
140 630 60 135 3600
160 720 68 153 4100
180 810 76 172 4600
200 900 85 193 5100

  • The total calories consumed during the first 24 hours of the carb-load will be approximately twice what was being consumed during the lowcarb week.

During the second 24 hours of carb-loading, carbohydrates will make up 60% of the total calories, protein 25% and fat 15%.

Figure 2: Summary of nutrient intake during second 24 hours of carb-loading

LBM CHO F P CAL
100 227 20 90 1448
120 270 25 108 1737
140 310 30 126 2014
160 360 35 144 2331
180 405 40 162 2628
200 450 45 180 2925

Once again, the above amounts should be considered guidelines only. Experimentation coupled with good record keeping will help an individual determine the optimal amounts of nutrients to consume during their carb-up.

6158

Got a couple of questions.

  1. Is use of MCT oils good for breakfast and pre workout to give you a little boost of energy for the day and training?

  2. Mauro doesn’t really give any recommendations for EFA intake in the book other than the myriad of advertisements for his stuff. I’ve got Borage Seed Oil (GLA), Fish Oils, MCTs and CLA. What are good daily intake recommendations for these?

  1. I am a powerlifter and am wondering if I should rotate the diet to put my carb ups on other days? I have a static training cycle at Tampa Barbell. We always squat saturday morning and bench tuesday night. So I would be still be pretty depleted come saturday morning if I started my carb up that day.

I was considering doing a 6 day low carb and 2 day carb up with a mid week mini carb up meal half way through the low carb period. Would this be beneficial or would the elevated levels of hormones be increased through the week regardless?

6159

[quote]shoelessjones wrote:
Ok, I am just going to come right out and say it… “I’m scared of this diet”. I have read the first 15 pages of threads, I bought the pdf on Ebay for $2 and I went shopping yesterday, so I am committed to trying this. I know there are things in life where we have to “take a step” backwards in order to get further ahead. I think this is one of those instances. Here’s why I am scared in a nutshell:

I have logged my food for the past 6 months or so and I get on average 45g of fiber a day (some days as high as 70g).

This diet goes against everything I ask my clients to do (I am a personal trainer)

PWO shake - how do I not do my pwo that I love doing?

I just had my annual physical and all my numbers (cholesterol, blood pressure, trigly, testost) are all very good.

I am 40 years old, 6’, 185-190 and my body fat is around 14%.

I’ll be honest… I just need some reassurance from someone that felt the same way I am feeling right now as I embark on my new journey. Thank you in advance.

JJ[/quote]

Just try it. Follow it verbatim. I feel that trying everything is the very important in this industry. Potential clients are very attracted to a personal trainer that has tried everything and knows from experience. Expertise in one more area of dieting is makes you that more knowledgeable.

Shugart said it best.

6160

[quote]Florida Titan wrote:
shoelessjones wrote:
Ok, I am just going to come right out and say it… “I’m scared of this diet”. I have read the first 15 pages of threads, I bought the pdf on Ebay for $2 and I went shopping yesterday, so I am committed to trying this. I know there are things in life where we have to “take a step” backwards in order to get further ahead. I think this is one of those instances. Here’s why I am scared in a nutshell:

I have logged my food for the past 6 months or so and I get on average 45g of fiber a day (some days as high as 70g).

This diet goes against everything I ask my clients to do (I am a personal trainer)

PWO shake - how do I not do my pwo that I love doing?

I just had my annual physical and all my numbers (cholesterol, blood pressure, trigly, testost) are all very good.

I am 40 years old, 6’, 185-190 and my body fat is around 14%.

I’ll be honest… I just need some reassurance from someone that felt the same way I am feeling right now as I embark on my new journey. Thank you in advance.

JJ

Just try it. Follow it verbatim. I feel that trying everything is the very important in this industry. Potential clients are very attracted to a personal trainer that has tried everything and knows from experience. Expertise in one more area of dieting is makes you that more knowledgeable.

Shugart said it best.[/quote]

I agree and that’s a good reminder you just gave me. Thank you.

6161

Any of you try the Anabolic Solution? It is an updated version of the Anabolic Diet(I think pretty much exactly the same thought) written by the same guy. I am asking because i am curious of what kind of training you guys did for the start up phase. The author reccomends a circuit type training…im just curious to see what kind of training you guys did ay the start. Or does it really matter?