This is my first day on the AD and I feel good, infact I think I feel more energetic. However, this is not why I’m posting. I knew after reading the posts on this thread that the AD would be expensive. I don’t think though, that I fully grasped how much it would cost until I actually started the diet. Looking at the kinds and amount of food I need to consume I’ve come to the conclusion that this diet is out of my reach financially as a member of a large family.
Anyway, thanks to Ramo, Charles, and veduseva for helping me out. If things losen up a little bit down the road I’ll definately come back and read your guy’s advice again.
Fascinating reading some of these accounts, I think I may experiement with the diet.
May I ask a question though, what athletes have used it. I’m a rugby player currently in my off season wondering if this will help me improve athletic performance, i.e muscle mass and with my activities.
Springcoil, several of the athletes of WSB have successfully employed the AD.
H.D., I find the AD to be LESS expensive than many nutritional approaches.
Olive oil is inexpensive and will serve as an excellent fat source. Chicken continues to drop in price. I’m finding boneless chicken breast for as low as 1.28/lb; buy in bulk. And while beef continues to increase in cost, it can also be purchased in bulk. I suggest going to the meat department in the evenings and speaking with a manager. I’m able to purchase beef for as low as a 1/lb. Veggie prices range a bit… Your carb-ups aren’t too bad. Pasta is very reasonable in price, as is oatmeal.
This is a bland approach, but very sufficient in making the AD work for your body and wallet.
Springcoil - I race BMX and downhill mountain bikes (BMX is atp/cp, downhill is anaerobic threshold-intensive) and have felt absolutely no adverse effcts on my training and riding whatsoever. The key is to committing to the diet 100% so that your bod gets used to using triglycerides to fuel your training and not glycogen. If you half ass it and eat carbs throughout the week, you’ll undermine your body’s attempts to run on fat yet not supply yourself with enough carbs to run efficiently on glycogen either.
From one anaerobic athlete to another - try it, it WILL work if you adhere to it.
[quote]vasudeva wrote:
Springcoil, several of the athletes of WSB have successfully employed the AD.
H.D., I find the AD to be LESS expensive than many nutritional approaches.
Olive oil is inexpensive and will serve as an excellent fat source. Chicken continues to drop in price. I’m finding boneless chicken breast for as low as 1.28/lb; buy in bulk. And while beef continues to increase in cost, it can also be purchased in bulk. I suggest going to the meat department in the evenings and speaking with a manager. I’m able to purchase beef for as low as a 1/lb. Veggie prices range a bit… Your carb-ups aren’t too bad. Pasta is very reasonable in price, as is oatmeal.
This is a bland approach, but very sufficient in making the AD work for your body and wallet. [/quote]
Good point Vasu. I find that it’s waaaaay less expensive buying meat and cheese now that I don’t have to worry about getting fat-free versions. Eggs are and will always be cheap as dirt, same with bacon and tuna. Ground beef, if you wait for a sale and don’t mind the full fat variety, can be had for as little as 1$/LB. You can buy whole chickens for a buck or two. I’ve been buying round cuts of steak for about $1.50/Lb. Bulk nuts and seeds. The most expensive thing is the fresh vegetables, and that’s a cost pretty much everyone on T-Nation has to bear, AD’ers or not. Not to mention the overall calories are less than with other diets, (at least they have been for me.) I know I was spending upwards of $50 per week when I was doing Massive Eating. Now that’s down to about $20-30 per week.
-CA.
Bag of BBQ pork skins from the snack machine
[/quote]
Here was me wondering what the hell this strange American snack you were going on about, then it hit me: ‘Pork Skins’ are what we call ‘Pork Scratchings’ - A very popular pub snack. I’ll bear that in mind next time I’m at the pub supping on a glass of tap water during my low-carb phase…
You’re right about eggs, CA. They are cheap. And the great thing is that you can buy those in bulk, too. I’m all about bulk shopping. I consume anywhere from 2800 to 5600 calories/day during the week, and am taking in between 10-12 thousand calories on the weekend; that’s alot of food.
I learned before the AD to be a smart shopper and make friends at the grocery stores. It’s amazing how readily folks will reduce the price if you buy a certain quantity, or if you’re willing to pick the food up after 10 PM, or place standing orders – stuff like that.
Really, my expense is in the fish oil, liver tabs, and ALA. But I purchase those products in bulk, too. If it sounds intimidating to front the money, find a friend to split the cost.
Oh yeah, and the natty PB isn’t cheap, but it’s my “must-have” food on the weekends.
[quote]vasudeva wrote:
You’re right about eggs, CA. They are cheap. And the great thing is that you can buy those in bulk, too. I’m all about bulk shopping. I consume anywhere from 2800 to 5600 calories/day during the week, and am taking in between 10-12 thousand calories on the weekend; that’s alot of food.
I learned before the AD to be a smart shopper and make friends at the grocery stores. It’s amazing how readily folks will reduce the price if you buy a certain quantity, or if you’re willing to pick the food up after 10 PM, or place standing orders – stuff like that.
Really, my expense is in the fish oil, liver tabs, and ALA. But I purchase those products in bulk, too. If it sounds intimidating to front the money, find a friend to split the cost.
Oh yeah, and the natty PB isn’t cheap, but it’s my “must-have” food on the weekends.
Get creative folks![/quote]
Flax seed too, that shit is cheaper than dirt!
Shit bro, those are some good ideas. I would split the cost with someone, but everyone thinks I’m insane for eating this way More beef for me I guess. Do you get your fish oil @ costco? They were selling 300ct bottles for about 5$ when I got mine.
Well salute Union Jack and serve me up a slice o’ blood pie, we’ve got a Brit on the AD thread. I love foreigners. Massif is an Aussie and now we’ve got a fellow from the Kingdom. ;-). If we just had someone from the Emerald Island we could all break out into song at a Pub!
I’ve also seen them called Pork Cracklins’.
DH
[quote]Joe Daley wrote:
Jeff K wrote:
Bag of BBQ pork skins from the snack machine
Here was me wondering what the hell this strange American snack you were going on about, then it hit me: ‘Pork Skins’ are what we call ‘Pork Scratchings’ - A very popular pub snack. I’ll bear that in mind next time I’m at the pub supping on a glass of tap water during my low-carb phase…[/quote]
Well, this will be the third day of my short nightly fast. Honestly, I expected to drop a little scale weight over the fast, but no such luck. I find myself having to drink tons of water though, so I may be making it up on the scale.
I also think I need to bump up my kcals, really try to take in my days supply in the 8-10 hours or so I have.
Tomarrow is a carb up, so I’m also thinking that boosting fat cals a little today might not be so bad, as it will tend to increase fatty acid oxidation.
Shucks BD,
I’m thinkin if I don’t get some royalties on this’un I havta round up Pa and the boys and take care of the Ponderosa’s own. Reckon’ T-mag catches my drift. ;-).
DH
[quote]BookemD wrote:
DH, what’s your mug doing on the Grow! Bars Return thread…you are everywhere man!
well fellas I’ve been a bit too busy to post here but i wanted to put a spin on my happenings.
I’ve been monitoring my macronutrient profile pretty closely, and I’ve really got a hold on this and I’m still dropping BF. During the week I’m around 50g carbs a day- 250g of protein, and a varying 100g of fat (from all the sources I’ve mentioned earlier) a day. The weekend loads starts and ends on Sunday- where I don’t count calories or carbs- But the pasta/whey combo has been working well.
in shy of 2 months I’ve dropped 2inches from my waist and maintained my approx 1670 total (not that I’m counting! LOL)
One theme I’ve read here is troubleshooting the diet when performance is lagging - whether it be feeing like crap or bottoming out during the week.
One thing I’ve realized with this is that if you feel like crap during the week- your energy is low, etc You need to concentrate on manipulating your fats- and take my advice (because It has worked wonders since I’ve done it) go to your local store, and buy the udo’s/coconut/various nut oil blends. It makes all the difference in the world, you will feel great all the time, and your metabolism will thank you!
[quote]dnissenbaum wrote:
One theme I’ve read here is troubleshooting the diet when performance is lagging - whether it be feeing like crap or bottoming out during the week.
One thing I’ve realized with this is that if you feel like crap during the week- your energy is low, etc You need to concentrate on manipulating your fats- and take my advice (because It has worked wonders since I’ve done it) go to your local store, and buy the udo’s/coconut/various nut oil blends. It makes all the difference in the world, you will feel great all the time, and your metabolism will thank you![/quote]
The man speaks the truth. I’ve been feeling better and better since I stopped eating such a high percentage of sat. fat and replaced it with more poly’s and mono’s. I also rocked the 24hr carb-up last week, and felt much better with that than the 36.
-CA.
[quote]Charles Atlas wrote:
The man speaks the truth. I’ve been feeling better and better since I stopped eating such a high percentage of sat. fat and replaced it with more poly’s and mono’s. I also rocked the 24hr carb-up last week, and felt much better with that than the 36.
-CA.[/quote]
For us Mid-westerners Enova oil is great in this regard.
Let’s support our low carb bro Owen70 here, and stop by his blog of the UD 2.0. I’d say he deserves it for his good advice and earlier chop bustin’s ;-).
DH
[quote]Owen70 wrote:
Charles Atlas wrote:
The man speaks the truth. I’ve been feeling better and better since I stopped eating such a high percentage of sat. fat and replaced it with more poly’s and mono’s. I also rocked the 24hr carb-up last week, and felt much better with that than the 36.
-CA.
For us Mid-westerners Enova oil is great in this regard.[/quote]
More beef for me I guess. Do you get your fish oil @ costco? They were selling 300ct bottles for about 5$ when I got mine.