Damn you are right!Yesterday although my gums were bleeding my teeth were pretty clean,as well in the morning today!I am not eating that much red meat,i generally try to eat fish,olive oil,eggs,nuts,avocado,cheese and i try to limit red meat to 2-3 times per week.
As an update,after my 6 days in the wd i went from
81.4 kg
14.9% bf
to
80.6 kg
14.8 bf
Slow but good!
Every time I carb-up I get extremely sleepy. This is a cumulative effect so I get sleepier as I eat more carbs.
This I find surprising. Isn’t feeling sleepy after eating carbs a sign of insulin insensitivity? Isn’t the anabolic diet supposed to increase insulin sensitivity?
When I did not eat in a low-carb fashion, I would only get sleepy from carbs if I ate a lot at a time, say several cups of white rice or Mexican dinner with basket after basket of tortilla chips. Now, 7 ounces of sweet potatoes preceded 3 hours by a bowl of no-bean chili was enough to render me comatose. What’s the deal?
The AD increases insulin sensitivity of muscule. What this means is when insulin is released to lower blood sugar levels, muscle cells accept the lion share of the glycogen.
What you are describing is the Pancreatic response to a rise in blood sugar. In this situation the body is having an exaggerated response to the carbs because they are very high relative to what it is now used to handling.
Hey all.
I’m getting a little frustrated at my lack of ‘speed’ with regards to losing fat. People like John Berardi make me believe every checkpoint should be noticeable, especially in fat loss.
I’ve been walking quite a bit. I figure a 20 minute one-way walk (to school) is more conducive to fat loss than is a bike ride of the same distance.
I’ve been thinking of what my next step should be, lower calories (currently averaging about 2200 or less a day), add in HOT-ROX Extreme, add in sprints…
However, I was also thinking of taking a few tidbits from CT’s Destroying Fat article, like consolidating my 4 workouts and replacing a day with a lactate-inducing session.
My mental quarrel comes in the form of the question: “Do we really function THAT differently on the AD?” Body systems can’t possibly change THAT much right?
What does everyone think about this?
I was thinking of using this as an opportunity to shred up with no additional cardio, just dietary manipulation, but if the results aren’t as strong, then I don’t really give a shit. I just want to stay at my current/increasing level of strength.
@Evitagen
I had only one carb up but after reading 95 pages in these subject(still have a long way to go)I can tell you that although the idea seems simple(carb up) you must make observations regarding how you respond to different carbs and their combinations. For example,i had 7 clementines and half an hour later i ate 100g of oatmeal,100g raisins and 500ml kefir.I crashed really hard.
But later when i started eating bananas with tahini,whole wheat products etc I had absolutely not problem. I dont know if it was the combination or some food specifically but i know that the first combo was not good. For your info,i am suspecting kefir did the job and i am gonna try it again,without kefir
@nz6stringaxe
Can you give a sample day for you?
What do you eat during carb ups?
How long do they last?
Also notice that leaner individuals might have a harder time losing fat.
As the doctor said,if you wanna lose body fat you must lower you dietary fat for the body to turn to its reserves.
Finally try cycling your calories(i think -+ 1000 calories work really good)
Let me now say what i ate yesterday,just for a reference
6 eggs,spinach with 100g feta,olive oil,handful of walnuts and 50g peanut butter,avocado
Spinach with 100g chicken,olive oil,70 g flaxseed and 160 g of peanut butter,almonds
50g salami(at least I have no more of it)
Chicken burger with a slice of cheddar cheese,half burger with cheese.No bun,veggies,sauce,just meat and cheese
As a side note i lost one pound and my body fat is -0.1% Not the greatest achievement but its better than nothing!
Hey guys!
What do you think of finding your own “Carb-Set-Point”, like Dr. D describes in his Metabolic Diet / Anabolic Solution? So I think, my progresses are much better with 70-100g Carbs per day. Lyle McDonald also decribes in his book The ketogenic diet, that some more Carbs are more anabolic, even in the low-carb zone.
He recommends to do a TKD with two full carb-up days per week for bulking. For example 25-30g of carbs pre- and post-workout and 20-30g of carbs over the day. Carbs are only from veggies and a small amount of fruits like berries. What do you think about it? In my opinion this should be the better way for the mass-phase.
[quote]Philo wrote:
Hey guys!
What do you think of finding your own “Carb-Set-Point”, like Dr. D describes in his Metabolic Diet / Anabolic Solution? So I think, my progresses are much better with 70-100g Carbs per day. Lyle McDonald also decribes in his book The ketogenic diet, that some more Carbs are more anabolic, even in the low-carb zone.
He recommends to do a TKD with two full carb-up days per week for bulking. For example 25-30g of carbs pre- and post-workout and 20-30g of carbs over the day. Carbs are only from veggies and a small amount of fruits like berries. What do you think about it? In my opinion this should be the better way for the mass-phase.[/quote]
How long did you do the AD at less then 30 grams a day to compare? Have you done the AD? Or have you just read both books and are theorizing which one is better?
I did AD for several weeks, but I crashed every week at thursday. So I started with pre-workout carbs. 25g malodextrine. Then I´ve read Lyle´s book. He recommends TKD with 48 hours carb-up for bulking.
But maybe I´ll go back to classic AD for the next weeks to look how I will feel.
But I think, a short insulin spike pwo isnt´t bad, isn´t it?
Philo, I’ve been wondering about that. Anytime I happen to get 35-45g of carbs in a day, I never sweat it because of that whole idea. As for finding what works BEST for me, I don’t know. I seem to be doing pretty fine on 30g. I get sleepy after my workouts, but that doesn’t surprise me because it’s kind of always been like that.
Fotakou, my calories stay in the same area daily. I actually did do a drop/add this past week since I was deadlifting a new load and wanted to eat more that day, so I took it down a bit the previous two days.
Weekday menu looks like:
5 eggs (peppers and mushrooms)
150-250g of beef with the remaining grams coming from chicken breast (spinach
28-56g of cheese or reduced fat cheese
sometimes 28g almonds
on training days I’ve been regularly eating 230g cottage cheese with 40g berries, 13g wheat germ, 13g flax
32g whey protein for training days
usually 200+g beef or shrimp (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans)
and before bed I have 32g of whey mixed with casein (majority) with cocoa, 16-32g pb, and sometimes spread on a lowcarb tortilla.
Weekend looks just about the same except with 50g dextrose in my pwo drink, and in the morning instead of 5 eggs, I’ll make my special egg burrito creation with .5 cup whites, 2 eggs, 28g cheese, 13g flax, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, onion, and even more vegetables layered on a low carb tortilla.
My carb total last night was 100g. 94g and 278g for fat and protein. Today should be almost the same.
I don’t consider my carbing to have a length. It’s all weekend. The overall number is just tightly controlled. Carbs really only go towards my shake now, with the rest going to my normal trace 30g, and some additional trace carbs so I can have more variety, particularly in my vegetables.
I have been cutting dietary fat. I started off getting 250+g, while I currently hover around 95-125g. I’ve thought about stepping my cals through the week, but a day where I only eat 1000-1200 cals seems absolutely retarded to me. It would have to be all protein, probably in the form of tuna and chicken breast. Where are the nutrients in that??
Okay…I think I will go back to 30g tomorrow and look what will happen on thursday. Maybe now I´m better “fat-adapted”.
@nz6stringaxe
man sorry but is that really what you get during weekends?Veggies,some protein and tortilla?Thats ridiculous and excuse my words :S
You want glucose to fill your muscles and perhaps some fruit.Try beans,yams,sweet potatoes,whole wheat bread,oats with cinnamon
Quick yummy recipe
Cut carrots,marinate them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar,put them in a frying pan and let them there until they soften.Enjoy!
The idea on lowering dietary fat looks sound to me,but i also have the same problem.How much do i have to lower fat?In fact,there are no some guidelines regarding quantity.Ok 40-70% of daily calories is a nice idea but arent there solid numbers?I am also wondering :S
Finally,are you really eating less than 30g of carbs?I dont know about your portions,but have you logged them somewhere?Try using fitday.com for some days
Hey guys!!..been doing a stack of reading on the AD - thanks Evil1 and nz6stringaxe in particular for your PM’s! Ive also read the first few pages of this very loooong thread!!.. so once I get my bloodwork done this week…Im kicking this baby into gear next Monday!!
I do have some questions which didnt appear in the earlier posts - and apologies if they have been answered before…so bear with me!(given there are over 380 pages in this thread!!!..lol)
1)When Dr Di says use fish oil…does he mean cod liver oil, or a combination of various fish oils rich in Omega 3?
2) How many fish oil caps, flax seed oil grams etc…to take per day?
3)How much of your daily fat % can be saturated?, and what % must be fish oils?
4) A lot is mentioned about get a ½ cup of something? whats the measurement (g)for this?
5) Eating bacon generally has salt which causes water retention- Do you choose a low salt option?
6) How hard can you train during the 12 day start up phase?
7) Cooking methods ? frying is okay? What is best for eggs/ meat?
8) Are you meant to stay on the maintenance level (18x bodyweight) for those first 12 days, then increase upwards to mass phase after the carb up at the end of 12 days?
9) Timing of meal types ? should you eat heavier fat meals earlier in the day?
10) What about the formation of acidity in the blood from all that meat- do you monitor this?
Im sure these have been covered, but would appreciate some detailed responses.
Cheers guys!!
Hey guys!!..been doing a stack of reading on the AD - thanks Evil1 and nz6stringaxe in particular for your PM’s! Ive also read the first few pages of this very loooong thread!!.. so once I get my bloodwork done this week…Im kicking this baby into gear next Monday!!
I do have some questions which didnt appear in the earlier posts - and apologies if they have been answered before…so bear with me!(given there are over 380 pages in this thread!!!..lol)
1)When Dr Di says use fish oil…does he mean cod liver oil, or a combination of various fish oils rich in Omega 3?
2) How many fish oil caps, flax seed oil grams etc…to take per day?
3)How much of your daily fat % can be saturated?, and what % must be fish oils?
4) A lot is mentioned about get a ½ cup of something? whats the measurement (g)for this?
5) Eating bacon generally has salt which causes water retention- Do you choose a low salt option?
6) How hard can you train during the 12 day start up phase?
7) Cooking methods ? frying is okay? What is best for eggs/ meat?
8) Are you meant to stay on the maintenance level (18x bodyweight) for those first 12 days, then increase upwards to mass phase after the carb up at the end of 12 days?
9) Timing of meal types ? should you eat heavier fat meals earlier in the day?
10) What about the formation of acidity in the blood from all that meat- do you monitor this?
Im sure these have been covered, but would appreciate some detailed responses.
Cheers guys!!
Fotakou, don’t worry I’m not short on ideas. I have all my macros recorded for all of 2009. And yes, all of that is all I eat on whatever day I denoted.
I’m keeping carbs restricted to lose fat. I had them up in the 400-800 range, especially the first couple of times. That amount isn’t even necessary. I do think that the AD lends itself to gluttony far too easily.
Max i am just gonna answer the questions that i am really sure i can give you some input.Here goes
4)Its a measurement but you dont have to follow it. A better idea would be to go to fitday.com and start logging your food. Since you seem to be new to the whole measurement thing,i would suggest to start weighting your food for the first week so as to get a rough idea on what everything weights. At least try to do it for the foods that you will be eating a lot
6)When i started the AD i had a week where Monday to Friday in the morning i had kettlebell circuits,or conditioning and around evening capoeira class. So 4 out of 5 days i had double training. I you are wondering whether i crashed,yes i did around Friday(6th day) and i crashed hard. But now i just great
7)I am not a big fan of frying for different health reasons. I like to cook the meat using the oven and when it comes to eggs i highly advice to water poach them!
8)No the idea is to stay at maintenance calories for some time(1-2 months,dont know exactly but surely longer than 12 days)in order to let your body adapt to the high fat. Then you have to decide whether you want to bulk or cut
9)It really depends on you. I am mostly a fan of 3 big meals where i eat around 800-1000 calories each meal. From what i have read,in the first 100 pages (lol) many veterans go for a more multi meal approach. You have to experiment!
10)I am also somewhat worried about that but whenever i eat meat i make sure to eat some spinach or broccoli(less alkaline) in order to balance the acidity. But in the end i think that you are gonna have a somewhat acidic blood. I could probably remedy that with more spinach,but i dont like eating it alone,without other veggies so 2-3 cups are my maximum…
Hope i helped!
1)When Dr Di says use fish oil…does he mean cod liver oil, or a combination of various fish oils rich in Omega 3?
Combination. Salmon, mackerel, cod liver, etc.
3)How much of your daily fat % can be saturated?, and what % must be fish oils?
I don’t follow these measures. Be smart about it, and you shouldn’t have to worry about specifics.
A lot is mentioned about get a ½ cup of something? whats the measurement (g)for this?
Depends on the density. I hate any measurement other than g/mL. I live in USA, but the metrics are far easier to follow for this.
Eating bacon generally has salt which causes water retention- Do you choose a low salt option?
When I was eating bacon, I would buy all kinds, including lower sodium. I quit bacon altogether, despite its deliciousness, due to the nitrites.
How hard can you train during the 12 day start up phase?
Go as hard as you feel you can. I just wouldn’t say you should PLAN on going for new PRs. I only really felt like hell the first 3-4 days.
Cooking methods ? frying is okay? What is best for eggs/ meat?
I use a GF grill for my steaks and burgers, pan fry my eggs with some Pam, but that’s all for low-fat stuff. With higher cals, I’d use some canola oil (I found some with added DHA from Crisco). Also with higher cals, most of the meat I’d prepare is pretty loaded with fat anyway, so I’d just let it cook in it’s own fat without worrying about extraneous oil/fats.
Are you meant to stay on the maintenance level (18x bodyweight) for those first 12 days, then increase upwards to mass phase after the carb up at the end of 12 days?
I didn’t worry about this. I did the 12 days above maintenance, then stayed there for a week or two. Now I’m down to cutting levels.
Timing of meal types ? should you eat heavier fat meals earlier in the day?
Preference. I’m pretty even throughout the day but my greatest fat loads DO come mainly from the beginning of the day.
What about the formation of acidity in the blood from all that meat- do you monitor this?
As per my knowledge (inside and outside the AD), this is extremely important since it is a huge negative side effect of the nature of the AD. Supplement with L-Glutamine, eat more green vegetables with your meals, especially spinach. Look up the alkalinity/acidity of various foods to help you here. As I understand, it’s very important to maintain a slightly alkaline pH balance.
Thanks for the feedback guys - really helpful as usual. Good to have you out there for feedback!
nz6stringaxe- how come you cut out Bacon?.. you mentioned nitrates? (and does this apply to other pork products- ie salami?)
Also, has anyone checked their pH levels since starting the AD?
My plan is to do my maintenance cals for first 12 days (approx 3000 kcals), then the carb up - then will increase to 3500 kcals for the 5 day Hi protein+fat/ 2 day carb up split. Does this sound reasonable?
What side effects did you guys experience during the 12 day start up?..and how did you combat those?
Cheers
~M~
Thanks for the feedback guys - really helpful as usual. Good to have you out there for feedback!
nz6stringaxe- how come you cut out Bacon?.. you mentioned nitrates? (and does this apply to other pork products- ie salami?)
Also, has anyone checked their pH levels since starting the AD?
My plan is to do my maintenance cals for first 12 days (approx 3000 kcals), then the carb up - then will increase to 3500 kcals for the 5 day Hi protein+fat/ 2 day carb up split. Does this sound reasonable?
What side effects did you guys experience during the 12 day start up?..and how did you combat those?
Cheers
~M~
Thanks for the feedback guys - really helpful as usual. Good to have you out there for feedback!
nz6stringaxe- how come you cut out Bacon?.. you mentioned nitrates? (and does this apply to other pork products- ie salami?)
Also, has anyone checked their pH levels since starting the AD?
My plan is to do my maintenance cals for first 12 days (approx 3000 kcals), then the carb up - then will increase to 3500 kcals for the 5 day Hi protein+fat/ 2 day carb up split. Does this sound reasonable?
What side effects did you guys experience during the 12 day start up?..and how did you combat those?
Cheers
~M~
[quote]Max888 wrote:
Thanks for the feedback guys - really helpful as usual. Good to have you out there for feedback!
nz6stringaxe- how come you cut out Bacon?.. you mentioned nitrates? (and does this apply to other pork products- ie salami?)
Also, has anyone checked their pH levels since starting the AD?
My plan is to do my maintenance cals for first 12 days (approx 3000 kcals), then the carb up - then will increase to 3500 kcals for the 5 day Hi protein+fat/ 2 day carb up split. Does this sound reasonable?
What side effects did you guys experience during the 12 day start up?..and how did you combat those?
Cheers
~M~[/quote]
Don’t worry about pH or acid/alkaline balances. The diet (when done right) has enough vegetables to maintain a balance. Also food such as eggs and chicken breasts are alkalizing.
On top of which, your body can self regulate the pH.
The plan sounds fine.
Side effects: Drowsiness. Lethargy. Monsterous appetite. One crash and then energy like being reborn. The first week is the hardest. Or you may get lucky and not crash at all.
Combating them: nothing you can do really. Just keep in mind its only transitory. Drink coffee pre workout if you feel low on energy. Keep workouts as heavy as you feel you can go.