I’ve taken the plunge! After messing with diets and different macronutrient splits, and having earlier entertained the idea of pursuing the AD way of eating, I actually rediscovered and stumbled into the AD.
I was on a work related trip for five weeks. My training schedule and diet went all to hell. I had been following your standard isocaloric diet, focusing on lots of fruits, veggies, lean protein, and good fats. My progress had more or less stalled. Due to a variety of issues which arose while I was away from home, my physique began to suffer. While I was gaining strength, I was also putting on some appreciable fat. I returned home from my extended stay a week ago.
I decided to then figure out on my own what diet would work best for me. I started manipulating my macronutrients, keeping track of how I felt during the day, how training was going, and general mood. On the first low-carb day (sub 75g), I felt fantastic. Now, I’ve always done well on lower carb diets both for mass gain and cutting purposes. I knew the AD was the grand daddy of this type of eating, so I tested the waters even further and integrated a few days of true AD style eating.
I crashed the evening of the second day, and awoke the third day a new man. I had more vigor and motivation that morning than ever, and to think I had nearly convinced myself that “this diet wasn’t for me” the night prior. A single cup of coffee lit me up! Combined with a healthy serving of eggs, sausages, and spinach, I was moving at speeds heretofore under of for me at 6:00am.
Not only was I benefitting physiologically (no more afternoon crashes!), but mentally I felt more stimulated. Work hummed along at an efficient and rapid pace, and my mood and confidence levels were at a place I’d never truly experienced before.
I doubt this was a psychosomatic reaction given that I had convinced myself that “this diet wasn’t for me,” and that I was simply hanging on just to confirm it. And let’s not even go into the workout. Normally I stall out about half way in to a heavy session of lower body work. Not so this time around! I hit PRs on both deadlift and decline bench.
I got in a solid five days of solid AD eating and hit a quick 6 hour carb up this evening before plunging in for the next twelve days. For those who have considered this diet and may be waffling, here are just a few of the results I’ve seen in just the past five days.
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A decrease in obsession with food and increase in satiety. I don’t think about food any more. No carb cravings, and no random hunting in the fridge. And I am a VERY disciplined eater already. This has squashed all mental anxiety related to food. I find I can objectively look at how much food I’m intaking and manipulate it without undue strain. Waving calories normally has been very painful for me, but doing so on this diet is painless!
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A decrease in stress! I’m a very high strung type A personality with minor OCD. I’ve noticed my OCD symptoms have subsided dramatically and I’m able to mitigate the stressors in my life more efficiently.
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Improved mental acuity. I don’t feel run down, bogged, or drained. I feel very “awake” all day, and don’t have odd bursts of energy (say at 8pm at night). My diurnal cycle seems to have reset itself for the better.
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Umm, my waist size has decreased by nearly an inch, and ab definition has increased while muscularity and strength have also shown significant gains. What else do you need?! Ooh, how about improved endurance during intense anaerobic activity (Muay Thai).
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Improved mood. I feel more assertive and confident. Even my friends have made note that I’ve seemed more sociable this past week. And I’m damned sociable already! Although too be fair, my new job has eaten up a lot of my physical and mental time.
I’m eating between 2000 - 2500 calories per day. Here’s a sample of what I’ve eaten during the week:
Meal 1 : 3 whole eggs, 5 egg whites, 1 tbsp (natural) peanut butter, 1/4 tbsp butter, spinach
Meal 2 : 1 serving MD, 2 oz almonds
Meal 3 : 8 oz chicken breast, 1 1/2 oz walnuts, broccoli, cauliflower, limited amount of carrots
Meal 4 : 8 oz london broil, 1 tbsp olive oil, broccoli, cauliflower, limited amount of carrots
Meal 5 : (PWO), 2 serving MD, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 15 blueberries
Meal 6 : 1 oz almonds, 2 Flameout capsules, 5 fish oil capsules
My weekend carb up was pretty small, but I packed a lot in into a short time span.
From 3pm - 8pm this evening I had a big plate of Chinese Food (Mongolian Beef w/ steamed rice), 5 grapes, 1 1/2 cups of Raisin Bran with 2% milk, 1 full bag of fat free popcorn, and 1 whole wheat bagel with 1 tbsp natural jelly.
I need to read through the entirity of this thread and get ahold of Dr. D’s books and perhaps the NHE. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s workout and subsequent pump of doom! I’ll keep you updated!
