My Experience On the Anabolic Diet

Nutrition
1802

[quote]g.anagno wrote:

For sometime now i try hard to break the strong bond between food and pleasure. Food IS pleasure but this doesn’t have to happen necessarily or every time you eat something.

Maybe this attitude is the key to any minor or major physical transformation. I feel like i made a big step forwards.[/quote]

Interesting…happend for me too recently. I used to see ice cream or cake and just want them so bad…and be able to fight off the craving till the weekend…but now? I see them, think, “looks good” and just pass. I haven’t had any junk food for 4 weeks now. I feel like a friggin machine. Football season is coming and I need to be in top shape…and the more green vegs + olive oil I eat, the better I feel.

Basically, I’m never hungry from all the protein, fat and fiber, so eating is just like sleeping…something that needs to be done, rather than this big event. After breakfast…I could literally go till 6pm with out eating if i wanted to, I don’t, but I could.

1803

[quote]IL Cazzo wrote:

Basically, I’m never hungry from all the protein, fat and fiber, so eating is just like sleeping…something that needs to be done, rather than this big event. After breakfast…I could literally go till 6pm with out eating if i wanted to, I don’t, but I could.

[/quote]

My feelings exactly. I have forgoten how it feels to be HUNGRY and that’s the way it goes even on below maintenance cals.

When i was on moderate carb diet (100-200 gr/day) the thought of next meal made my heart beat faster!

Now that i don’t crave food so much (nearly at all), i feel i became a little more “free” just like when i quit smoking and regular heavy drinking.

1804

Is it okay to maybe have a protein shake and flax for a meal or 2 on this diet? I am gonna be eating around 6 meals a day and have a lot of flax oil around.

1805

[quote]gnew70 wrote:
Is it okay to maybe have a protein shake and flax for a meal or 2 on this diet? I am gonna be eating around 6 meals a day and have a lot of flax oil around.[/quote]

Of course! Indulge! Where did you get the idea you couldn’t?

1806

I was looking on another board and someone said only solid meals on a diet like this.

1807

Alright! Tomorrow is my first carb up. Started the diet March 2nd (Thursday), and I’m carbing up tomorrow and Saturday. I don’t really have an urge to go crazy. Cereal, fruit, some wheat bread, pasta, and then a dinner of pizza and some ice cream will be mostly what I have tomorrow.

Down 4 lbs so far. A couple things I’ve noticed about my workouts:

Positives: Leg recovery. For some reason, I have less DOMS after leg workouts. In the past, an intense leg day would require 4-5 days for a total recovery and loss of all DOMS. While it still is taking awhile, there isn’t as much soreness since I’ve been on the AD.

4 lbs scale weight loss with no decline in lifting performance. Actually a little bit of improvement on some lifts.

Negatives: First of all, my motivation during workouts has really suffered. Before I started the AD I would go into the weight room pissed off and ready to take it out on the iron. While the first week of training went ok, this past week has been pretty tough. I don’t feel any aggression when I begin lifting.

Related to this is the fact that, before workouts, I usually take a 200mg caffeine pill. On the AD, when I do this I feel burned out, high strung, and jittery before I even start. I’m going to cut it to 100g. This really isn’t a big deal and it’s pretty fixable.

The biggest thing that bothers me is that I’m having a lot of difficulty sleeping on days when I lift. I sleep like a baby on off days but am really struggling otherwise. Yesterday I did legs (ME Squat, 4x10 step ups, 4x6 RDL) and by 9:45pm or so I was dead tired and couldn’t keep my eyes open. But despite this, I could not fall asleep! I really don’t know what’s wrong, and I never remember feeling like this before. Perhaps it’s the fact that I don’t get a hit of sleepiness-inducing, sugary carbs like I used to when I’d drink Surge or Grape Juice + Whey after my workout.

I’m really hoping that the latter problem goes away now that I’ll be starting weekly carb ups. Because I started on a Thursday, it’s been quite a long induction period (15 days rather than 12) and perhaps that has something to do with it.

1808

[quote]Kliplemet wrote:
gnew70 wrote:
I was looking on another board and someone said only solid meals on a diet like this.

bs[/quote]

I totally agree. There’s no better way to get E-V-O-O than shakes. Plus, throw in some whipping cream and natural PB and WHAM!

1809

I need a quick opinion from some of the experts on this diet:

I started “low-carbing” (sub 50 grams) on March 6th, and went to March 9th, whereby I had a moderate 6 hour carb up on the 10th. During that period of time I crashed on day two. I was eating low T-Dawg 2.0 style prior to this period.

I went right back into AD on the 11th and crashed on the 13th. I started getting pumps from eating just fat and energy returned in spades.

I’m guessing I’ve made the metabolic shift. I now have a conundrum - it seems like I shift into fat burning mode very quickly due to my generally low carb intake. I can almost guarantee I’m in it now. I’m just curious as to whether I should carb up tomorrow (Friday, the 17th), or whether I should hang on for another week. I know in the NHE, the break in period is only 7 days, and in the original AD, you start immediately on the 5/2 schedule. I’d love to hear back from you guys!

1810

Carbing up now would still leave you possibly guessing about your having made the shift. Skipping until next weekend will leave no doubts, I’d say.

1811

My only concern is that

  1. I’m not recovering properly from workouts at this point. Not good.

  2. Progress has stalled even in the fat loss. I’m eating far above maintenance, have a reduced energy expenditure, and am still losing weight and fat.

This is not good considering I’m down to 144 (from 150). I don’t think I’m losing muscle as I’m maintaining strength - I’m just not recovering from workouts like I should be.

I know Dr. D has said you can start off going 5/2, and that doing so means it may take up to four weeks to shift. Given that I crashed on day two (and some guys don’t crash until day eight), I’m a bit concerned about going without carbs for an additional seven days (no way I’m doing a mid-week spike.)

But yes, your thoughts mimic mine exactly in that using arbitrary “feelings” as an indicator of the shift is not the best rule of measurement.

1812

[quote]zdrax wrote:
My only concern is that

  1. I’m not recovering properly from workouts at this point. Not good.

  2. Progress has stalled even in the fat loss. I’m eating far above maintenance, have a reduced energy expenditure, and am still losing weight and fat.

This is not good considering I’m down to 144 (from 150). I don’t think I’m losing muscle as I’m maintaining strength - I’m just not recovering from workouts like I should be.

I know Dr. D has said you can start off going 5/2, and that doing so means it may take up to four weeks to shift. Given that I crashed on day two (and some guys don’t crash until day eight), I’m a bit concerned about going without carbs for an additional seven days (no way I’m doing a mid-week spike.)

But yes, your thoughts mimic mine exactly in that using arbitrary “feelings” as an indicator of the shift is not the best rule of measurement.[/quote]

Just my 2c:

I think Derek above has a strong point.

Also, having crashed means you’re shifting to fat burning and not necessarily that you’re fat adapted. IMO poor recovery and other similar phenomena are all symptoms caused from being ON the shift.

I also think that carbs don’t play a significant role in the recovery proccess during weekdays on the AD. They’re just pure energy needed only the moment you lift.

Going another week without carbs may make your workouts suffer, but that’s a sacrifice you must make begining the diet.

As far as weight loss, i wouldn’t worry as long as i was sure it is not muscle. Afterall, if you think you’re eating less than you need, feel free to have more of the delicious foods you’re allowed to eat on the AD. Doc says the initial phase is not meant to be a cutting period.

1813

well im on my first carb up. in week one i was drooling for waffles,mac and cheese ,bagels etc. but as week 2 came and things got much better i wasnt so jonesing for these items. then as week 2 came to a close my body fat was down 4% and weight down 7 pounds.now i wasnt even trying to lose body weight just body fat,i didnt count cals at all just kept anal count of my carbs.

so anyways as today first carb up days comes im feeling so guilty as i eat carbs.i know thats the deal eat em eat em for one or two days but man im having a hard time justifying them.anyonelse have sudden guilt on thier first carb up?

1814

As far as guilt or anything like it… Just remember what I told a client of mine this morning…

We were talking about waitresses asking if we are on the Atkins Diet when we ask to have the potatoes or bread deleted from our orders. It’s not usually worth the aggrivation to tell them “Well, we do a carb-up every five days”. They just assume it is a “cheat day” and it’s that simple.

It IS NOT that simple. The fact is that this “cheat day” is not for our oun psychology or for a “break” from low carb dieting. It is a NECESSARY part of our program. We HAVE TO carb-up. To call it a “cheat day” is doing Dr. D a disservice.

So don’t feel guilty at all. Just remember, even if you don’t want a cheat day, the fact is you NEED to do it or the AD will fail you.

1815

thanks derek.i just ate four slices of pizza.keep telling me why i need these carbs!i need the motivation to slam em!
its so funny on days 1-4 i was so looking forward to this day and then it came and im tired,headaches,feel gross full and have cramps!lol these were supposed to be the fun days!

1816

Day 7. Decided to really up the calories today to fuel a badass workout I plan to have tomorrow morning. Still no cravings :slight_smile:

1817

Cardio? I am going to lower my calories to 1500 and tighten up my diet starting tomorrow. My goal is to lose 5-10lbs. I was wondering if there is any difference in HIIT vs SS cardio while on the AD?

I was thinking 3 HIIT sessions a week (alternated with lifting days). Any thoughts? Thanks!

1818

[quote]Jillybop wrote:
Cardio? I am going to lower my calories to 1500 and tighten up my diet starting tomorrow. My goal is to lose 5-10lbs. I was wondering if there is any difference in HIIT vs SS cardio while on the AD?

I was thinking 3 HIIT sessions a week (alternated with lifting days). Any thoughts? Thanks!
[/quote]

I’d have to say that at the very LEAST there is not much difference with the rules of cardio with either diet. I will say, however that this diet seems to favor a higher intensity of work. Therefore, I’d do the HIIT for sure. (I think SS cardio is at best BORING and at worst deliterious)

1819

Day 13! On Friday and Saturday I did a protein and fat load - I was slaggin it in the gym. Lo and behold it worked! I downed nearly 6,000 calories on both days with roughly 70 - 80% of my calories coming from fat. My carbs went above the 30g CHO threshold (came in at around 50 or 60), but I imagine the sheer amount of fat will make that amount of CHO intake negligible in the long run.

Also, can someone be addicted to the serotonin release caused by the consumption of carbohydrates? I found myself eating and for the first time realizing I was trying to elicit that physiological response, but wasn’t getting it because (duh) I was eating protein and fat. I’ve classically conditioned myself to expect that serotonin response on the weekend. This was (literally) the first time since I’ve started my physique recomposition efforts, which was over two years ago, where I didn’t eat a higher proportion of carbs on the weekend.

That said, I love being a fat burner. I have noticed that my energy system sessions haven’t been as fruitful - my legs just feel dead. I know full adaptation can take an order of months. It’s just rough because I’m a competitive martial artist. On the upside, I don’t “gas” nearly as quickly, but I find muscle fatigue accumulates more rapidly. Is it possible one’s BMR is higher when consuming only P+F. The weekend load seemed to help somewhat. We’ll see how it goes after I start the main portion of the diet.

Also, a word to the wise. Beware excessive caffeine consumption. When you come down, you come down HARD on this diet. I’ve always been able to mitigate the effects of coffee just because I’m drank it so consistently for so long. A late night intellectual conversation and practice with my band led to coffee, and I crashed super hard the following day. I’d already had my metabolic “crash” on day 2 and 3 of this diet, so I know it wasn’t me shifting.

Technically, tomorrow should be my carb up day. I’m not as lean as I want to be yet, but I feel like the adaptation phase has run its course and it’s time to shift over to the 5/2 standard. I plan on doing the wave loading of calories discussed earlier in this thread. One of the big benefits of this diet is being able to objectively look at food and food intake, and manipulate it without putting a lot of emotion into it. Knowing that I’ll only eat 1500 calories on day on this diet doesn’t scare me like it does while being on a higher carb diet.

Keep rockin guys!

1820

zdrax,

Don’t forget that you’re totally carb depleted at this moment. Once you have your regular weekend fill-ups, you’ll perform a lot better during the week.

1821

[quote]Kliplemet wrote:
on mauro’s site there are sample diets available, there is nearly zero fiber in them. what’s up with that?!

[/quote]

Perhaps he satisfies fiber needs with one of his supplements