5 low carb days a week

[Urban]

Ok, so I'm reading this book I got called the anabolic diet. What they reccomend is 5 days with less than 30 grams of carbs per day, then eating a high carb diet for 36-48 hours. The book is very geared towards Bodybuilders but I figure it might have some advantages for a performance based athlete looking to put on some muscle. Some quotes and points that I'd appreciate input on:

"usually insulin works to decrese the secretion of growth hormone, but the body sees the great increase in carbs and insulin during the weekend as a stressful situation, much like exercise, and growth hormon actually increases with insulin. in this way, we get the positive effects of growth hormon stimulus both during the week and on weekends." - p. 27

Is this right? I was under the impression that a low carb induced ketosis would take more time than 5 days to induce, and could be lost after one cheating meal. Would a 5 days on, 2 days off split like this even get you to ketosis or is it striving for something different do you think?

p. 28 Says cortisone is a catabolic hormone.

I know nothing about cortisone. could somebody enlighten me? some people say it makes you fat, others say it destroys muscles, some say it does very little with regards to training... WTF does cortisone do?

"the first thing your body does in response to this exaggerated carb loading is stuff the muscles with glycogen (muscle glycogen also increases more than you'd find on a high carb dieet). At the the same time, amino acids are driven into the cell and an even greater anabolic effect is experienced.

"During the weekend you'll find yourself rather relaxed and blase because carbs will be forcing a rise in serotonin.

"once you hit that gym on monday, you're going to get one of the best pumps of your life, thanks to all that glycogen and water in the muscle cells. During monday and tuesday, your syustem will be working, burning both all that increased glycogen and free fatty acids, and you'll experience the expected rise in fat burning and muscle growth. Then, Wednesday-friday, with glycogen limited again, you'll switch back to a near exclusive fat burning metabolism to maximize your gains."

They spend a lot of time justifying the 2 days off, and the glycogen store replenishing thing is a big reason for it. They seem to make the claim that the anabolic diet helps increase ATP stores on your cheat days (and to a lesser extent in the two that follow) in addition to spending the majority of the week burning fat for energy.

In any event, I'll be trying this diet for a month to see what happens. I mean, it couldn't hurt anything right? Time for some cottage cheese and some sleep.

 

[Henry Swanson]

Urban, I think you mean cortisol not cortisone right?

 

[supersudo]

Urban, I think you mean cortisol not cortisone right?

yeh i agree.. he must be referring to cortisol..

 

[Urban]

uhhh... no, I double checked and it says cortisone in the book. Maybe I personally confused it with cortisol (when i wrote my "WTF is it" rant) but the book says cortisone.

 

[SlappyMacGee]

I have trouble accepting anything but a balanced diet. Both low carb and low fat diets are bullshit.

I am interested in what it will do for your energy levels.

 

[Urban]

I'll keep you all posted. Anyone who's been on a low carb diet before (and this is my first) will tell you the first week is the hardest. I'm used to drinking milk and orange juice on a regular basis and now I can't, so it's lots of water for me. it's day 2 and I feel pretty normal (a little hungry).

It should be noted that this is not a low carb or low fat diet... it's kinda both, which is sort of new. The largest concern I have is taking my body in and out of starvation mode (ketosis) every week. that's gotta be messing with something. But like I said, I'll keep you all posted.

I weigh 195, with what i'd guess to be around 12-15% bodyfat (two visible abs).

 

[zdrax]

I think the anabolic diet is wonderful in theory, terrible in practice. I tried it once (2 week break in period etc. etc.). I had the hardest time losing weight. In addition, the break in 2 week period is horrendous. Your mouth always has a weird, parched, bad breath feeling, you're exhausted, headaches, bodyaches, insomnia etc. And as soon as you come off of it... WHOA, what a rebound.

These days I follow a lower caloric diet, but implement some of the ideas from the AD (weekend carb refeeds). A normal week is 3 moderate carb days and 3 low carb days (low carb is < 100g CHO, moderate is < 150g CHO) and 1 carb up day with some tasty junk food (~ 300g CHO). In the short-term, I think the AD is awesome, but it's something I couldn't hack for the long-run.

 

[zdrax]

BTW, one weird "side effect" of the diet is that once you go back to normal eating patterns, there's a compulsivity to binge on the weekends. It was really hard getting used to not seeing the weekend as a gorge-fest once I went back to a more moderate, isocaloric diet plan.

 

[zdrax]

BTW, you have to be damn near obsessive about CHO intake. Stuff like soy sauce, any condiment practically, low-carb protein powders, cheeses, nuts... you'd be amazed at how ~ 3 - 4 CHO per food item add up so quickly over the course of a day.

One recommendation, keep your olive oil and good fat intake insanely high. I felt terrible until I really started taking the fat recommendations seriously.

 

[Urban]

well, thus far I've been on a meat and cheese (and eggs) diet, and the anabolic diet allows for 30 grams of carbs a day, so if I stick to meats and cheeses, I should stay under that mark relatively easily. I'm probably also going to start taking a fiber supplement because well... I'm simply not getting enough 5 days a week. Also, to be fair it doesn't look like the anabolic diet actually promotes binging, if you look at the sample high carb days, they're pretty lean and metered.

Thanks for the input, glad to get some comments from somebody who's tried it.

 

[ObsceneJester]

Thanks for the input, glad to get some comments from somebody who's tried it.

My question what are you trying to accomplish here? Weight loss? I don't see how having lower carbs are going to be more beneficial then a good complete diet (lean meats, veggies ectera ectera ectera)

 

[Urban]

Muscle gain actually. The theory is that your body's hormonal and chemical response to going in and out of ketosis is perfect for maintaining and capitalizing on an anabolic state that can be maintained year round.

Just to cover all my bases, you are familiar with how low carb diets work right? And typically I'd agree, up until a couple days ago I ate everything you put in front of me, staying away from processed foods and refined sugars the best I could, but this has caught my interest and I've nothing but time. So I thought I'd give it a shot.

 

[toufeksian]

what about the calories per day ? how much carbs can u eat in weekends? and what do you take post w/o ? how is it working right now ?

 

[toufeksian]

i havent tried this , but i have my doubts , i think , like you were saying , that 5 days is not enought. Maybe if you train real hard , yes , in the last days you could be in a good ketosis , but i think that you have to blast your glycogen out in the first days with excersices like sprinting , or intense weightlifting, either way , your not going to induce yourself in ketosis

 

[Henry Swanson]

This diet sounds exactly like a cycled ketogenic diet which is mainly for fat loss.

 

[SlappyMacGee]

I fail to believe that a diet that has you constantly yo-yoing in and out of a state of Ketosis is healthy for you. You may be able to see some muscle gains, but will they out weigh potential side effects?

 

[Urban]

what about the calories per day ? how much carbs can u eat in weekends? and what do you take post w/o ? how is it working right now ?

Unlimited carbs on weekends, but only 18-20 x bw in calories. So if you weigh 195 lbs, then 20 calories per lb works out to 3900 calories per day.

i havent tried this , but i have my doubts , i think , like you were saying , that 5 days is not enought. Maybe if you train real hard , yes , in the last days you could be in a good ketosis , but i think that you have to blast your glycogen out in the first days with excersices like sprinting , or intense weightlifting, either way , your not going to induce yourself in ketosis

I'm not sure either. But that's something to consider: maybe I should really step up my workouts on sunday and monday.

This diet sounds exactly like a cycled ketogenic diet which is mainly for fat loss.

actually they say it can be used for cutting as well, you go down to to a daily caloric intake of 14-18 x bw (in lbs) for that.

I fail to believe that a diet that has you constantly yo-yoing in and out of a state of Ketosis is healthy for you. You may be able to see some muscle gains, but will they out weigh potential side effects?

I dunno. It'll be fun to find out won't it?! plus, I'm not REALLY concerned about my health, only performance and strength right now. this isn't a long term diet by any means.

 

[Tkdmmafighter**]

interesting stuff.

 

[toufeksian]

the 18-20 calories per lb are all the days ? or in the weekends?, or if you want to add weight , all the days are 18-20 , and if you want to cut , all the days are 14-18 ?

 

[Goat Meal]

It is the same principal in the Warrior's Diet. I went on that for about 3 weeks and didn't like it at all.

Summary of the Warrior Diet:

Starve yourself during the day, eating only fruits and veggies in small portions when hunger pangs become too overwhelming.

At night, binge, eating in order, protein and then carbs.

At first I was like "Wow, I really am losing weight.." because I'd step on the scale every morning and see that I was a few pounds lighter.

It was all bullshit. You're pretty much starving yourself for nothing. It's a reduced calorie diet gloriously packaged in a bullshit theory about Roman warriors.