Anabolic Diet 2.0

[quote]fairbairn wrote:
Gentlemen,

I’m reaching the end of my initiation period (12 days at <30g CHO) and am preparing for my first carb-up.

I’m 42 years old, train 2-3 times a week with high intensity and low volume, and am dieting for the purpose of dropping body fat - currently at around 20% (ugh - coming back from a long post-surgery layoff).

So far the diet has been great: I’ve lost at least an inch from my waist, feel a lot harder, and haven’t experienced any loss in strength.

Questions:

  1. Would I be better off doing my carb-up per the “Carb Nite Solution” - i.e. 6-8 hours one night on the weekend - or sticking with the full weekend (~ 36 hours) per the classic Anabolic Diet? I am leaning towards wanting to keep it limited to one night, because I’m at 20% b.f., my goal is fat loss, and I train low-volume. Sound right, or a mistake?

  2. Would I better off keeping the carb-up clean (oats, rice, wholewheat bread) or going crazy (ice cream, cookies, doughnuts, cheesecake…)?

Thanks in advance guys!

Fairbairn

[/quote]

Congrats on making it through the initiation (it sounds so cult-ish now that I type that out)…

If you are focusing on fat loss I definitely think it is advisable to “carb nite” it. I got incredibly lean (photos in profile) doing it this way. As for how “dirty” you can go you will have to experiment, but if you are going to keep it to a small window I think you can have a bit more leeway.

The way I did it was to eat a single, balls out cheat meal once a week. Its not exactly the “anabolic diet” but it followed the same outline. I would typically make things like a box of waffles with real maple syrup, followed by a dessert of some kind, and usually one other “treat” or big carb item. All in all it was probably something like 400g of carbs in a few hours.

Of course, you will have to experiment to see what you can get away with and how far you can push it.

Hey guys im starting the AD soon and just wanted some feed back on how my set up looks. some stats im a male, 5’4 in cm, weight 252 lb. Here is my diet. So how am I looking ?

Breakfast

Egg, fresh, 5 large
Cheddar Cheese, 2 oz
Asparagus, fresh, 1 cup
Beef- 80%-20% lean ground beef, 7 oz
Breakfast TOTALS: 1,117

Dinner

Beef, round steak, 5 oz
Broccoli, fresh, 1.5 cup, chopped
Cheddar Cheese, 2 oz
Dinner TOTALS: 453

Snack

Egg, fresh, 4 large
Cheddar Cheese, 2 oz
Beef- 80%-20% lean ground beef, 5 oz
Asparagus, fresh, 1 cup
Snack TOTALS: 902

Lunch2

Beef, round steak, 6 oz
Broccoli, fresh, 1.5 cup, chopped
Cheddar Cheese, 2 oz
Lunch2 TOTALS: 490

CALORIES CARBS FAT PROTEIN
2,961 29 203 257

[quote]macpro1 wrote:
Hey guys im starting the AD soon and just wanted some feed back on how my set up looks. some stats im a male, 5’4 in cm, weight 252 lb. Here my my diet. So how am I looking ?

Breakfast

Egg, fresh, 5 large
Cheddar Cheese, 2 oz
Asparagus, fresh, 1 cup
Beef- 80%-20% lean ground beef, 7 oz
Breakfast TOTALS: 1,117

Dinner

Beef, round steak, 5 oz
Broccoli, fresh, 1.5 cup, chopped
Cheddar Cheese, 2 oz
Dinner TOTALS: 453

Snack

Egg, fresh, 4 large
Cheddar Cheese, 2 oz
Beef- 80%-20% lean ground beef, 5 oz
Asparagus, fresh, 1 cup
Snack TOTALS: 902

Lunch2

Beef, round steak, 6 oz
Broccoli, fresh, 1.5 cup, chopped
Cheddar Cheese, 2 oz
Lunch2 TOTALS: 490

CALORIES CARBS FAT PROTEIN
Totals: 2,961 29 203 257 [/quote]

It looks good but I would defintely add in some olive oil and coconut oil to broaden your fatty acid profiles.

Lonnie123,

Thanks for the advice. This approach obviously worked great for you, judging from your photos! How long did that take, and did you have to dial it in at some point (weighing food throughout the week, counting calories) or did you manage to get there by eating intuitive portion sizes?

So I did what you suggested: a single “carb nite” - probably 500g - 600g of carbs in total. It was quite difficult getting this amount of carbs down eating clean, so in the end I had to dig into the Christmas pudding and ice cream a bit to get there. :slight_smile:

Today I’m up just 1.2kg, nothing like some of the reports I’ve read in these parts of huge weight fluctuations after the carb-ups.

Funny but the carb-up felt like work and I’m quite glad to be back to <30g today.

The leaning out was a long process. I stupidly bulked up to 237 at one point (fat, fat, fat) and spent about 5 months dieting to down 180 or so. Spent a bit of time trying to lean bulk using the Anabolic diet, and then spent about another 5 months dieting for a BBing show. All in all it was probably 18 months or so, but the BIG weight losses happened in about 5 months time each.

Yeah, most of us are happy to return to our low carb days after the high carb day. Its funny how that works.

hey guys im going to start the AD next week and have a few questions?

  1. Would it be alright to continue the induction phase past the 12 days.

  2. is it ok to conduct HIIT during the AD diet? or should i focus more on weight lifting?
    my goal is FAT LOSS im am around maybe 35-40% bf. my goal would be to reach around 20% and below

3.Any tips or ideas to help this goal faster or more efficiently?

Remember that the carb-up days serve a purpose: to stop your metabolism from slowing.

HIIT is fine, though I would be very careful given your BF%, as it will be hard on your joints depending on what you’re doing. I’d stick with the bike for the first fe w weeks.

Just don’t overdo it: if you’re truly at that high a BF%, bear in mind that you didn’t get there in a day and won’t get away from that in a day. The worst thing you could do is f*** up your hormonal profile or get injured due to energy deficits.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Thank you for your replies. I’m just so hungry to loss all this body fat to join the military, but your right i didn’t gain it in a day and wont lose it in another. Going to start it slow and soon use the SL 5x5 program to begin strength training since ima beginner. Ive posted my diet outline above to make sure im on the right track.

If you are legit at almost 40% body fat (to me that means OBESE), you absolutely do NOT need to be doing HIIT. Simply eating better is the first place you need to start. From there you can add in some walking.

The combination of those 2 things should be enough to get you under 20% no problem at all. HIIT is really quite a “shock” to the system and you only need to implement it when you are lean and looking to coax your body into getting LEANER. Its completely unnecessary for a fat person to be doing.

The value of learning how to control your body weight and body fat through minimal exercise cannot be understated. You will get MUCH more out of the diet if you can gain/lose weight at will and without measuring anything than you will if you do it while doing bike sprints and such. Save the “drastic measures” for when you really need them.

[quote]macpro1 wrote:
Thank you for your replies. I’m just so hungry to loss all this body fat to join the military, but your right i didn’t gain it in a day and wont lose it in another. Going to start it slow and soon use the SL 5x5 program to begin strength training since ima beginner. Ive posted my diet outline above to make sure im on the right track.
[/quote]

I think you’ve made a great choice to use AD. Take things slow. Make a long term commitment.

I think one of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose alot of weight is trying to do everything at once. By doing this they have no Ace cards to pull when progress slows.

JK

Just returned to the AD myself…on Shoulder post surgery now… So bassically no excersise just long walks, bike, eliptical & sit ups… Pretty much what your grampa can do…
Done the AD for 2 years its very easy to follow forgiving and cheap…To all the newbs here keep it simple. If you are going from high carb to AD the transition phase is very hard… Whats the rush? Go paleo/caveman for 30-60 days keep carbs around 50-100G from natural stuff… Then when you switch to AD the 2 weeks is very easy. Keep fat high 50-60% and tons of water and you should have no issues unless you are a total puss… If trying to get lean spend a month on AD in maintenece then switch up to 50% protien with a 1 day carb up… For those trying to save money this diet is pretty cheap when in cut or maintence but when bulking it puts a dent in your visa bill… Eggs, burger, chicken, cans of tuna… Learn to be creative with food or you will crash… I tend to like to do the cut phase Feb-May, Maintain June-Aug, Bulk Sept-Dec, Maintain Jan

[quote]thehebrewhero wrote:
Just returned to the AD myself…on Shoulder post surgery now… So bassically no excersise just long walks, bike, eliptical & sit ups… Pretty much what your grampa can do…
Done the AD for 2 years its very easy to follow forgiving and cheap…To all the newbs here keep it simple. If you are going from high carb to AD the transition phase is very hard… Whats the rush? Go paleo/caveman for 30-60 days keep carbs around 50-100G from natural stuff… Then when you switch to AD the 2 weeks is very easy. Keep fat high 50-60% and tons of water and you should have no issues unless you are a total puss… If trying to get lean spend a month on AD in maintenece then switch up to 50% protien with a 1 day carb up… For those trying to save money this diet is pretty cheap when in cut or maintence but when bulking it puts a dent in your visa bill… Eggs, burger, chicken, cans of tuna… Learn to be creative with food or you will crash… I tend to like to do the cut phase Feb-May, Maintain June-Aug, Bulk Sept-Dec, Maintain Jan [/quote]

Words of wisdom^^

I was on a 50-100g of carb a day diet before I went on AD. It made the transition incredibly easy.

JK

Thanks JK29

I think too many people are looking to get “shredded” or “huge” in weeks and find the AD thinking becuase its so different from the good ol Chicken, rice, vegies style of eating they go balls out and fail quick… For most of us here we work out to feel good, look good… Theres just no reason to torture your self if you dont need too… 4-8 weeks of your life is nothing…AD is simple but lets be honest the super low carb shit is hard if you dont ease into it… I think once you’ve done it about 3-6 months the carb cravings switch to cravings of faty meat like ribs, steaks, bacon, lamb… But it should really be looked at as a lifestyle not a diet.

Some people dont do “low” carb well either, dont forget. The whole point of the 12 day induction is to ENSURE that you adapt to the lifestyle as quickly and effectively as possible. Many people experience the crash under a certain threshold of carbs no matter what, so lingering around for weeks under 100g wont work for them.

But for most I think its a great plan, especially if your diet is not “good” or just really high in carbs and not working for you.

For what its worth, I believe DH mentioned WAY back in the original thread that you could do a transition period, so it has that seal of approval on it as well.

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:

For what its worth, I believe DH mentioned WAY back in the original thread that you could do a transition period, so it has that seal of approval on it as well.[/quote]

Shoot, I wish someone would go though all the old AD Threads and make a Q&A book with all of DH and MODOK’s answers.

[quote]JK29 wrote:

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:

For what its worth, I believe DH mentioned WAY back in the original thread that you could do a transition period, so it has that seal of approval on it as well.[/quote]

Shoot, I wish someone would go though all the old AD Threads and make a Q&A book with all of DH and MODOK’s answers.

[/quote]

I went back and read through the first 150 pages or so. After that DH and Il Cazzo basically drop off the map except for rare postings every now and then. Took me about a month to get through reading a little every day, it was a fun read and worth it. I skimmed the other threads but its pretty much that first thread where DH is on board so heavily that is the gold mine.

Theres really too much information to turn it into any kind of easy to read or format text that wouldnt take months to do well.

As for Modok, I believe his posts are no longer on the board. The only way to see them is when someone has them quoted in another post… Sad

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:

[quote]JK29 wrote:

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:

For what its worth, I believe DH mentioned WAY back in the original thread that you could do a transition period, so it has that seal of approval on it as well.[/quote]

Shoot, I wish someone would go though all the old AD Threads and make a Q&A book with all of DH and MODOK’s answers.

[/quote]

I went back and read through the first 150 pages or so. After that DH and Il Cazzo basically drop off the map except for rare postings every now and then. Took me about a month to get through reading a little every day, it was a fun read and worth it. I skimmed the other threads but its pretty much that first thread where DH is on board so heavily that is the gold mine.

Theres really too much information to turn it into any kind of easy to read or format text that wouldnt take months to do well.

As for Modok, I believe his posts are no longer on the board. The only way to see them is when someone has them quoted in another post… Sad[/quote]

What happened?

Dont know for sure… I think a few people do but I never could figure out exactly what it was. Really too bad because he was a work horse on the forums and provided so much information.

I’m in the middle of my carb up today, I might post a few pics of stuff I make to help some of you guys out with ideas. I generally stick to a very, VERY limited diet but today I decided to have some fun so it might be interesting to post the pics.

I’ve spent days reading those old threads. There’s alot more than 150 pages my friend. Very awesome information!

I’m aware of how many pages there are, not to mention the numerous threads on the topic (I think its like 600+ pages if you add them all up)… But after about page 100 in the original “My experience…” DH kinda falls off the thread and it becomes A LOT of posts about newbies jumping on board, diet critique’s, and general discussion.

Not that there is nothing to be learned in the discussion, but DH was the real source of info in that original thread for my money. He had all the knowledge, experience, coaching, a direct line to DiPasquale, and a way of writing that was unique and informative on a level that no one else quite got to.

As I was looking to mostly read his stuff, and you are lucky to find one of his post every 5-20 pages as it passes page 150 or so, it becomes a much less useful investment of time for me.