I’m starting a ketogenic diet cycle, which should last about 2 weeks…
This is my log…
I begin the diet with a total mass of 87kg, and a fat percentage of 18% or so (bodyIQ Infra red). I want to bring this down to about 10% before my next bulking cycle.
I’ll be logging my diet and training daily, ketone levels (2x a day, hopefully) as well as mass and body-fat (bodyIQ IR). Lastly I’ll test strength levels at the end of the programme.
I’m going to go in for big movements with high intensity. This normally drives my blood-sugar drastically low, and should have the same effect as Duchaine’s Humulin-R induced ketogenic cycle, i.e. a rapid descent into ketosis… or that’s my theory. The excersises are:
Toes-Out Romanian Deadlift+ Shrug (5x5)
Zercher Squats (5x5)
Flat Bench Press (5x5)
Parallel Bar Dips (5x5)
Low Pulley Rows (5x5)
I don’t envisage completing a classic Poliquin 5x5 programme with warm-up sets, etc. I guess I’ll start out with a warm-up / acclimation set, 3 normal work-sets, and a single drop set (less 20%).
Day 1: Meal Plan
I require about 18600kj per day at a maintenance level. So, at 15% reduction, it’s a round 16000kj. Today, I’m shooting for slightly more than that, because I want to keep the major weight loss for later in the week, and because I want the extra fat to enter ketosis faster.
Yes, I want 10% before I bulk again, but I don’e know whether it’s coing to happen in 2 weeks of keto.
I know 10% is achievable by just doing my conventional low rest weight-training, bag-work with supplemental olympic lifting and the usual sprint/power/plyometric drills. I’ve done it before, but I do tend to lose muscle if I do all that on a rigorously calorie controlled diet.
Hence, the ketogenic programme. I’ve heard a lot about it, and I want to try it out. My experience is that, w.r.t. any training/diet methodology, it has to be tested by the athlete, because everyone responds differently. I just want to see how I respond to keto… and to share that with anyone who’s interested.
Now, according to Rea’s Chemical Muscle, CKD or Cyclic Ketogenic Dieting produces 90% fat loss and 10% muscle loss, whereas conventional methods produce 60% fat loss and 40% muscle loss. While I firmly believe that these numbers can be manipulated through slowly leaning out, I do think that 90%/10% makes the keto dieting worthy of investigation.
I am mesauing ketones with Bayer Keto-Sticks. I would have used Keto-Diastix which also test blood glucose, but I’m a cheap bastard.
Incidentally, a friend of mine is a semi-pro bodybuilder, and I discovered yesterday evening that he’s also doing a CKD, so I’ll maybe post some of his progress (anonymously, of course) since he’s more experienced at it.
7:44AM - I feel fine now. A little sleepy because I got up at 5:30 AM to fight my way through morning traffic. Popped some ephedrine pills, and an asprin… haphazard dosing, but I’ve used it before to great success.
Ketones (AM): pretty much zero.
12:19AM - I was feeling really cold earlier, and I felt a bit like after an intense set of squats or sprinting when I go hypoglycemic and break out in cold sweats. Feel MUCH better now. I guess the ephedrine and coffee have made me a little peppy.
2:19PM - I feel great… a little drowsy, but nothing the ephedrine and coffee can’t fix. There was a noticeable change in the smell of my urine… ketones?
6:30PM - The workout was great. Thanks to te ephedrine and caffeine, I felt unbreakable. The lower weight and shorter rest times than the maximal effort training that I was using before produced an awesome pump which probably has noting to do with the diet at all. I had to skip the zercher squats because my knees were a little sore form the maximal effort squats on Friday. I did feel a little weaker than usual, especially on the bench, but my power came up drastically in the last few sets. The scapular retraction rows worked extremely well, and left me with a really nice pump in my biceps and back.
10:30PM - Bedtime. I chomped some Vitamin-C to purge the epehdrine just after supper. I’m quite drowsy now, so I should sleep well.
I’m restricting carbs even more and elevating fat to hit keto faster. I’m also using Rooibos tea (a South African product) which acts as an anti-oxidant and, more importantly, a mild laxative.
7:30AM - The HI sprint intervals were crazy. I only managed 3 of the required 8, before going back to my car, where I bundled up in a track-suit and semi-dozed off. I had glucose sweets on hand… but I didn’t use them.
AM Ketones: none. it seems to be a bit darker than previously, but nothing significant.
10:30 - Feel more like my old self again. No triedness (maybe the ephedrine has something to do with that).
7:30 - Workout was good. I usued a lighter weight than usual and tried to go for a pump. The 50kg I would have hammered out (10x10) with only allowed me to do (8-7-6) reps. The rows had to be cheated a little. Eccentrics probably aren’t smart on a low-carb kilojoule restricted diet, and I expect to be quite sore tomorrow. Incidentally my chest and glutes are sore, as are my rhomboids (or the bottom of my traps) between my shoulder blades.
9:30 - I’m turning in a little early. I’m tired… understandably. I also feel a little wierd… I have a sort-of heaviness at the back of my head (where it meets my neck). Perhaps it’s soreness, or I slept at a funny angle, or it’s a symptom of keto. I think I’ll have a late lie-in tomorrow… I’ll see how I feel. Also, in spite of about 3.5 litres of water today, I am still thirsty. I’m also cramping a little - I assume this is electrolyte depetion. The salt in the tuna should help the problem, but depeted potassium and calcium may be a problem. I’m going to cap a few dolomite tablets with my usual multi-vitamins.
PM Ketones: A square 15mg/dl. The early stages of ketosis… I think. Kewl.
Splkast - Great. Thanks for the encouragement… I was starting to wonder if anyone was actually reading this thread.
JesusIsHitler - Cool handle! Anyway, my PWO is pretty crap at the moment, and I’ll be shking things up a little next week (after the “Metabolic Shift”, as Dr DiPasquale calls it, has taken place). At the moment I’m using a South African product called Whey Supreme which is marketed by a South African outfit called Muscle Science. It’s basically CFM Whey enriched slightly (but not, I beleive significantly). Fairly standard stuff, but good quality… Anyway, I’m just using it because it’s got a good amino profile (as all CFM whey does) and is a quick absorbtion protein with a low carb content. Any whey based thing will do well enough… and, from what I hear Low Carb GROW will do even better.
Now, this is where the hardcore shit starts (I had wanted to discuss this on a seperate thread, but here goes) Once I get my shit inline as far as keto metabolism is concerned, I’m going to add a little maltodextrin to the mix, along with some insulin mimickers and perhaps metformin HCL (Glucophage) on entering the gym. The idea being that I can use a Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD) rather than a Cyclic Ketogenic Diet (CKD). Problem is TKDs work well when your’e using insulin (like Humulin-R) to hit keto faster, but I’m not prepared to mess with my pancreatic function. I’m also going to do most of my strength work on the 2-day carb-up that I’m going to run, and hence I can use my custom PWO that I usually use. It is:
I fucked up. I didn’t stick to the plan. No trainsmash… but I’m going to have to take some evasive action. Read the diary for details.
Ok… I messed up.
Day 3: Diary
5:30AM - I noticed I have a sore throat, and I generlly feel like shit. It’s the flu, that my family has been passing around. Great! Just great! I hope it doesn’t mess up my diet.
Ketones (AM): 40mg/dl. Ketosis.
9:00AM - Dammit! I left my veggies at home. Dammit!
10:30AM - Had a bit of a scare earlier in the week… one of my friends had cancer. A minor problem according to his oncologist, who gave him the all-clear after a minor operation and about a week of radiation. Today, I discover that the mother of another close friend has passed away, also from cancer. I am quite shaken, as there is a family history of bowel cancer in my family, and it’s linked to high-protein diets… Note to self - more fibre, more Rooibos!
6:00PM - Today is a rest day, but I went to the gym anyway to catch up with my friends.
7:00PM - Supper… but I added a shitload of broccoli and low-carb mayonaise to what I was supposed to have… motivated mostly by irrational fears of developing cancer overnight because I left my vegetable at home. Note: This is stupid and ill-disciplined behviour… Please do not make this mistake too! Anyway… I pulled myself right out of my nice, keto state. Before I hit the sack, I had a couple of oil-shooters. Until I’m in deeper ketosis, I’m going to have to maintain higher fat to protein ratios.
Lately I have been feeling like crap on this keto diet and sometimes will get bad headaches later on in the day. Last night it was a really bad headache and luckily my roomate had some Cocoa Pebbles and I ate 2 bowls of them and within 10 minutes felt perfectly normal. I was wondering if anything like this is happening with you? Maybe my carbs are too low? Anyways, I think I will increase my carb intake.
I don’t have a clue what a cocoa pebble is, but I assume its some kind of sweet/breakfast cereal or maybe even a columbian sex toy. If it’s a sex toy, then hey… whatever makes you feel better. If not, then, I’m sorry to say that if you ate more than 5g worth you probably brought yourself out of ketosis. You shoudl really invest a small amount in getting some keto sticks or keto-diasticks, that way, you’lll know for sure what’s going on. You probably feel so crappy becasue your body is having a hard time adapting to the diet. Give it a week or two of extremely controlled carb intakes, and make sure 80% or so of your calories come from fat, this should make the change a little easier on you.
First I quit the diet because it was crap. I am an athlete and a martial artist, and the didet turns me into an athlete that can’t run, and a martial artist that can’t spar, or finish a class. Wonderful stuff…
I guess that because I’m predominatly fast twich, I was a lot more dependant on my glycogen than anything.
Anyway, I just took my normal diet, reduced the carbs in general, and put almost all of them in either breakfast or dinner (post-workout), and it seems to be worjing nicely, because my speed and power are back up.
I also got a bad case of flu while on the diet… whether or not it is because of the diet or not, I don’t know.
As you cna tell from my earlier posts, I was very keen on the diet at the beginning, but having done a PROPER ketogenic diet, I have learned that for me at least, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
Yep,I agree that keto diet is total crap.I felt like a turd all the time and didn’t want to do anything. Now I just limit the carbs to breakfast, lunch, and post-workout. Huge difference in my attitude and while working out, much more energy.
Try T-Dawg. It will be low-carb at all times except for post-workout and when you maximize your body’s hormonal response to them, your body uses them efficiently and you get recharged for your next workout. On off days you simply bite the bullet and do low carb for the whole day. That isn’t the exact plan but its the general idea. You still won’t be on fire as if you are loading on carbs all day but its better than total keto and you can stick with it.
T-dawg is pretty great - I’ve had a lot of positive feedback on it.
I’m on something similar to T-dawg now, but I don’t drop all carbs on off days. I do, however, stick to low GI carbs, and I always carb up at breakfast (thoug with very lowGI, high fibre stuff). And the fat is slowly but surely melting away.
Remember, I’m an athlete and I want to lose weight, not a bodybuilder cutting up for competition, and I don’t have any pressing timeframe for this “transform”
