Wrapping Up Diet

I will be going on a strict dietary regimen in a week or so. Right now, I’m just setting up all the nutritional stuff, planning workouts, recovery modalties, etc. Let me inform you all on some things to consider before I ask my question:

  1. I am a college student taking heavy loads of credits. I need my brain to be working 100%.

  2. In the past, when I tried out the T-Dawg Diet, I got real groggy and had to terminate it because I couldn’t function properly.

  3. I have limited funds, so I can’t get every single supplement out there to ward off muscle catabolism while I am dieting.

That being said, I am planning on eating all of my carbs in the morning and post-workout. The rest of my meals will be protein/fat. I will be able to get Surge and Low-Carb Grow!, along with all the grocery supplies I need. I will get HOT-ROX a few weeks into my new eating plan. My question is, how important is fish oil and flax seed while dieting. Also, does anyone have any recommendations on combating “lack of brain function” on lower carb diets…certain supplements, foods, caffeine. I was thinking of just throwing in some green tea when I’m feeling run down…will that suffice?

Thanks a lot,
Chris

Hey, there Biceps345! There are a few things I’d like to throw out for your consideration.

If you’ve been eating a higher carb diet and switch to T-Dawg 2.0, some people experience that brain fog that you mentioned as their body makes the shift from being a carb burner to a fat burner. It can take as long as a week to 10 days to make the transition, but the payoff for those who stick it out is even greater mental clarity.

I’d strongly recommend Power Drive. I tend to use more than the recommended dosage and find I have no need, desire or tolerance for caffeine. And that after having depended on caffeine all of my life!

I’ve also found pregnenolone at lower dosages to be extremely effective for mental clarity. I take a 50mg pill, split it and take half upon waking and half around lunch. Some people can handle more.

I really only want to see you make one slight modification, and that is I’d like to see you only ingest STARCHY carbs PWO. Other than that, I’d like to see you get some green veggie carbs or a piece of fruit every meal. Doing so will keep blood sugar levels stable without spiking insulin. The reason you want to keep blood sugar levels stable is that the brain is only able to utilize glucose for its energy requirements. The reason you don’t want to spike insulin is that it kicks you out of fat burning mode.

Re supps, don’t worry about them. They help, but only if your diet is dialed in. Put your money into food. Get your carbs from green veggies (frozen or fresh only, and as wide a variety as possible!), beans, lentils, oatmeal, yams, sweet potatoes and brown rice. Make sure you get a wide variety of meat as well.

I would strongly recommend fish oil, though at about 3g of EPA & DHA per day. My cheapest source has been Health From the Sun at iherb.com. I buy liquid because I can stand the taste and it’s cheaper than capsules.

Anyway, that’s my 2 cents. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Ditto on what Tampa says. The fish and flax fats go a long way toward keeping your hormone production where it needs to be when dieting. Also, stick it out through the groggy period! The payoff is definitely worth it. I am doing the Velocity Diet (a modified version of the Fat Fast) right now and still have pretty good energy. I take about 12 flax caps and 8 salmon oil caps a day.
Dan

Thank you to both of you! Tampa, I think I may have to give some of that preg. a shot!

-Chris

Biceps345,

As a college student who is taking 15 hours and playing a sport, I feel your pain. Between conditioning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and lifting on my own on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, I’m up at about 5:45 every weekday. What’s helped me immensely is Power Drive and green tea. The Power Drive is awesome before an early morning lift while the green tea helps me get through class without passing out or giving me that jittery caffeine high that coffee sometimes gives me. I did, however, just start drinking coffee about two months ago, but only have a cup a day (at most) and stay away from it in the evening.

Personally, I’m on my second week of T-Dawg 2.0 and will start supplementing HOT-ROX next week. I have done horribly limiting carbs in the past but am actually doing quite well on this diet. Now I’m not sure anyone else gets this type of feeling, but hot green tea with a meal really fills me up while helping me to really control my carb intake (I’m a carbaholic who doesn’t handle carbs well, good combination). If you’re having trouble keeping carbs down, I’d also start trying to eat more green vegetables. If you eat a lot of them, they can be filling while containing almost no calories and tons of fiber; I don’t even count the carbs from veggies.

Sorry for rambling, but it’s good to know that there are other college students who care about their training and nutrition. People look at me like I have two heads when I’m eating cottage cheese or celery in class, but they’re also the same people who are living off of lattes, Coke, and Twix. Hope you diet and training go well.

Zac

Definitely man. I live with 3 friends that aren’t too conscientious of what they eat. I remember towards the beginning of last semester I was mackin’ down on some cottage cheese, ham, and almonds before bed…one of my roomates was permanently weirded out by that when I told him, “You can’t always eat for taste.” I’ll be on campus for extended periods of time too this upcoming semester, so I’m going to shake up some MRPs…that always gets a strange look from bystanders…if only they knew!

Anyways, I’m definitely drinking green tea throughout the day for increased mental alertness so I can ace those classes. I may try Power Drive before study sessions or workouts, if the tea isn’t up to par. I’m not going to hit the HOT-ROX until about 3-4 weeks into the T-Dawg cuz I figure with how bad I’ve been eating the last few months, I’m going to get dramatic results just by cleaning up my diet!
Keep us posted on how the diet is going, I will too when I start!

Peace out
Chris