My Low Carb Diet Experiment

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stevejones

Member
I keep a journal of all my plifting/bbing endeavors, and decided to keep this one online.  I'm on a very low carb diet ( <20g protein/day).  I'll keep this journal for 90 days.  I'm currently doing vanilla HST, am cutting, and am in the beginning of the second week of 5's

Day 1:
Felt sluggish through entire day (expected that though).   Workout went well, experienced no change in energy in the gym, only outside of it.  Still strong so far

16 sets of 5's
elevated diamond pushups
60 minutes low intensity cardio
 
This will be an interesting experiment. (You meant < 20g carbs right?) How about some starting stats eg. current bodyweight and bodyfat levels? It'd also be interesting to know if/how this affects you mood-wise.
 
Whoops, yeah...I meant less than 20g carbs

My stats:
somewhere between 6' and 6'1
281 lbs
40.25" waist

I don't know my bodyfat anymore.  I stopped trying to guess it.  I just keep track of my measurements.  I'd also like to point out that I have never used drugs (yet), so my results, good or bad, won't be skewed by steroids.

As far as my mood goes, right now I'm very angry.   Guess that means I"m going through carb withdrawals, which is also why I'm awake right now at 3 am.  Hopefully this EMO stuff will subside after a few days.
 
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(stevejones @ Apr. 29 2008,10:16)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">As far as my mood goes, right now I'm very angry.   Guess that means I&quot;m going through carb withdrawals, which is also why I'm awake right now at 3 am.  Hopefully this EMO stuff will subside after a few days.</div>
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Yeah, I hope this experiment doesn't end in divorce!
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Day 2:
DAY OFF
32 minutes moderate intensity cardio (hr=145-155bpm)

Still sluggish throughout the day, not getting enough sleep, am adjusting to new diet.  I limit my intake on the nuts to one cup (don't want to go over 20grams of carbs), everything else is meat, cheese, eggs.  I had to add 1/4 extra cup olive oil to diet to meet the 3200 cal requirement yesterday.  Today I don't think I'll have to do that.  Will probably consume 20 slices of bacon before the day is done.  HOWEVER, exercise on ski machine went well...didn't run out of energy, average workout.

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(scientific muscle @ Apr. 29 2008,10:46)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What is your training: exercises, sets, etc.?</div>
3 sets incline bench
2 sets leg press
1 set deadlift (alternate with squat)
3 sets cable rows
3 sets tricep pushdowns
3 sets pullups (rotate with chin ups)
1 set crunches (rotate with roman chair bendovers)
then elevated diamond pushups
----varies a little from workout to workout, no big changes though
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(stevejones @ Apr. 29 2008,5:59)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">3 sets incline bench
2 sets leg press
1 set deadlift (alternate with squat)
3 sets cable rows
3 sets tricep pushdowns
3 sets pullups (rotate with chin ups)
1 set crunches (rotate with roman chair bendovers)
then elevated diamond pushups
----varies a little from workout to workout, no big changes though
--------------------------------------------------------------------</div>
Cool. I just like to see how everyone approaches their training, especially which exercises they use.
 
Day #3

16 sets of 5's working at 89%
diamond pushups
60 minutes low intensity cardio

Workout kicked my ***, but still can't really tell much difference in energy levels.  Have 2 more workouts before I finish my first set of 5's, then start another two weeks of 5's (I don't do negatives).

As of right now, i truly suspect that what most people say is correct-- &quot;low carb diets work because your calories are cut so drastically.&quot;  If I wasn't monitoring my cal intake, I'd probably be eating about 2k per day, and then gradually even less.  I have a voracious appetite when I eat carbs, but without them I eat like a ballerina.  I'm already forcing myself to eat extra bacon and hamburger, and chugging olive oil just to keep my caloric intake at 3200 cals.  

Still, way too early to tell anything.  Mood and energy levels throughout the day are getting better.
 
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(stevejones @ Apr. 30 2008,9:48)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">As of right now, i truly suspect that what most people say is correct-- &quot;low carb diets work because your calories are cut so drastically.&quot;  If I wasn't monitoring my cal intake, I'd probably be eating about 2k per day, and then gradually even less.  I have a voracious appetite when I eat carbs, but without them I eat like a ballerina.  I'm already forcing myself to eat extra bacon and hamburger, and chugging olive oil just to keep my caloric intake at 3200 cals.  </div>
Many people have the exact same experience. I learned about the 'magic' of low-carbs from Lyle Mcdonald's books. The truth is there is no magic. Its just that carbs are an easily digested abundant energy source that generally taste good and are easy to eat! Cutting them down to a bare minimum makes it quite difficult for many to eat even at maintenance calories. By maximizing protein, your liver can convert the protein into glucose so you are getting the same energy and staving off muscle catabolism with both the glucose and the amino-acids in the blood. The rest of the energy deficit is made up by burning our bodyfat...MAGIC!

...no not really, just a smart way to create a caloric deficit, and there are ways to do that which aren't so extreme and carbs can be part of a healthy fat-burning diet.

I am glad you realize this steve, and I hope martin and others can see that carbs are not the main problem in fat-loss, calories are. Cutting carbs of course is a smart way to cut calories!
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Did Lyle ever comment on whether or not a low carb diet is healthy? That is my main concern at this point. How do you get something like vitamin C on a low or zero carb diet?

I'm supplementing with a regular multi vitamin and extra vitamin c
 
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(stevejones @ May 01 2008,2:13)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Did Lyle ever comment on whether or not a low carb diet is healthy?  That is my main concern at this point.  How do you get something like vitamin C on a low or zero carb diet?

I'm supplementing with a regular multi vitamin and extra vitamin c</div>
Vitamin supplements as well as electrolyte supplements are recommended. He also recommends LOTS of low-carb vegetables (for fiber and essential vitamins and minerals). Most green veggies are mostly fiber and water and eating a large salad made correctly has very little calories.

If you are really interested you can order The Ketogenic Diet or The Rapid Fatloss Handbook. They go into detail, and I highly recommend the latter especially for people who are interested in fat-loss without muscle loss (bodybuilders in general.)
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/store/store.html
 
Steve,

Actually, for the zero carb diets, he has very strict rules about how long you can do the diet depending on your starting bodyfat. He emphsizes this many times throughout the book.

Less than 15% - 11-12 days

16%-25% - 2-6 weeks
26%+ - 6-12 weeks

Any longer and it just messes up hormones so much that continuing the diet hurts more than it helps.

You can go back to maintenance for 2 weeks and start another cycyle of the diet, but if you are less than 15% by that time, he really recommends you consume a minimum of 100 g of carbs and continue to diet that way.
 
Yep, Nipponbiki is right. Its a RAPID fatloss book, so the diet he outlines is a bit extreme and it IS NOT the best long-term. But it outlines the reasoning behind the diet, so that you can formulate your own less extreme diet based on the basic principles (caloric restriction, plenty of protein and weight-training to maintain lean mass.) and how to go about it in a healthy way.
 
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(quadancer @ Apr. 29 2008,6:26)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">That bacon is a nice caveat to an otherwise boring diet. I could munch that stuff all day.</div>
Bacon makes me feel like there is tons of sunshine on a rainy day.
 
Yeah, bacon is great


DAY #4

Day off
Moderate intensity cardio--32 minutes

Mood has improved...still adjusting to diet.  Olive oil really works wonders for constipation.  Feel about the same during cardio as I did while taking carbs.
 
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