eleusis, or whoever... what's the current view on low carb for the long term? Should it be used only temporarily or cyclically?

1/18/2013 5:43:06 PM

I went heavy on the bench for the first time in probably a year today, and hit 405 for a triple. It absolutely killed my endurance for the rest of my workout though. I've been toying with the idea of adding in a couple of max efforts sets while I'm dieting, but it's difficult to get past the mental block of watching my reps drop on my normal working weights afterwards. That, and I don't like squatting in very low rep ranges.

^low carb diets are safe long term, so long as you're eating plenty of salads and broccoli and green beans etc and not just using it as an excuse to eat steak and chicken wings every night. Low carb diet has been shown to be more effective for weight loss in the short term, but it's no more effective than low-fat dieting in the 6-12 month range.

The best diet is one that you can stick to without breaking all the time or feeling miserable while on it. I am extremely insulin sensitive, so restricted carb diets work best for me. I don't do much ketogenic dieting anymore due to my work environment, but I try to limit my carbs to under 100-150 grams a day except on leg day and the day after leg day. Other people, like my sister with her long distance running and spin classes, may need a diet with more carbs and less fat to fuel her day.

a Cyclic Ketogenic Diet is the diet that gave me the best results I've ever seen, but it was hell on earth mentally. It involves dealing with the most agonizing 3 days of starting a low-carb diet all over again every week, and then going into a sugar coma when you refeed on the weekend. Very effective for maintaining muscle while stripping fat as fast as possible, but you pay for it.

[Edited on January 18, 2013 at 8:55 PM. Reason : .]

1/18/2013 8:43:55 PM

Yeah nothing wrong with low carb long term. Your body doesn't actually require ANY carbs ever so you could eat no carbs the rest of your life safely.

You actually only require minimal essential fatty acids too so you don't need very much fat intake either, but you do want to get one or the other and I wouldnt recommend lower than 10% fat because it can screw up your testosterone levels among other things.

Protein is required by your body, you'd die without it and you don't want to do low protein for several reasons.

1/18/2013 9:46:45 PM

My best adherence day yet though I'd like to lower my fat intake and increase protein

1305 calories
74g fat
18g carb
138g protein

51% fat
5.6% carbs
42.5% protein

1/19/2013 12:52:59 AM

Finally bought a crockpot! I'm gonna go crazy with some chicken adobo tomorrow

1/19/2013 11:01:12 PM

Good news bros! I've basically hit 15% body fat. First of all I'd like to thank myself because I couldn't have done it without me. I'd also like to thank all the people who told me to eat less and exercise, they were right it worked. The visceral fat is mostly gone. All that's left between me and abs is subcutaneous fat.

Okay now it's really time to do work. When you're a fat fuck anyone can lose weight. The fat just melts off everytime you fart, it's that easy.

If anyone wants to get lean, I'm about to start a serious fucking diet. This isn't for the faint of heart though. Sometimes it's going to suck. Sometimes your fucking testichips are going to be cold walking uphill outside at 7 AM, that's just reality. Sometimes you're going to want to drink to make that 6 look like a 9. Sometimes you're going to be on so many stimulants that you pop a boner in the free weights. Sometimes you're going to be hungry.

All of those things can happen. But at the end of it, you're going to look rugged. You're going to be texting nudes to girls you haven't talked to in years just to show off.

So if you wanna lose HARD follow me. I'm going on this thing for three weeks and then I'm taking a two week break because a buddy's brother is in town and we're gonna spray seminal fluid all over the single moms of Raleigh.


Three weeks, 15 lbs if you follow me bros. I'll outline it here. RIP girlfriend. RIP girlfriend. RIP girlfriend.


(that's what the bros say before they get lean as fuck).




Today and tomorrow are recarb days. I'm going to manipulate my weight all the way back to 180 lbs and then bro I'm about to do like Fat Joe and LEAN out, lean out, lean out.


^ wow, i just checked your gallery and you're kinda hot. When I'm done with this diet I could totally see myself finishing on your stomach one night.

[Edited on January 20, 2013 at 12:39 PM. Reason : a]

1/20/2013 12:34:33 PM

say more about binge drinking

1/20/2013 1:58:45 PM

i drank so much fucking whiskey last night i should have a good story but i cant remember it.

Who's coming with me bros. We're ultimately going to single digit bodyfat. Who has the sac to come along?

Good news, if you're fat (above 15% bodyfat) this diet works for you too AND it's actually easier. Someone sac up, im sick of hearing about these people running and eating smoothies and shit.

[Edited on January 20, 2013 at 2:12 PM. Reason : a]

1/20/2013 2:04:35 PM

Eyerolling aside....

I'm actually trying to put on mass this year, taking a break from endurance events.

First picture in Oct at 149, I think over the summer I was down to 146 because of work. Second picture yesterday at 157.

1/20/2013 2:32:20 PM

T-9 days until I start my fat loss program! I am feeling pretty confident about great results this year. This is mainly due to having a much better understanding and experience with manipulating my own, and my clients', diet to control body composition.

The past 10 days I've started a new style of training that has me lifting full body, strength training, 5 days a week. Most days are medium-easy. With a few heavy days, about 30% of the time. Mostly it's light 2x5s, then a couple sessions that are heavy singles or challenging 5-3-2 rep counts.

The program has 5 lifts (2 lower body push/pulls, 2 upper body push/pulls, and 1 loaded carry). This cycle I am doing squats, fat grip deadlifts, overhead presses, weighted chins ups, and yoke walking (carrying a heavy weight on your back for distance).

So far I really like it! On my heavy singles day, I put up 190lbs on the overhead press for a new PR. I've also added in about 10-20minutes of circuit conditioning on the days before rest. Today I did 20minutes of sledge hammer hits, KB swings, ring pushups, and KB Squats.

Initial before pics coming soon... Right now I am flirting with 180lbs and feeling strong. Would like to get down to 170lbs and maintain my limit strength and build higher work capacity. Although, my upper end strength endurance will be hard to keep around when losing those 10lbs.

1/20/2013 4:34:14 PM

Quote :

"^ fish oil is great for fighting inflammation. Ive been using glucosamine daily and notice a hell of a lot less joint pain also"

My entire job consists entirely of lifting and moving very heavy or awkward objects, and a lot of walking. About a year ago, I started getting some really bad foot pain, and got a diagnosis of plantar fasciitis.

I switched to Red Wings instead of cheap, Chinese, Wal-Mart crap. My podiatrist gave me some custom orthotics. I stretched my feet and ankles every day. I lost a little weight. Got a cortisone shot or two. All put together, pain reduction was maybe 20%. Surgery was on the table. I started taking a lot of fish oil (3-4 grams/day), and a month later my pain is 98% gone.

Maybe it's still masking the true problem. Maybe I still need the surgery. I don't know. But my pain is gone, and all of my joints feel a lot better.

[Edited on January 20, 2013 at 5:04 PM. Reason : a]

1/20/2013 5:03:29 PM

Matt you seem like a cool bro but no way you lose weight like me. I'm going to beast mode

^ you're being really emotional about all this

[Edited on January 20, 2013 at 10:43 PM. Reason : z]

1/20/2013 10:41:15 PM

face is ruining this thread

1/20/2013 10:53:10 PM

Here are my 'before pics'. They were taken at the end of the third week of my actual diet change and alcohol abstinence. I have lost about an inch on my waist, an inch on my neck and an inch off my chest. I haven't really made any other significant gains. I'm still down about 5 lbs from day one.

We've started running more and lifting. We're trying to alternate running and lifting days. I'd like to see a little more definition in my upper back. Hopefully if I keep on doing what I'm doing it will begin to show again.

1/20/2013 10:55:33 PM

AHA, face's ridiculous post actually got me pumped to lean out hard.

Not sure what it means exactly, but I think I'm gonna follow the spirit.

My period's almost over...so for the next 3 weeks, we're gonna lean out really hard like.

1/20/2013 11:04:16 PM

Several people I know got Fitbit for Christmas.

I'm not into that, but I have gotten into the habit of walking my friends.

1/20/2013 11:32:29 PM

Quote :

"Maybe it's still masking the true problem. Maybe I still need the surgery. I don't know. But my pain is gone, and all of my joints feel a lot better."

mobilitywod.com

Start from the beginning, do 1 a day. You'll feel so much better.

1/21/2013 1:58:14 AM

Quote :

"Matt you seem like a cool bro but no way you lose weight like me. I'm going to beast mode"

Bro, you can't shred bone.



###

For back pain relief and prevention, this maybe better than mwod:






[Edited on January 21, 2013 at 5:54 AM. Reason : moar]

1/21/2013 5:52:05 AM

holy short shorts Fareako

that's hot

1/21/2013 9:28:29 AM

Here we go bros! Going to make the scale drop TWENTY POUNDS (20!!!) IN THREE WEEKS.

(yeah i know only 7-10 lbs will be fat, but i get boned up when i see the scale dropping.)

I weighed in tonight at 182.1 lbs, but that won't last long. I should be able to easily drop 10lbs in week 1, perhaps a few more but we'll see.

Who's coming with me? Journey begins tomorrow. Remember it's 90% diet. We want to keep exercise at a minimum when we're trying to shed the most fat and we're not eating any carbs.

We want to aim for 2 full body weight lifting sessions with LOW reps, LOW sets, LOW volume. We can drop the volume, frequency of training but we can NOT drop the weight on the bar. Less weight = lost muscle. Keep the intensity, drop the volume.

We want to aim for 3 cardio sessions a week that are 30-40 minutes in length and no more. No running, no intervals, just don't fucking do it you will ruin the fat loss. Brisk walking and mixing in some hills is fine. Keep the heartrate in the fat burning zone. Don't fucking exceed this or you will not lose fat.


I'm going to be shooting for 180g protein, 10g fish oil, and nothing else except fibrous vegetables and incidental fat from the lean protein rich sources. That's it bros. That's how we get lean. RIP GIRLFRIEND.



Yesterday and today were my recarb days. I took it sorta easy yesterday and its impossible for me to know exactly what i ate because it was football party type food. But today I crushed it, just wish my fat intake was a little lower and my protein just a bit higher.

2256 cal
61 g fat
303g carb
122g protein

1/21/2013 9:09:14 PM

so no alcohol for 3 weeks?

1/21/2013 9:38:31 PM

From page one, posted on 1/1/2013

Quote :

"Anyone wanna race me to lose 15 lbs? I need competition and none of my friends are interested in losing weight. I'm going to be trying to preserve muscle mass, so you're not really doing it correctly if you don't lift weights too, but that's ok. Starting at 177, 22.3% bodyfat according to scale. "

face... you've gained 4 lbs

all muscle?

1/21/2013 9:42:25 PM

what do I get if I race you and win?

1/21/2013 10:11:35 PM

^^^ I'm going to try. Super Bowl will obviously be a recarb day haha.


^^ nah, you can only gain around 0.5 lbs muscle per week or so. I've probably gained 1 - 1.5 lbs of muscle because I've been lifting hard and my strength has gone up.

The rest is mostly extreme water retention from starting a diligent resistance training program and creatine loading. I took a few half doses of yohimbine to test my reaction to it too which can also cause water retention.

Plus that 182 reading is just nuts, I got that after a 350g carbohydrate load and a gallon of fluids. I don't "really" weigh that, it's just fun to say I'm going to lose 20 lbs from what I weighed that second. I'm already down to 179.9.

^ No ultimate prize, but it'll be cool to be lean as fuck. I'm going to single digit body fat % this summer. Hopefully I'll be in the 12% range by the end of these three weeks because I'd like to try to add a little muscle mass too before starting my final cut, but everything I've read says do not try to bulk when you're above 15% bodyfat because you will store fat too easily.

[Edited on January 22, 2013 at 12:27 AM. Reason : a]

1/22/2013 12:26:10 AM

Sorry meant to mention if you're new to dieting it's a good idea to do one full body day of weight training with high reps, high sets, low weight first to deplete your glycogen. It's also a good time to throw in one last round of hard cardio or interval training. Its slightly harder to burn fat until you get all the carbs out of your system.

If you've been dieting a few weeks and are about to go hard, you may want to do a 2 day spike where you eat maintenance calories but eat a few hundred grams of carbs. Gets your metabolism back to normal since your leptin levels are probably low.

Just did a 3 AM round of cardio myself because I couldn't sleep since I slept all day Monday just about. Going to pump another one out this afternoon after work probably too. DEPLETION WEEK BRO!

1/22/2013 4:09:33 AM

Are you speaking from experience or is this something you've read else where? I doubt you know how bad a depletion workout actually feels.

I tried UD2.0 (a type of diet), and it's depletion --> carb up cycles were hell.

1/22/2013 6:15:28 AM

Down to 176.8 this morning already.


I don't know what you mean exactly , by depletion I just mean high reps, high sets, low weight

I've done that several times because I used to do CKD. Basically I just let my workouts take care of half the glycogen depletion and my diet the other half. Nothing crazy really.

1/22/2013 9:25:46 AM

Besst day of diet adherence yet bros. But i gotta tell you another piece of chicken or turkey and I might lose it. I'm going to have to find some other alternatives to eat on this diet.

Managed almost a 2,000 calorie deficit which equates to about 2/3rd of a pound of fat. Now I'm not glycogen depleted yet and I did interval training today so a decent amount is still carbs, but that should show you how fast I'm about to drop some poundage bros.

975 calories
23g fat (10g from fish oil supps)
22g carb
164g protein

or 67.4% protein, 13.4% fat, 9% carb.

Really proud of how low I kept my fat and carb intake today while nearly hitting my protein goals. I'd like to keep that at 180g flat, but I can't take anymore salty meat and I've already put my blender in the washing machine so I'm done.

I squeezed in two twenty minute cardio sessions and a brief ab workout, one a little after 3 AM and another after work around 5 PM.

PUT IN WORK BROS. RIP GIRLFRIEND. RIP GIRLFRIEND.



[Edited on January 23, 2013 at 12:03 AM. Reason : a]

1/23/2013 12:00:02 AM

I took a forced rest day today. I have been punishing my calves and achilles lately with incline runs. And quads are tight as hell. May even do another day of rest Wednesday so my legs are fresh.

Is there anyone else who is like me? I am really good with food on gym days but rest days, I tend to not just give a fuck. Should be the opposite. For dinner I had 6 boiled egg whites with fried noodles.

1/23/2013 12:31:00 AM

Definitely take a day off. If you feel like you're overtraining you are. Sometimes the best way to shed fat is to take a few days off so your body stops fighting the fat loss.

Nothing you can do about those fried noodles now. Shake it off, next play. Best bet is to drink half a gallon of water, wake up pissing excellence, pop some caffeine in the morning and start fasting it back off baby. Make tomorrow a super low carb/high protein day to offset it.

1/23/2013 12:39:43 AM

Bros, is anyone PUTTING IN WORK?!

Fasted from 10 PM last night to 8:30 PM today, almost 24 hours.

Took green tea extract and 200mg caffeine upon waking up around 9 AM.

At 6:00 I took 10g BCAA + creatine.

At 6:30 I took 200g caffeine

At 6:45 I did 5 minutes slow cardio before consuming 15mg Yohimbine HCL.

I did a depletion full body weight workout of high reps at slow cadence. I must have done 30 total sets over the course of an hour. It was freaking exhausting. Most sets were 12 reps lasting 40-60 seconds each with 1 minute rest between them.

After that I did 25 minutes of LISS cardio on the treadmill to hopefully burn the fatty acids that were free floating in my bloodstream from the Yohimbine.

8:30 broke my fast, replenished creatine, and ate all my calories by 10:30 PM.

1042 calories
25 g fat (10g fish oil)
18 g carb
174g protein

Also took 600g calcium, 3,500g Vitamin D, a multivitamin, vitamin C, glucosamine with dinner.

Now that's a productive day bros. Just need to get my sleep now. Speaking of which, taking a Zinc & Magnesium supplement right now.

RIP GIRLFRIEND!

[Edited on January 23, 2013 at 10:32 PM. Reason : a]

1/23/2013 10:29:42 PM

Yeah, fasting for 24 hours and pumping caffeine into your system sounds very healthy.

How hard is it just eat healthy and workout, stop trying to use miracle gimmicks and whatever you've read on the internet. You go back and forth so much its probably wrecking your body.

1/23/2013 10:46:20 PM

^basically

1/23/2013 10:48:54 PM

It would take about 15,500 mg of caffeine to kill a 175 lb man.

I took 400 mg spaced out over several hours. Color me unscared.

http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine


Caffeine is absorbed faster on an empty stomach and it mutes hunger during the day.

As for fasting, it is quite healthy and people should be lauded for doing it not dissuaded.



I'm not "going back and forth" on anything this diet has been carefully laid out to maximize results. I spent two weeks cutting back on drinking and focusing on eating wholesome foods at slightly below maintenance level while lifting weights. Then I spent one week significantly below maintenance calories to burn fat. I ramped my leptin levels and metabolism back up by recarbing the other day and now it's time to deplete glycogen and eat minimal amounts of food so I can shed fat.

That's "optimal dieting" not a gimmick. A gimmick would be the cabbage soup diet or a Hollywood Diet drink.



Nothing unhealthy about 1lb of 96% lean beef (cooked/squeezed over a foreman and then sprayed with water to remove fat), 3 oz of uncooked spinach, 10g fish oil, one slice of cheese, 3 scoops of whey, and a half cup of skim milk. That's the diet fucking legends are made of bro.



[Edited on January 23, 2013 at 11:35 PM. Reason : RIP GIRLFRIEND]

1/23/2013 11:28:36 PM

I came across this blog last night. Coincidentally, her recent post is about carb-back loading. I started this in the beginning of the week. Playing around with this a little since in the last page I was complaining about bloating and gas. If I am going to feel big and fat, might as well have it while I'm sleeping

http://fortheloveofcookies.wordpress.com/

Going low carb though, I can tell you that my last few workouts have sucked though, as some of you have warned.

1/24/2013 2:30:23 PM

Should we make another thread that face can't shit on?

1/24/2013 4:15:21 PM

Oh how amusing yet another thread where everyone TALKS about losing fat and getting a beach body but no one actually diets. I've mapped out virtually a perfect diet where I'm probably consuming less calories than most chicks in this thread and all you guys can do is try to deflect the anger from your failed new years resolution diets on me.

I'm trying to motivate you guys to take your diet serious for once. Follow along or remain fat.



Everyone wants to be a bodybuilder but don't nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weights.

1/24/2013 4:26:28 PM

you're not lifting heavy either from what you've posted.

1/24/2013 4:34:42 PM

I'm cool with eating more than you as a chick, considering I've also lost more weight than you have this year.

And yeah, bro, I lift.

1/24/2013 4:51:30 PM

^^ Actually I'm keeping about everything in the 6 rep range so yeah that is considered heavy enough to maintain muscle mass. And that quote was just to demonstrate that no one wants to put in the work. I guess I could have amended it to "Everyone wants to lose fat but no one wants to actually diet" but that's just butchering an all-time great quote.




^ And there's not a chance you've lost more fat than me, it's pretty much unpossible for a woman to lose more than .5-1 lb/fat a week unless she's obese.


I weighed in at 173 when I came home from work so I'm 9 lbs down from my weigh in Monday night. 11 more in 2.5 weeks is a real possibility bros.

[Edited on January 24, 2013 at 5:07 PM. Reason : a]

1/24/2013 5:05:35 PM

Just realize that without progress pictures, you're Manti Te'o.

1/24/2013 5:12:01 PM

I'll put them up at the end of the first cut. 2.5 more weeks. Visceral fat loss isn't that noticeable in pictures. My belt doesn't fit anymore, but I still have a layer of fat on the outside.

I'm not going to be where I want to be in 2.5 weeks, but that's a good time to take a two week break then go back at it.

[Edited on January 24, 2013 at 5:30 PM. Reason : a]

1/24/2013 5:28:47 PM

how tall are you again?

i can never remember.

1/24/2013 5:32:56 PM

6'0

1/24/2013 5:33:48 PM

and how low are you wanting to go?

-------------


also, for people on fitocracy, pm me.

i'm looking for more people to follow.

1/24/2013 5:38:47 PM

Face keeps stinking up this thread.

Took a belay class last night at the gym, going to pick up rock climbing. Cyclocross season is over- time for swimming; cycling is getting back up in mileage. Lots of yoga is decreasing any back issues.

No beer since December, been holding 142 for the last few weeks. Pants fit better, can't complain.
The journey continues.

1/24/2013 6:56:21 PM

i just read face's posts for the lulz and move on

1/24/2013 10:24:45 PM

Sorry to break it to you, face. But I've already lost 25 lbs of fat this year.

Winning!

1/24/2013 11:39:18 PM

^Nice! I meant YTD, not last 12 months, but those are great results.


Pilgrim: I'm hoping to be ~12% bodyfat in 2.5 weeks. I'm going on a maintenance diet for two weeks then regardless. If I'm still at 13-15% I'll probably diet down to 10%. If I'm 10-12% I'll start doing a slow bulk for a few weeks until I hit 15% or so and then I'll cut it back down.

Another pretty good day of adherence. I didn't exercise today but I'm going to go to the gym in a few hours and walk since it's too cold to do it outside this morning.

974 calories
18 g fat (5g fish oil)
28 g carb
171 g protein

or 71% protein, 18% fat, 11% carb

BEAT ME OUTTA ME

[Edited on January 25, 2013 at 1:19 AM. Reason : RIP GIRLFRIEND RIP GIRLFRIEND ]

1/25/2013 1:18:48 AM

Already did 50 minutes of walking on 200mg caffeine, 15mg yohimbine hcl before most of you beachbodies woke up this morning.

I'm not sure how I feel about these stimulants in the morning though. The half-life is short on yohimbine so it feels like a bad adderall comedown or something, not ideal conditions for heading to work

1/25/2013 6:27:17 AM