Anabolic Diet - Doesn't work for everyone

[clr18287]

Hey all,

I am going to go back to the Zone Diet next week. I have been on the AD for almost a month now, meticulously calculating calories on FitDay in a 60-45-5 ratio and I've put on almost 7 pounds of fat.. this is bull****. It may work for some of you but my latest thyroid labs are back and my T3 levels are in the toilet. It completely slowed my thyroid even though I've thoroughly carbed up 3 times so far, again tracking macros and calories. My body temp has gone from a consistent 98.6-99.3 to 96.9 and at it's highest 97.7. I am getting all my essential fats and saturateds at a calorie intake of 18*BW. Although I feel absolutely great on the diet, I am not going to stand here and watch myself become a fat ass. Any comments are welcome as this is just a note to anyone considering the AD.

 

[soontobbeast]

18x body weight seems high. ive been doing around 14x personally.

 

[pmiller383]

Have you thought about reducing the calories a bit? Have you tried a mid week carb spike? Are you sure you put on 7lbs of fat, sure your muscles are not just deflated from the lack of carbs?

What I am getting at is that you are not giving yourself a chance to learn the diet. There is a lot of manipulation for this diet to optimize it for yourself. Also, do you lift at all or are you sedentary?

 

[clr18287]

Have you thought about reducing the calories a bit? Have you tried a mid week carb spike? Are you sure you put on 7lbs of fat, sure your muscles are not just deflated from the lack of carbs?

What I am getting at is that you are not giving yourself a chance to learn the diet. There is a lot of manipulation for this diet to optimize it for yourself. Also, do you lift at all or are you sedentary?

Hey,thanks for the reply.

I am concerned about reducing calories if my thyroid is where it's at. My Free T3 is 59 on a scale of 80-360. I am very carb sensitive and it took me 15 days of exercise and 20g of carbs a day to get into trace ketosis. I started the diet on the 10th of June at 158 pounds. I am now 166 pounds. My strength gains have not gone up and I do not look any larger muscle wise. It could be deflation from lack of glycogen but I don't know.. I have always had a ridiculous time losing body fat.. it's almost impossible. At least on the Zone, it's stable.

To answer your question, I lift 4x week for 45 minutes and do fasted morning cardio 3x a week for 30 minutes at 65%MHR (plus a strong cup of green tea). My diet ratios during the week are 60-35-5... at most times I net 20-25 carbs tops. I eat on average 2500-3000 calories a day. I move around a lot during the day as well and I am definitely not sedentary. I am pretty sure that my thyroid has something to do with it.

 

[pmiller383]

How is your salt intake? Also how much water do you take in each day?

You have to remember that the AD diet is not a ketogenic diet, so that should not be your focus. To me it sounds like you kind of ran yourself into the ground at first and haven't really rebounded yet. I personally would ditch the fasted cardio for the time being and focus on getting a good breakfast in. You can still do some cardio on these days but I would do it with a little food in your system. Fasted cardio is great in some situations but it really isn't optimal for everyone all the time.

Do you know what your body fat % is around right now? At 5'11 and 166lbs you really can't be to bad dude, assuming your a dude so if your a female please correct me. Anyways I think by pushing your lifting a little more and ditching the fasted cardio you will be able to build some lean mass which will intern elevate your metabolic rate. If you are going to continue doing the fasted cardio I would at the very least take some protein/ amino acids and a couple grams of vitamin c before you do it. For the protein you could use any BCAA formula or even just some leucine, but you want to make sure you have some kind of amino's floating around during it.

 

[Future]

It can be that you just dont fit with this style of diet. No biggie. The Zone is a very good diet.

 

[Future]

Also consider adding selenium to your diet as it helps to convert T4 to T3.

 

[pmiller383]

Also consider adding selenium to your diet as it helps to convert T4 to T3.

Good advice, foods like Brazil nuts are packed with selenium and fiber which make them pretty awesome for the diet.

 

[Future]

Thanks!

I credit people that take the initiative to get blood work done. So many things can be off and we don't even know it.

 

[clr18287]

salt intake is probably moderately high, not outrageous, I don't eat fast food or junk.. all clean organic foods. I do salt my foods however with celtic sea salt or himalaya. After a year of a hardcore fat free diet and no salt, i screwed my adrenals big time.. I think I'm still recovering but salt was a big help with the dizzy feeling standing up. I'll cut back to a more tolerable level.

As for the fasted cardio, I do take in about 5g of BCAA's with the coffee. HIIT messes me up, recovery wise, so that was my reasoning for doing fasted LISS in the a.m. at around 140-155bpm. Doesn't seem to be as much of a mindF#CK as 25 minutes of hardcore HIIT. I'll forgo the cardio and lift harder per your suggestion.. I'll see where that takes me. I like the diet A LOT.. mentallly I feel absolutely great and stable - I'm willing to adjust I just don't want to put on any more fat. I agree with soontobbeast..14*BW is what I had figured to be reasonable as well.. DiPasquale STRONGLY RECOMMENDS the 18... why is beyond me.

My bodyfat is around 12.5-14. It was about 11.5 prior to starting this diet. It's all belly fat.. It sucks because I used to be 8%BF.. then I hit a wall and gained it all back from the rest period and adrenal fatigue recovery.

Selenium seems like a fair enough option, I'll give it a shot and report back in a couple of weeks for sure with progress.

Thanks all, again.. I don't dislike this diet.. I love it actually. I just wish I was getting the results that everyone else is.

 

[Future]

Add in cardio several times a weak for an hour keeping your heart rate in the 115-125 ranged.

 

[ThomasRivera]

How is your salt intake? Also how much water do you take in each day?

You have to remember that the AD diet is not a ketogenic diet.....

Why do you say that?

As for the thyroid question, t3 levels tend to drop on CKD diets.

 

[pmiller383]

Keep your salts up, see if you can find an ionidized (sp) sea salt as that will also help with thyroid.

Also, Thomas I could be wrong but I believe in the book it is stated that this is not a ketogenic diet. The small amount of carbs you would intake during the day are going to provide glucose to your brain so that it does not have to utilize ketones.

EDIT: I went through the book and I realized I misunderstood the section I was talking about. TR is right about the Keto aspect.

 

[soontobbeast]

iam doing CKD/AD and i only take in about 20 carbs a day......i would say im definitely in keto while doing the diet sweat/breath smells different, no energy, sleep great. i don't think there is anyway you could not go into keto doing cardio every day, and weight lifting 4-5 days a week on that little amount of carbs.

 

[youngandfree]

I agree that you might be eating a bit too many calories. I am about 173 an eat between 2000-2200 cals and lose 1-2 lbs/week. 2500-3000 a day would be a bit above maintenance for me right now. Keep the diet plan and drop the cals. You can track the hell out of what you are eating and have the right ratios, but if it is just too much, then you gain weight or just don't lose like you want.

 

[crazyfool405]

I love the classic ketogenic diet remember carb up days ull end up increaseing glycogen content and water can make u feel soft and bloated wait bout 3 days after that load and ull see and feel much different. I personally like carb load every 10 days

 

[soontobbeast]

im going to be doing carb load every 8 days or so, but i think this time instead of eating sugary candy, thai food, and Qdoba, ima eat potatoes, beans, and pasta with no meat.


i think i went a little overboard last time.

 

[ThomasRivera]

Keep your salts up, see if you can find an ionidized (sp) sea salt as that will also help with thyroid.

Also, Thomas I could be wrong but I believe in the book it is stated that this is not a ketogenic diet. The small amount of carbs you would intake during the day are going to provide glucose to your brain so that it does not have to utilize ketones.

EDIT: I went through the book and I realized I misunderstood the section I was talking about. TR is right about the Keto aspect.

I think all the books say that showing ketones isn't important, just being in the ketogenic fat burning state is.

 

[ThomasRivera]

im going to be doing carb load every 8 days or so, but i think this time instead of eating sugary candy, thai food, and Qdoba, ima eat potatoes, beans, and pasta with no meat.


i think i went a little overboard last time.

I think you'll find it more effective if you avoid too much sugar, sugar is basically half fructose and you're looking to load up on glucose.

 

[soontobbeast]

lyle says for the first 24 hours, simple sugars are better......

for the second 24, starches are better.

im only doing 1 day so im gonna try to wake up super early to do my workout so i can squeeze in the 500 or so carbs i need before the end of the day.

edit: i just read lyles take on CKD today, so im definitely gonna stick with sugars on my refeed. lots of gatoraid as well.

 

[Future]

I still am trying to understand why someone at your height and weight is using this diet.

 

[ccapone1153]

I still am trying to understand why someone at your height and weight is using this diet.

hahahaha i was thinkin it just didnt wanta be the one to say it

 

[EasyEJL]

I think all the books say that showing ketones isn't important, just being in the ketogenic fat burning state is.

PARTICULARLY if you are cutting. I guess when bulking with it you should show ketones but when your caloric intake is lower than maintenance you shouldn't see significant amounts of ketone in urine as they are being burned.