Overall Weightloss

[Socrates44]

6'0''
296lbs
24% body fat
18.5" arms
21" calves
Spare tire for a belt.

I believe my goal right now is to conserve as much muscle mass as possible and shred the weight. I carry most of it on my midsection. I am thinking of doing low-intensity cardio 4x week for 30-45 min at a time with 2-3 weight training sessions at mid range full body workouts.

Im going to try to do this all with reduced carbs preferably under 30grams a day. Im a big boy so i have plenty of adipose tissue to keep my body going.

My main question is on some supplementation. I DO NOT respond well to stimulants, so im thinking of using sesamin with the possibilty or using melting point and Raspberry ketones if all goes well.

Also for muscle conservation im thinking of picking up some bulk leucine powder and taking that before and in the middle of my workouts/cardio. The problem i am running into is that, with a reduced carb diet i am trying to burn out glycogen stores in the muscle, but doesnt BCAA (Leu, Iso and Val) help maintain glycogen stores in the muscle? Would that be counterproductive and if it is, would it matter that much?

 

[t-bone2]

No, taking BCAAs won't be counter productive, especially if you are planning to forgo taking some form of protein (whey) around your WO or cardio sessions.

At 24% BF, you are looking at a fairly long term commitment in the BF reduction department, so you're going to need some on-going support to keep you in a positive nitrogen state (non-catabolic). BCAAs will assist in that area.

A reduced CHO diet will deplete liver glycogen stores initially and after that the FAT should supply energy and thus reduce BF. Which is what you want - you don't want to "burn out" muscle glycogen. Muscle glycogen stores will be reduced if you are in a negative nitrogen state (catabolic), which means your body is tearing down muscle tissue.

You've mentioned your CHO daily target, what are you planning for PRO and FAT?

 

[Socrates44]

Well i had good (total weight reduction) with a severe cut in carbs and fat, but 2 years later i am quite a bit more educated in the matter and i dont wanna fry my hormones. Im thinking probably close to 250grams protein and 75 grams of fat (mostly from EVOO and FLAX and some from sesamin and cla). Protein will probably be mostly clean (white fish, tuna and chicken breast).

I was quite a pudgy kid until i discovered weight, and within two years my strength was astronomical. I believe i have insulin resistance, because carbs just do a number on me. Low-carb dieting with low-intensity cardio seems to be the only way i can shred.


P.S-I have some psychotropin this time to help cut away the mental fog associated with ketones.

 

[t-bone2]

Are you going low carb 24/7 or do you have planned refeeds? Either way, it looks like you have things figured out. I'd still throw in the leucine or BCAAs, shouldn't spike insulin much.

 

[Socrates44]

Umm i probably wont do many refeeds, but i will keep a cheat day open every 14 days. This will help me get through the mental distress.

 

[Rodja]

Adding in a refeed every 3-4 days would help out with keeping your metabolism confused and adding 7OH will help you to burn fat and reduce catabolism.

 

[Socrates44]

Adding in a refeed every 3-4 days would help out with keeping your metabolism confused and adding 7OH will help you to burn fat and reduce catabolism.

Any DHEA(7-OH) products you recommend

 

[Rodja]

Any DHEA(7-OH) products you recommend

I am a fan of Lean Xtreme, but I havent tried retain or any of the other newer anti-cortisol products.

 

[TeamSavage]

There's actually bloodwork from multiple users showing Lean XTreme lowers cortisol, which in my opinion is a big plus.

 

[jjohn]

I tried Blaze, as well as Retain (twice) during a cut. I loved them both. I would say that Retain was my favorite.

 

[Socrates44]

So by follwing a CKD or ketogenesis diet i can worry less about catabolism forseen during cardio sessions, correct?

Also on my refeeds, should it be all mainly low-GI?

Im thinking of getting a bottle of Fibersure (Fructo Oligosaccharide or Inulin as some call it). It is a carb, but since its all insoluble fiber (mainly) it shouldn't affect my body going into ketoacidiosis right? I figure the fiber in the morning with a shake should help stave of some hunger pains.

 

[ZoMbSta]

So by follwing a CKD or ketogenesis diet i can worry less about catabolism forseen during cardio sessions, correct?

Also on my refeeds, should it be all mainly low-GI?

Im thinking of getting a bottle of Fibersure (Fructo Oligosaccharide or Inulin as some call it). It is a carb, but since its all insoluble fiber (mainly) it shouldn't affect my body going into ketoacidiosis right? I figure the fiber in the morning with a shake should help stave of some hunger pains.

nope...catabolism is unpreventable in CKD unless u r 100% efficient at your food choices and exercises...and from experience..it only works well to a certain extent...after that..everytime u get back to ketosis ur muscles will be pretty deflated and you can't realli see whether is fatloss evident in it..during refeed periods u will also get rebounds and gain back abit of fats...so i believe its not a long term solution

carbs should try as much as possible to be low GI...keeps u full for longer periods and not having the insulin spikes unneccessarily...

 

[Socrates44]

I know catabolism cannot be complelty stopped (in any diet or training scheme) but my main focus would be on slowing it down, seeing as it is a big problem with CKD's.

Adding leucine with some refeeds here and there will help keep glycogen in my skeletal muscle and keep it out of my liver. I can burn the carbs for lifting and run off of FFA's and Ketones for the rest. :-D

 

[ZoMbSta]

Yeah..that will be good...having some BCAA/leucine around during a cut is wat most ppl do to preserve LBM...time between refeed shouldn't be too long...varies from person to person but for myself 5 days between refeeds is enuff to make look so deflated i tot i lost all my muscle mass..

and as i would like to point out....at 24% BF...any form of diet will work...fats are bound to come off quickly with little/no LBM loss....probably until 15% where you gotta be concerned with LBM loss...but u do seem to know wat u r doing...i think ur plan is pretty good