Anabolic Diet success

[trytestim]

I am here to say that the Anabolic Diet is the absolute best and easiest to stick to diet I have ever tried! I recommend it for everyone. I have always had weird blood sugar issues...maybe borderline diabetic. While doing the high fat/protein, low carb days...I never experience the shakiness of being hungry. If I get hungry, it is simply an empty feeling but I can carry on with whatever I'm doing if I cant eat. But as soon as I do the 2 carb-up days...the shakiness comes back. If I am late for a meal then, I get cranky and weak. That tells me this diet may be be excellent for those who have blood sugar problems of various levels. At least for the 5 carbless days. Oh yeah, I had my cholesterol levels checked and the doc was very impressed. It may seem like an unhealthy diet but the numbers dont lie. Lust add fiber supplement throughout the week.

 

[bla55]

I have been on it for a while as well and have loved every minute of it.

I do worry though if I am eating too many carbs during the week just because of my almonds, pecans and walnuts intake; aside from those the only carbs I eat are veggies at lunch (asparagus) but still I wonder sometimes.

Not to say it hasn't worked cause it has, just wondering if it could have been even better.

 

[rza]

i know this is something of an old thread, so i am sorry. anyway, whats everyones opinion of the metabolic diet? i hear everyone raving about the anabolic diet, but nothing about the metabolic diet. is it not as good or something? just curious.

 

[Torobestia]

I am here to say that the Anabolic Diet is the absolute best and easiest to stick to diet I have ever tried! I recommend it for everyone. I have always had weird blood sugar issues...maybe borderline diabetic. While doing the high fat/protein, low carb days...I never experience the shakiness of being hungry. If I get hungry, it is simply an empty feeling but I can carry on with whatever I'm doing if I cant eat. But as soon as I do the 2 carb-up days...the shakiness comes back. If I am late for a meal then, I get cranky and weak. That tells me this diet may be be excellent for those who have blood sugar problems of various levels. At least for the 5 carbless days.

No complaints with a diet that has you eating steak, eggs, and all the grandest foods in the world on a daily basis. The first week did suck, though.

 

[trytestim]

i know this is something of an old thread, so i am sorry. anyway, whats everyones opinion of the metabolic diet? i hear everyone raving about the anabolic diet, but nothing about the metabolic diet. is it not as good or something? just curious.

From what I understand, the Anabolic Diet is basically the same as the Metabolic Diet. When I google the Metabolic Diet, I seem to find many diets that are named "metabolic" something...but some of them sound like a basic diet. Search the Anabolic Diet if interested and you get more clear results.

This diet is awesome for a meat lover. My meals go something like this:

Breakfast: Eggs, sausage or bacon (greasier the better)

Snack: Pepperoni slices, cheese (pepperoni packs are $2.88 at WalMart and last about 3 days if eaten twice a day)

Lunch: Ground beef covered with cheese or hamburger patties dipped in mustard and mayo

Snack: More pepperoni and cheese

Dinner: whatever meat my wife wants plus small portion of greens (If the meat is low fat such as chicken breast, cover it with cheese)

Look out for hidden sugars...they wreck this diet. Ketchup, steak sauce, peanut butter, milk, yogurt....just get away from them.

I do indulge in a tablespoon of natural peanut butter (does have like 3 grams of sugar about once per day). I also buy no sugar added Heinz ketchup (contains 1 gram of sugar). I mix mayo with it bacause 1 serving of ketchup is not enough for me. I would consume like 10 grams of sugar from ketchup if I used as much as I normally would.

And yes, eating peanuts throughout the day will add up the carbs very quickly.

 

[T-Bone]

i know this is something of an old thread, so i am sorry. anyway, whats everyones opinion of the metabolic diet? i hear everyone raving about the anabolic diet, but nothing about the metabolic diet. is it not as good or something? just curious.

What a lot of people don't understand is that Invalid Link Removed is the massively updated version of the Anabolic Diet. The Anabolic Diet didn't have much too it. It came out in 1994!. If you don't have The Metabolic Diet book already I suggest you get it. Its much more updated and there is much more to it. Much more information with studies. He also has a few other diet books. The Anabolic Solution for Recreational & Competitive Bodybuilders is a great book if your really into the sport of bodybuilding. He also has one of the same title except for Power Lifters. Also don't forget The Radical Diet which is an 8 week ultra low calorie diet meant to lose fat while keeping muscle. I have The Metabolic Diet, The Radical Diet, and The Anabolic Solution For Recreational & Competitive Bodybuilders.

 

[Norcal Mike]

No complaints with a diet that has you eating steak, eggs, and all the grandest foods in the world on a daily basis. The first week did suck, though.

x2, but have to include bacon with the grandest foods. Tremendous benefits await all those who can hang in there until their body becomes fat adapted (i.e switching over to running on fats instead of sugar/carbs as a primary fuel source).

Lots of veggies on weekdays will provide fiber (+ more) and shouldn't be a problem.

On the carb-up weekends, steering toward starchy sources (sweet potato, carrots, etc.) and away from bread might reduce crashes/cravings for sugar. It goes without saying that eating trash sugar will make you feel like trash and will hamper progress.

 

[T-Bone]

x2, but have to include bacon with the grandest foods. Tremendous benefits await all those who can hang in there until their body becomes fat adapted (i.e switching over to running on fats instead of sugar/carbs as a primary fuel source).

Lots of veggies on weekdays will provide fiber (+ more) and shouldn't be a problem.

On the carb-up weekends, steering toward starchy sources (sweet potato, carrots, etc.) and away from bread might reduce crashes/cravings for sugar. It goes without saying that eating trash sugar will make you feel like trash and will hamper progress.

I actually disagree with this somewhat. Staying away from bread might help you if you were on a different diet, but on this diet during the carb up phase it may help you. The key is to experiment with foods on the carb up phase to see how you feel. The reason the thread starter feels shaky is because....Well I will just put a quote from "The Metabolic Diet"


Page 77 Chapter 4,

"Insulin levels will rise dramatically. In fact, it's been show that the higher-fat/low-carb phase of the diet makes the insulin response to the high-carbs even greater than it normally would be."

Not saying you're wrong, just that it is ok to eat bread on the carb up portion of the diet. It's even ok to have pizza. The key is not to go overboard. On your first carb up everyone goes a little overboard. That's fine though. The great thing about this diet is you don't have to eliminate any certain foods. Having a pizza or a bread on your carb up isn't going to hamper progress at all.

 

[Norcal Mike]

Ahh, ok T-Bone, I was reaching on that last part - letting my paleo leanings show.

Perhaps being sure to eat protein with fast carbs on the weekend would modulate the blood sugar response while still permitting the muscle glycogen repletion. I believe Mauro allows a decent amount of protein on the weekend, yeah?

 

[T-Bone]

Ahh, ok T-Bone, I was reaching on that last part - letting my paleo leanings show.

Perhaps being sure to eat protein with fast carbs on the weekend would modulate the blood sugar response while still permitting the muscle glycogen repletion. I believe Mauro allows a decent amount of protein on the weekend, yeah?

Well if you want specifics on the carb ups its 20-40% fat, 15-30% Protein and 35-60% carbs. Sure the protein may help but it could also be that he just started the diet and peoples insulin response to the carb load varies depending on the person. The shakiness may eventually stop or at least slow down. Plus the carb load is listed as 12-48 hours so he may want to just lower the time he is on the carb up for now. There is a lot more detail in the Metabolic Diet book that the original poster might find extremely useful. He could also add protein and fat to the meals to slow down the digestion and insulin response.

All I can say to the thread starter is if you feel shaky on your carb up, just eat more!. Really though, email or call Dr. Mauro and I'm sure he will help you out. Might take a while to get back to you but he will. In the meantime, get The Metabolic Diet book because it answers a lot of these questions.

Trytestim - Invalid Link Removed


Plus there is a ton of information on the site I linked in my other post in this thread. A lot of free articles too.

 

[rza]

well, im on it (metabolic diet), and i havent measured my BF since starting it (about 2 1/2 months), so im only going on the mirror and clothes, and i havent noticed any groundbreaking changes. i've noticed a slightly more toned tummy/stomach/midsection (whatever the damned things called) and a very slightly reduced waist, but thats about it. granted, i've been trying to recomp, and i dont imagine any recomp is particulaly fast, so thats probably a factor too. anyway, im bulking now, so im not expecting much fat loss for the time being, but on the weekends, i thought what mauro was saying was that you could pretty much run free (though within reason calorie wise), and so i generally consume some high GI stuff (sugar mainly, though the odd bit of white dough aswell), and it looks like this is probably detracting from results, in light of what some of you have said. also, i consume a bit od sugar on the weekdays, because i didnt see what was wrong with it as long as it fitted my macros, afterall mauro even lists cake in some of the example meal plans.

 

[rza]

yo?

 

[T-Bone]

I think should mix it up more on your carb ups. Sure you can have some treats, but don't go overboard and don't have "mostly sugar". Make sure you get enough protein and fat too. Don't make carb ups low protein. If you having trouble try to follow the percentages I gave in my last post.

 

[Jorsn]

I have been following this diet now for a few months and have seen really good results. I don't like to call it a diet because it has become more of a way of life for me now. I did the whole 5 days high fat/high protein and carb up on the weeks but I no longer do that. I've gone two weeks without carbing up and I felt fine. I do however carb up one day every 4-5 days. By the way I lost 10lbs in the first six weeks and went from a 36" waist down to a 34" waist. I'm pretty tall, 6'3" to be exact, But I carried most of my fat around my core and that was the first fat to come off. I absolutely love this diet and continue to tweak it on a weekly basis. I eat lots of almonds and pistachios so i'm trying to slowly cut those out due to taking in too many carbs. My carb intake is probably between 25g's-40g's everyday but I would like to get it down to around 15g's or lower. I didn't have any problem with the no carbs for 12 days but I think it's due to me being carb sensitive.

Anyways just wanted to give my feedback. If you like eating meats then you'll love this diet.

 

[OrganicShadow]

I gotta look into this and learn more. Thank T-Bone for that update.

 

[T-Bone]

I did the whole 5 days high fat/high protein and carb up on the weeks but I no longer do that. I've gone two weeks without carbing up and I felt fine. I do however carb up one day every 4-5 days.

Quote from page 95 Chapter 4 of "The Metabolic Diet"

"Don't Mix Diets"

"The big temptation may be to mix diets combining aspects of both the high-carb and higer-fat diets and putting them together in your own personal Frankenstein stew. Don't. Many people will go on the higher-fat/lower-carb diet but try to be true to their old high-carb master. They'll eat meat but it's all skinless fish, chicken and turkey.

While these foods may be quite nutritious and beneficial, even when used in the higher-fat/low-carb diet, they can't replace good, old-fashioned red meat. There just isn't enough fat there, although it's somewhat better if the skins are included.

What you end up doing by taking on the turkey/chicken/fish holy trinity is going on a high-protein, low-carb, and low- to medium-fat diet. Along with being even harder to stay on the Metabolic Diet weekday menu, this diet will severely limit your progress. You won't burn the fat like you should and you won't have the energy.

You need red meat. You need the fat and the nutrients it provides. Don't shortchange yourself by trying to avoid it some misled effort to stay true to forces in society who have labeled meat some kind of monster."



Jorsn, you should be following the diet exactly as described. You can't pick and change things, you have got to stay on the low carb portion for 5 days, no less, no more. There should be no "tweaking" involved unless you mean reading more about the diet in the book and getting the details more precisely planned. If you don't have the Metabolic Diet book, get it already. There is no "winging it" when dieting. You will get out of what you put into it but if you don't want to take the time to read the book or spend the money on it than I don't know what to say. Sure you may be losing "weight" but there is a reason for the carb up days and a reason they are timed the way they are.

 

[Jorsn]

Quote from page 95 Chapter 4 of "The Metabolic Diet"

"Don't Mix Diets"

"The big temptation may be to mix diets combining aspects of both the high-carb and higer-fat diets and putting them together in your own personal Frankenstein stew. Don't. Many people will go on the higher-fat/lower-carb diet but try to be true to their old high-carb master. They'll eat meat but it's all skinless fish, chicken and turkey.

While these foods may be quite nutritious and beneficial, even when used in the higher-fat/low-carb diet, they can't replace good, old-fashioned red meat. There just isn't enough fat there, although it's somewhat better if the skins are included.

What you end up doing by taking on the turkey/chicken/fish holy trinity is going on a high-protein, low-carb, and low- to medium-fat diet. Along with being even harder to stay on the Metabolic Diet weekday menu, this diet will severely limit your progress. You won't burn the fat like you should and you won't have the energy.

You need red meat. You need the fat and the nutrients it provides. Don't shortchange yourself by trying to avoid it some misled effort to stay true to forces in society who have labeled meat some kind of monster."



Jorsn, you should be following the diet exactly as described. You can't pick and change things, you have got to stay on the low carb portion for 5 days, no less, no more. There should be no "tweaking" involved unless you mean reading more about the diet in the book and getting the details more precisely planned. If you don't have the Metabolic Diet book, get it already. There is no "winging it" when dieting. You will get out of what you put into it but if you don't want to take the time to read the book or spend the money on it than I don't know what to say. Sure you may be losing "weight" but there is a reason for the carb up days and a reason they are timed the way they are.

LoL... Take it easy bro. You really think everyone will fit perfectly into this diet? No. I listen to my body and do what feels best and guess what... It's worked wonders for me. Energy levels are stable, I sleep better, I'm making strength gains every week, I'm able to focus better. I can tell when I need to carb up, Sometimes its every four days and sometimes its every six days depending on my activity levels. You really think there is a drastic difference if you carb up on day 8 instead of day 6-7?

I'm not "winging" anything. Like I said this has become a way of life... So I have tweaked it to what works best for me. There is no way in hell that the Metabolic Diet will work perfectly for every single person out there, It's just not going to happen. I also do intermittent fasting... Does that mean i'm hopeless and that i've broken the rules? No, It means i've found what works best for me.

I do appreciate your advice. I have read everything on his website and have read other studies an information. I have found what works best for me, If following every little detail in his book works for you then that's awesome.

For the people that are interested in the Metabolic Diet... If you really want to follow this diet and your just starting out then I do recommend getting the book because i'm sure it will make things a lot easier. I personally spent about 1.5 months reading about this diet before I committed to it.

 

[T-Bone]

Just trying to help out Jorsn. I'm just a "by-the-book" kind of guy.