My new diet experiment....

[timberwolf]

While I've always kept my bodyfat below 10% year round when trying to take it lower in the past I had always relied on eating clean, lowering my carbs (between 50-100g), keeping my protein high (minimum 200-250g) and keeping my fat intake at least 40 if not 50%. My calorie intake would invariably fall between 2100-2400 calories though I never really counted them.
Along with the diet I also did HIIT, whether it was on a treadmill or a boxing routine (speed bag/ ropework/ shadowboxing/ heavybag). Again I ate mostly plain chicken breasts, oatmeal, vegetables, protein shakes and tons of flax seed oil (averaging 6 tablespoons).

This time I decided to experiment.
I upped my carbs (150-200g on most days), lowered my protein intake slightly
and fat slightly as well but paying most attention to my total calorie intake.
Again the calorie intake stayed about 2200 calories/ day but I added a cheat day once a week (where macros and total calorie intake went out the window)and a carb up /refeed day once a week as well. I also did not eat super clean on the non cheat days. I ate deep fried, breaded chicken daily (grocery version of KFC), had whoppers twice a week, chips (baked though), pretzels etc. Again these are on my non cheat days.
I also dropped HIIT in favour of long duration low intensity walking on a treadmill.
In just over 3 weeks, my weight went down from 177lbs to dipping just slightly below 170. My arms did lose size...r. arm went from below 17 1/4" to just above 17" though my left arm shrank from 16 3/4" to 16 3/8".
My waist thankfully shrank the most from 27 1/2" to 26 1/2". At the suprailliac the caliper measurment went from 4 mm to 2mm. All these were taken on July 23rd. The pics below were from June 30th to July 23rd.

The last two weeks I upped my calorie intake slightly. This time taking into consideration my cardio. For every mile I walk I added 100 calories to my 2200 calorie intake. Since I've been averaging at least 3 miles usually, I've been consuming 2500. As of this morning my waist measured 26 1/4" the smallest its ever been and the caliper slighlty below 2mm.

[ChocoChick]

Interesting. You look great.

How about posting a typical day in your diet?

[A.FreeRadical]

A very interesting experiment. I have come to the same conclusions that you have. I don't eat extremely clean (Real clean is not sustainable for me.) I was doing a low carb diet (<30 grams per day.) and I have upped that to <100 grams per day. >100 grams twice per week. I am now eating at maintenance level and started doing long distance walking (5 miles x 6 days per week). It is still too soon to tell whether this is going to work for me.

Your results are very impressive. How old are you?

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aA.FreeRadical a

[ChocoChick]

How old are you?

LOL - I just came back to ask that very question. I am guessing 30's -- early to mid.

[A.FreeRadical]

LOL - I just came back to ask that very question. I am guessing 30's -- early to mid.

Hahaha! I laughed when I saw what you wrote about fat loss and age in the other thread. That was after I asked the question. Brilliant minds...

Yes, hormones do matter, especially to the over 35 gang.

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aA.FreeRadical a

[GameDayDog]

Wassup TimberWolf... Who could forget thys guy?? ... If I calculated correctly.. he's 37 now...

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=221608

Peace..~G

[ChocoChick]

Wassup TimberWolf... Who could forget thys guy?? ... If I calculated correctly.. he's 37 now...

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=221608

Peace..~G

Sounds like mid 30's to me

[timberwolf]

Wassup TimberWolf... Who could forget thys guy?? ... If I calculated correctly.. he's 37 now...

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=221608

Peace..~G

Yep. 37 is right.

[jaguarr]

You ate breaded fried chicken and Whoppers and still kept all that definition? LOFL! I hate you!

jag

[timberwolf]

A very interesting experiment. I have come to the same conclusions that you have. I don't eat extremely clean (Real clean is not sustainable for me.) I was doing a low carb diet (<30 grams per day.) and I have upped that to <100 grams per day. >100 grams twice per week. I am now eating at maintenance level and started doing long distance walking (5 miles x 6 days per week). It is still too soon to tell whether this is going to work for me.

Your results are very impressive. How old are you?

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aA.FreeRadical a

I'm also definitely now a believer in long distance walking over HIIT at least in terms of fat loss not increasing your V02.

How long have you been doing this?

[ExCompetitor]

When prepping for a contest i used to do 4 sessions per week...first thing in the AM....3 minutes high intensity followed by 2 minutes low intensity,back and forth for 40 minutes...works well.

[someday]

You ate breaded fried chicken and Whoppers and still kept all that definition? LOFL! I hate you!

jag

no ****!!!!

[A.FreeRadical]

I'm also definitely now a believer in long distance walking over HIIT at least in terms of fat loss not increasing your V02.

How long have you been doing this?

I started doing 3 miles a couple of weeks ago. Last Friday I kicked it up to 5 miles. I am going to do this everyday except Tuesdays, that is Leg day in the gym.

I have increased my caloric consumption from 1800 calories per day to 2400 calories per day. I also started this on Friday. 2400 calories per day was maintenance level before I started walking. My body is seeing 600 more calories coming in per day which, hopefully, will speed up my slow metabolism. My body also is seeing 400 more calories being burned per day. I plan on doing this through the end of September. That will be a total of 240 miles. That should result in some extra muscle gain and about 7 lbs of fat loss.

Nothing else I have tried has worked, but I think this one has some promise.

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aA.FreeRadical a

[timberwolf]

Interesting. You look great.

How about posting a typical day in your diet?

Thanks db.

This was for 08.01.05

2 scoops VP2 w/ 5 teaspoons of dextrose

1 trioplex bar
14 rold gold honey braided pretzels

100g crunchy chicken (breaded and deep fried)
1 chicken burger
2 tablespoons of light ceasar dressing

1 whopper w/o mayo
1 60g bag of baked lays chips

1 cup cottage cheese w/ 1 cup blackberry/ blueberry mix and 1/2 oz. almonds
100 g beef jerky

While I met my caloric goal of 2700 for the day (walked 5 miles), my carb intake was higher than planned....
2705 calories/ 86g fat/ 266g carbs/ 225g protein

[SoMdHunter]

Timberwolf.....that is some great looking definition. I'll be following this thread to see how the new diet works out for ya.

[Defiant1]

I was one of the first "on my block" to do a low carb diet, and after initially listening to how it wouldn't work, how I would have a heart attack etc, people noticed the results and a lot of people started doing it around me. This was before the "big" Atkins wave.

There seems to be a phenomena with low carbing, it seems after awhile, the body becomes SO GOOD at metabolizing fat, that you have to lower fat AND carbs to maintain weight loss.

Tricky things those bodies of ours.

[A.FreeRadical]

I was one of the first "on my block" to do a low carb diet, and after initially listening to how it wouldn't work, how I would have a heart attack etc, people noticed the results and a lot of people started doing it around me. This was before the "big" Atkins wave.

It was long before Atkins. I think it started some time around the paleolithic era. Animal tissue and animal fats with berries and nuts gave a good 45/15/40 p/c/f macronutrient ratio back then. It wasn't until about 5000 years ago that animals were domesticated and grains were planted that we had to start worrying about obesity and heart disease. Then progress forward to 100 years ago and we have labor saving devices so use of the body becomes unnecessary.

Evolution hasn't caught up yet, so I am staying on the caveman diet and mimicking lifting tree trunks and slaying saber tooth tigers.

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aA.FreeRadical a

[~*IronBelle*~]

Holy crap. Gimme the carbs and the junk twice a week!!! Hahaha!

I love ya!!! LOL!

I dropped from 33% to 24% body fat just lifting and eating what I like. I don't even worry about what I eat these days and just get stuck in. lolol

[ShadowRydr]

Good Lord! I gave up eating like this!

Damn...I'm heading back to burger king!

Thanks db.

This was for 08.01.05

2 scoops VP2 w/ 5 teaspoons of dextrose

1 trioplex bar
14 rold gold honey braided pretzels

100g crunchy chicken (breaded and deep fried)
1 chicken burger
2 tablespoons of light ceasar dressing

1 whopper w/o mayo
1 60g bag of baked lays chips

1 cup cottage cheese w/ 1 cup blackberry/ blueberry mix and 1/2 oz. almonds
100 g beef jerky

While I met my caloric goal of 2700 for the day (walked 5 miles), my carb intake was hig



her than planned....
2705 calories/ 86g fat/ 266g carbs/ 225g protein

[nutzo]

I hate you, lol.

[HEART]

Well--you look great but I'm not sure everyone can get away with it! You have good genetics and are damn lucky!!

[timberwolf]

Well--you look great but I'm not sure everyone can get away with it! You have good genetics and are damn lucky!!

Actually Lyle Macdonald (sp?) for those familar with avantlab forums, also believes that cutting 'clean' isn't necessery for fat loss once certain protein and EFA requirements are met.
The difference would be in water retention at most in terms of body comp.

[ChocoChick]

Actually Lyle Macdonald (sp?) for those familar with avantlab forums, also believes that cutting 'clean' isn't necessery for fat loss once certain protein and EFA requirements are met.
The difference would be in water retention at most in terms of body comp.

Do you have an article or a link you can point me to?

[Defiant1]

It was long before Atkins. I think it started some time around the paleolithic era. Animal tissue and animal fats with berries and nuts gave a good 45/15/40 p/c/f macronutrient ratio back then. It wasn't until about 5000 years ago that animals were domesticated and grains were planted that we had to start worrying about obesity and heart disease. Then progress forward to 100 years ago and we have labor saving devices so use of the body becomes unnecessary.

Evolution hasn't caught up yet, so I am staying on the caveman diet and mimicking lifting tree trunks and slaying saber tooth tigers.

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aA.FreeRadical a

Yeah, I know about all that.

I was just using "Atkins" as a reference to what everybody knows. I'm aware of the "old (est) school" ancient greeks athletes' diet to the first dieting manual in modern history Bantings "Letter on Corpulence" etc as well as the "cave-man" diet.

I wasn't claiming to be the first to ever do a low-carb diet (hell BBs have been doing "meat and water" diets since the 50s), just pointing out that I have been doing the diet for awhile, which is relevant to the point I was making. Note I said first on MY block, not first on THE block

I hear you about the "dawn of agriculture" tooth decay/obesity/diabetes. I'm one to chew peoples ears about low carbing ad infinitum. I actually try to "minimize" my details.

[timberwolf]

Do you have an article or a link you can point me to?

Are we allowed to put links to other sites?

[ChocoChick]

PM me.

[A.FreeRadical]

Yeah, I know about all that.

I was just using "Atkins" as a reference to what everybody knows. I'm aware of the "old (est) school" ancient greeks athletes' diet to the first dieting manual in modern history Bantings "Letter on Corpulence" etc as well as the "cave-man" diet.

Hello Defiant1,

I didn't mean to challenge what you said. Sorry if it came off that way. I know you were not claiming to have invented the low carb diet and I am sure you are more knowledgable than I am on the history of diets. I was just making the point that our dna hasn't changed much, if at all, from the days of hunter gatherer but our diet has changed radically since then. I saw an empty soap box and segued on to it.

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aA.FreeRadical a

[Defiant1]

Hello Defiant1,

I didn't mean to challenge what you said. Sorry if it came off that way. I know you were not claiming to have invented the low carb diet and I am sure you are more knowledgable than I am on the history of diets. I was just making the point that our dna hasn't changed much, if at all, from the days of hunter gatherer but our diet has changed radically since then. I saw an empty soap box and segued on to it.

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aA.FreeRadical a

Agreed. It's hard to know where someone is coming from because of the lack of "non-verbal" cues we get in person (even on the phone).

I was just trying to explain myself. I have a real interest and belief in "low" (really, natural amount) carb diets. As I see you do.

To me it is undeniable, yet there is "business" pressure to get rid of Atkins type diets, both for monetary (high profit items) reasons, and philosophical ones (militant animal lovers).

[A.FreeRadical]

Agreed. It's hard to know where someone is coming from because of the lack of "non-verbal" cues we get in person (even on the phone).

I thought about putting a "wink" in there, but that seemed like it was too smug. Emoticons can help, but the limitations become apparent when it is just writing.

I was just trying to explain myself. I have a real interest and belief in "low" (really, natural amount) carb diets. As I see you do.

Oh yeah, That came through loud and clear.

To me it is undeniable, yet there is "business" pressure to get rid of Atkins type diets, both for monetary (high profit items) reasons, and philosophical ones (militant animal lovers).

I am a laissez faire anarcho-capitalist, so I don't understand why anyone (PETA) cares about me and my eating animals that I bought. What? Do those people think animals have rights? Only if at least one representative of their species can pass an SAT or an ACT college exam and their parents can pay for tuition and board.

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aA.FreeRadical a

[~*IronBelle*~]

Well this may sound a little simple and cuckoo, but we all have the problem or water retention at times and we KNOW for a fact that not drinking enough water causes this. So why the hell should it be any different when it comes to eating less water retaining food's such as carbs? I have to say here that I wish they would do a study on aldosterone or renin levels between two groups of people. One group on low carb, high protein, and one group on higher carbs and moderate protein. I think you will find that aldosterone level's (water retaining hormone) are MUCH higher after a week on a low carb diet than they are on the higher carb diet. That although you initially lose a $#!+ load of fat in the first few days on a low carb diet, once the body get's wise to it, and start's pumping out the old aldosterone to help retain fluid (cannot afford to lose it as quickly as you do on such diets), you are far less likely to drop fat after the 7th day or so.

If you think about it logically in that way, it is top of the list for what NOT to do when trying to get to low body fat level's=dehydrate by cutting cArbs to ridiculously low levels! I'd've thought drinking lot's of fluid's and cutting calories, but keeping carb's up in good ranges is a good way to coax the body to drop fat much more readily, because it is less inclined to cause a rise in aldosterone. Well not as quickly as it would be idf you were heading for ketosis.

Seldom do people look at hormones as problematic in this way where stalls atre concerned in their weight loss, but I can bet ten to one that those alpha cells are hanging onto every last drop of fat by the time the aldosterone levels are up.
As anyone knows we need to keep hydrated well for fat loss to occur and it isnt achievable on a low carb diet because of the way the hormones are and the salt levels. Not only do they advocate eating less carbs but cutting sodium also on low carb diet's, which is another reason the body will raise aldosterone levels=to retain sodium. Thats why they tell you to cut it out, because it would affect blood pressure taking in heaps of salt on a low carb diet when aldosterone level's are high. Cramps arise due to the lack of potassium, which is also an essential where fat loss is concerned--you need this to keep the muscle happy--when muscle aint happy, metabolism crashes. Slow and steady win's the race.

I feel it has nothing to do with genetics and everything to do with trying to get down your fat levels without creating too much of a stress hormone response as this will cause a problem where alpha fat cells are concerned definately.