My new ambition: biggity.

I cant wait till after the 20th of may and I can do the same!

They are a supp indeed, MA is quite cardio-ish (i've used this term to avoid a discussion about energy systems and other unrelated crap) and taking BCAAs will help prevent you from 'burning away' all that lovley muscle you'll be growing.

My favorite are reflex nutrition BCAA, little tablets you just pop before and after, would really recomend using tablets BTW coz they taste like death!

 

Cool.

 

Probably not the best place to post this, but my new ambition is smallity!

I've been eating a loose primal diet with almost zero carbs since the start of January and have lost 10kg (22 lbs). I'm working on increasing my strength but I'm determined to keep my size down and keep/regain a lean frame.

 

I remember taking amino's for the first time back in the early 90's. Me and a buddy were convinved we'd blow up. About the only thing that really happened was we became walking toxic waste dumps. I swear to God, we could clear ROOMS. We were a living, breathing bio-hazard. It was awful, lol!

 

Have you checked to see if you're in ketosis yet?

 

Well I haven't noticed any bad breath... but the fat has been shifting very quickly. I'm having occasional fasts (if not hungry), but about once a week i have carbs (Sunday morning croissants with Nutella or Lemon Curd). I have been amazed at how much energy I've had without carbs, and how constant that energy has been.

This coming week I'm likely to have a carb blowout because it's Shrove Tuesday and I'm on exercise next weekend so I'll have rat packs and chocolate. What I'll do is up the exercise considerably to make sure the carbs don't make me feel too odd.

 

They sell ketostrips which you urinate on and then measure the color against a chart. What I've always heard is that once in ketosis its often acceptable to increase daily carb intake by small increments until you are JUUUUUUST outside ketosis and remain there. The fear is that a truly ketogenic diet can be detrimental if followed for too long... Again just tossing back some second hand info, take it for what you will.

 

Thanks.

I'm probably in ketosis about 4 days a week then.

Ref long term carb free diet, I'm sure coma and cosmic fish will be happy to jump in to debunk the 'no carbs is bad' line!

 

LOL, I could debunk it myself. Lord knows the two camps out there are loud enough you cant help BUT pick up both sides of that coin. I just like to toss it out there so that people can't ever come back and say "no one told me! I never knew it was even possible!"... know what I mean?

 

Well my first question would be to ask why it's believed to be bad. All of the arguments I've seen against ketosis have confused ketosis with ketoacidosis.

 

The arguments as I've heard them (and, for the record, I have no documentation to back me up because I never recorded said conversations) are:

1) after being on a completely carb-free diet the body adjusts so completely to its new diet that there is a very umcomfortable period of readjustment once carbs are reintroduced to the body.

To that point I can say there have been times where I have experienced some rather icky episodes when trying to return to a more carb-rich eating style after a carb depletion pre contest. Whether the two are related I have no scientific proof, but it would be a strange coincedence.

2) That by depriving the body of carbs in all their forms you are unable to consumed all the various nutrients the body requires in high enough quantities.

3) I don't remember all the details of this one but I remember someone saying it can lead to diabetes later in life... I'll try to remember the exact explanation as it was impressive in its depth of thought, lol.

 

Cheers for the reply. This first one makes a lot of sense. There's an adjustment phase to go through going onto low carb. It makes sense that there will be one coming off it too. I'm currently on VLC right now and will be until the end of March. I'll watch out for any odd reactions when I reintroduce carbs.

Do you mean it's claimed that a low carb diet causes a reduction in bioavailability of nutrients? Anecdotally, I have been having some cramping issues lately and have been taking more electrolytes to compensate. Could be a coincidence, but I thought I'd throw that out.

I've heard it said that a high fat diet can cause diabetes. The claimed explanation being that it can cause fatty liver. That might be what your friend was getting at. Whether or not that's true, I don't know. The same is claimed of processed carbs, especially fructose, incidentally. I've done some quick searching. I found claims both for and against a high fat diet causing fatty liver disease. For what it's worth, the links claiming that it does all seem to be for rodents, not humans.

 

1) I typically found that if I stepped up my carbs gradually and kept them REALLY clean my body seemed to respond better. But the minute I rush it or slip in terms of the quality of carbs, forget it. My gut aches were legendary.

2) Yes, but moreso that without veggies and fruits and the like that you're diet will be lacking nutrients in proper quantity to meet your US RDA percentages. My response was take a multivitamin, lol.

3) That could very well be it. As I said I cant recall the details just the "result".

 

Well, I've just received my copy of starting strength by Mark Rippetoe, and have decided to necro this thread to re-affirm my commitment to biggity. I plan to lift heavy things, bellow, beat my chest and drag my knuckles around a banana tree. Eating is wonderful and it is truly magical that lord Rippetoe has given me a carte blanche to do as much of it as I please.
STRONGER!

 

Remember:

The more intensely and heavily you lift the more rest you will require.

Take more time away from the iron to grow in strength and biggity.

You'd be surprised how (less) often you should be lifting if you want max strength etc.

And whatever you do - NEVER sacrifice good form and correct alignment for bigger hefts.

Good Luck

P.S Be careful not to to 'do' your lower back etc