Dylanamus on the Anabolic Diet

[dylanamus]

Official Commencement: 10-AUGUST-2009

Induction Completion: 22-08-2009.

Body Fat Goal: 10-12% with minimal atrophy

Stats: Caucasian Male, 27 years old, 5'2/158cm

Current Body Fat: 16.7% at 63kg

As some of you may have noticed from my training log, I have been experimenting with low carb food preparation and calorie counting and have spent some time adjusting my shopping and eating habits to prepare me for the AD.

Technically, you could argue that I have already been on the AD, just without the 12 day streak of <30g carbohydrates. I have already dropped from around 65kg to 63kg during the past 3 weeks of said experimentation. However, I wish to do this by the book and have created a log to present my thoughts and progress with others who may be considering embarking on this diet.

I began Strong Lifts in January 2009 and Achieved all my mid term and some of my long term lifting goals ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, my goals for body fat had gone in the opposite direction. I started at around 19% at 63kg and peaked at 22% at 68kg in May/June.

I have been using Fitday to log my caloric intake and also to record exercise and moods etc I will present this information here too now.


Cheers

[joesterizer]

Great! The diet works, as you well know. But it's nice to have people watching, so you can't cheat...

I'm watching you.

Good luck

[atypical1]

Good luck and I'm looking forward to reading another success story!

james

[Mouse]

Go for it Dylan - get some before pics posted in here as well.

You know the drill

[dylanamus]

Thanks fellas!

The following were taken from mid July and represent 65kg at 21% bf:

Before Pics:




Neck: 15.6
Shoulder: 43.7
Chest: 39.0
Wrist: 6.5
Forearm: 11.2
Upper Arm: 13.2
Waist: 35.8
Hips: 33.3
Butt: 37.0
Thigh: 22.0
Knee: 14.4
Calf: 15.0
Ankle: 8.1

[dylanamus]

10-08-2009





11-08-2009





I've noticed I can estimate carb content in foods off the top of my head pretty accurately now. So I tend to eat first and then review what the carb tally is when I get home before dinner - then adjust dinner accordingly. I tend to eat the same for breakfast and lunch, maybe just mix the veggie content around a bit, but I am certainly no where near getting sick of any of this food. In fact, I love meat, cheese and veggies! This is a heavenly diet for me haha delicious foods and no hunger!

[dylanamus]

My moods have been quite steady. I feel content to happy most of the time. I don't seem to get stressed or distracted as easily. I was very exhausted on Sunday, but I ate quite a lot less than usual. On Monday I was a bit dreamy as a result (I believe).

I have been able to fall asleep relatively quickly and seem to sleep all the way through to my alarm - unless I have drank too much water before bed. Gotta get the timing right. This brings me to my next observation. I have been a lot thirstier for water than usual on this diet so far.

The only times I have really been hungry are on weekends, where I haven't snacked properly between meals and post workout later in the evening where I have already eaten dinner and are starting to get hungry again.

I've been able to curb this hunger with cups of green tea or black coffee though, which fits in with my extra thirst.

I will place these thoughts along with the day they belong to from now on.


The red figures on my dietary fibre are the final result after taking fibre supplements. I have been playing with this and I think my body prefers around 20-25g a day. The red figure in carbs represents carbs used for energy (fibrous carbs subtracted).

[dylanamus]

General Medical Check-up 12-08-2009

Blood Pressure: 110 / 90
Rest Pulse: 60

Did a Sperometary test and the results yeilded no change to my o2max while taking ventolin. Just interesting to note, considering I have been an asthmatic all my life.

I have to fast for 12 hours then I will be getting a Lipid Panel and Testosterone blood test done tomorrow.

[dylanamus]

Blood Pressure: 110/70

Made a mistake above.

[dylanamus]

12-08-2009



Calories: 1509kcal | Carbs: 25.8g | Fat: 84.6g | Protein: 155.9g

I have felt a bit bloated today. Like if I breath in hard or suck my stomach in, it hurts a bit, like it's being crushed. So even at only 1500kcal I feel satisfied and quite full... Fortunately I have to fast until after my blood tests tomorrow now, so this works fine...

Exercise today: The Bear done as fast as possible. Just like yesterday!


I will be buying feta once my cottage cheese runs out to replace it in my lunches. This will help free up some carbs and add some more energy and fat. I might also try some heavy whipped cream in coffee and see if I like it.

[dylanamus]

Got my Accu-Measure calipers today. I used this website to do my calculations. I took MANY readings and used the averages for my final finding. I used this site to determine locations for each reading.

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of my tricep and midaxillary readings as I had to do them on my own. I also estimated my subscapular. So I will use the three point system as a reference for now.

Chest: 10mm
Midaxillary: 12mm
Subprailiac: 8mm
Abdominal: 15mm
Thigh: 11mm
Tricep: 6mm
Subscapular: 10mm

Seven Sites: 10.14%
Three Sites: 10.58%

Scales: 16.8% BF

The average of scales and Three Sites is 13.65%

My goals still revolve around my scales saying 10%. I will compare the caliper measurements with each new reading and see the difference in mm, but I don't think the body fat percentage it reports through the equation I have used is worth paying attention to. The mirror and logic shows me very clearly, that I am closer to 17% than 10%bf!

[dylanamus]

13-08-2009



Interestingly, my scales detected my dinner and liquids and reported my weight as 64.1kg, yet it managed to calculate almost the exact same body fat percentage as this morning of 16.8% (compared to 16.7% @ 63.3kg in the morning).

I made the switch to fetta today and bought some more new varieties of cheeses. Jarlsberg on veggies was delicious!
(Only had one egg in the morning, so I improvised!)

I also got my blood test. My pressure dropped from 110/70 to 90/50 and they wouldn't let me leave until I had a lay down haha Results in a few days!


Calories: 1634kcal | Carbs: 22.4g | Fat: 93.7g | Protein: 165.9g

[dylanamus]

14-08-2009




Calories: 1,843kcal | Carbs: 19.5g | Fat: 131.5g | Protein: 130.9g


I was having left calf cramp/shin splint style pains today. I think it might be from holding the heavy clutch to the floor of my car. So I will sit in neutral at the lights and see if it improves. Felt sick (hay fever symptoms) most the day, then got stomach pains after dinner, so I bailed on my workout, but will give it a go tomorrow and shuffle my next two workouts a bit to still fit them into next week.

I've been adding oil/butter and cream to my Fitday calculations and I can see my actual intake has been higher (of course). Just didn't think of this earlier.

[atypical1]

Great log. I'm very impressed at the level of detail that you're going through here. BP is amazing and is comparable to my experience (although your drop was much better which I attest to your strictness of measuring portions).

What kind of car do you have that has a clutch that heavy? Yikes.

james

[dylanamus]

Hey James,

My daily driver is a Peugeot 306 from 96. The clutch is cable actuated and very tight with a deep engagement point. Having short legs just exasperates the pressure on my calf/shin muscles while depressing the pedal constantly.

I must admit, the novelty of taking a scientific interest in nutrition has made my apparent strictness very easy to maintain. Beyond understanding that junk food and confectionery was bad for me, I previously just ate whatever tasted good (and more recently started eating things richer in protein)! Understanding the micro nutrient qualities of foods and viewing my body as a biological machine has made giving up the remainder of my vices a breeze. Measuring things has become second nature and I can estimate most things to within 10g if I'm on the run.

If I went back and added cooking fats to my daily intakes, I would find I have been adhering to a 1700kcal, rather than 1500kcal minimum. Which I think is probably a good thing. I just hope this figure isn't too far under maintenance (to the extent where my body is rationing energy and storing some back-up fat). Although so far, the consistency of fat-loss would suggest it's working reasonably well.

One of my most resounding thoughts is that this diet is extremely easy to under eat on. I think I would struggle to eat twice as many calories while on these carb restrictions as I doubt I would be able to increase veggies by a great deal, so I would have to simply start eating more fat. At < 2000kcal, I have been able to eat in a fashion that would still be regarded as general healthy eating. It makes it a little more difficult to separate how much of my fat loss can be attributed to a well balanced intake of whole foods while eating under maintenance and how much of it is due to being in perpetual ketosis. The bottom line is that fat loss is fat loss and the AD makes doing both at once very easy.