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***Long post- only the knowledgeable/patient need read***
Everytime I try a zero carb diet I get great results in terms of losing bodyfat and gaining definition. Also, everytime I try it, it seems to be easier than the time before, which would imply that one's body adjusts over time. Even when I don't zero carb, my carbs remain around 100g per day, so they're fairly low by most standards. The amazing thing is, even by removing those few carbs (100g approx), I start to lose fat immediately (I'm not fat, but am smooth most of the time with my abs slightly visible at 210lb, 5'11"), even though I replace the calories with protein and/or fat.
With summer fast approaching here in the UK, I have just started on a zero carb eating style- which for me means that I have ditched my quart of raw milk each day, no yogurt, nuts or fruit, but a salad or vegetables once per day. I'm basically following Vince Gironda's maximum definition diet, which he claimed to get the best results with. I'm eating about 1 1/2 to 2lb of fatty meat a day, plus a dozen eggs with a bit of cheddar cheese mixed in. I eat 3 times per day, eschewing the usual 6 meals followed by many trainees (many of the leanest pre-roid bodybuilders like Zabo and Gironda, ate only 2 meals per day). I also drink about 3- 5 litres of water per day. Every 4th day I will have a huge carb meal of around 200-300g of carbs.
One week in and I feel absolutely great, apart from just after the carb meal where I feel relaxed but sleepy with it. I have mental clarity more or less the whole of the day, and when I arrive back from work in the evenings, I don't slump down in a chair but immediately start doing chores, etc, without having to make a decision/effort to do so. It just sort of happens. Energy is either there or it is not. Suprisingly, I have more energy the less carbs I eat, which goes against the grain (no pun intended!) of conventional wisdom which states that carbs are energy giving.
Still, I have a few questions that I wonder if anyone on the board is capable of answering.
1) If the main aim of a very low/zero carb diet is bodyfat reduction, which apparently allows the body to go into ketosis after glycogen has been spent from the liver/muscles, then why carb load at regular intervals? If the underlying theory of ketosis is correct, then one cannot be in ketosis until the new glycogen stores have been depleted (I know glycogen is refuelled for performance purposes).
2) Do we need glycogen in the muscles and liver at all? According to research mentioned in separate books by Randy Roach, Barry Groves and Gary Taubes, athletes placed on a zero carb diet initially had a decrease in performance, but after 4 weeks of no carbs, their bodies had adjusted and their performance had returned to previous levels. In those athletes, where would the glycogen come from to power their bodies?
3) The brain relies on glucose to function and apparently it needs about a third of all the calories we eat. In a zero carb diet, the body manufactures glucose from protein in a process known as glucogenesis. Does anyone know how long this process takes? Very occasionally I will get 'brain fog' on a zero carb diet, which I assume is my brain being starved of glucose. If I was to ingest protein and fat at that point, roughly (obviously it will differ based on the indidvidual and type/amount of food eaten) how long would it take for my brain to get the necessary glucose? Ballpark figures please. Are we talking minutes or hours?
4) My repping endurance seems to increase when zero carbing, which one would not predict. The detriment to my performance comes in terms of lost speed and power. My strength/slow lifts never seem to be affected, but my olympic lifts- cleans and snatches, and my sprinting speed seem to decrease. I just feel too relaxed to have any kind of snap or explosiveness. My explosiveness/aggression only seems to return the day after a carbo load. Is there a way around this re question 2? Or does this imply that from a performance perspective, carbs are absolutely essential?
Can anyone clear these questions up?
Thanks.
Everytime I try a zero carb diet I get great results in terms of losing bodyfat and gaining definition. Also, everytime I try it, it seems to be easier than the time before, which would imply that one's body adjusts over time. Even when I don't zero carb, my carbs remain around 100g per day, so they're fairly low by most standards. The amazing thing is, even by removing those few carbs (100g approx), I start to lose fat immediately (I'm not fat, but am smooth most of the time with my abs slightly visible at 210lb, 5'11"), even though I replace the calories with protein and/or fat.
With summer fast approaching here in the UK, I have just started on a zero carb eating style- which for me means that I have ditched my quart of raw milk each day, no yogurt, nuts or fruit, but a salad or vegetables once per day. I'm basically following Vince Gironda's maximum definition diet, which he claimed to get the best results with. I'm eating about 1 1/2 to 2lb of fatty meat a day, plus a dozen eggs with a bit of cheddar cheese mixed in. I eat 3 times per day, eschewing the usual 6 meals followed by many trainees (many of the leanest pre-roid bodybuilders like Zabo and Gironda, ate only 2 meals per day). I also drink about 3- 5 litres of water per day. Every 4th day I will have a huge carb meal of around 200-300g of carbs.
One week in and I feel absolutely great, apart from just after the carb meal where I feel relaxed but sleepy with it. I have mental clarity more or less the whole of the day, and when I arrive back from work in the evenings, I don't slump down in a chair but immediately start doing chores, etc, without having to make a decision/effort to do so. It just sort of happens. Energy is either there or it is not. Suprisingly, I have more energy the less carbs I eat, which goes against the grain (no pun intended!) of conventional wisdom which states that carbs are energy giving.
Still, I have a few questions that I wonder if anyone on the board is capable of answering.
1) If the main aim of a very low/zero carb diet is bodyfat reduction, which apparently allows the body to go into ketosis after glycogen has been spent from the liver/muscles, then why carb load at regular intervals? If the underlying theory of ketosis is correct, then one cannot be in ketosis until the new glycogen stores have been depleted (I know glycogen is refuelled for performance purposes).
2) Do we need glycogen in the muscles and liver at all? According to research mentioned in separate books by Randy Roach, Barry Groves and Gary Taubes, athletes placed on a zero carb diet initially had a decrease in performance, but after 4 weeks of no carbs, their bodies had adjusted and their performance had returned to previous levels. In those athletes, where would the glycogen come from to power their bodies?
3) The brain relies on glucose to function and apparently it needs about a third of all the calories we eat. In a zero carb diet, the body manufactures glucose from protein in a process known as glucogenesis. Does anyone know how long this process takes? Very occasionally I will get 'brain fog' on a zero carb diet, which I assume is my brain being starved of glucose. If I was to ingest protein and fat at that point, roughly (obviously it will differ based on the indidvidual and type/amount of food eaten) how long would it take for my brain to get the necessary glucose? Ballpark figures please. Are we talking minutes or hours?
4) My repping endurance seems to increase when zero carbing, which one would not predict. The detriment to my performance comes in terms of lost speed and power. My strength/slow lifts never seem to be affected, but my olympic lifts- cleans and snatches, and my sprinting speed seem to decrease. I just feel too relaxed to have any kind of snap or explosiveness. My explosiveness/aggression only seems to return the day after a carbo load. Is there a way around this re question 2? Or does this imply that from a performance perspective, carbs are absolutely essential?
Can anyone clear these questions up?
Thanks.