M3:D30 Ketogenic Diets



What's on my mind today?

About a month ago I completed a nutritonal experiment that was talked about on this blog.  I experimented with a modification to the Velocity Diet.  This involved me taking in mostly protein shakes for 28 straight days.  I ate one regular meal (anything I wanted) each week.  It was a very difficult task, but I got great results due to my body liking the low carb lifestyle.  I gave a full review here in the post Mission 2, Day 99: Nutritional Secret Unveiled. 

The Velocity Diet is a form of a ketogenic diet.  This type of diet is high fat, high protein and low carb.  They use it in epileptic children to control seizures.  So what is a ketogenic diet?

Normally the body generates glucose as fuel.  When you restrict your carbs to a very low level (in this case about 5%) your liver will convert the fat into fatty acids and ketones.  The ketones go through to the brain for energy there.

When on a ketogenic diet, not only are carbs limited, starchy veggetables are also eliminated.  The idea is to force your body to use the fat for fuel.  The ketones go to your brain for energy and the fatty acids are used by your body for energy.  Some say it is possible to actually teach your body to use the fat for fuel long term.

There have been several books written that talk about keto diets.  One very popular in the body building world is Better Than Steroids by Dr. Warren Willey.  Dr. Willey discusses a very strict keto diet and recommends limiting its use to a 2 week period every so often.  Dr. Willey states that a keto diet is quite efficient in taking fat off.  The concern is in keeping off the fat.  The Anabolic Diet by Dr. Mauro G. DiPasquale also touts a keto diet, but goes much further with the program.  Dr. DiPasquale recommends this as a way of life.  The Anabolic Diet is a modified version of a keto diet in that it permits a carb up period every 5 days.  The concept is to spend the weekdays low carb and then to eat whatever you want on the weekends.  The amazing claim with The Anabolic Diet is that your body becomes a fat burning machine, extremely adept at using fat for fuel, so the extra fat intake (while is needs to be reasonable) isn't a huge problem—the body handles it.

Both books (Better Than Steroids and The Anabolic Diet) make the case that food can cause the same physical responses as anabolic steroids can, but without the dangers.  The increase in fat will also cause an increase in testosterone and GH production within your body. This is obviously good for muscle building.  It is important to note that we are not talking about getting massive, we are merely talking about adding some nice muscle to your frame.

Now beware, the Adtkins Diet was also a keto diet, but it emphasized heavy proteins and fat.  This is the downfall of that diet.  It can be the cause of some very severe health issues as a result.

Better Than Steroids and The Anabolic Diet present some solutions that avoid the problems of Adtkins.  The main issue is that both BTS and TAD recommend using lean proteins, getting your fats from EFAs (including nuts) with just a small amount of animal fat, and keeping your carbs very low.  TAD recommends carbing up on weekends.  Both BTS and TAD recommend high calories to gain muscle, but TAD claims your body can actually burn fat and build muscle at the same time if you train it properly.

I wanted to share this research with you because it is all part of what I am doing right now.  I am really into the nutritional research.  I want to understand why something works.  It isn't enough for an expert to recommend something to me anymore.  I want to understand what I am doing to my body. 

This mindset comes from my interview with Marc David.  During our chat afterwards he made the point that he likes to teach people about what exercises work what area of the body because it enables them to go it on their own at the gym.  If they are supposed to do squats today and the squat rack is being dominated by some knucklehead doing curls, they can walk over and do leg presses because they understand the two exercises work the same area of the body. 

I feel the same about what I am doing.  I want to know the basics and beyond so that I can make changes as needed.  All too often I read on Burn the Fat Inner Circle questions that should be answerable by the person asking the question.  I am amazed at how little some people know about their own body. 


Week Begins 6/8/2008
  Sun Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Sat
Cycle spot HC LC LC LC HC LC LC
M1 * 5:30 a.m. 3:30 a.m. 3:30 a.m. 3:30 a.m. 3:30 a.m. 3:30 a.m. 5:30 a.m.
M2 * 8:30 a.m. 6:30 a.m. 6:30 a.m. 6:30 a.m. 6:30 a.m. 6:30 a.m. 8:30 a.m.
M3 * 11:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m.
M4 * 2:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m.
M5 * 5:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m.
M6 * 7:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
Weights * N/A Lift N/A Lift N/A Lift N/A
Cardio * N/A N/A AM N/A AM N/A AM
Abs * N/A FYA FYA N/A FYA N/A FYA
Water * 264 oz 264 oz 264 oz 264 oz      
Post-workout nutrition * Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Pre-sleep nutrition * Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Vitamins/Supplements * Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Accountability * Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cals within 5% (+/-) * Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Target Cals 2800 2800 2800 2800 2800 2800 2800
Cals 2750 2910 2721 2895      
Ratios (C/P/F) 40/30/30 40/30/30 40/30/30 40/30/30      
Target Ratios (C/P/F) 40/30/30 40/30/30 40/30/30 40/30/30 40/30/30 40/30/30 40/30/30
Total Completed 15 15 15 15      
Total Possible 15 15 15 15      
Mission 3 Total Complete 329 344 359 374      
Mission 3 Total Possible 330 345 360 375      
* = Counts towards total
Success!
Failed
Not Counted!

 
Find out what I'm doing to my body!

Intensity.  That's all I can say.  I am so on fire to build more muscle and get big that I am putting it all out there and then some.  My workouts have been insanely hard.  Alot of the time I get tempted to skip this or that exercise because I hate it, but then I realize that the fact that I hate it proves I need it, so I bite the bullet and do as I am supposed to do.  I've learned that even though I've hit 9 pull ups and think I'm done, I can crank out 6 or 7 more really good ones if I give it a complete effort.  I still feel like vomitting when I'm done with my workouts, but I'm getting used to that.  There are definitely metabolic changes going on in my body during the workouts.
 
Exercise the brain with the Thought of the Day!

Our body is our place of residence so why would we ever blindly trust it to the advice of someone else?  Check out what you are told to be sure it is true.
 
Get a discussion started by answering the question!

How do you experiment with your nutrition?  Comment this blog post to answer the question.
 
 
 

Mission 1, Day 30: Forward march

Until tomorrow...GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Posted by Michael Mahony at 6/11/2008 8:16 PM
Categories: Weightlifting Logs, Nutrition, Nutritional Experiment, Old Missions
 
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  • 6/12/2008 4:02 PM Celina wrote:
    Hi Michael, I was about to ask for your help before I read that actually you were offering help, and I thank you very very much... yeah, I have to admit that I need help. You know what Michael? I bulk really really really easily... (I think it's because of my muscle memory - I was a former weightlifter - olympic one :o!) therefore I see quick changes but usually I give up either because I'm feeling "to big" or because I want to be leaner than I am... usually when I lift I loose weight but usually start feeling my legs bigger and I just want to lower my bodyfat... do you think that I can use one of this ketogenic diets? I lost something like 30 pounds after I stopped lifting.. but now I really want to look lean and athletic without putting on those kilograms... I will really apreciate your help!! thank you Michael
    Reply to this
    1. 6/12/2008 7:40 PM Michael Mahony wrote:
      Celina, I emailed you directly.  I'd be glad to help you out.
      Reply to this
  • 6/12/2008 11:13 PM mradcliff wrote:
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    Reply to this
  • 6/13/2008 12:22 AM Lynda wrote:
    Darn Michael, you make me realize that I know most of nothing about what am doing. That is so common with us girls...we read something, then run do it, it doesn´t work, then run read something else and do it...ad nauseum. Wish I had your knowledge. I did Atkins and it agreed with my body and lost weight, but my blood work analysis were terrible, so something wasn´t right. Maybe it was the high animal fat and not low with fat from other sources. I have a NEED to eat avocados. One of my worst triggers, so that may tell me something. what? I need good fat? My body is full of fat, so weird. Everywhere one reads its all about nutrition being the main thing to losing fat, but there are just so many out there with such different twists, that you just don´t know which way to go. Lucky we have you. You can guide us. Thanx a ton Michael for all this. I will depend on you.
    Lynda
    Reply to this
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