Course of vitamin D reduces body fat

Course of vitamin D reduces body fat

Women who take a daily supplement of 1000 IE vitamin D3 can lose almost 3 kg body fat in just 12 weeks and at the same time gain about 2 kg lean body mass. Nutritionists from Tehran University of Medical Sciences will soon publish an article on the subject in Nutrition Journal.

Vitamin D3 for losing weight

 Recent studies have shown that vitamin D (of which most of the Western population has a deficiency) reduces the growth of fat reserves. One theory claims that the hypothalamus gets the brains to produce more of the appetite hormone neuropeptide Y if there's too little vitamin D in the body; another theory says that vitamin D inhibits the development of fat cells.

Lab animals that are put on a fattening diet build up more muscle mass and less fat if they are given extra vitamin D3. Human studies have shown that subjects who are on a weight-loss diet lose more body fat when there's more vitamin D3 in their body. In other studies supplementation with vitamin D makes people burn more energy after a meal.

So vitamin D3 supplementation should in theory lead to fat loss and perhaps also an increase in muscle mass. However, Norwegian researchers who gave obese subjects 10,000 to 20,000 IE vitamin D3 weekly did not observe these effects.  That's why we are interested in the Iranian study.

The test subjects in the Iranian study were 72 overweight women with an average age of 38 and an average BMI of 30. They were less fat than the subjects in the Norwegian study, some of whom had a BMI as high as 47. The Iranian women were given the supplement not weekly but daily during the experiment. The women in the experimental group took 1000 IE or 25 micrograms of vitamin D3 per day. The placebo group took a supplement that contained no active ingredients.

The women's vitamin D3 level rose by almost 40 nanomoles per litre. In the 12 weeks that the experiment lasted they lost 2.7 kg body fat and gained 1.8 kg lean body mass. The women in the placebo group only lost 0.5 kg fat mass and gained 0.4 kg lean body mass. ____________________________________________________________________________

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Carb Cycling For Fat Loss

Carb Cycling For Fat Loss

by Tim Wescott

When dieting for a bodybuilding contest, I use an arsenal of weapons to lose unsightly excess body fat. One of the dietary procedures I institute, is to cycle my carbs. Carbohydrates are used as energy by the body, they fuel our workouts, as well as providing ample fuel to be used throughout the course of the day. Ingesting carbs also replenishes our glucose and glycogen stores to prevent fatigue. Carb cycling allows you to still eat carbs from clean sources, without adding body fat, and cycling enables you to better utilize fat for burning as fuel, as opposed to burning carbs and muscle tissue for fuel.

 

Are Carbs The Evil Enemy ??

Carbs are not the evil villain the media makes them out to be. Improper carb timing can however, cause these carbs to be stored as fat. Carbs are not essential to the body, but they make dieting, and eating in general, a lot easier and more pleasurable... as long as the carbs are from the proper sources. Carbs get a bad rap in the news lately, due to people jumping on the proverbial bandwagon to make a buck off the latest trend in dieting.... low carbs! There are tons of low carb foods hitting the grocery stores daily, everything from bread, to potato chips, can now be found with a low carb label.
A few years back it was all about bashing fats....remember??

What will it be next year....protein? We'll just have to wait and see I guess, but they'll think of something.

Junk Carbs

Carbohydrates eaten in excess, or eaten at the wrong times, can help to add adipose tissue to the body, but they are not a bad thing if incorporated into a diet properly. Eat the majority of your carbs early in the day and at the post-workout meal, tapering off on them as the day goes on. Never eat carbs late at night, opt for protein instead. Sugar laden junk foods are always bad, and they are comprised mostly of carbs, and fat. In turn, they should have no place in a serious bodybuilders diet. If people eliminated, or cut down on junk food alone, they would lose a lot of weight, and look and feel much better for it. Quitting junk food however, is usually too much to ask for most people. Most junk food is simply calorie dense garbage, totally devoid of any nutrients.

When I devise a diet for a trainee ,the first step I implement is to have them cut back on junk gradually, until it is totally eliminated from the diet, except for the rare occasional treat. Once it's gone from the diet, it's usually not thought about again, except for the occasional craving. Eating junk food is a conditioned thing that can, and should be eliminated. In this article I will outline a plan that still allows you to eat healthy amounts of good carbs, and still lose fat in the process.

As I mentioned earlier, it's not carbs that are the villain, but rather the type of carbs eaten, and the specific times that they are ingested. If you are indulging in junk food on a daily basis, then you will most likely get fatter. Another problem is eating carbs too close to bedtime, when your activity and expenditure of energy is lessened. This is not a mystery, and all that's needed by the person looking to lose body fat is a lifestyle change !! Cut down on eating the crap, and you'll be well on your way to better health, increased energy, and a leaner body.

The Proper Attitude

When talking to bodybuilder's and other's, that want to lose fat, or increase muscular definition for competition purposes, I often find a trend in their thinking that they can still eat things in moderate portions that are usually considered taboo, while on most diets. Terms like "re-feed","cheat meal,"and "cheat day," almost always come up. These ideas can be used to your advantage, but in my opinion, you should wait until you are pretty close to achieving your desired body fat % goals before even thinking about them at all. Yes folks, I'm an "old school" type of guy who will tell you right off the bat, that you MUST make some sacrifices, and give up all negative eating habits to achieve these goals if you want to succeed in losing fat or winning a contest!!

I typically diet down for bodybuilding contests achieving approximately 3 - 5% body fat. Did I accomplish this while cheating and eating the occasional junk treat? My answer is a resounding NO. I suffered a bit here and there, but once I flip the switch in my mind to eat "clean" I do just that. There can be no half measures. You must get into the proper mindset and stay completely focused on achieving your goals, if you screw around and cheat once, you will repeat this cheating again and again. I know this from early attempts at getting cut-up, and from experiences learned from training my clients. Remain steadfast on your mission to getting lean, and you most definitely will.

Cycling Carbs 

What we do when we cycle carbs in the manner that I advise, is to have three low carb days, followed by two higher carb days, to aid in recovery, and to replenish glycogen. This gives us just the right amount of carbs to be used as fuel without becoming an excessive amount. Always use carbs from clean foods not junk foods of course. The most important thing about carb cycling, in my opinion, is too never go too high throughout the diet, except for the latter stages, and only if necessary. We'll discuss this aspect of the diet later in this article!

What I recommend as a starting point, to determine just how many carbs you should eat on your highest day, is to eat 1 to 1.5 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight. Start out using the latter number and adjust according to your results. I might add that it is vital to keep a nutrition journal when cycling carbs to be able to chart progress and make adjustments during the diet. This takes the guesswork out of dieting, and can also be looked back upon in the future to see how the body responded to certain tactics, and is an invaluable tool.

NOTE: Do not count fibrous vegetables into your total carb count for the day. They are low in calories and carbs and are a good source of fiber and do not count in the scheme of things while carb cycling. Only count starchy complex carbs.

Some tweaking will of course be necessary for most, as some of us are a bit more "carb sensitive" than others. Activity level, training intensity level, age, as well as sex, will determine how much you will need to adjust things, but as a rule I have found that 200 grams of carbs as your highest amount, is a good place to start. After a time you can decide whether you want to raise them a bit, or lower them, based on your results, and your body's feedback. It is a good practice to try this technique well in advance of your contest to sort of "learn" your body, and how it responds to this procedure.

Below is an example of my 5 day carb cycling method using 200 grams of carbs as the highest amount on a high day.


Day-1)150 grams

Day-2)100 grams

Day-3) 50 grams

Day-4)125 grams

Day-5)200 grams

Repeat cycle as written, throughout the course of the diet.

Essentially what I do is drop 50 grams of carbs over the course of the first 3 days, then increase by 75 grams, for the next two days. Some people prefer to raise fat intake on the lower carb days, or to increase fats on their off training days, to make up for the lost calories on the lower carb days. You can do this if you choose to, but I find it interferes with the fat burning process as fat is a calorie dense macronutrient that is needed by the body, but builds no muscle.

I also believe that without the fat increase you will burn more fat as fuel on the low carb days, especially when training hard, dieting and doing cardiovascular workouts. Besides as far as calories go, protein and carbs are not calorie dense and you must be in a calorie deficit to lose body fat for a lengthy period of time such as a 16 week contest prep diet or just a fat loss diet for the fitness enthusiast, no matter if he or she competes or not.

Reaching A Plateau

Eventually, you will more than likely reach a fat burning plateau, and this is the time where we can implement a "tweak" in the cycle plan. The body is resistant to change and it will eventually adapt to any stressors put upon it so after a time you may stop burning fat as fuel.

This is a good time to suddenly eat 3-4 good high carb days in a row ,or to simply eat a "cheat" meal or have a "cheat" day, just to trip up the metabolism, and get it jumpstarted so to speak, thus enabling the fat burning process to resume.

Another way you can also accomplish this is to go to zero carbs for 3 days and 3 days only. This will accomplish the same thing as the 3-4 high carb days or the "cheats". This is the only time to take fibrous vegetables into consideration, as no carbs whatsoever should be ingested during the 3 zero carb days. Do not stay at zero carbs for any longer than 3 days, and never go below 50 carbs as your lowest amount, throughout the entire length of the diet other than the occasional zero carb 3 day period. Any lower, and the brain suffers, and thinking becomes cloudy, as the brain needs a certain amount of carbs to function optimally.

Complex Carbs

These are the best sources of clean carbs to use when dieting in general, and when cycling carbs:

Baked Potatoes
Yams
Sweet Potatoes
Brown Rice
Oatmeal
Cream Of Wheat
Grits

I do not eat bread of any kind, or dairy products when dieting, and I recommend that you don't either, to help optimize fat burning. The only time to eat simple carbs other than vegetables is at the post-workout meal when you should take in 50 grams of dextrose with a whey protein shake immediately after training. You do add these carbs from dextrose into your daily total, because even though they are utilized efficiently by the body at the post-workout feeding, they are still carbs, and should count towards your total for the day. Don`t worry about the glycemic index of the foods ,but instead be more concerned with total carbs ingested for the day. It should never be too high!!

I also recommend HIIT cardio while dieting, and a high protein intake throughout the diet, as this will help to ensure that you retain the hard earned muscle that you've garnered from your training.

I hope this article helps you out in your quest for a better physique, and better health, via a lean muscular body.

TRAIN HARD!!  ____________________________________________________________________________

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A Fond Farewell To Fat

A Fond Farewell To Fat

by Wes

We are continually reminded on a daily basis, how unhealthy it is for us to be fat and out of shape. Everywhere we turn, we are constantly bombarded by magazine articles and TV infomercials, touting some newfangled apparatus as the next best thing since sliced bread, to help us "sculpt" and "tone" our bodies.

Then there are the magic pills:
There`s fat trappers
carb blockers
energy stackers
water shedders
appetite killers
etc. etc.

You name it, and it`s out there......................if it`s not out there yet, just wait a while, they`re working on it.

The trouble with all this nonsense is, that it`s just that..............NONSENSE !!!

There are no shortcuts, and you really don`t need all the gimmicks out there to get into the best shape of your life. The only good part about the ads, is that they make us more aware that we are getting out of shape.

Hopefully, enough so, that we might resolve to do something about it, if they`ll just stop with the ridiculous ads already !!!!

A Sensible Approach To Getting Lean !!

Proper Mindset:

The most important step in losing weight and getting a lean fit body is to make a commitment to yourself to do so. Don`t think of it as drudgery, and don`t use the dreaded word diet, think of it as simply making a lifestyle change.

Make a firm resolve to lose weight and get into the best physical condition of your life !!

Sit down and write out exactly what your weight loss goals are, and vow to yourself that you will reach or exceed those goals, no matter what the sacrifices involved.

Read your goals daily, and recommit to them when enthusiasm wanes to help yourself stay focused.

Another invaluable tool that you have at your disposal, is to keep a training and nutrition journal. This way, you can monitor your improvements, and correct past mistakes.

At first this might seem to you, to be a burden, instead of an asset, but if you are serious about losing weight/fat, I urge you to write out both your diet and workouts, as you will find over time, that it is well worth the bit of extra effort it takes to do so.

A good book on calories, and the macronutrients, or a similar website devoted to such, will teach you what is in your food, and how to keep track of your nutritional intake.

Proper Training:

The second thing on the fat loss agenda is to get physical . There are three steps in the training protocol to losing fat.

They are, strength training, combined with cardiovascular workouts, and a strict healthy diet.

Strength training will increase lean muscle tissue, while the cardio training will help speed up fat loss, as well as build up your heart, lungs, and endurance, the diet which is the hardest to perfect will keep you lean and devoid of excess fat.

For each pound of muscle you add to your frame, you will burn 50 - 75 extra calories a day just to maintain that pound of muscle.

On the flip side, if you add a pound of fat to your body, only 2 calories are used per day to maintain it.

Therefore, it becomes a no-brainer to add some weight training into your fitness/fat loss regimen.

I recommend training the entire body over four days using the following split routine. I would also recommend doing your favorite form of cardio 4-6 times a week, depending on your current fitness level, and the amount of excess bodyfat that you are carrying.

The more bodyfat, the more activity, as it all boils down to a calories in vs. calories out scenario, and the more calories expended, all the better in most people`s cases.

Weight Training Routine:

This is not a routine for a competitive bodybuilder or power athlete, but is aimed at the individual who is trying to improve their fitness level by firming up, losing fat, and building firm hard muscle tissue!!

First off I think the overweight person should do some type of physical exercise on a daily basis.

Of course one should start out easy and progress as their fitness level improves.

Working out on a daily basis and resting one or two days for recuperation, ensures that you burn calories consistently, and everyday............ and creating a calorie deficit is how you essentially lose weight .


Training Routine

Day-1:
Chest, Abs, Cardio:
Bench Press or Dumbbell Bench Press-3x12,
Incline Press on Smith Machine-3x10
Flyes-3x10-15
Crunches-3x25
Lying Leg Raise-3x12-20
Cardio (walking on inclined treadmill for 30 minutes)


Day-2:
Legs:
Squats-3x12
Leg Press-3x15-20
Leg Extensions-3x10-15
Lying Leg Curls-5x10-15
Calf Raise-5x12-20


Day-3:
Back, Traps, Abs, Cardio:
Lat Pulldowns-3x10-15
Barbell Rowing-3x10-12
Cable Rows-3x10-15
Dumbbell Shrugs-4x12-20
1/4 Sit-ups on incline-3x12-20
Vertical Leg Raise on apparatus-3x10-15
Elliptical Machine-20-30 minutes


Day-4:
Shoulders, Cardio:
Seated Press on Smith Machine-3x10-12
Lateral Raise-3x10-15
Bent-Over Laterals-3x10-15
Alternate Dumbbell Press (standing)-1set to failure
HIIT cardio on Eliptical-20 minutes


Day-5:
Biceps, Triceps, Abs, Cardio:
Barbell Curls-3x8-12
Seated Alternate Curls-3x6-10
Seated French Press-4x8-12
Pressdowns-3x10-20
Kickbacks-2x15
Crunches-3x20-30
Roman-Chair Situps-3x12-15
Inclined Treadmill-30-45 minutes walking


Day-6:
Cardio:
interval cardio on Eliptical, Machine-20 minutes


Day-7:
REST


Proper Diet:

1.- Base your meals around foods that are high in protein and low in fat.
2.- Eat 6 small high protein meals, approximately every 3-4 hours.
3.- Eat "clean" complex carbohydrates, from natural unprocessed sources.
4.- Limit or avoid fruits, dairy products, bread, and of course all processed junk food .
5.- Avoid sugar, excessive sodium/salt, fatty foods, butter, margarine, mayonnaise, and other empty calorie foods that contribute nothing to your diet in the way of nutrients.
6.- Drink a gallon of water a day, every day, as a minimum amount, more if possible.
7.- Be consistent, and stick to your diet. If you mess up, just keep trying until you get it right.
8.- Eat your fiber in the form of vegetables. Most veggies are calorie negligible and can fill you up without adding excessive calories to your diet.
9.- If you must eat snacks choose them from healthy sources such as sugar-free Jell-O, rice cakes, sugar -free jelly, air -popped popcorn, protein shakes ,yogurt. etc. etc.
10.- Record everything you eat in a journal as this will help you stay on track and avoid mistakes. It will also allow you to track and alter things according to your progress or lack of progress.


Food Choices:

Below is a list of food choices that you should use while dieting for best results!

Proteins:
Lean Beef
Eggs/Egg Whites
Fish
Skinless Chicken Breasts
Turkey Breasts
Lean Ground Turkey
Tuna Fish in water


Carbohydrates:

Brown and white rice
Yams
Sweet Potatoes
Oatmeal
Baked Potatoes
Salads and vegetables


Fats:
Olive Oil
Avocados
Natural Peanut Butter
EFA`s

You might want to supplement your diet with a healthy fat source, but I think people get more than enough trace fats just from the foods they eat, even while on a strict diet.....but good fats are essential to the body.

The choice is yours.

Dieting Aids:

Here`s a list of things that can help make the dieting easier on you!

1.-Bake ,broil, boil, or steam foods.
2.-Use a zero calorie cooking spray.
3.-Use an imitation butter spray such as "I Can`t Believe It`s Not Butter.
4.-Use condiments and spices to liven up bland foods, but watch excessive sodium.
5.-when using fat-free items watch out for excessive sugars added to foods.
6.To curb hunger pangs, drink water, or brush your teeth a few times. It helps!!!


There you have it, what I think constitutes a good plan of attack in the battle against the bulge.

Make a commitment to improving your health and changing your lifestyle today and don`t look back!

Thanks for reading ,and good luck!!   ____________________________________________________________________________

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Few Days to Ultimate Leanness

Few  Days to Ultimate Leanness

Will This Work For Me? The "tricks" contained here were learned in helping competitive bodybuilders prepare for their shows, but any person who's in relatively lean shape (can see abs when flexed) can benefit from this seven day course of preparation.
This progression of physique-tightening days works well for those prepping for the lake, a big weekend BBQ, vacations, reunions, first date impressions, strip show performances, or for whatever occasion you want to look your best.

If you're slightly bigger and can't see abs, the effects and final result won't be as noticeable as someone who's already relatively lean. Remember, this is a "fine tuning" program, not an overhaul!

Okay, so you have one week to prepare. What can you do to look your best seven days from now? Well, let me go over several key techniques we'll employ and what they aim to accomplish. Hopefully, since you're lean already, you have some kind of base tan. Nothing shows off a lean, hard physique like a nice bronze color. Seriously, the difference is night and day! If you don’t have a tan and you hang with Casper, you can always use an over-the-counter self-tanning application. Just make sure to try it out first so you don’t wind up looking like a Sunkist orange or Freddy Krueger. You want attention at this event, yes, but not because you're a laughing stock!

Techniques Used

Carb Depletion and Loading — Here we’ll take advantage of our muscles' ability to absorb up to one and half times more muscle glycogen after being in a depleted state. Along with our water restriction and skin tightening techniques to follow, this will create very large, full muscle bellies with cuts and striations. We'll carb load with very little sodium, thus ensuring full muscle bellies and literally no subcutaneous water (water between the skin and muscle) to blur definition

Water Loading and Depletion — Here we'll trick our bodies into expelling excess water to get that paper-thin skin look, thus letting those exploding muscles almost burst through! For the first three days we’ll water load. The last three days we’ll slowly reduce our water while we continue to carb-load in a sodium-free environment. We'll be carb depleting during the sodium loading phase and carb loading during the sodium depletion phase. You’ll understand why as we move along.


Sodium Loading and Depletion — This goes hand in hand with the water loading and depletion. You'll load up on sodium to get the body used to very high amounts for a few days. The last few days when you cut down your water, you'll cut out all sodium. It’s literally impossible to eat zero sodium, so that's the purpose of the sodium load. You'll make a little bit of sodium in the diet seem like absolutely nothing due to the three days of extremely high sodium intake. The result is your body letting go of every bit of subcutaneous water, leaving you dry, paper thin, and ripped to Satan! You're also cutting out water as the days progress, but are still expelling it at the rate you were while water loading. This is key!

There are a few supplements you'll need as well and they can all be obtained legally over-the-counter. Many may use other prescription diuretic drugs during this time, but that's not needed, nor is it encouraged. You can use just about any "water shed" type of over-the-counter diuretic. The info contained here will help you achieve your desired results, so dangerous drugs just aren't needed.

The Countdown Begins!
Our hypothetical event is Saturday, so we’ll begin eight days earlier, as there are some pre-seven day techniques we must utilize to make the final days very effective. So, for our Saturday event, we begin the second Friday before.

All supplements will be taken in the same manner daily, with the exception of the carb loading phase. Protein shakes and bouillon cubes (used for the sodium load) are to be taken with the water you're allotted each day. You may also salt your meals if desired. The amount of water, carbs, protein, etc. you're to ingest will differ based on weight. The amounts below are indicative of a subject weighing about 220 pounds. You'll want to adjust up or down based on your weight. Remember, you should be in relatively good shape for this process to be productive.

Let's say you're 10% bodyfat or less. Here's how you'd adjust the program, up or down, based on weight. These are general guidelines from instruction and experience; your individual needs may vary, so just use this as a starting point.

Water: You'll want to adjust the amount of water by about 2-3 cups per every 10 pounds you deviate from our hypothetical example. Below I recommend two gallons per day because I'm using a 220 pound guy as an example. A 230 pound person would consume two gallons, plus those 2-3 cups. If one weighed 210, he'd drink 2-3 cups less than two complete gallons.

Carbs: The depletion days would be the same as far as timing of meals. To figure out your amount, you should be eating an amount in grams that's about three times your bodyweight in clean carbs during the carb-up phase. In other words, if you weigh 200 pounds, you'll need to eat 600 grams of carbs. This will differ based on bodyweight, but it's pretty accurate.

Protein: During the depletion phase, you want to get about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per pound of lean bodyweight. During the carb load phase, you can concentrate on carbs as the main focus and get as close to your bodyweight in protein as you can. For these three days, you can consume just your bodyweight (or a little less) as the focus is the carb up. You need only enough protein for maintenance; we aren't building or rebuilding anything
right now.

Sodium/Salt: During the salt loading phase, all sizes of bodybuilders will benefit by salting all food and by using a bouillon cube in water, morning and evening. I've never seen this to be size dependent so there are no recommendations on how much salt you should have. The key here is making the body think it's taking in a ton of sodium, which it is. After this loading phase, you'll want to get as close to zero sodium as you can for those three or four days. It's impossible to consume no sodium, so the sodium load makes the body "think" it's receiving none at all, as it's used to extremely high levels.
A little confusing right now, I know, but everything will click as we break it down day by day. Let's get started!

Friday — Perform a quick two-set-per-body part workout utilizing high reps (12-15) followed by a posing session to "squeeze out" all that subcutaneous water. Post-workout have some kind of MRP (meal replacement powder) with about 25 grams of carbs and 50 grams of protein. (Remember to adjust these numbers if you weigh more or less than 220 pounds.)
For the second post-workout meal, have half a cup of oats and two chicken breasts. Take 300 mgs R-ALA and 50 mgs Vanadyl Sulfate (VS) with your MRP and second post-workout meal. (The ratio of carbs to protein is different than normal post-workout percentages, as usually it’s two parts carbs to one part protein.)

Saturday — Perform 40 minutes of morning cardio, just enough to get a sweat going. You should not be stimulating the quads doing this cardio. The only carbs you should take in today are half a cup of oats at meal one and an MRP after posing practice at 5:00 p.m.
Again, 300mgs R-ALA and 50mgs VS apply to both carb meals and all similar carb meals for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. You should shop for your water, bouillon cubes, ALA, VS, diuretics, rice cakes, honey, Raisinettes (yes, the candy) and other accessories today.

Sunday — This is the first stage of the carb depletion phase. Perform 40 minutes of morning cardio. After cardio, take one bouillon cube: drop it in hot water and drink. There's usually about 2000mgs of sodium in each cube, so it’s pretty strong! Our sample 220 pound guy gets two gallons of water today. He'll use water from this two gallons to make his bouillon drink.

Have half a cup of oats at meal one with three scoops of low or no-carb whey protein. Meal two will be flax oil and protein, meal three beef only, and meal four flax and protein powder again. Perform a workout doing arms (3-4 sets, high reps) at 4:30 or so, and have an MRP as post-workout meal number one and half a cup of oats and chicken for post-workout meal number two. The beef should be 8-10 ounces and relatively lean. At this stage, trim excess fat away.

As far as your shakes, have three scoops of protein in each one, or about 60 grams of protein (again, for our 220 pound example). Use water from the two gallons in the shakes. Have another bouillon cube at night, also using water from the two gallons. Drink all of the water. This is very important! You want to totally flood the body with salt and water today.

Monday — This is the second stage of the carb depletion phase. Perform 40 minutes of morning cardio. Today you won't eat oats at meal one, just have lean beef. Have a bouillon cube with meal one using water from the two gallons again. Meal two will be flax oil and protein; meal three will be beef only; and for meal four you'll have flax and protein powder again.

Your workout today is chest and shoulders (3-4 sets of each, high reps) at 4:30 or so with posing to follow. Have an MRP for your post-workout meal, and one and a half cups of oats and chicken for post-workout meal number two. Again, have the bouillon cube at night.

Tuesday — This is the third stage of the carb depletion phase. Perform 40 minutes of morning cardio. No oats at meal one, just lean beef again. Have a bouillon cube with meal one using water from the allotted two gallons. Again, meal two will be flax oil and protein, meal three will be beef, and meal four will be flax and protein powder.

Your workout today is for back, traps, and calves (3-4 sets of each, high reps). Consume no post-workout carbs, just a regular low or no-carb protein shake (with no flax oil) for post-workout meal one. For post-workout meal two, have beef only. Take a bouillon cube and drink it down using water from the two gallons.

Prepare chicken and sweet potatoes for the next day. You'll use fresh chicken breasts, not the frozen variety which have been drowned in sodium broth. This is one time it must be fresh!

Wednesday — Now we enter the first stage of the no-sodium carb loading phase. Perform 40 minutes of morning cardio (last session of the program!). Water allotment today is one gallon. Meals should be eaten every two hours. Drink water after, not during, each meal to avoid bloat.

Boil chicken in distilled water or bake plain and shred it up. Mix it in mashed sweet potatoes and make meals. Alternate chicken with potato, just potato, chicken with potato, etc. for your meals. Begin at 8:00 a.m. Your meal schedule looks like this: 8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00. Take 300 mgs R-ALA and 100mgs VS with every meal. Take dandelion root and B-6 (or whatever diuretic supplement you chose) with meals one, three, and five.

Thursday — This is the second stage of the no-sodium carb loading phase. No cardio today. Meals are every two and half hours. Water allotment today is half to three-fourths of a gallon. Drink water after meals to avoid bloat. Chicken and sweet potato are prepared in the same manner. Meal times are 8:00, 10:30, 1:00, 3:30, 6:00, 8:30. (6:00 and 8:30 both have chicken.)

Take diuretics at meals one, three, and five again. If you look really bloated for some reason, double them in the late afternoon and take another double dose at night before bed. Don’t panic though, the next day is when you really tighten up and dry out, provided you’ve been following the above instructions to the letter.

Friday — We now enter the third stage of the no-sodium carb loading phase. Again, no cardio. Meals are every three hours. Water allotment today is one-fourth of a gallon. (Yes, this will suck!) Again, drink water after meals to avoid bloat. Prepare food the same way. Meal times are 8:00, 11:00, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00. Chicken is eaten at every meal.

Use discretion as to how much diuretic aid you use, and how much coffee to use in place of water to act as a diuretic. (Protein in every meal adds a diuretic effect as well.) A glass of red wine in the evening can also aid in expelling out some excess water the night before your "event," but you're not trying to get a buzz here!

Saturday — Today is your day! Time to show off! Now, look at yourself and ask, "What can I get away with?" Some kind of solid, starchy carb once or twice, preferably two smaller servings. Have chicken with the first meal. Bring in faster acting sugars prior to your event in the car on the way or upon arriving at the event. This will bring vascularity into play and help absorb the starchy carbs into the muscles. Take sips of water only to keep your mouth wet. Chew gum to avoid dry cottonmouth. Raisinettes and/or red wine seem to bring out vascularity quite nicely, so try one or both of these. Don’t go overboard with the Raisinettes and prepare to stun all onlookers!

Wrap Up
The seven day prep period doesn't sound like fun, but I guarantee you'll look your absolute best. It’s these final seven days that can really show off the hard work you put into lifting and dieting correctly. The average weight loss this last week is five to eight pounds. Those of you who hold more water and are "thick skinned" will tend to lose far more. Some just hold more water than others!

I recommend that you practice this once or twice before your event so that you can find out exactly what works for you by tinkering with the amounts.
When your event is over, make the transition back to water/salt/food a slow one, as you don’t want to shock your body too much. Your body will absorb all of these nutrients at an accelerated rate and you'll want to watch out for edema (very bad bloating of the extremities). So, take it slow and you should be just fine.

Remember, take pictures of yourself on your special day so that you have memories that will last a lifetime! Now go knock 'em dead!

Glucomannan for Fat loss

Glucomannan is a water-soluble polysaccharide that is considered a dietary fiber. It is a hemicellulose component in the cell walls of some plant species. Glucomannan is a food additive used as an emulsifier and thickener. Products containing glucomannan, marketed under a variety of brand names, are also sold as nutritional supplements for constipation, obesity, high cholesterol, acne vulgaris and type 2 diabetes. Although there is some clinical support for potential health benefits, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any product containing glucomannan for the treatment of these medical conditions. Health Canada has authorized some products containing glucomannan for the purposes of appetite reduction, weight management, treatment of constipation and management of high cholesterol levels.


Nature's Way Glucomannan Root, 665 mg, 180 VCaps

Weight loss

In one three-armed study lasting 16 weeks, 200 overweight and obese subjects were given a mixture of psyllium seed husks (3g) and glucomannan (1g) twice daily, the same mixture 3 times daily, or a placebo. The psyllium and glucomannan groups lost, on average, 9.96 lbs and 10.14 lbs respectively compared to 1.75 lbs by the control group. The difference between the twice-daily and thrice-daily groups, was not statistically significant. The glucomannan group had increased satiety compared to the control group and LDL cholesterol was significantly reduced during the study period. The treatments were well tolerated in all groups.

An eight-week double blind trial involved 20 obese patients. A placebo or a glucomannan fiber supplement of 1 gram was given to the subjects one hour before each meal. No changes were made to the diet or exercise habits of the patients. The study found that during the eight-week period, cholesterol levels were significantly reduced, and the Glucomannan group had an average weight loss of 2.5 kg.


Because it is a fiber, glucomannan can assist with weight loss and healthy weight maintenance by expanding in the stomach and absorbing fats. Absorbed fats are eliminated from the body and do not undergo digestion, thus nullifying their caloric effect. Also, glucomannan occupies space in the stomach and provides feelings of fullness. You'll eat less when this happens, and this will direct your body to tap into body fat stores for energy. Simply, you'll have a better chance of burning fat and losing weight when you use glucomannan. Research has shown that you can lose up to 5.5lbs in eight weeks without exercise by taking 1 gram of glucomannan with 250ml of water one-hour before each meal!

Using glucomannan may result in a lowering of your blood cholesterol.3 Numerous studies have confirmed that a lowering of LDL cholesterol (low density lipoproteins - the so-called "bad" cholesterol) and an increase in HDL cholesterol (high density lipoproteins - the so-called "good" cholesterol) is correlated strongly with glucomannan supplementation.4 This is welcome news if you suffer from, or are at risk for, hypertension or cardiovascular abnormalities.

Glucomannan can also help normalize blood sugar levels by delaying food digestion.5 Research has shown that this can help diabetics better control their response to food, easing the burden of dietary restrictions and making their diabetes more manageable.6

Glucomannan is a popular ingredient in nutritional weight-loss supplements because of its weight loss and insulin controlling abilities.   ____________________________________________________________________________

Don't miss this

Adipose Reduction and Bodyfat Set point

Adipose Reduction and Bodyfat Set point

 by: J.D. Haltigan

Efforts to maximize adipose tissue reduction will continue to remain a central concern for both the medical communities (e.g., obesity) as well as—and more central to this article—the elite fitness and athletic communities. A common objective purpose of the elite fitness and athletic communities is, it can be argued, to attain a level of aesthetic definition and sport-specific functional ability which very often includes achieving a minimal level of body adipose reserves with varying degrees of lean body mass (i.e., muscle tissue). The purposive quest to achieve this state, which as a rule creates a voluntarily induced unbalanced metabolic milieu—oftentimes one of a severe and protracted nature—is often fraught with physical and mental discomfort, difficulty, and misunderstanding. This is due in large part to unitary considerations of specific aspects of adipose reduction (e.g., fat loss at the cellular level, anorectic pharmacological aids at the central level) rather than a coherent systems understanding of the dynamics of fat loss and dramatic body recomposition efforts.

In this brief communication, I will present a developmental regulatory-systems view of fat loss and human energetics which has its roots in a multi-disciplinary framework including cell physiology, developmental psychology, neuroscience, and developmental affective neuroscience (Schore, 2002a, b). It is important to note that this article is not a ‘guidebook’ but rather an overarching framework from which to consider relevant aspects of fat loss efforts (e.g., symptomatology) and to promote further understanding into individual differences in body recomposition efforts. I have intentionally eschewed discussions of detail-specific hypothalamic and brainstem microenvironments involved in metabolic energy regulation in order to first present a novel framework from which to reconsider prior discussions of such systems (on the forums).
What is a Developmental Regulatory Perspective?

A developmental regulatory perspective to adipose tissue reduction and body fat setpoint is a life-span perspective on the regulatory mechanisms behind adipose tissue growth, maintenance, and degradation. The term “regulatory” is critical because, as Schore (1994) points out, regulation is used as a focal construct in every field of science. Importantly for our discussion, he notes that
the current focus on adaptive regulatory phenomena, from the molecular to the social levels, represents a powerful central linking concept that could potentially elucidate the ‘hidden’ processes in development and thereby organize what appear to be separate bodies of developmental knowledge (1994, pp. 7-8; italics added).

In terms of bodyfat reduction and setpoint, readers are most likely well aware of the lengthy discussions concerning the regulatory mechanisms and structures in both the central and peripheral nervous systems that are involved in the homeostatic maintenance of a given bodyfat setpoint (i.e., hypothalamic microenvironment and structure; cellular physiology of lipids; leptin, etc.). However, current discussions on the matter continue to fall short of a full integration of peripheral and central regulatory structures,and have failed notably in considering the role of socioemotional regulation in providing the necessary mental flexibility and balance needed to engage the process of dramatic bodyfat reduction and recomposition. In short, what is needed is a move to the level of multidisciplinary regulatory thinking regarding energetics and body fat and its functional significance. This thinking needs to include the socioemotional domain, as it too is governed by regulatory principles. If we leave this domain out of consideration, as has been previously done, we are committing what Damasio (1994) considered “Descartes Error” or separating the brain/mind from the body.
The Nexus between Energetic Regulation and Emotional Regulation

The idea of a developmental regulatory stance towards bodyfat setpoint and adipose tissue reduction is appealing because it allows for a mind-body connection in that both physiological systems and emotional systems are regulatory. For example, the delicate circuitry that is the leptin-ARC-PVN and leptin-ARC-LH pathways in the periphery and hypothalamus are indeed regulatory1. That is they, along with other peripheral and central subsystems, act to control the regulation of adipose reserves. However, consider also that one’s ability to emotionally regulate, particularly in states of stress and perturbation (e.g., severe hypoenergetic feeding, chronic training), are also governed by similar systems in the forebrain-midbrain-limbic circuit (Schore, 1994) with critical wiring in cites such as the orbitofrontal cortex, hypothalamus, amygdalar nuclei, and medullary nuclei.

As the reader may already be aware, a number of the same midbrain-limbic areas that are integral in controlling adipose regulation are also integral in emotional regulation (e.g., amygdalar-hypothalamic pathway; ventral amygdalofugal pathway; stria terminalis). However, a key cortical brain area for emotional regulation is specifically the right orbitofrontal cortex, which along with other paralimbic neocortical structures, is involved in executing inhibitory control over lower order brain structures which are phylogenetically preserved and primitive in nature. Such primitive structures (e.g., amygdala, hypothalamus) would ensure survival of the organism in times of life-threatening circumstances, such as chronic energy deficit. In dieting and attempting to what may here be referred to as “thriving below setpoint” the individual voluntarily effects a higher order control of primitive brain structures. That is, planning, executive, and inhibitory functions of frontal cortex are used to inhibit lower order putative metabolic centers (e.g., ARC-NPY system; LH-Orexin system) that are activated by their respective chemoreceptors to maintain homeostatic and life-adaptive states. In laymen’s terms, the dieter restricts eating. This hierarchical view of central energetic control is viewed from the Jacksonian (1931) principle of hierarchical, self-organizing brain development.

However, the inhibition of the primitive energetic systems is maladaptive when maintained over time (i.e., anorexia, training-related pathologies, body dysmorphic disorder, HPA irregularities, and immunosuppression). After a period of time, a process of “decompensation” (Wang, Wilson, and Mason, 1996, as cited in Schore, 2003) occurs in which the central system begins to rapidly disorganize. This idea of decompensation of the system applies to regulatory functions of the human both in terms of emotion-related phenomena as well as other regulatory-governed behaviors and systems such as the energetics system. In terms of Jacksonian (1931) principles, the resultant pathology (i.e., emotional and physiological disturbance) involves a “dissolution”—a loss of inhibitory capacities of the most recently evolved layers of the nervous system that support higher functions (negative symptoms; i.e., absence of eating/bingeing), in addition to the release of lower, more automatic and primitive functions (positive symptoms; i.e., hyperphagia, emotional dysregulation, physical symptomatology) (Schore, 2002a, b). In reverse developmental order, post-dieting sequalae may be understood, in part, by losses in orbitofrontal control, anterior cingulate function deterioration, and finally by the emergence of primitive drives which are no longer inhibited by higher-order structures (e.g., primitive neuroendocrine functions).

Because we are conceptualizing both the energetics and stress-regulatory (HPA) systems as well as the emotional-psychological system as regulatory systems in this framework it is not surprising that we see individual differences in the commorbidity of both dieting ‘chaos’ (cf. Herman & Polivy, 1987; see also ‘boundary model of regulated eating’, same article) and eating dysregulation as well as emotional (psychological) dysregulation and concomitant maladaptation (endocrine and psychological; e.g., the neurotic triad noted in starvation: depression, hypochondriasis, and hysteria; Keys et al., 1950).

The conceptualization outlined here also is in agreement with the notion of ‘processive’ and ‘systemic’ stress pathways (Herman and Cullinan, 1997). In short, the systemic stress pathway is activated in immediate, life-threatening physiologic events, such as hypoxia, and directly activates PVN neurons by way of efferent projections from the locus coeruleus, A1, A2, A5 & A7 cell groups, and serotonergic projections from the reticular formation. In contrast, processive stress pathways do not project directly to the PVN because they do not require life sustaining immediate responses. They require assembly and processing of signals from multiple sensory modalities prior to initiation of a stress response. Such stressors would include emotional stressors. These stressors activate the PVN through the pathways outlined earlier via the amygdalar and related pathways (i.e., the stria terminals and ventral amygdalofugal pathways). Processive pathways are ‘limbic sensitive’ and systemic pathways are ‘limbic insensitive’ (Herman and Cullinan, 1997). Under the constant amplificatory stress of protracted dieting, training, and/or general hypoenergetic climates, processive stress activation has the potential to facilitate dieting chaos and the inability to maintain altered lower bodyfat setpoints. Herman and Cullinan (1997) note the potential for hypothalamic modulation of processive (e.g., emotional; interpersonal) stressors,
…the intersection of limbic circuitry with hypothalamic regions capable of communicating homeostatic information to the PVN allows limbic information to be processed with respect to ongoing physiological status. Through such pathways, the salience of stressful stimuli stands to be corrected for caloric requirements, fluid balance, thermoregulatory status and endogenous rhythmicity prior to interacting with PVN-neurons [and PVN projecting hypothalamic cell groups in the LH and VMN] (p. 83; italics added).
Summary

In this introductory piece, I have applied a developmental regulatory perspective to bodyfat setpoint and adipose tissue regulation which links both psychology and physiology in the context of developmental affective neuroscience (Schore, 2002a, b). Furthermore, I have argued that in dieting or trying to alter the setpoint of a given adipose system, one can not separate the mind or emotion from the body. Since the systems are integrated at the neurobiological level, it becomes necessary to adopt an interdisciplinary stance to understanding the dynamics of adipose regulation and associated metabolic conditions. In subsequent offerings, I will provide more specific descriptions of the integration of the mind-body systems and microenvironments and explain using a developmental pathways approach: (a) why some individuals are able to maintain functional adaptation at reduced adipose states with greater ease than others; and (b) how to incorporate this regulatory model into either a short or long-term plan (including nutrition and specific behavioral strategies) to remain at reduced adipostatic states for greater periods of time while minimizing both physical pathophysiology and socioemotional maladaptation.
References

Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes’ error. New York: Grosset/Putnam.

Herman , J. P. & Cullinan, W. E. (1997). Neurociruitry of stress: Central control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. Trends in Neuroscience, 20, 78-84.

Herman & Polivy (1987). Diagnosis and treatment of normal eating. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 635-644.

Jackson, J. H. (1931). Selected writings of J. H. Jackson: Vol I. London: Hodder and Soughton.

Keys, A., Brozek, J., Henschel, A, Mickelson, O., & Taylor, H. L. (1950). The biology of human starvation: 2 volumes. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Schore, A. N. (1994). Affect regulation and the origin of the self: The neurobiology of emotional development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

Schore, A. N. (2003a). Affect dysregulation and disorders of the self. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

Schore, A. N. (2003b). Affect regulation and the repair of the self. New York: W. W. Norton and Company

Wang, S., Wilson, J. P., & Mason, J. W. (1996). Stages of decomposition in combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder: A new conceptual model. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 31, 237-253.

1 For purposes of brevity, pathways mentioned have been done so in a simplistic broad fashion ignoring intrapathway signaling systems and additional microanatomical features.

Ketogenic Diet

The Cyclical Ketogenic Diet: True Fat Loss
In recent media, low carbohydrate diets have been THE fad for almost everybody in America wanting to lose weight. From your secretaries, elementary school teachers, and desk clerks, to bodybuilders, models, actresses, and athletes.

However, there is a huge difference between those who follow an Atkins plan and those who follow a cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD). Atkins is a low carb plan for those who are quite sedentary, walk maybe 3 times a week at the most, and just follow normal everyday activities. So forget Atkins here. The CKD is for those who?s main concern is true fat loss and muscle preservation?muscle for sports and high intensity activities.

My opinion for those who practice Atkins is that while they do lose fat, there is much water loss and most importantly muscle loss. Something we athletes do not want. A cyclical ketogenic diet is a true fat loss diet that works undeniably, if followed properly and strictly. Yes, low carb diets can be hell at first, but after two to three weeks, there have been anecdotal reports from many dieters that the cravings for carbohydrates decrease. This route to fat burning is unlike any traditional diet all the low-fat diet authors and FDA people have been advocating in history.

I got turned onto this diet a few years back when I got tired of cutting fat and still not being able to lose those last percentage points of bodyfat without losing hard earned muscle. I would start a low-fat diet, and be a either a social misfit (not going out with my friends to party or not going out to eat). Or in the worse case, feel so deprived of delicious junk foods I missed and bail out on the diet all together. One advantage to this diet is that there is no true restrictions on food. One may eat anything labeled a "food"! Well, almost. I?ll explain later.

How the cyclical ketogenic diet works

The science behind the CKD is simple. Carbohydrates in the diet cause an insulin (a "storage" hormone) output in the pancreas. It is used to store glycogen, amino acids into muscles, while causing excess calories to be stored as fat. So common sense asks me, "How can one try to break down fat, when your body is in a storage-type mode?" Difficult to do, indeed. That is why it makes perfect sense for step one to be cutting carbs.

The next thing that happens in your body is the rise in catecholamines (a "fat mobilizing" hormone), cortisol (a "breakdown" hormone), and growth hormone. Now your body realizes there?s no more carbs to burn for energy, so it must find another energy source: fat.

This usually happens during a metabolic condition called "ketosis." This is when your liver is out of glycogen and starts to produce ketones (by-products of fatty acids). You can check your status of whether or not you are in ketosis with urinalysis strips you can pick up at any local drug store called "Ketostix." Just urinate and see if it turns color. If so, you have ketones in the urine.

When the body is fed fat and protein, it will use dietary fat along with bodyfat for energy with protein going towards repair.

As a side note, there is another reason why this diet makes the most sense to use while keeping muscle. When one follows a high carbohydrate, low-fat, reduced-calorie diet, there?s a point when some bodyfat is burned, but when the body is still in a carbohydrate burning metabolism while trying to lose "weight," it will strip down precious body protein to convert to glucose for energy.

On the other hand, during fat metabolism, protein cannot be converted into free-fatty acids for energy. Although there is no scientific research done on this, there have been reports from followers that there truly is a "protein-sparing" effect. It makes sense doesn?t it? Where else would the body look for fat energy when all dietary fat is burned? Bodyfat.

Diet Requirements Mon. to Fri.

The phrase "working smarter, not harder" applies here more than any diet one has tried. One must fully understand what they must do in order to optimize their goal. To set a cyclical ketogenic diet up, one cannot just expect to cut all carbs in the diet, train hard, and lose fat! Although some have come up with variations to this plan, the one stated in this article, I have found, has worked for myself (it got me to 6% BF), and other clients I?ve trained to the leanest, hardest they?ve ever been.

First, to set up the diet, write down your lean mass weight. Not your total weight, dough boy. If you weigh 200, but have 20% bodyfat, your lean mass weight would be around 160 pounds. Multiply this by one, getting your grams of protein requirements for a day. Make sure you eat at least one gram of protein/pound of lean mass! This is important in recovery from workouts and enough nitrogen retention to keep muscle. Next, multiply by four, to get your protein calories. Here, it is 640.

The rest of your caloric requirements for the day should be fat. Here is the catch: you must eat fat to burn fat. There?s no way around it. There are many advantages to dietary fat on this diet: Feeling of fullness since fat digestion is slow (less hunger), tastes great, and lowers blood glucose levels (lowering insulin and allow all the fat burning hormones to do their job).

So how much fat? I always recommend starting out with a 500 calorie deficit from your maintenance calories. If you don?t know, it is usually 15 times body weight (full body weight here) depending on an individuals metabolic rate. So here, the example would need 3000 calories a day to maintain weight, and 2500 calories to begin fat loss.

2500 minus 640 (protein calories) is 1860 which works out to be around 206 fat grams a day. Now as you go deeper into the diet, and find the need to restrict calories more, you must cut fat calories, not protein.

The Weekend Carb Load

Since muscle glycogen is the main source of energy for anaerobic exercise such as weight training, we cannot simply deplete all stores while working out and not fill them back up. If that does happen, be rest-assured that the body WILL use protein for fuel then. But this won?t happen on the CKD.

Your one and a half days of "freedom" allow you to do two things: First, reward your carb cravings from the previous days, allowing you to enjoy pleasures like pizza, pasta, breads, etc. Second, eating these things are physiologically rewarding as insulin levels run high, storing amino acids and carbs, as glycogen, into the depleted muscle allowing you to be able to workout again the following week.

Your "carb-up" should begin Friday night and last until around midnight Saturday. Now the next important issue to address is how many carbs. Some lucky individuals find that they eat whatever they want for the 24-30 hour time interval and receive perfect glycogen compensation, while others rely on a better statistical number.

What has been recommended by other authors of the cyclical ketogenic diet is 10-12 grams of carbs per kilogram of lean mass. Again, time to do math. Our example had 160 pounds of lean mass, so divide that by the conversion factor of 2.2, and we get roughly 73 kg.

100 Grams of easily digested liquid carbs along with around half as many grams of carbs in protein (here 50) as a whey shake or something of that nature should be taken right after the last workout (which I will address in the workout section of the article) when insulin sensitivity will be at its greatest.

A few hours later this individual will start to spread the remaining 630 grams of carbs, along with the important number of 160 grams of protein (remember, keep this constant) during the remainder of the compensation period.

So what about dietary fat? I know you?re reminding yourself, "Didn?t this guy mention pizza?" Yes, I did. And here?s why. During the first 24-30 hours of carbing up, the body will use all dietary carbohydrates to refill glycogen, protein for rebuilding, and get this: fat for energy. Still?

Just like the previous five and a half days. Makes sense. When all the carbohydrates are being used for more important functions (muscle), what else is there to be used? However, you can?t just eat all the fat you want. Keep grams of fat intake below your body weight in kilograms. Again, here our example will keep is fat below 73 during the carb-fest.

By anecdotal reports, this should keep fat regain minimal to nil. Keeping fat intake extremely low has even caused some extra fat burning during the carb up!

As stated before, some dietary fat should be eaten to slow digestion and keep sugar levels stable. Whether it be saturated, unsaturated, or essential fats, is the dieter?s decision. All have nine calories per gram. (Note: there is a claim that essential fatty acids such as flax seed oil increase insulin sensitivity within the muscle cells, in turn, increasing glycogen intake.)

In Case You Missed It

So here?s how it breaks down during the week: Sunday through Friday afternoon , you will follow the low carb diet outlined above. Eat fat and protein all day everyday except on workout days because after workouts, you will need to consume strictly just protein?no fat or carbs.

Some have found to enjoy a protein shake afterwards because they are easily digested. Do whatever works for you. But fat is not logical since you want the protein to fuel the healing process as quickly as possible and fat will only slow it down.

Friday afternoon, around two hours before your last workout of the week, eat two to three pieces of fruit. This will get your body/liver ready to start the carb loading and give you some energy for that final, dreadful workout (trust me, during the first few weeks, you will not want to do that final workout, but you must). Then from Friday night until Saturday at midnight or until bed, eat those carbs! Thats the cyclical ketogenic diet.