Subject: My server wouldn't let me post: Bodyopus week 18 Copyright Lyle McDonald 1996 Date: 1996/09/03
Well, I'm plum out of topics to discuss for Bodyopus, or ketogenic diets, or the FAQ. I'm sure there are unanswered questions out there so feel free to send them to me and I'll do my best to answer them. I'm hoping to get my home page set up (even if it's shitty looking) so that my diaries, and the FAQ and other stuff are available somewhere other than via email from me. So, instead, I want to bore you with what a shitty week I've had. This may seem a bit off topic but I think you'll see how it ties in to some things. And, this is meant to be My Bodyopus Diaries (or whatever you want to call it) and I've included personal stuff before. Let's just say that I've done myself proud in really being able to piss people off this week. I have truly reached a new zenith in that ability. If you don't want to wade through the soap opera that I see my life as, just page down to the line of dashes, that's where the weekly report starts. #1. Example 1: I think I make an allusion to it down below but I may have deleted it in some feeble attempt to show some good taste. I've had an interesting experience developing over the past 4-5 weeks that came to a rather abrupt end this week. Due to my involvement on a certain mailing list (to be discussed in #2), I made contact with a girl (yes, Lyle met a girl) and we started discussin things about ketogenic diets, etc, etc. Well, somehow this started to get personal with questions about what I looked like, BF%, etc and she asked me to send some pics. I sent her the JPEG's (you know,the ones I never got uploaded but will have on my home page) from the end of my last dieting experience. She couldn't decode them through email so I sent them on disc. Still couldn't decode. Anyway, our conversations became much more personal, intimate, etc, etc. We seemed pretty well matched intellectually, emotionally, etc. She sent me pictures but hadn't seen any of me. Well, in the interest of fairness, I finally got around to just going and getting color prints of my JPEGs to send to her and did. Suddenly, like over one weekend, the tone of our conversation changed from very friendly, flirty, &c to very curt and tense. Basically, after our discussing all manners of possibilities for meeting, the future, etc, she comes out and tells me we'll never be more than just friends because I'm not her type. So I ask, what is her type. Basically, tall, big dumb jocks with short hair since that's the description of the first guy she had sex with (she and I had previously debated the theory of imprinting that people's choices in mates, lovers, etc. are heavily determined by early experiences sexually and emotionally. At the time, she had pooh-poohed the theory and told me that her first lover (football player) was totally unlike her choice in mates and lovers now.) But, since I'm a short, skinny little runt, all the other stuff that she found attractive in me went out the window. As you might imagine, I was a bit less than pleased by this. I've been catching shit for my size for as long as I remember. Between a fat little kid in high school to being a runt in the gym now, I just can't win. This (as well as being on a low carb, low calorie diet) was not something I really wanted to deal with. I was really unnecessarily cruel (which just makes me realize that I'm as much of a no good shit as everyone else out there which makes me feel even worse) to her essentially implying that she was just a shallow, petty woman. Needless to say (so why say it right?), she and I are no longer corresponding via email. Probably for the best anyway. #2: This ocurred on the mailing list alluded to above. I'm not going to name names or anything like that but it's a place to discuss nutritional strategies to gain muscle, lose fat and all that good shit. Well, as you might imagine, a lot of the traffic has dealt with the current interest, theory, and application of the cyclical ketogenic diet. I want to give a lot of credit to the moderator for even allowing such a different approach to be discussed since it is a bit out of the norm of sports nutrition (not saying that that's right or wrong, just reality). Well, I've really tried to make any posts I've made there (or even here on mfw) less of an advocacy position on the diet and more of a "Well, this is what worked for me" type of thing. In fact, I have repeatedly told people to stick with what works for them. If high carb, low fat gets you ripped, don't put yourself through the suffering of the ketogenic diet. It's not fun and we really don't know the long term health effects of such an approach. But, I disagree with the rather typical stance taken by many that the ketogenic diet (of whatever nature) should not even be considered as a viable approach for those who can't get results with more traditional approaches. Ok, you can probably see where this is headed. There in an individual who posts frequently to this list (and who's ideas I generally agree with and respect) who seems to have a personal vendetta against the cyclical ketogenic. No amount of data, scientific or empirical, will sway him from his unwavering belief that there is and should be only one approach (mod carb, high protein, low fat) for losing bodyfat. As you might well imagine, I take issue with that kind of rigid approach to anything (see recent rants towards Dr. Hatfield or past rants at the HIT guys from about 4 years ago for more examples). Not that I have any problem at all with the particular approach, just the dogmatic inability to even consider the merits of another approach. Ok, the stage is set. This guy posts an article with the subject "Fad Diets" (on which note, I find it amusing how the nutritional mainstream defines "fad diet" as "anything other than what we say is true". Almost as bad as the way religious zealots define "pagan" as "anything other than what we believe". But I digress). He used as his 'proof' of the mod carb, high protein approach surveys of elite bodybuilders who, as he pointed out "know more about the art of losing fat and maintaining muscle" than anyone (on which note, anyone see pics of Dorian in a recent MMI. Fat and bloated from heavy androgen use.) He also cited epidemiological studies of pro bb's (meaning that they were surveyed on dietary habits to see if any correlations could be made) showing that they eat moderate carb, high protein diets, blah, blah, blah. Which says nothing except that most athletes follow very similar ideas. I tried to point out that pro athletes are also notoriously resistant to even consider other approaches to diets or training (i.e. if it worked for Arnold...) When I and several others tried to point out the sheer folly of using pro bodybuilders as an example of anything, he got defensive and called sour grapes on all of us for "not being able to accept our own failures or that elite athletes have better training and eating habits than the rest of us." He went on to comment that the pros he interviewed thought little of the Zone, Isometric, Bodyopus type diets, that the people pushing them were just trying to make a buck, and that the people following them were just looking for a quick way out. Funny sentiments coming from a population known for it's immeditate acceptance of any substance (legal or otherwise) that may have the slimmest chance of helping them gain muscle. I recall rumors that Tom Platz used to drink his pregnant wife's urine while he was competing (maybe for the HCG?). Ok, well, a bunch of us called this nitwit repeatedly on his really dumb comments. And, then were lambasted by the moderator for being close minded and intolerant of other approaches. Ummm, huh? I tried to point out that I have never made any comments about the cyclical ketogenic other than it should be considered an approach for those that other diets don't work. This was ignored. There were individuals who came down upon the RD mentioned above who don't even agree with the cyclical ketogenic approach but still told him that using pro bb's was faulty logic. This was all lost on the moderator (who really is a good knowledgeably guy but kind of missed the point on this topic IMO) who told us that we were being intolerant, &c. Well, needless to say I and several others are no longer subscribers to that list. Which should say nothing about the list other than it's not a good place to discuss the cyclical ketogenic but you can pick up some extremely good information about other topics. On which note, I'm still trying to figure out if a cyclical ketogenic mailing list of newsgroups is feasible and doable. I think there's a lot of people out there who would like such an entity to discuss various parameters of the diet, application, individual results, etc. If such a thing comes into existence, I'll make sure and let everyone know. #3. As one final kick in the nuts this weekend, my ex-girlfriend (about the only person I really pal around with much anymore) left town for 2 weeks. By the time she gets back, I'll be leaving for my vacation which means I probably won't see her for about 4 weeks. Not really a huge deal in the big scheme of things but it didn't do much for my overall mood this week (which started out pretty bad to being with). Ok, I'm done rambling/ranting for now. If you want to avoid another boring account of my life, you better send me some more Bodyopus questions to put in this introductory section. Lyle McDonald, CSCS ------------------------ The body composition log: Taken with Slimguide calipers first thing Monday morning upon awakening. Day Date Wt Pec Abs SI Thigh Sum3 BF% FM FFM -------------------------------------------------------------- Mon 7/8 152 3 20 10 6 29 8.5 12.75 139.25 Mon 7/15 157 3 20 11.5 6 29 8.5 13.35 143.65 Mon 7/22 159 3 21 13 6 30 8.5 13.5 145.5 Mon 7/29 162 3 24 15 6 33 9.4 15.2 146.8 Mon 8/5 164 3.5 24 16.5 6 33.5 9.4 15.4 148.6 Mon 8/12 164 3 25 17 8 36 10.4 17 147.0 Mon 8/19 163 3 25 15.5 6 34 9.4 15.3 147.7 Mon 8/26 155 3 24 13.5 6 33 9.4 14.6 140.4 Notes: Key: BF% = body fat percentage FM = fat mass in lbs FFM = fat free mass (total weight - FM) My week at a glance: ------------------- Sunday: Did about 2 hours of easy skating this morning. Ate a normal day's ketogenic dieting. I think I should have eaten more as I'm more hungry than usual tonight. As described last week, I changed my workout for last and the next two weeks. It is: Mon Wed Fri --------------------------------------------- Squat (4/6-8) DL (2/6-8 or 5X5) Squat (2/6-8) Leg curl (2/6-8) Overhead press (3/6-8) Leg curl (2/6-8) Chins (4/6-8) Barbell curl (3/6-8) Seated row (4/6-8) Inc. DB bench (4/6-8) Tri. Pushdown (3/6-8) Machine bench (4/6-8) Seated row (2/6-8) Forearms (whatever) Chins (2/6-8) Machine bench (2/6-8) Abs (whatever) Inc. DB bench (2/6-8) After two light warmups (50 and 75% of top weight for the day), I jump to the heaviest weight I'll use on that exercise to failure. Additional sets are taken at a 5% decrease from the original weight with the goal of getting identical reps to failure on each set. Additionally, antagonistic bodypart exercises (i.e. chins and inclines, flat bench and cable row) are alternated with about a 1:30 rest in between. This gives 3'+ rest between exercises without doubling the length of the workout. (See last week for a longer discussion of this workout.) Monday: Ok, the second big test day of the diet. I was curious to see how the workout would go seeing as I didn't carb this weekend. Even though I did take in about 50 grams of carbs before my last Thursday weight workout, I opted not to before this one simply to see what would happen. I was a bit sore today, especially my legs, from skating. Additionally, I crashed pretty hard yesterday skating and my right shoulder is bugging me a bit. So, it was not going to be an easy workout. Hit the thermogenics/pre-workout stimulants and hit it. Wthout giving a blow by blow of the workout, I'll say that it was interesting. Squats backslid. In that, I was unable to at least reproduce the number of reps with a given weight as last week's workout. Since I'm essentially using strength in the gym as the real indicator of lean mass maintenance, my results squatting seem to indicate muscle loss since last Monday. However, all other lifts at last maintained and a couple actually went up. Even with a tweaked shoulder, incline DB's went up (one rep) as did chins (which is usually the movement that backslides on me first). This suggests one of two possible things regarding squats: 1. I was just flat out tired from yesterday. 2 hours of skating is damn tough on the old quads and glutes. This is a pretty good possibility. 2. Localized muscle loss. Consider the fact that most cardiovascular activies are lower body oriented. Yes, there is the rower but I find it really boring. On the bike or stairclimber, I can just zone out and read. And the Upper Body Ergometer (has anyone really ever done 20 minutes on this thing?) but World Gym doesn't have one anyhow. So, I typically limit myself to the bike (quad/glute emphasis), the Stairmaster (also quad/glute emphasis), walking (hamstrings for the most part but some glute) and skating (quads/glutes). So, I could see this as a possibility. However, looking at body composition numbers, FFM seems to be maintaining (I'm comparing 140.4 lbs of FFM today to 139.4 lbs of FFM last Friday) and I simply suspect fatigue as the prime culprit. The test will come next Monday after I carb-up this weekend to see what's going on. Since I probably won't do the sheer amount of skating I did yesterday (2 hours IS a lot) I can get a decent indication of LBM maintenance from that. Tuesday: Dropped the thermogenics from hell and hit 30 minutes on the treadmill (3.5 mph at 5% grade) and then a further 10' on the Stairmaster. Nothing else really to report today other than I'm bored, depressed, cranky, sore, and retaining water. I have PMS. Wednesday: Ok, another weight workout this morning. Did the typical pre-workout pill swallowing ritual of thermogenics, glutamine, some vitamin C and some calcium. As per my usual Wed workout, it was time for deads, delts, arms, and abs. Much to my surprise, everything pretty much stayed the same in terms of weights and reps. This further suggests to me that my problems on Monday in the squat rack where more related to general fatigue moreso than any type of muscle loss. A tough workout (moreso since I haven't had any carbs since Saturday) but a good one. Since I was bored and the gym was empty, I came up with a different DL workout. Did my warmups and a normal set at 225X8. Then thought, hmm, what if I did a 2 second pause at the bottom so I wouldn't have any momentum, and did a 2 second pause at the top to work on grip, and lowered the weight in 2 seconds and raised the weight in 2 seconds. Gee, that sounds like fun (not!). With 225, I got 5 reps and I was done. No real logic to it, just seemed symetrical to do 2 seconds on each portion of the lift. What can I say, low blood sugar makes me do goofy shit. Like go out of my way to be vindictive to somebody who would have been a good friend. But, that's the way the cookie crumbles. Mmmm, cookies. Thursday: Well, after stimulating a catecholamine release and non-selectively agonizing my beta receptors leading to an increase in brown adipose tissue thermogenesis, I engaged in 1 hour of pre-absorptive, continuous oxidation of endogenous energetical substrates in an attempt to oxidize subcutaneous adipose tissue. Which, translated into more or less English means that I walked for an hour after taking my thermogenics. Sorry, writing the same thing over and over gets boring. Ever see that episode of "Leave it to Beaver" (huh,huh he said 'beaver') where the Beav (Tony Mathis) writes increasingly more bizarre stuff in his diary which mom and dad find. Basically, it gets old writing: Got up. Went to school. Came home. Went to bed. ever day. So he just made stuff up about hitchking and things like that. So, instead of writing: 1. got up 2. took thermogenics 3. did cardio before breakfast I'm trying to spice things up. Day Date Wt Pec Abs SI Thigh Sum3 BF% FM FFM -------------------------------------------------------------- Mon 8/12 164 3 25 17 8 37 10.4 17 147 Fri 8/16 155 3 25 15 6 37 10.4 16 139 Mon 8/19 163 3 25 15.5 6 34 9.4 15.3 147.7 Fri 8/23 154 3 23 15 6 32 9.4 14.5 139.5 Mon 8/26 155 3 24 13.5 6 33 9.4 14.6 140.4 Fri 8/30 153 3 22 12.5 6 31 8.5 13 140 Notes: Alright, well even though it was hell, it seems like not carbing last weekend made a pretty big difference as far as fat loss. Even after 3 weeks of dieting, fat loss is staying pretty consistent. And, even better, FFM isn't dropping any further. Since lifts are staying the same in the gym, I take this to mean no muscle is being lost. So, something is working right this time around. Friday: Got up, dropped the thermogenics, and hit the pre-breakfast cardio. Instead of my normal LSD work, I did an incremental exercise test. Here's why: you've probably all heard of the new 'miracle' supplement Endurox. There have been several posts/ advertisements for it here on misc.fitness.weights. The claims they are making (increase up to 43% in fat oxidized during exercise, decreased lactic acid buildup, all kinds of great things) are pretty far out and based on studies which have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal so they are neither provable or non-provable. I surfed over to their WWW site and checked out what they had to say. Lots of pretty graphs and charts of results of their own studies (the unpublished ones), etc, etc. Well, thought I, how about an unbiased test of 1 (and, yes I realize that a sample size of n=1 doesn't mean anything but I guarantee you I have no vested interest in the company, I bought the supplement with my own money and I'm just curious as to if it works). So, here's how I'm going to test it. They presented data indicating a lower heart rate and faster recovery following incremental endurance exercise in one of the unpublished studies. So, that's what I'm going to try to validate/invalidate (will post the results of my tests in about 2 weeks when I'm done with them). I've also looked to see if there's even a theoretical basis for the claims they are making. There sort of is but I'm still lacking one big piece of the puzzle. So, a question to those with more biochem knowledge than I out there: what is the mechanism of niacin's blocking of fat oxidation during exercise. I found numerous studies documenting THAT niacin did this but no reasons WHY it did. I think it might be related to the histamine release (which causes, the tingling and burning sensation when you take high dose niacin) but need verification. Anyone? In any event, I completed a 30' incremental exercise test prior to taking my first dose of Endurox as a baseline test. I'll perform the test (and give more details) next Friday and probably the Friday after that to see what changes if any occur. The Endurox WWW page claims effects in as little as three days but I figure giving it a week or two will give it more of a chance to have any effects it's going to have. Also, having established my baseline rate of fat loss for the ketogenic part of the diet (currently about 1.5 lbs of fat in 5 days) I will be interested to see if Endurox shifts my ketogenic metabolism further towards fat oxidation. Only time, and some experimentation will tell. Friday afternoon: Well, after much debate, I decided to go ahead and carb this weekend. After seeing the really increased fat loss from staying in ketosis longer, I was tempted to just do one big carb meal like last weekend. But, since I'm more or less on track fat loss wise and don't want to risk any muscle loss, I decided to go ahead and carb. Did the depletion workout with the ex-girlfriend. She made 3 loops and I made a full 5 and I was done. Again, this was a totally subjective thing but I could feel my strength going by the 5th loop and, after 12 days of essentially zero carbs, I can't have much muscle glycogen left anyhow. So, I started carbing. As has been my experience this entire cycle, I didn't feel compelled to gorge myself to the point of bursting. Just ate small carb meals through Friday night and on in to Saturday. To help avoid spillove, I used Citrimax at a doseage of 750 mg (3 capsules of Naturol Pure Citrimax) 30 minutes before meals three times. Saturday: Continued carbing but no activity. Sunday: Got up this morning to ride with some friends. Did the thermogenic thing and put in about 25 miles in just over 90 minutes. I had originally intended to make Saturday night the end of carbing but felt that one more carb meal after this ride wouldn't hurt and would make sure muscle glycogen levels in my legs were good. And, now it's back to protein and lard for the next 12 days. Oh, goody. See ya next week. Lyle McDonald, CSCS