Subject: I'm almost done boring you guys: Bodyopus week 19 Copyright Lyle McDonald 1996 Date: 1996/09/08
Ok, now that I've had my cathartic moment by airing all my personal dirty laundry on an internet newsgroup, it's time to get back to the topic at hand: the cyclical ketogenic diet FAQ. SK was kind enough to send me some questions that I have no answers to other than (un) educated guesses. 1. What about the use of the glycerols that the bike freaks are hyping as part of recomp? For those who don't know, glycerol is a new (well, not new exactly) compound being pushed towards endurance athletes. Some preliminary reports show that it causes hyperhydration of the muscle cells when taken with adequate water. Duchaine has suggested it as an alternative to pre-contest diuretics because, if taken without adequate water, it should pull water out of the body. I haven't had much time to look at this thing (although the bike mags were big into it about a year ago) but it makes sense that it could further help with the recomposition phase of training. 2. How about some more recipes like the shake that R. Ames posted? How about some liquid meal recipes for recomp as well. Recipes are not my forte so I'll have to put out the call to all you low-carb gourmands out there. I can eat the same meals day in day out and not get bored. I mean, I have literally had pink salmon in mayo every day for lunch for the last 18 weeks. I still look forward to it. So, I'm the wrong person to ask for recipes because I'm too screwed up food wise to care if it tastes good anymore. 3. I haven't found many powders or the likes that would fit the ideal recomp meal drink; whereas the isocaloric diet works well with a metabolol, met-rx, oil blend and fiber. Again, I'm pretty boring here. The ideal recomp meal would have pure glucose polymers with no fructose (I use glucose polymers from Beyond a Century) with some type of soluble protein (I use Designer but I'm sure there are others that would work just as well). I add guar gum powder if I want some fiber and flax oil if I want some fat. I don't see why you *couldn't* make a supplement powder like Iso^3 for the Bodyopus diet but I don't see much of a point either. It might be more convenient of course but might be more expensive than just mixing the stuff together yourself. 4. If you read Hardcore Muscle newsletter, have you any thoughts on the ketogenic modifications based on blood types? This is news to me. I don't read this newsletter (perhaps I should). Can anyone provide more information on the idea of blood types for modifying the diet? Actually, SK is sending me information on this stuff. It sounds interesting but somewhat loopy. That is to say, I wonder what assumptions are being made in terms of the metabolic effects of different blood types. But, hey, you never know. A year ago I would have told you that low carb diets were loopy as hell but look where I am now. Lyle McDonald, CSCS Any more questions out there. Only one more week to get them in if you want them answered on mfw. After that I'm on vacation and then I have to figure out what I'm going to do next training and diet wise. Hmm "My Isometric Diet Experience" has a nice ring to it. ------------------------ 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 Mon 9/2 158 3 22 12.5 6 31 8.5 13.4 144.6 Notes: While it appears that I got some spillover since last Friday (fat mass was 13 lbs), I still think this is simply an artifact from the increase in water weight. What somewhat concerns me is that FFM didn't go back up to where it was as of carbing 2 weeks ago. This suggests muscle loss (2.5 lbs seems like a whole lot though) over the 2 weeks span. Have to see what happens at the workout. Oh, as an interesting tidbit, I looked back over the first 10 weeks to compare results. Even at only 144.6 lbs of FFM, I'm still almost a full 7 lbs heavier than last time. Which means I actually managed to put some muscle on this pitiful little frame of mine. Oh, yeah, RA suggested I plot the above into Gnuplot to make it a bit easier to comprehend (too bad I can't plug my whole posts into a program to make them easier to comprehend) but I'm not a unix guy. Maybe I'll plot 'em through Clarisworks or DeltaGraph Pro and upload them as a graphic to the home page that I swear will get done one of these days. Hopefully before I go out of town so I don't have to answer 20 requests for missed posts when I get back. I hope nobody minds that it will be very ugly initially. Just going to cobble something really basic together so people can get at my stuff. Key: BF% = body fat percentage FM = fat mass in lbs FFM = fat free mass (total weight - FM) My week at a glance: ------------------- Sunday: Put in 1.5 hours on the bike with some friends. My butt is numb. (Some studies in Europe found that cycling could cause short-term impotence by impeding blood flow down there. Good thing it doesn't really matter for me right now. Funniest thing I read in relation to this was an Italian pro racer, commenting on the research findings, who said "If I ride 200 kilometers, and when I get off the bike, they say 'do it', I do it.") Monday: Well, another first today (I think). No, I didn't manage to get a date or anything like that. But, I woke up with that tell tale ketosis mouth feeling and figured I'd check the urine. Well, lo and behold, what did I find but small ketone levels. Note that this was before workout and I did end up having a couple of small glucose polymer drinks last night before reverting to protein and fat contrary to what I described in the update. Now, it's possible that I was in ketosis on previous days prior to the workout and just didn't think to check but I don't recall having the ketone mouth feel that I had this morning. This further supports my feeling that the body adapts to ketosis by 'wanting' to get into ketosis and getting there even earlier the longer you stay on the diet. Which has the benefit of meaning longer time periods in ketosis which should mean, assuming everything else the same, greater fat loss. Kewl (to use the 80's hacker speak terminology, or as MB asked "R U 3LIT3?".) Ok, dropped the thermogenics/pre-workout stimulants and went for it. My legs were a bit tired from riding yesterday but I was interested to see what would happen fully carbed as far as training. Once again, squats didn't go well. I just couldn't get out of the whole. Even backslid from last Monday's workout. However, all other lifts stayed the same in terms of weights and reps. Which again suggests local rather than general overtraining of my quads. Since leg curls stayed the same as in previous workouts, this further supports my belief that this is simply overtraining of my quads from all the cardio I'm inflicting on them. Oh, yeah, started the workout with 10' of easy cardio on the bike and finished with 10' of fairly hard cardio on the Stepmill/Gauntlet. Evening: Now this is strange as all hell. According to my ketostix I'm back OUT of ketosis. Now it could be that I've been active today and burned them off but I didn't do much. It's almost like either my morning reading was a fluke or something about my workout kicked me out of ketosis. Which makes shit for sense since the workout should have produced ketones and lowered blood glucose. Have to check tomorrow morning and see what happens. Strange. Tuesday: Thermogenics. Then 45' of easy cardio. Did 15' walking on a high incline, 15' on the bike (my butt is still numb from the 90 minutes I did on Sunday) and then another 15' on the treadmill. Gonna try to shift the trauma from cardio around a bit so that the quads don't get too much of the brunt of it. At this point I'm probably so overtrained that it doesn't even matter but I can think that this is doing something good for me. Oh, yeah, if you're wondering why I didn't mention a ketostix check, it's because I ran out and didn't get a chance to get more. Evening: Well, I had originally planned to go do more cardio. But, then, recalling my previous dieting experience where I definitely overdid it, I decided not to. Until I got a call from my friend at the paper who wanted me to come keep her company (of course, in the mood I'm currently in, I have to wonder why anyone would want to hang out with me. Hell, I don't even want to be around myself right now I'm in such a foul mood). Anyway, it was too wet to skate but I didn't feel like driving so I just walked over there. Cranked some Gin Blossoms (the new album, good stuff if you like generic rock) and just stormed over there. I really enjoy hanging out with her (yes, this is the same girl I've been trying to hook up with since, oh, January of this year but that's another story for another day) but tonight wasn't meant to happen. First her intern showed up to type stuff in for this month's paper. Then one of her friends who works in the upstairs offices wandered down. We all know this kind of person, the kind who never knows when to leave. End result: didn't really get to spend any time with the person I wanted to spend time with but spent immeasureable time with someone I didn't want to spend time with (if that sentences makes any sense). So I stormed back in an even worse mood (and saying that is like contemplating the definition of infinity). I've come to the conclusion that I'm just generally pissed off at the universe right now (and it sure seems pissed off right back at me so I guess we're even). I'm pissed about my job. I'm pissed because of what happened last week (which I ranted about in the week 18 update). I'm pissed that I'm not on vacation yet. I'm pissed that I'm still not as cut as I want to be. I'm pissed that I'm 26 and living at home again (not for long as I've *finally* made the decision to go back to school and get on with my life. I wonder if I can get a masters in cyclical ketogenic diets. hee, hee). I'm pissed about a lot of things. But, you know what I think I'm most pissed about: that I'm as much of an asshole as the others I criticise. I didn't have to put in the stuff last week about what happened in my personal life. I was just being pissy and vindictive. Which made me feel better in that it was fun but made me feel worse since I don't like going out of my way to be shitty to people (hey, at least I didn't do anything really crappy like give names or email adresses, now *that* would have been an asshole thing to do). To be honest, I get in this mood about once a year and it's usually about this time of year (end of summer, early fall). One of these days, when I'm feeling particularly introspective and have enough calories and carbs in my system to be marginally coherent, maybe I'll figure out why. For now, I'll just stay pissed at the world and deal with it. And, I'll be the first to admit that a lot of it is the whole dieting thing. I can't imagine having to do this more than once a year like some bodybuilders do. That they don't start ripping people's heads off by contest time is a testament to something. What, I'm not sure of but it is something. However... I did want to say big time thanks to KW for sending me the virtual present of a dozen warm, glazed donuts (mmmm, donuts) with his sympathies. It really meant a lot even if I do have to wait 10 more days to even consider eating them for real. Hey, I wonder if eating virtual donuts can still kick me out of ketosis? And thanks to AA for the phone message entreating me to come down and visit so I can get this all taken care of (not sure what he means but I'm just interested enough to make the drive and find out). Only 12 more days of dieting. Only 15 more days until I go on vacation (going to go out to Los Angeles, go to the big Interbike show with a good buddy of mine, do some skating, and just generally turn my brain off for a while and not think about dieting, or ketone body metabolism, or physiology or anything like that). And, then I can start getting my crap together to go back to graduate school where I belong (in the wide world of academia where I can impress people with the size of my, umm, brain since all I get is shit for the size of my body). But, I'm not bitter. And I can laugh about that now.....heh. (sorry, too much of a verbal joke. Doesn't translate well to text.) But, I've decided that the above is my last bitching about my life. I could do something about it if I wanted to (well, some parts of it). But, I haven't and I'm not so I have no right to complain. When I try to get my crap together and then get dumped on I can complain but until then, I'm just going to finish my dieting, get some pictures taken and take some much needed vacation time. Oh, yeah, and quit boring everybody with the minutiae of my life. Almost forgot: All dieting and no play makes Lyle a dull boy. All dieting and no play makes Lyle a dull boy. All dieting and no play makes Lyle a dull boy. All dieting and no play makes Lyle a dull boy. I can even do this faster than Jack in "The Shining" since I can cut and paste. Now, if I made a macro..... Wednesday: Guess what I did this morning. C'mon, guess. Yup, did the thermogenic thing followed by 45' of easy cardio. My life never ceases to excite me. Thursday: Well, today started off really well. Supposed to have an 8am appointment (which I hate since I wanted to lift first thing) but couldn't find my keys. Turns out my mom snagged them and took them to work with her, about 45' from where we live. So, I'm carless. Which means I had to cancel my appointment (which, as much as I bitch about not enjoying personal training, I don't like to inconvenience people and it means the next sessions with this person is a freebie. And I don't like working for free). Turns out I'll be able to borrow a car from a friend and this will allow me to lift this morning but it's still a pain in the butt. Workout: Doing deads, delts, arms, abs and grip today, my normal Wed workout. I'm not carbing this weekend (well, probably one meal on Saturday or Sunday night) so I opted to spread out the workouts a bit more and skip the Friday workout. I'm terribly overtrained so it's probably just as well. Ok, I'm oficially overtrained. Hard to compare this workout to the last since I was more interested in playing in the gym than really working hard. I'm tired, grumpy, depleted, etc, etc and tired of training full tilt. Did some different exercises and it didn't go really all that badly, but it wasn't the hardcore workout I had hoped for. Ah, well, to be expected after what amounts to 19 weeks of maximum training without a break. Sing it with me "Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be...." Day Date Wt Pec Abs SI Thigh Sum3 BF% FM FFM -------------------------------------------------------------- Fri 8/16 155 3 25 15 6 37 10.4 16 139 Fri 8/23 154 3 23 15 6 32 9.4 14.5 139.5 Fri 8/30 153 3 22 12.5 6 31 8.5 13 140 Mon 9/2 158 3 22 12.5 6 31 8.5 13.4 144.6 Fri 9/6 151 3 22 12.5 5.5 30.5 8.5 12.8 138.2 Notes: Ok, this doesn't look good at all. From a previous rate of fat loss of about 1.5 lbs per week with no FFM loss, I have shifted to a loss of .6 lbs with almost 2 lbs of FFM lost. Which might explain my crappy workout yesterday if this truly reflects muscle loss. Not good, not good at all. Perhaps trying to stretch out ketosis for 12 solid days (more or less) isn't such a good idea. Friday: Did thermogenics and a short 30' walk. After my personal training appointments, I did another 45' on the Stepmill at World Gym (since I was there already). And then came home and ate. Saturday: Had planned to do morning cardio but overslept and had to go to appointments (I think I dislike Saturday appointments more than even early morning appointments. I'd rather sit at home, eat Lucky Charms and watch cartoons). Was going to workout after my appointments but forgot my clothes. Figured this was a sign to make today a day off. Decided to go ahead and carb from noon today until bedtime. I'll be riding tomorrow most likely and should be back in ketosis by Sunday afternoon I figure. Then it's the last week push of dieting to see if I can at least get to 6-7% bodyfat (since it seems that 5% may be forever out of my reach). And then I'm going out of town for a wonderful 2 week vacation. Can you tell that I'm really ready to go as often as I keep mentioning how close it is? Evening: Well, my one friend who's in town was busy last night so I just got to drive around the city and feel sorry for myself. I know I said I wasn't going to complain anymore but this really sucked. Did go and have some killer sushi which was nice but I can't think of many things more pathetic than going to a restaurant and eating by yourself. Well, actually I can but they aren't suitable for discussion in a family forum like mfw <G>. Let's just say that they would involve a jar of vaseline, some sandpaper and a very large hamster <double G>. IAE, back to reality: I stopped carbing at bedtime and now it's time to get back into ketosis. Sunday: Well, check this out. After taking my thermogenics but before I went skating, I figured on checking for ketones just to see. Well, I'm showing small amounts already. This before any activity and about 12 hours after finishing my carb push yesterday. Definitely seems to support my thesis that long term adaptation to this diet is to get into ketosis faster. Once again, kewl. See ya next week. Lyle McDonald, CSCS