Meet Bob.
I first did a low carb diet called a cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD) back in 2005 after reading Lyle McDonald's book on the ketogenic diet. I also read the book Natural Hormonal Enhancement by Rob Faigin which discusses CKDs. McDonald's is not a dietary guidance book but rather explains the scientific basis for why the diet works however it does include enough information to help you make it work.
Anyway, I stayed on the diet for about 9 months and had great success with strength gains while doing a lot of squats, deadlifts, and other free weights regularly. I also got down to under 15% body fat in my mid 40's and dropped some weight to get me back to where I'd been 20 years previously.
The CKD imo was difficult for me to stick with long term because of the regular carb up periods. They are nice at first but after a while they became tedious to me and played havoc on my family's meal planning. I had two preteens and an understanding wife but there was only so much I was willing to put them through. There may be a place for it somewhere in the future but for now I feel so good keeping my carbs under 50 grams per day all the time I'm not sure I want to try it again.
I reentered the world of low carb dieting in March of this year when I joined a team at work which was competing in a state-wide program whose goal was for each team member to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks. Everyone in my group made great progress and after about 8 weeks they'd all met their goal including one guy who had lost over 30 pounds in that time. As I found out later he was doing Atkins! In an effort to not let the team down as we all had to lose the 10 pounds to qualify for some prize drawings, I started low carbing again with less than two weeks to go. Before that I had tried calorie counting, getting more exercise, and avoiding certain foods/drinks for eight weeks and had lost a big fat nothing.
It was close, and I had to sweat off a couple of pounds on the day of the weigh-in but I managed to lose 11 pounds in less than two weeks doing essentially a low carb induction. Surely some of the loss was water weight but clearly as my continued regular measurements with a Slimguide caliper have shown, I lost and have continued to lose body fat as well.
I'm now just doing a generic low carb diet developed from reading various books including Atkins, Eades, Taubes, Bowman and the two previously mentioned books plus a lot of website research. I don't do carb ups like with a CKD, in fact I try to eat no carbs at all other than vegetables, and I feel absolutely great and have had great results in body composition and blood profile.
In July, 2011 I had some blood work done and the results were good:
Blood pressure: 117/77 (in normal range and unchanged since starting the diet)
Total Cholesterol 131 (under 200 is desirable)
HDL 65 (over 60 is desirable)
Blood Glucose 82 (up to 100 is normal)
Bodyfat: 18% (down from 20%)
BMI: 24 (down from 26.4, normal range is 18.5 - 25)
Weight: 177 (down from 195)
I've lost another 3% body fat and about 7 or 8 pounds since then as of this writing. The icing on the cake is that this diet is much easier for me to stick with and for my family to accommodate. I'm loving the diet and it is loving me right back.
After being on a low carb diet for about 7 months I decided to incorporate Intermittent Fasting (IF) into my diet. I have hit my goal weight area (171 +/- 3 lbs) and now I'm trying to both lose fat and build muscle at the same time. However, according to the reputable fitness sites I've read that is a pretty difficult thing to do. My journey eventually led me to Martin Berkman's leangains.com site where I learned about Intermittent Fasting (IF) and about Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat IF plan. Berkman has an IF plan as well but after considering it I didn't think it was the right one for me.
Essentially Eat Stop Eat is a 24 hour fast done either once or twice each week. My version is to eat breakfast, then not eat again until the next breakfast. The plan also recommends a strength workout during the fast so I try to do some body-weight lifting that day along with some free-weights.
The first few fasts were hard and getting through dinnertime can be a challenge but I've done at least 5 weeks with at least one fast per week and feel really good. After kind of splurging at Thanksgiving and picking up a few pounds and an extra bit of bodyfat, all it took was one fast to bring me back down to where I'd previously been.
The Eat Stop Eat plan allows you to essentially eat whatever you want but I find it works particularly well for me on my low carb diet since that tends to keep hunger in check.
My goal, which I'm putting down in print for the first time, is to have visible abs for the first time in my life by the time I turn 53 in 3 months. To accomplish that I will need to get more disciplined about my abdominal and strength workouts and stick to my diet pretty closely but I really think I can do this despite the holiday season.
Anyway, I stayed on the diet for about 9 months and had great success with strength gains while doing a lot of squats, deadlifts, and other free weights regularly. I also got down to under 15% body fat in my mid 40's and dropped some weight to get me back to where I'd been 20 years previously.
The CKD imo was difficult for me to stick with long term because of the regular carb up periods. They are nice at first but after a while they became tedious to me and played havoc on my family's meal planning. I had two preteens and an understanding wife but there was only so much I was willing to put them through. There may be a place for it somewhere in the future but for now I feel so good keeping my carbs under 50 grams per day all the time I'm not sure I want to try it again.
I reentered the world of low carb dieting in March of this year when I joined a team at work which was competing in a state-wide program whose goal was for each team member to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks. Everyone in my group made great progress and after about 8 weeks they'd all met their goal including one guy who had lost over 30 pounds in that time. As I found out later he was doing Atkins! In an effort to not let the team down as we all had to lose the 10 pounds to qualify for some prize drawings, I started low carbing again with less than two weeks to go. Before that I had tried calorie counting, getting more exercise, and avoiding certain foods/drinks for eight weeks and had lost a big fat nothing.
It was close, and I had to sweat off a couple of pounds on the day of the weigh-in but I managed to lose 11 pounds in less than two weeks doing essentially a low carb induction. Surely some of the loss was water weight but clearly as my continued regular measurements with a Slimguide caliper have shown, I lost and have continued to lose body fat as well.
I'm now just doing a generic low carb diet developed from reading various books including Atkins, Eades, Taubes, Bowman and the two previously mentioned books plus a lot of website research. I don't do carb ups like with a CKD, in fact I try to eat no carbs at all other than vegetables, and I feel absolutely great and have had great results in body composition and blood profile.
In July, 2011 I had some blood work done and the results were good:
Blood pressure: 117/77 (in normal range and unchanged since starting the diet)
Total Cholesterol 131 (under 200 is desirable)
HDL 65 (over 60 is desirable)
Blood Glucose 82 (up to 100 is normal)
Bodyfat: 18% (down from 20%)
BMI: 24 (down from 26.4, normal range is 18.5 - 25)
Weight: 177 (down from 195)
I've lost another 3% body fat and about 7 or 8 pounds since then as of this writing. The icing on the cake is that this diet is much easier for me to stick with and for my family to accommodate. I'm loving the diet and it is loving me right back.
After being on a low carb diet for about 7 months I decided to incorporate Intermittent Fasting (IF) into my diet. I have hit my goal weight area (171 +/- 3 lbs) and now I'm trying to both lose fat and build muscle at the same time. However, according to the reputable fitness sites I've read that is a pretty difficult thing to do. My journey eventually led me to Martin Berkman's leangains.com site where I learned about Intermittent Fasting (IF) and about Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat IF plan. Berkman has an IF plan as well but after considering it I didn't think it was the right one for me.
Essentially Eat Stop Eat is a 24 hour fast done either once or twice each week. My version is to eat breakfast, then not eat again until the next breakfast. The plan also recommends a strength workout during the fast so I try to do some body-weight lifting that day along with some free-weights.
The first few fasts were hard and getting through dinnertime can be a challenge but I've done at least 5 weeks with at least one fast per week and feel really good. After kind of splurging at Thanksgiving and picking up a few pounds and an extra bit of bodyfat, all it took was one fast to bring me back down to where I'd previously been.
The Eat Stop Eat plan allows you to essentially eat whatever you want but I find it works particularly well for me on my low carb diet since that tends to keep hunger in check.
My goal, which I'm putting down in print for the first time, is to have visible abs for the first time in my life by the time I turn 53 in 3 months. To accomplish that I will need to get more disciplined about my abdominal and strength workouts and stick to my diet pretty closely but I really think I can do this despite the holiday season.
The new Bob.
CHALLENGES:
Finding or making good reasonably priced low carb food and getting cooperation from family members.
ADVICE:
Be flexible with your family. Don't dictate to them what they'll be eating. Instead try and work around their choices, or better yet get involved in food preparation so you can accommodate yourself and your family's preferences.
Finding or making good reasonably priced low carb food and getting cooperation from family members.
ADVICE:
Be flexible with your family. Don't dictate to them what they'll be eating. Instead try and work around their choices, or better yet get involved in food preparation so you can accommodate yourself and your family's preferences.
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