Progress and conclusions... (might be useful for some people)


Well, as i told you in May after my little 3 weeks experiment with the UD 2.0 way of dieting, I will be trying some different dieting techniques to see what happens with this shit. i tried 3 methods, 2 weeks each method to evaluate.

High calories, high carb, low fat on workout days (3 days per week), low carb, high calories on non workout days

this method did not due much for me... weight didn't change, strength didn't change, shape didn't change. this is probably due to the higher caloric intake, and the low intensity cardio i was doing for a short peroid of time. I would assume i was on maintenance calories if you factor in the cardio and workout. I did not feel comfortable at all with this method. lots of bloat.

50% protein, 50% fat, moderate/high calories
Didn't change the workout or cardio... was on 350 grams of protein and 160 grams of fat.... THIS IS NOT A KETOGENIC DIET THAT WILL PUT YOU INTO KETOSIS!!! the protein intake was too high to go into ketosis. the fat loss was really nice with this method, but the bloat, gas, and feeling uncomfortable all day long was horrible. i would not advise it at all... unless you are happy with getting leaner but your waist getting bigger (yes, that's what happened)

40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat

a lot less bloat, slower fat loss than the 50/50 protein/fat ratio but strength went up and muscle were full all the time with very good vascularity. i like this method, but for people who are in a hurry, this isn't for you (hurry as in, you have a contest in 3 weeks and still have 15 lbs of fat to go... this won't cut it... but being 50 kg overweight and saying I'M IN A HURRY!!! FOR...for... for... for losing weight... yeah... i need to lose weight fast... for... no.. reason... ummmm).


What i have noticed:

as you know, my MAIN fat storage area is the lower back area. I have read many times that this is due to being insensitive to insulin. and after experimentation, i found this to be true. when i went into ketosis for my last contest, my lower back fat melted fast. when i went with a higher carb method this time, i went slow, but it was mostly from the front (as you will see in the pictures).

The down side of ketosis

very fast drop in weight, lots of muscle loss, no strength, no pump, looking flat for a long time, feeling like shit

The upside

very fast weight and fat loss. Insulin levels are very low, so the most fat is burned from the lower back

The downside of high carb

fat loss is a lot slower, looking "watery" all the time, lower back fat won't budge.

The upside

lots of strength, feeling "full" all the time, no muscle loss (sometimes you gain muscle), lots of energy



so, as you can see... based on what i found, you can get an idea about how i'll diet next time (which i will explain, next march. lol!) but, again, look at the big picture here... 1 method isn't always the best. sometimes you have to mix it up.

here is my progress... or whatever you want to call it. my waist here is 33.2 inches (it was 33 yesterday, but after a nice dinner at chilis and half a trey of brownies with chocolate fudge, ice cream, and 2 liters of water.. it's hard not to bloat and retain water), and i was at around 202 lbs. if you look closely, from the front, i got a lot leaner (mind the water), you can probably see veins starting to appear on the lower abs (i can see them clearly in the mirror... don't know how they'll look when i post them)... calves got bigger although i didn't train them much (2 sets per week...) but they grew from all the walking on an incline. to me, that's better than training them with weights at this point. everything got leaner except the lower back.

I will post more pics on the day i leave for my vacation, because i promised bandar i'd show him the results of my little trick ;)