Tips for Carb Back-Loading and General Health

Pre-Training and Help for the 10 Day Ketosis Diet

I made some assumptions about knowledge in my last post about Carb Back-Loading for my readers and wanted to state what those were. My main assumption is that you could pick certain foods, like what is low/high carb, low/high fat and in general what is healthy. 

For everyone who has taken a nutrition class at Virginia Tech, I'm sorry. The info is beyond outdated, and flat out wrong. Have any of you actually checked the citations to research for some of those claims they made? I have, it's pathetic, and pisses me off that they require us to learn this junk. /end rant

Let me clear the air-

• Saturated fat is one of the healthiest things you can put in your body, especially medium chains that come from coconut and palm oil. Saturated fat from animals, that ate like animals (grass fed, free to roam, etc) is also a great source. This encompasses meat, eggs and dairy.
• Cholesterol does NOT move from your stomach/diet to your blood, not even close. Dietary cholesterol has ZERO correlation with blood cholesterol. 
• Speaking of -sterols, cholesterol is a precursor to testosterone. Guys, eat it! Girls, you too! Ladies are unable to build excess testosterone, but a little bit extra will help increase energy levels, help you recover faster from exercise, increase your metabolism, increase libido, skin/hair quality, bone density and slightly reduce fat storage. Go eat a yolk now...
• Meat is good for you, so are vegetables and fruit, duh. Eat your veggies! If you really have a hard time getting them down, I recommend buying something like Greens, which you can find online at many places. It's a concentrated powder of vegetables. Some have fruit, but all these are pretty good. You can add it in anyway for added assurance. 
• You should limit any and all: vegetable/corn/canola/soybean/peanut oils. These have very high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Fun fact- did you know that 50% of arterial plaque is polyunsaturated fat? This also goes for all omega-6 fats. Some here and there is ok, but you need to make sure you take in lots of fatty fish or Omega-3 capsules that are filtered for mercury. The recommended amount is about 5 grams combined EPA and DHA (17 caps from my link). 
• Whole wheat is a scam. If you eat bread or grains, get the refined version. White bread has far fewer anti-nutrients than whole wheat. If you weren't aware, plants don't like to be eaten, just like us. They have developed means to prevent that, and a good amount of those anti-nutrients are in the germ of the whole wheat. If you ever searched for a good whole wheat loaf did you read the ingredients? Dough conditioners and dyes, or it might be fake and colored white wheat. Just avoid all of it and save yourself some money, and your health. This means no corn, flours, pastas, etc. The only exception seems to be rice, so go for it if you like it. 
• Soy is another awful thing to put in your body, especially for you girls. It is far from a "superfood"

Now that all of you have been schooled on nutrition, let's get to some recipes, foods and general ideas that have helped others and myself with Back-Loading.

Laundry list of stuff for the kitchen-

   [Another assumption is that you can cook/are not in a dorm. Bare with me, I'll try and help you too]

Spices are your friend, buy them ALL, the more the better

Basic foods you should/might already have:

• Meats of preference
• Eggs
• Cheese
• Veggies
• Fruit
• Herbs & spices

Things you might need to add that will make life easier:

• Shredded coconut or coconut flour
• Almonds/nuts
• Ground Flax seeds (organic for $10 or non- for $2, your pick)
• Cheeses, specifically cream cheese and parmesan
• Baking soda and baking powder
• Hand held mixer ($5 at Walmart!!)
• Food processor and/or coffee grinder (coffee grinder is better for making almond/coconut flour)
• Non-stick cook and bakeware, plus parchment paper
• Coconut milk & organic/virgin coconut oil
• Heavy whipping cream
• Coffee or decaf, tea for those who don't like it
• Stevia or Splenda, I recommend the natural route with Stevia, though.
• Sugar free maple syrup (Cary's is the best brand so far)
• Sugar-free drink mixes like Crystal light, kool-aid, Mio (pretty good), diet sodas, Zevia (tastes awesome) or my trick of concentrated protein powder flavoring in water or almond/coconut milk, the varieties are endless and can be stevia sweetened. 
• Flavored whey protein isolate
• Condiments like mustard, vinegar, mayo, soy sauce, hot sauce, tomato paste (for making ketchup and bbq sauce without added sugar)

These are the things that have helped me in the past when doing a cyclic ketogenic diet, and with Carb Back-Loading (CBL). 

Sample Keto Diet

The general rule of thumb for those that can cook is, if the food item is Atkins (phase 1+2) friendly, you can eat it. So instead of listing everything from the Atkins page that covers the carb counts, please check out Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Atkins diet. **This is no where near an Atkins diet, but the 10 day prep phase is the same design. Keep the carbs below 25 grams, ladies, try lower just to be safe. 

Yes, that's bacon salt in the background, we will get to that later

Breakfast: 

Coffee or tea

Heavy whipping cream

Couple teaspoons virgin coconut oil

Sweetener

(vanilla seems to cut the stevia bite)

Low carb, but good

Brunch/Lunch/First Meal:

Water (ppl need reminders)

Meat, poultry, fish, your pick

Low carb veggies

Fats

-or-

-These pancakes 

-French toast

-Biscuits and gravy

 

That's a sexy breakfast if you ask me

Yup, that's french toast

Biscuits and Gravy

Yes, you can eat pizza

Lunch:

Rinse and repeat :)

Here are some ideas though:

Burger on oopsie roll

Pizza!!!!!

Lattice bacon on turkey

Reverse burger's cousin
Oopsie Burger

Reverse burger, nom....

Or you could be lame like me
and eat cottage cheese :)

Snacks & Drinks

Remember the essentials like string cheese, peanut butter (cookies), bacon, veggies & ranch, stuffed mushrooms or anything else low carb you want to snack on.

As far as drinks go, I listed many of them before. Buy some protein powder to mix with water, coconut milk or almond milk. Calorie Countdown by HOOD (at Kroger) is a good choice too. You could also buy some flavored teas to sweeten or put a squirt of Mio in that. If you really like any that I mentioned or have some ideas post a comment and share the info for us!

Ketogenic Dinner and Dessert

As far as food goes, I would classify dinner and lunch as the same meals. Lunch is not supposed to be a sandwich, soda and chips, so just up the food or add more veggies or whatever makes the meal feel more dinner-y to you. 

If you have been checking these links you will notice a lot are to a blog. This girl knows what she's doing and I highly suggest that you browse through the blog, even if you don't want to do the diets I have listed. Make sure to look at the recipe index and visit desserts, as well as veggies and sides (mashed cauliflower is a favorite+lots of butter). There is one more recipe website that seems to be pretty reliable, look around there. The selection is larger and just like the first blog, it isn't 100% ketogenic, but there is a good amount of them (like low carb pot pies).

Some advice for dessert: There are going to be a lot of options at the store, you just have to look around. This is the easiest option. The second easiest option is to construct something from the store (look up recipes or something), like sugar free vanilla yogurt mixed with diet soda (cream sickle floats or root beer floats are some that come to mind), this is all very individual, so if you are craving something look for alternatives. Another simple option is more breakfast food, like the pancakes from earlier. Lastly, you could make some protein or cottage cheese icecream, which are pretty good, but very time consuming. Once again, comment if you really liked something or have any ideas for all of us to read.

Fat Loss Tips: Part 1

I've been asked by several people lately about how to lose weight, from clients, coworkers, to my friends and family. I'm going to list 2 simple diets that have been used for decades for fat loss that are brutally effective. These diets work best for people that weight train, women included. Don't worry ladies, you can't get bulky, but you will get leaner and stronger. I'll state it again, this works for those who resistance train hard at least 3 times per week. For those that do not, of course I encourage you to do so, but if that is not an option at the moment please read up on the Anabolic Diet or purchase the book Carb Nite by Kiefer.

Here's some info on the first diet:

• Fits a busy schedule much better than those "healthy" diets that require eating every 2-3 hours
• Perfect for busy parents or people that need to run out the door in the morning
• Works for people that have a harder time controlling cravings, but also those that want to eat cleaner
•  Provides more consistent energy levels for your workouts as well as during the day

...and the second diet [Stay tuned for Part 2]

• More effective than the first, but requires some planning
• Allows you to have more variety than the first, depending on the day
• Works better for people that can't have trigger foods and would like to eat cleaner

Let's get started with the first diet, known as Carb Back-Loading. 

This is what you might consider as the ultimate junk food diet, because you can eat just about anything and lose fat. It's kind of beautiful how it works actually. To get the best results with this diet there is a prep phase that will last 10 days long. I'm going to layout the diet first, then go into some detail about why it works.

Days 1-10

Don't eat any carbs, none at all. Only eat fats and protein, but make sure to get your veggies in, too (check the label if you are unsure about carbs). Carbs are limited to 30 grams for the day. Right around day 5,6 and 7 you will start to enter ketosis. This is going to make you a little sluggish for a day or 2, but that is all. 

Every day from now on will have the same structure, and will be based off of working out around 4pm (this is optimal).

Time for Carbs!

Each morning you will skip breakfast, at least for 2 hours, but it would be best to go all the way to noon.

Until you get to eat you may have coffee or tea, with no calorie sweeteners such as Truvia or splenda, with Truvia being the healthiest. You can also add: highest quality coconut oil you can find, MCT oil, unsweetened coconut milk or heavy whipping cream, about 100-200 calories is the target for those fats added. If you happen to have pure whey isolate laying around, add 1/2 scoop of that (optimizes muscle retention).

Have a few cups up until you get to eat. This will suppress your appetite a good amount, especially with the coffee, and even decaf, but less so.

Time to eat! Don't worry, you will get used to the hunger pangs within a week or so if you have a consistent  schedule in the morning.

When it comes time to eat, try to keep the meals smaller if possible, you are still trying to back-load calories, not just carbs. Have some bacon, steak, eggs, sausage, some veggies and a little butter, olive oil or coconut oil. Or you can skip the breakfast foods and eat lunch. Remember, no carbs still!!! The only exception to the carbs are small amounts from things like nuts, cheeses, avocados, etc. The rule is to limit the carbs to below 30 grams, but less is more.

There is no real limit to how many meals you can have without carbs before training, but the goal is still to eat more food post-training, so use common sense.

Post-Training

Within 30 to 60 minutes after training you get to have some fun. Eat a good protein source like meat, cottage cheese or a protein shake and then have something super starchy, that's fast absorbing. Try to keep the fat and gluten as low as possible. Also, don't find the worst quality foods for this, try to find something fresh, local and/or organic. Eat some pie, cake, real pastries (from a bakery, they use low gluten flour, not the stuff in a box), rice pudding, etc. Remember, keep the fat as low as possible. More -real- food options are: lower fat pizzas, pasta (not ideal because of gluten, no white sauce of course), white rice (sushi is a great option), potatoes (preferably red or sweet potatoes) and throw in some fruits while you're at it.

Before bed

Unless you are a bigger guy with a good amount of muscle (think 2.7lbs x height in inches, roughly), you will just be eating more proteins before bed, that's it. Ladies, unfortunately this applies to you as well. You get 1 carb meal post training, and that's it.

Go eat some more meat, have a protein shake, some cottage cheese, some nuts, bacon or whatever comes to mind, then get some sleep.

For those of you who do train hard and heavy, and fall around the guideline for weight, space the meals out some and keep the idea the same. Get in at least 2 carb meals, possibly more.

Notice there is no calorie counting? All you need to do is evaluate yourself in the morning.

Do you look bloated and fat? Cut back on the carbs compared to the night before.
Look better and tight? Don't change anything.
Look deflated? Add in another carb meal

That's it. It's pretty simple, and you can have just about anything in this diet if you follow the rules.

A few closing notes, in order-

• Breakfast isn't essential, nor is it the most important meal of the day. If you are trying to lose the fat, follow this to the 't'. Your growth hormone needs a chance to spike and will do so within about 2 hours after waking, if you don't eat.
• No carbs until working out: this is helping to empty your sugar stores in your body. You also have better hormonal and physiological responses while training if you don't carb-up right before training.
• You cannot use "healthy" carbs in this diet. Whole wheat and fibrous foods post-training will slow your sugar digestion and cause you to stay out of the fat burning zone even longer. This goes for non-training days as well. Just keep the carb up smaller on non-training days or cardio days

This diet goes against the grain, a lot, but I believe in it, and there's research to back it up. If you have any questions, let me know below in the comments!!

P.S. Part 2 will contain some variations for those that cannot train at the requested time, how and what to do with cardio, as well as the second diet referred to as carb cycling.