I have been reading through all the CKD posts and learining alot!

I havent yet bought the book, but am curious if anyone can give me some advice. I am currently on Atkins (have been for 4 months) and have lost 10 lbs. I am not overweight by any means but would like to tone up and be alot more fit.

I currently do cardio for at least one hour per day 5 days per week, with no weight training.

I would like to increase the benefits of exercising and tone up, also break out of this stall and eliminate about 5-10 lbs of body fat and turn it to muscle.

One thing I saw on here was that CKD is mainly for body builders. I guess I am wondering how it has been for others who have changed over from other plans, what happens when you stop lifting for awhile, or how the plan works for the long term? (sorry, maybe having the book would answer some questions, I just am probing now, to give insights before buying it).

I am fit now, and fairly toned, but want to be more ripped and strong.

I am 5'10 and weigh 150 (female) and have been eating between 1800-2000 cal per day, with stats of 70-75 fat, 25-30 protein and 5 carbs.

any feedback/suggestions would be great. I am also currently working on my masters research. Is there a big time commitment to being in the gym and workig out? I dont mind this within reason, but need to focus alot on school right now.

thanks!
d

If you already spend 1 hr /day on cardio you should definitely start doing BFL. It doesn't take more than 45-50 mins for weight training and just 20 mins of cardio .. both 3 times/week.
I'm doing that and love it.. I only needed to change from CKD into TKD (eating a bit of carb before working out and cardio) because
- carboloading made me feel awful because of the bloated feeling and esp. the horrible carb cravings
- I like cardio too much to have it last only 20 mins.. I take 2 spinning lessons (45 mins each) and have just added aquajogging (also 45 mins)..
Both aren't very hard on the joints.. I have weak joints so am careful not to start overtaxing them too much by high-impact cardio such as running or as I did last February, skipping rope.. 8 months later I'm still trying to get rid of that nasty injury which came after just 20 mins of skipping rope..
By comparison I participated in a 3 hour marathon spinning session and had no problems whatsoever ... rowing might be more difficult though..

WOW I am curious how you were doing cardio 5 hours a week on strait Atkins....the whole point of CKD is you get energy to perform your best in gym/ in workout, while strait ketosis leaves you zapped after initial depletion. Anyways, the commitment is not that bad, i get to gym 3-4 times a week, like 45 min each or so. So that is not a lot of time at all.

ANyways I say give it a whirl and start stocking up on Dex and MD and all those other good stufers!

WOW I am curious how you were doing cardio 5 hours a week on strait Atkins....the whole point of CKD is you get energy to perform your best in gym/ in workout, while strait ketosis leaves you zapped after initial depletion. Anyways, the commitment is not that bad, i get to gym 3-4 times a week, like 45 min each or so. So that is not a lot of time at all.

ANyways I say give it a whirl and start stocking up on Dex and MD and all those other good stufers!

Just remember all of the questions you will have are ALREADY covered in this forumn, just search for past posts (like types of foods, when what to work out, anything....)

k hopw this helps

uh question too ..since this is a thread for askin adice....i was wonderin if my worout routine is fine ....
monday,wednesday friday - 1 1/2-2 hrs cardio ( 1 hour aerobics(light-moderate),30mintreadmill, and at times 30 minutes transport/rowing machine), 1 1/2 hrs circuit training with moderate weights( but at times i do supersets)
tuesday thrusday- all cardio ( 2 hrs cardio) and some ab workout
sat,sun - 2hrs exercise consisting of tae-boxing and the Firm workout tapes

--ryt now im tryin atkins(on -off atkins that is..lol)
anyway,so my question is am i doing it ryt? with regards to my workout?
and it seems that u lose wieght slower in ckd but does this rly make u leaner that atkins????

Well, Atkins is not meant for people who do any moderate amount of excersize. After liver depletion, you muscles can only hold so much juice before they are depleted themselves....and you ain't gunna get a good workout in if your uncharged. Like if you lifting weights, how can you expect to life anything substantial with no energy? Also, running, any cardio, you can't do it intense when you are depleted. IF you could then why don't real athletes do atkins?? So the point is oyro body will lost muscle mass caus you lifting WEAK-SAUCE, therefore your body has no reason to preserve muslce mass, regardless of ketosis or atkins....so for strait weight loss, Atkins is better, but main point is LEAN MUSCLE MASS BURNS FAT; having muscle increases caloric expenditure. OK, so CDK is better, it's complicated and strict you don't sound that strict you are "on and off" so I would think things over before you commit then drop out.....OK, and please remember to search old posts for questions like MOST QUESTIONS you will have are already covered at some point, I would like to have only NEW information discussed not reliving the same old questions.....what should i eat?? How should I work out??

Don't need to do Atkins, generally their fitness levels are so good that they could burn off a little excess fat anyway in a couple of weeks.

There is a substantial difference between someone that needs to "lose" fat AND gain muscle and someone who needs to just build muscle. On Atkins you are only in ketosis in the Induction phase to any severe degree. In the OWL part of the diet, you up your carbs so that you just have a trace of ketones. There seems to be a myth being perpetuated about people who are on Atkins not being able to go to the gym and build muscle. Remember that to build muscle you need to damage it first to a certain extent. Yes you do need some glycogen, but you can actually fiddle around with the "amount" of glycogen that you need and how you deliver it to your muscles before you go for a workout. I take 20grams of carbs approx 60 minutes before a workout in the form of a protein shake that has carbs incorporated in the ingredients. This gives me more bang and it keeps me going for 60 minutes. By the time that 60 minutes is complete, I check my ketosis state and bingo, still in ketosis. When there...it means I only have to scratch my a$$ and I burn fat when I am in ketosis. The body is well able to run on ketones, and people can do cardio fine. In fact I do mine without breakfast first thing in the morning and actually wait 60 minutes before I have breakfast when it is over. So the 20 grams of carbs I put in before going to the gym do me right. In fact I can say now that within a few minutes of eating food your body does have the ability to switch from being catabolic to anabolic when the contents hit the stomach. That in using energy it takes to work muscles in a 60 minute workout this in itself throws it in the opposite direction back to catabolic state again towards the end of that workout. I have experimented with the ketostix and been able to UP my weights as I always do. If my muscles were getting weaker as a result of doing this, then I would know it but they arn't. With each few days I make progress.

For the best part, when people on normal diet's do cardio, after the first part of the ten minutes they have used all the glycogen stores up, the body switches to burning fat anyway and they are in a ketogenic state to burn fat technically. It is only after the workout when people load on carbs and other stuff that they "stop" that fat burning and the body starts to burn glycogen again from the carbs you just ate. Delaying a meal is what causes more fat to be burned after the cardio. The body is far more complex and speedier at doing these things than we give it credit for really---especially the digestion side of things. Food and drugs can be absorbed within 30 minutes of ingesting most of the time as by the time they reach the small intestine this occurs and is occuring right from swallowing the stuff technically to a small degree. So you only need to load 60 minutes before a workout and you have the glycogen you need to both get you through and be burning fat afterwards. Because it is a modified small amount, it doesn't have time to be stored in the liver for use later as it is used up. Carbing up afterwards may be stored and so thus it would take longer to get back into ketosis. If you do your weights in the evening and then go to bed soon after the GH is higher when your body is in deep sleep than during the day and this is how your muscles recover. I have studied the circadian rythyms of sex hormones and GH so I know this occurs and whatsmore the proof it works is in the fact that I feel ok and well recovered the next morning muscle wise.

The fastest way of getting protein/carbs into your system is by eating a combo of whey protein and high glycaemic type of carbs in the form of a shake. Other forms of protein take longer to digest as do the lower glycaemic carbs such as brown rice etc. Luckily the ones that are the fastest to be absorbed are also the ones that are quickly used up in a workout making Protein shake with some carbs added the perfect solution for any diet where you wish to return to a ketogenic state asap.

Regards

Anne-Marie

PS: Although lean muscle mass burns more fat...we have to think here..what is a person in ketosis doing? They are burning fat "more" than someone who is not in a ketogenic state. I mean I hear time and time again people say that you need to build lean muscle, but they think you need to avoid ketosis completely to do this. Because you body has the ability once depleted of carbs and glycogen to flip immediately from that catabolic state to anabolic by just eating slightly more carbs than you need to to stay in ketosis...and can immediately return to that catabolic state and be in ketosis afterwards...it is in theory the best place to be for someone trying to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. It is like having enough gas in the tank to run the errands you normally run, but putting extra in ONLY when you need to use it that's all. The car doesn't run any worse for it. Your body will become more effecient at burning fat, and there is nothing stopping you from loading up when you need to go the extra mile and taking a few supplements after to aid recovery--as anyone on the Atkins diet is supposed to take anyway. Well it get's me through my workouts anyway that's for sure.

Any diet in which there is a calorie deficit is catabolic in nature. Ketogenic diets are not good for mass gains because inulin, an anabolic hormone, is very low.
Generally, a good rule of dieting is to never mix carbs and fats together (which is pretty much the standard american diet ). Eat protien (1-1.5g per pound of body weight) with some carbs (piece of fruit or oatmeal or vegtables etc...) or with fats (olive oil or flax or a little peanut butter etc...) and you should never have a problem with weight.

Actually cmorera i was able to adjust my "on and off" tendecies very easily to the CKD program. On CKD i only have to commit to 5 days of low carb eating, not a complete life changing diet. I have found that this enables me to stay focused on the low carb portion and i am not tempted to cheat during the week.

I will admit that i am not 100% strict on my carb loads, if i am craving a certain food i try to take care of that craveing on the weekends. I am sure that this has slowed my losses but I am happy with my progress, I am down 20 lbs since Labor Day.

I just bought some of this today in a 1:1 ratio mix. I'm just wondering how much I need to take in spoonfuls. Tsps...

Has anyone any ideas?

Thanks

Anne-Marie

To make sure I'm on the safe side, I take a SOUP spoon every morning, that's about 15 grams I think or perhaps 2 table spoons.

Just flax seed oil.. haven't come around to mixing both oils yet.

Fietser