I am on Atkin's Induction right now, and have been on it for about 11 days. the results are great and a feel great. I am full of energy and feel motivated to be active again. I have been riding my bicycle for the last week and feel great. It's a nice feeling to want to be active again.

My question is regarding wieght lifting. I used to weight life a lot back when I was younger and active. I am planning to start doing so again. I am concerned that I will have problems achieving muscle increase while on the induction phase of the Atkin's diet. Should I wait to start lifting until I move on to OWL or Pre-Maint levels of carbs, or will I be ok. I do intend to put on some muscle mass rather then just toning, which I why I am concerned. I plan to stay on the Induction phase for at least another 2 weeks, since I do have a lot of pure body fat to lose. At that point I will be moving to OWL levels of eating.

Any advice would be vastly appreciated. I have done a lot of reading on LC eating, and my big concern is the muscle loss issues some people have reported on.

Hi. I would go ahead and start lifting. Often, hard cardio athletes will wait until they're consuming more carbs to resume a hard training schedule, but as long as you're getting sufficient protein for your muscles to rebuild, I don't see why you can't start now, since you're feeling really good.

When you mention people who report "muscle loss issues," are you talking about experienced low-carbers, or people who know nothing about it and also claim that your kidneys will self-destruct? Low carbing is very much protein-sparing - far more than high carb diets.

Good luck!

HI there

You can lay your concerns to rest, Tampa, muscle loss is not an issue with LCing, assuming you're eating sufficient calories (From fat) and adquate protein to maintain a positive nitrogen balance. LCing is muscle sparing, actually. There's a lot of misinformation floating around about this way of eating, you're best off doing a little researching (we have an excellent research forum and a few very active exercise forums FYI).

Re gaining muscle and losing fat simultaneiously. It can be done if you're new to lifting heavy weights. Newbies get that bonus. Those who're active lifters and start LC don't. Eating to gain mass and eating to lose fat are two very different things, and if you're trying to do both at the same time you're going to end up very frustrated.

I would concentrate on the fat loss, then work on the muscle gains. That being said - lifting weights while LCing will go a long way to helping you a) keep your current lean mass and b) burn body fat.

Just be prepared that you wont be quite as strong as you used to be. LCing causes muscle glycogen to be depleted - leaving you a little weaker. This does not mean you can't lift however!

HTH
Nat

I am not looking to "bulk up" per say. I do wish to go beyond just toning and build back some of the muscle I used to have. Right now I am far more concerned about shedding the spare tire around my gut then gaining muscle mass, and I am more then willing to wait until I am further along the plan before trying to really build muscle.

Most of the research I have done and the scientific articles and medical journals I have read do not confirm or deny the mucsle loss issue. The articles I have read that claim muscle loss are indeed written by people who want to sell you their own special diet plan, which does make me wonder.

I do understand I cannot eat to both gain muscle mass and loss fat mass. Perhaps I need to set my goal to lose the fat first and then as I approach my target wieght I can look at an eating plan that continues to promote good health while allowing my muscles the fuel they need to lift well.

I will check out the other suggested forums. Thanks for the advice!