ALA Hype: Gaining, cutting, or what?

[THeMaCHinE]

It is also best used in about 4-week cycles. Once your body is in a state of consistent ketosis, the effects will slow after a few weeks as your body begins to down-regulate and slow the process. Cycling on and off for at least equal amounts of time will keep it from adapting; alternatively, you can try a variant and go 5 on, 2 off.

ALA only works with moderately carby diets and you should only take it with carby meals, so forget trying to time it with cardio or whatever. Just take it with meals.

Also, slide the scale -- take more with more carby meals, less with less carby meals. For instance, I take 250-500 mgs w/ a 16 oz. glass of milk; I take up to a full gram before a pasta dinner.

 

[ISN_Man]

THeMaCHinE, great info, as always. Thanks a lot!! I will go look for Fonz's post.

 

[BackDoc]

You may feel free to peruse my posts in addition to the individuals above . I am certainly not claiming to be smarter than anyone else, however, I have been studying ALA and using it therapeutically with many individuals in standard doses for weight loss for quite some time. I was perhaps the first to post on this board about using ALA for weight loss albeit not in the higher doses as I also learned about from these boards. When I find out how to access the archives from when I first joined and posted about ALA I will relay those messages. Again, I'm not saying I'm any smarter or comparing myself, but I believe several individuals have very good information available to help everyone.

 

[THeMaCHinE]

You may feel free to peruse my posts in addition to the individuals above . I am certainly not claiming to be smarter than anyone else, however, I have been studying ALA and using it therapeutically with many individuals in standard doses for weight loss for quite some time. I was perhaps the first to post on this board about using ALA for weight loss albeit not in the higher doses as I also learned about from these boards. When I find out how to access the archives from when I first joined and posted about ALA I will relay those messages. Again, I'm not saying I'm any smarter or comparing myself, but I believe several individuals have very good information available to help everyone.

Sorry if it seemed I excluded you -- I haven't ran across any of your posts on the subject. As you mentioned, my focus is primarily on megadosing ALA. I'll see if I can't dig up a few of your old posts for you.

 

[ISN_Man]

BackDoc, thanks for the reply. I'll look into your posts as well.

 

[THeMaCHinE]

READ:

http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=119877&highlight=ala

http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=119717&highlight=ala

 

[BackDoc]

I just reread my post and it seems childish and petty. I apologize if that came off like I was whining. Some days are like that. No more excuses. I was just being dumb and selfish. Sorry.

Anyway, I don't have a large number of posts on ALA...excluding the archives...which is why my views are hard to find. That's entirely my fault for not keeping after it. Some recent posts have excellent info that other people presented. I saw the work Ranger did on posting info on ALA and it is very thorough. TheMachine's link is probably all you'll need for info.

 

[kto]

I'm pretty surprised that many of you feel the "pump" while taking ALA before training. My personal experience is tht it makes me feel extremely sluggish and tired. Nonetheless, it has helped me lean out. I am taking in at least 150-200 grams of carbs and still in the process of getting more ripped. Usually at this dose of carbs, I start bloating and gaining excess fat. However, ALA has been able to put a stop to this. My dosage is currently sitting at 1500mg perday. Is it just my imagination that it's working? Maybe, maybe not. Fellow trainers have been asking and reaffirming that indeed I look leaner and more cut. Hope this helps.

 

[THeMaCHinE]

I'm pretty surprised that many of you feel the "pump" while taking ALA before training. My personal experience is tht it makes me feel extremely sluggish and tired. Nonetheless, it has helped me lean out. I am taking in at least 150-200 grams of carbs and still in the process of getting more ripped. Usually at this dose of carbs, I start bloating and gaining excess fat. However, ALA has been able to put a stop to this. My dosage is currently sitting at 1500mg perday. Is it just my imagination that it's working? Maybe, maybe not. Fellow trainers have been asking and reaffirming that indeed I look leaner and more cut. Hope this helps.

Have you tested with ketostix to see if you are in ketosis? When one is in ketosis is when the greatest (bad) weight is lost -- however some people never do go into ketosis and still get measurable results. Try doubling your dosage for a week or two and see how it differs from what is currently going on. The ketostix are a great reference tool in that they can tell you what incremental changes in diet and ALA intake do to your state of ketosis (and whether or not you are indeed in ketosis to begin with).

I do feel pumped and hard off ALA, but I am very tired and sluggish too. Next time I take ALA, I'm going to stack 50 mgs - 100 mgs of 5htp with it for mood enhancement and to cut carb cravings; I think that will work well. Of course, thermogenics go a long way too... lol... A little yohimbine, ephedrine and caffeine before a workout and I forget all about being tired.

P.S. Next ALA cycle, I will also have some psyllium husk on hand for when I binge on bad fat foods -- block fat, block carbs -- sheesh, I'm going to start feeling guilty about this soon... But the proof is in the pudding...

 

[beastboy]

What type of dosages would be good for like 200-300 grams of carbs a day. I'm not interested in going into ketosis, just want to cut.....