I'm living in carb rotation Hell!

[Fennec]

Aaagh! I just can't take it any more - I have to vent!! I'm into my sixth week of a pretty severe carb load/carb deplete rotation and my gosh it's miserable! I have had some good workouts, but I think it's from pure unwillingness to lose any more muscle than I have to. Thank goodness I'm seeing plenty of results or I could never keep up this insanity.

I keep getting aches and pains to the point where I can barely stand it. For instance, I had a heavy arm workout Wednesday, and last night I accidentally slept with my arm in a bent position; this morning I could hardly straighten it out, it had tightened up on me so bad. I'm truly amazed that I've been able to get through my cardio in the morning.

I'm BITCHY as hell - people at work must think I'm losing my mind. I have no freakin' patience with anybody's bullshit. On the days in-between where I'm switching over from high to low carbs, I'm just plain psycho. At least on the lowest carb days, I'm merely goofy and can't focus on more than one thing at a time.

....and I have another six weeks to go.... WAHHHH!!!

Someone please tell me I'm not the only one to go through this!

Fennec

 

[JB3]

I'm not trying to bring you down, but this is the exact reason I don't drop my carbs under a respectable amount. What's the point if you're just going to feel like crap and be bitchy to everyone?

Total calories is really all that matters. In the past two weeks I've dropped from 10% to 9% bodyfat without restricting carbs, just calories in general. In fact, I eat a piece of fruit at just about every meal. Fruit is filling, has lots of fiber, water, and vitamins, and is low in calories. Can't ask for much more than that.

If there one piece of advice I can offer about fat loss, it is this... eat enough so that you're not hungry and use cardio to up your total energy requirement. This makes all the difference in the world when evergy level and muscle maintenace is concerned.

My 264,873,784 yen

Peace.

 

[new@gettinbig]

I feel for ya, I know exactly what you are talking about...I have good days and just plan bad days...I have been dieting for a show, and had a few days of freedom, but it is back to the intense dieting for my 2nd show, and I have NO patience, and things seem to irritate me that never did before. I am short with people and most just seem to get on my nerves.....I try to keep to myself in the gym, because I am in no mood for conversation....just to take care of business. You get used to it, but you will have your days so just take a deep breath and focus on your upcoming goals and try to keep your mind on other things...Its all worth it...think of yourself as unique, not many can sacrafice and push their body to the limit like you are.....the average american has no drive for that, and it takes alot out of you physically and pscyhologically....

 

[Fennec]

Thank you New@GettingBig! It helps so much to know someone else is going through the same thing. AND it gives me hope, having seen your awesome pics!!

On the advice NOT to drop carbs.... well, I'm under trainer's orders. If I don't stick to his guidance, I'm throwing away three and a half years of very hard work with him. I trust him absolutely.

New is right, this is just a really heavy duty level of discipline, and it's taking it out of me mentally and physically. I've got to adjust and move on. I just had to cry about it somewhere, and this seemed like a good place.

My friend clued me in to take in some extra fat to combat the aches and pains, so I upped the flax oil a bit. I'm feeling much better today, thank goodness! She also advised St John's Wort to increase seratonin levels that she said drop when you carb deplete - this is supposed to help with the mood swings and grumpiness. I'm going to try that too, soon as I can hit the suppliment store.

Thanks again for the moral support!!

Fennec

 

[Little Girl]

Come on Fennec, you could do it!!!

LG

 

[skydancer]

Yes GO Fennec!! I'm not brave enough to try that carb depletion yet but I do pretty well on lower carbs...

New@GB is definately an inspiration here too...did you see her pics? Gads!

And when you are done you get to eat

 

[Sasha]

Hi Fennec,

I've noticed you mentioned Flax oil. Also kick up your vitamin E to around 1000 units if you aren't doing that already. E is your friend here.

I do Evening Primrose oil or Borage oil instead of Flax. Here's why. You're probably taking it for the rich concentration of Linolenic Acid.

Your body uses Linoleic Acid to synthesize Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA). From that it synthesizes the two EFAs found in the Fish Oil supplements.

Flax seed is very high in Alpha Linolenic Acid. Your body doesn't use that. ALA passes through. It wants the Gamma form. Flax seed isn't very high in that. Switch to Borage oil for the biggest bang for the buck. Check the lables and you'll see what I mean.

It keeps me from getting spacy on a low carb diet.

Sasha
<who can be a space cadet anyway>

 

[skydancer]

Evening Primrose Oil and Borage oil is also very good for the female "system". St Johns Wort is very good Fennec. My experience has been take it in the morning and evening for 7 days then just once a day (halving the dose) for the next several weeks. I've read (though I don't remember the supporting data) that you shouldn't take St Johns for extended periods of time. 6-8wk periods then give your body a break.

Nice post Sasha.

 

[squatgirl2001]

I did it once...Like you say it's like Hell!! but it gives great results! Keep going!

 

[Fennec]

Thanks for all the support!! You guys are the best! I'll look at the Evening Primrose and Borage oil when I get to the store (hopefully tomorrow). At least I made it through another week, and in six more weeks when the nightmare is over, I'm going to Vegas to play and enjoy the buffet for 2 days!

Now, I'm gonna go take a long hot bath, then SLEEEEP! zzzzzzzzzzz Nite nite.

Fennec

 

[natglutes]

Dont stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just remember that you have a goal in mind and that you can acomplish it DONT GIVE UP !!!
Fennec, you can do it
We are cheering for you.................

 

[Fennec]

Bad news, folks... I guess my body decided to heck with me, 'cause it shut me down this week.

1) They did x-rays of my back, and I have somehow managed to inflame the joints around the vertebrae in my lower back (sacral area).

2) I got Strep Throat. I had a temp of 102.5 when they checked me in - haven't had a temperature that high in a looooong time.

I'm not allowed to continue carb rotation while sick, not allowed to work out, not allowed to do cardio and NOT ALLOWED TO DANCE!!! This sucks. Additionally I feel pretty crappy.

The good news is that the doctor gave me antibiotics for the strep, and an anti-inflamitory called Voltaren for the inflamed joints. Looks like all those aches and pains weren't just in my head.

I'm hoping to be healed up and back on schedule next week.....

Fennec

 

[djfitt]

Get well soon!

 

[new@gettinbig]

Take it easy and rest, dont rush back, or you will just end up taking longer to heal and get well.......sleep and get better

 

[Fennec]

I know, I'm resisting the urges. It's hard 'cause every time I start to feel better I want to go DO something, and I'm holding myself back. Of course, dropping from a daily hour of cardio to nothing, I'm not burning so many calories, so I'm watching my weight creep back up, and I can't lift or do anything so it's certainly not 'cause I'm putting on any muscle. AND I was just getting into new territory right before this happened. I was SO looking forward to having my body comp done again - I am pretty sure I had dropped my b/f by a couple of percentages.

SO FRUSTRATING!!! I know if I do too much too soon, it will just continue this state of affairs, but GEEZ. So I'm just sitting around feeling sick, miserable, and fugly. I can't wait until this is over and I can get back on track. Boy what a difference a week can make. I am afraid this one week of being sick is setting me back about three weeks in my training. Every second counts, people! If you're not using it, you're losing it. I really hate being in a position where my choice in that is removed.

But ENOUGH whining and crying from me! I'm looking forward to my Monday morning cardio! The good news is anything will stimulate my body at this point, so I can start off slower and work my way back up, and still get results. The other good news is I've been getting 10 hours of sleep a night, and the day I stayed home from work, I slept for 15 hours! That's gotta help!

Fennec - Hanging in there....

 

[monstertruck]

Fennec, get well soon!
In the meantime, may I ask a question - what is your rotation amount? I just started an 8 day carb rotation "diet". (I'm 5'6", about 145. Been lifting seriously a couple of years - currently lifting 4 days/wk and doing cardio 3 or 4 times/wk for 1 hour.) I'm looking to drop 5% bf so I can see where I really need to work and was just pinched at 18% (which was verrrrrrry discouraging). Anyway, day 1 is 1g/lb. bodyweight protein and 1.25g/lb. carb. Days 2 and 3 are 1.2g/lb.protein and 0.6g/lb. carb with the carbs being split half before and half after workout. Days 4 and 5 are 1.6g/lb protein and again 0.6g/lb carb but most of the carbs before workout. Days 6&7 are 1.8g/lb protein and 0.3g carb . Day 8 is 1g/lb protein and 2g/lb. carbs.
Diet is clean but I can give you details on that if you need it. Fat has been at about 10 to 15%, and that's just the fat that's in what I'm eating (i.e. in chicken, cottage cheese, etc.)

Phew long story. So I guess my question is... do my ratios look okay? There's a few days the calories are pretty low, but I'm hoping to shock the old body into some fat loss.
Thanks!

 

[BigAndy69]

I know what you are going through Fennec, I also got sick after only 5 weeks of dieting. When you diet, you sometimes don't get enough nutrients from the food you eat. As a result, you are more likely to get sick. That's why I now take in large amounts of viatmin C and other nutrients.

I missed about a week of dieting and gained some weight back but I lost all that water after only 2 days back on my diet. I went from 190 to 196 and back down to 190-191 within a couple of days.

Don't sweat it, just try to stay away from dangerous foods. You should take in more vitamins, btw.

This is the cutting diet I followed and I went from 205 to about 187. One week, I overdid it and went down too quickly from 188 to 183, losing muscle hardness and some mass. Now I am following a more sensible diet, losing only 0.5-1 lb of fat a week. But at least I am not a total ass anymore.

I nearly took a guys head off for no reason last week, and I could have been expelled from university. That's when I decided I had enough of the carb rotation.

 

[Burning_Inside]

Weird..

I dropped nicotine and carbs all in one shot.

I felt great, up until the point I realized i wasn't getting any resluts from a keto diet that i went on.

I guess everyone's different. At least you get to eat carbs, I ate zero for 2 weeks straight, then ate them again only ona saturday. i was never moody.

 

[Fennec]

For me, I feel worse on the in-between days than I do (did) on the lowest carb days. By that point, I guess my body has switched fuel sources. So I guess that's why you folks on the keto diets don't have problems with the mood swings. For the carb load/carb deplete rotation, you're constantly forcing yourself to flip back and forth - no wonder ya go a little nuts!

MonsterTruck - I would help if I could, but I am not qualified to give you a carb rotation. There are some others on the board who probably would be, though. Mine was developed for me by my trainer.

Fennec

 

[MS]

Fennec, I think (hope) you will be amazed at the benefits that you will get from even one week of rest. I really believe that all hardcore dieters can benefit from having 1-2 weeks complete rest from diet and exercize in the middle of their diets. I predict that if you can keep your spirits high, you will come back stronger, fitter, and in a better position to make your diet work for you. Hang tight and be patient and I'm certain things will work out great!!

 

[Fennec]

Thanks for the encouragement MS! I hope you're right. I really am taking the whole week off. Last night, I was up coughing all night and didn't get much rest, so it may go even longer. (sigh)

Fennec

 

[cyberflash]

you've gotta have carb to transport the protein ....