Carbing Up on the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet
by Lyle McDonald, CSCS
http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/mcdonald/carb-up-and-ketogenic-diet.htm
Read this before your start a ckd.......
The biggest difference I can see between true bulimia and a CKD is
that of perception of the dieter (and this gets into psychological
issues among dieters). That is, let's look at two different (but
outwardly similar) situations.
1. Dieter one starts their diet on Monday, with the admonition that
'This time I'm really going to stick with it, no cheating until I
reach my goal.'
2. Dieter two also starts their diet on Monday, but with the attitude
of 'Nobody is perfect about anything, and instead of feeling out of
control, I'm going to plan a cheat from my diet this Saturday, since
I'm going to a party and want to enjoy myself. On top of that, that
crazy Lyle guy told me it would help my metabolism if I had a cheat
day.'
Ok, 5 days of good dieting have gone by and it's Saturday night.
Dieter 1 goes to the party, and starts feeling deprived. Everyone is
giving the person crap about being on a diet. 'C'mon' they say 'just
have one drink, it won't kill you'. After dieter one has their drink,
they start feeling guilty about it. I mean, they were weak, they
didn't have the willpower to stick to their plan, etc, etc. They
figure that anything worth doing is worth overdoing and binge the
whole night away. The pattern starts again the next Monday and
continues to repeat itself.
Now, our second dieter went to this party in full-control. They had
planned it as part of their diet that they would allow themselves some
amount of cheating off their diet. But there is no guilt involved,
because it was all part of the plan. The binge doesn't happen, and the
person goes on happily in their way.
Now at first glance the above two situations seem identical. And, in a
sense they are in that the same external situations occurred (5 days
of dieting followed by a cheat on Saturday). But the psychological
impact is vastly different. In the first situation, the person feels
out of control and guilty for being unable to *control* their food
intake. In the second, since the cheat was consciously planned, the
control was never gone, and the psychological impact is far less
negative. I always encouraged clients of mine to plan their cheat
days, or suggested they apply the 80/20 rule (get everything right 80%
of the time, and the other 20% is no big deal). This took away a lot
of the negative psychological impacts of cheating on their diets,
although the end result was the same. That is, I figure they were
gonna cheat no matter what, so they might as well not feel guilty
about it.
In a sense, this also describes the Bodyopus diet, or more accurately
it *can* describe the Bodyopus diet. Those who understand the basis of
the diet know that the carb-up is required for a physiological reason
(restoration of muscle glycogen, possible anabolism), it's not just
there as an 'eat everything that's not nailed down' day. On the other
hand, a lot of folks seem drawn to the diet by the thought that they
can 'eat all they want' during the carb-up, and do so freely. In this
regard, I think it's a poor idea for someone who's had previous food
issues/eating disorders, to undertake a CKD lightly, because it may
become a mimic of the purge-binge cycle that existed before.
However, to be fair to CKD's, this is really no different than any
highly-restrictive diet. I have had numerous clients (typically
female) who tried to maintain super-restrictive diets (of varying
kinds), and who failed because a single-cheat (even a snack) caused
feelings of guilt and a loss of self-control.
Perhaps the best conclusion to be drawn is that dieters should avoid
all super-restrictive diets in favor of more moderate approaches. To a
great degree, I am a strong advocate of this attitude. For the great
majority of people out there, something as extreme as a CKD isn't
necessary, and probably isn't appropriate. In this case, making small,
manageable changes in food intake (qualitative or quantitative) are
usually sufficient. Unfortunately, CKD has become too much of a
de-facto diet choice, even when it's not necessary.
However, keep in mind the population for whom Bodyopus was developed:
individuals attempting to attain an extremely low level of bodyfat
with minimal muscle loss (i.e. bodybuilders for the most part). That
goal doesn't apply to the majority of individuals in the world.
So I guess my point (after a lot of rambling) is more or less this:
although CKD's and binge/purge cycles have a lot in common (at least
externally), there is generally a difference in attitude/mental state
in those who do one versus the other. The folks I know going into a
CKD are doing so with a specific goal in mind, and with the knowledge
that specific things are required to meet those goals. Binge-purge
(and eating disorders in general) seems to have a higher guilt
component (although there are far more involved psychological issues
that I'm not remotely qualified to comment on). But, to reiterate, I
don't think individuals should jump onto a CKD as a default diet,
moreso if they have a past history of food control issues
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