Anyone have any experience with this.

I am thinking of trying the anabolic diet.  Which is High Protein, High Fat, low carbs for ten days then you do mon - friday high protein, hight fat, low carbs and sat. - sunday is low protien, med. fat, high carbs then you switch back.  It is supposed to train you body to burn fat not sugar.  Anyone know anything negative about this diet plan.  Has anyone tried it?

Hi,

 I've never done the anabolic diet, but I did eat very low-carb for an entire year.  One thing I would comment on is that no diet can "train" your body - your body will do what it was metabolically engineered to do no matter what.  If you eat very low carb, your body will burn fat more quickly because of the way our bodies deal with carbohydrates and insulin.  But I found that I couldn't eat this way forever, I missed oatmeal in the morning and popcorn on Saturday nights, etc.  So, while it may help one lose weight because of the extreme difference in food composition, it won't have a lasting effect on how your body metabolizes food.  Not sure if that's helpful.  Good luck to you!

"Has anyone tried it?"

Yup. Mankind has been doing it since we lived in caves and were migratory hunters... Only until the last mere fraction of human existence with advent of agriculture have we moved from being a mainly protein calorie based creature to a... carb one...

Anabolic - when your body builds
Catabolic - when your body breaks down

Both processes require energy. When your body is in a mainly catabolic state its breaking down molecules for energy sources - fat, muscle, carbs in order to produce energy. When it's in a anabolic state it's putting molecules together (ie building new cells like muscle!) - this putting together requires energy. More catabolism.

The premise of an anobolic diet is one that supports an anabolic state. Your body is building material, muscles, bone, cells, etc. So you need plenty of amino acids (building blocks!) - Which is why you need high protein, and fat. Mind you that a lot of this ingested fat and protein will be used for energy and won't be added to your overall mass.

But lets say you have plenty of building material. Now you need energy. You're constantly using all sources for energy and also all building/repairing cells. Your body uses up the carbs because well, that's the quickest source of energy. Next fat and protein. Well, a good portion of your ingested fat and muscle are going to go to energy needs and building material. But you've been lifting weights and your body wants to build muscle. So its going to use the rest of the protein for that. Okay, we still need energy. Carbs, Fat, and Protein ingested are already going towards repairing/building and providing some fuel. Still need more energy. Where? Ah, body FAT!

This is why anabolic diets tend to have great results. However, it can be a hard and even dangerous game.

Fat is slow to metabolize. Very slow. If your body requires quick emergency energy like if you're working out and you don't have enough ingested fats, carbs, protein from eating - your body will turn to the next quickest burning material. The protein stored in your muscles. Now the protein that was meant for your muscles is going to be used for energy and there's going to be no protein available to rebuild. Net muscle loss. Net muscle loss is going to slow down your overall metabolism. Pretty much bad news all around.

That was long I know... I think I should have just pointed you to an article or two.

Thanks Wicky that was informative.  I do think I am going to give it a whirl.  Do you think I can still do this diet if I don't lift weights or do anything to build extra muscle? 

I tried a similar diet to this a few years back.  Low carb, High Protein but Low Fat instead of High Fat.  It worked great, I lost the 15 pounds I wanted and weighed about 110 lbs.  The only thing is that I burned just as much Fat as I did Muscle and ended up looking a little sickly....no butt, stick legs.....etc.  With is diet it claims that the high fat content will prevent muscle breakdown.  I hope they are right because if I feel that I am losing muscle I will stop. 

You should weight train regardless. They say that a person going from being fairly active to sedentiary can experience muscle atrophy in two weeks. Your body always want to only have enough muscle to compensate for the stresses you put on it. Hence when you exercise and lift weights your body's response is to grow in order to meet those demands. Your body is designed to survive, hence why we put on muscle when we lift heavy things and add fat to our bodies to survive periods without food. Also, if you have extra muscle - if your body finds you're not using it - it will get rid of it and just keep enough to survive in your sedentiary lifestyle. Dead weight. (Wish fat was like that - lol)

When on the anabolic diet, you should keep working with free weights and do some cardio too. Don't worry too much about increase weight, sets, reps etc. Get to a level where you like your amount of muscle mass and performance. Then hold it there. Don't increase - don't decrease. Just change the diet to an anabolic diet. During an anabolic diet your body fat will decrease, but your body will only hold onto muscle if you're still using it! (stick people anyone?)

Again, this is a hard thing to do. Not impossible. Just very difficult.

What makes it so difficult?  Is it the not eating carbs thing?

Also I don't belong to a gym ( not in my budget right now).  I don't have any weights at home so when I do exercise it is using my own body weight and floor exercises.  For example, push ups, sit-ups, squats, leg lifts, stuff like that.  Is that enough weight to gain muscle?

Difficult and Dangerous

You have to work your muscles to force your body to want to repair them and keep them from atrophing. However, too much exercise, and not enough energy to maintain your bodily functions, and the material that would have gone towards repair will be diverted to energy needs. So no repair and you've lost muscle. Lose muscle - slow metabolism.

This is what happens to people who crash diet and sometimes include rigorous exercise. They do lose weight. But a good hunk of that is muscle mass. They return to their regular diets and their metabolism is slower than it was before. Therefore they pack on the poundage again. Now they have a worse problem than before because now they don't have as much muscle to help burn that new fat. This is the most typical scenario that happens and many times it happens especially when you don't know what you're doing and not being vigilant about your caloric intake.

In extreme cases it can be dangerous. When your body begins to break itself down in order to sustain itself leading to all kinds of problems such as a weakened immune system, anemia, headaches, organ failure, and death.

You're scaring me!!! J/k.  Well since the muscle loss has happened to me before and then the poundage packing, I will be more careful this time around.  I am going to try the diet in a few weeks (just bought a ton of food that I can't eat on the anabolic diet).  Right now I eat about 1200 calories a day up to 1500 calories.  I won't be counting calories on the anabolic at first, just eating when I am hungry(which is all the time).  Then if I am not losing, I will adjust the calories. 

 Since I will be eating carbs every 5 days for two days in a row, won't that help the atrophy and break down of my body?

The carbs will help refuel your body for the next week. So in a way, yes it will help. Extra carbs and sugars get converted to fat if you have more than what you need. But before it goes to fat, it will go to your glycogen stores FIRST. During the week your liver and muscles will be releasing and using up their glycogen stores for energy. When you 'carb up' you replenish those stores.

One thing many people experience, and I've experienced, is that after 5-6 days of delpleting your muscles of glycogen and you've been lifting heavy is that after you start your 'carb up' day(s) you'll practically feel your muscles swell. You'll feel so good and full of energy that you'll want to go workout again! Don't do it. Let them muscles rest. :)

Also remember, that since you're reducing your carbs to 100 g or less a day, the majority of your calories should be coming from protein and fats. Those will provide the main source of intake energy for you and also building and recovery materials.

Good luck! I'm adding you as a friend - when you start it I'd like to see what you get for results!

I've been on the metabolic diet for 12 weeks with significant improvements in my overall lifts (max bench from 190 - 225 w/DB's) and lost a SIGNIFICANT amount of body weight as well as body fat.  Most people claim that you will lose muscle mass by not taking in carbs but forget to mention that the diet was created by an Olympic caliber power lifter.

The first month is hell as your body adjusts but if you stick to it striclty you will see a decrease in body fat and your energy level WILL increase and things will level out.  You do go into a dark place for a little while during the induction phase so beware. 

With that said this diet is not for your average person.  It is not going to turn an over weight housewife in to a fitness model by simply not eating carbs.  This is for commited body builders who work out regularly in the gym, with heavy weight, vigorously.

If you are still interested in this I strongly suggest you take a look at the other side of the coin and investigate this diet on sites geared more towards bodybuilding.