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Like countless others, you’re searching for that one diet that can give you the weight loss you need without taking away precious muscle or ruining your body composition. Well, the anabolic fasting diet is probably what you’ve been looking for all this time.
As you probably know, those bulking pills are popular since many of them offer unbelievable results.
The gains from using an anabolic steroid (even if it’s a legal steroid), however, come at a price. Anabolic steroids can cause all sorts of serious health problems – and yes, liver and kidney damage, as well as heart attack, are among those experienced by steroid takers.
Anabolic Fasting was developed by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale, and was meant to replicate the effects of steroids (both prescription and over-the-counter).
Dodging Carbs and Making the Shift
The first and most important step in the anabolic diet is to minimize your carb intake. Of course, supplying the body with carbohydrates is important (they serve as a quick source of energy), but the amount most of us tend to eat is way too much.
Loading yourself with carbs is a surefire way of gaining pounds – and it’ll also make losing weight a lot harder than it should be. If you’re wondering about the degree at which you’ll have to limit your carb intake, well, your ideal goal is to get as close to zero as possible.
Of course, you have to ensure that your body has enough energy throughout the entire day – and that energy will come from other kinds of food. It means you’ll be replacing the carbs you took out from your plate with proteins and fats.
The body is naturally inclined to turn food into energy – and yes, we’re talking about all kinds of food, not just carbs. You can burn protein and fat (including body fat) for that much needed boost, but you’ve been relying for so long on carbs that your body takes a while to start the process.
Following Two New Dietary Guidelines
Train yourself (and by extension, your metabolic processes) by eating very few carbs for twelve consecutive days – you’ll have to get energy and nutrients from protein, amino acid, and fat. Afterwards, you can load up on carbs for two days (this is often referred to as the refeed period).
The goal in having these high carb days is to reset your insulin levels – and that’s necessary if you wish to jumpstart your metabolism and speed up fat-burning. Once you’re done with this cycle, you’ll be transitioning to another meal plan.
This time, you still have to maintain a low carb intake for five days, but your target is much more specific – 25 grams or less per day. As you’ve probably guessed, you have two days to enjoy carbohydrate-rich food after the five-day period.
Your new diet will be something like this:
On Weekdays
Again, your daily carbohydrate intake shouldn’t exceed 25 grams, so ideally you’ll be getting it through protein - or fat-rich food. If you’re not too keen about that approach, you could also go for a serving of salad greens or even coleslaw.
Most of your meals though, should consist of 60% fat and 40% protein. A good example would be steak with the fat intact, drizzled with a bit of gravy. Cheeseburger with everything on it but without the buns is another good option.
Here’s something important to keep in mind – while you’re following this diet plan, you have to avoid dairy and grains. Though they don’t seem to contain a lot of calories, those food items still have enough carbs to make it hard to stay below your target intake.
On Weekends
This lets you enjoy some of the carb-rich foods you love. Your meal can now be 60% carbohydrate, 25% fat, and 15% protein – be sure to stick to this ratio (no matter how much you miss carbs, you really shouldn’t overdo it).
You mustn’t have a huge plate of pasta, a large slice of pizza, or a large serving of cake. You just need enough carbs to help your body recover from all the muscle-building, and to prevent it from burning muscle tissue as fuel – a process that wastes protein synthesis.
Your goal should be to eat as few carbs as possible - just the amount that will help your body recover from all the muscle-building process, preventing it from burning muscle tissue as fuel.
A Few Meal Ideas to Get You Started
Truth be told, everyone has a terrible time during the first few no-carb days. It’s likely that you’ll feel tired and irritable – with that, your concentration will also suffer, especially since you’ll also be faced with constant cravings for carbohydrate-rich food.
These will eventually go away as your body gets used to your new eating habits and start its anabolic response. Do remember though, that carbs are not the only things you can eat – and most importantly, it isn’t the only thing that determines palatability.
Sure, a burger is not complete if you take out the buns, and cake is a great addition to any lavish lunch. Still, you really don’t need them to enjoy eating – check out these sample mealsand you’ll realize that with the right anabolic cooking, you don’t have to be a slave to carbohydrates.
- Spanish or Italian ham
- Mackerel drizzled with olive oil, served with salad and some cheese cubes
- Bacon, whole eggs, and spinach
- Oats, milk, and raisin
- Quinoa salad with spinach and grilled chicken breast
You should also take note of what you eat as pre-workout meal, and you’ll have to consider your post-workout meal as well. These can support your bodybuilding goals, allowing you to get the most out of your training and fast cardio sessions.
- (Pre-workout) French or Italian cheese and a small amount of ground flaxseed
- (Post-workout) Whey protein, olive oil
- (Pre-workout) A few fruit slices (banana’s a good pick)
- (Post-workout) Berries, cottage cheese, and quinoa
Always evaluate how your body responds and make adjustments as necessary. Diets work at different extents, and sometimes fail to provide results.
Reaching Your Goal, the Right Way
Fasting takes on many forms, such as intermittent fast and the wolverine diet – and these can be incorporated into the anabolic diet. What’s important is to manage your carb intake to maximize muscle growth and fat loss, without compromising health and form.
On that note, you should be more observant of how your body reacts to this diet, or to any diet for that matter. Always keep in mind that diets (even the one we’ve discussed here) tend to work at different extents, and even fail to provide results in some cases.
Evaluate how your body responds and make adjustments as necessary, such as in the case of those with insulin problems (they really shouldn’t go on an extended anabolic fast). These people may add a little more carbs or healthy sugar sources to fuel their bodies without sacrificing muscle gain.
Aside from following a diet plan, you could go for food that can help hasten the bodybuilding process. We’re talking about food that can improve the balance of testosterone and human growth hormone. These hormones are important in building and maintaining lean muscle mass.
You may also further improve your health regimen by taking natural supplements or an anabolic supplement. However, be sure to carefully check the bodybuilding supplement you’re planning to buy – pay attention to any contraindications.
Lastly, please do things in moderation, even with anabolic fasting or when you’re under a hypocaloric diet. Extreme measures produce quick results but tend to come with serious consequences – in your journey towards achievinga great physique, you should also aim to improve your health.
