# glens low carb bulk plan



## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

Low carb bulk

Of late I have been following a fairly stereotypical bulk/lean gain plan of moderate protein, carbs and fats totaling around 500kcals above maintenance. Good rates of gains with a lot of PBs in the gym. HOWEVER I have gained abit too much bodyfat for my liking and in addition I have tons of hassle being type one diabetic and controlling my blood sugars whilst taking in a fairly large dose of carbs.

Considering this I have decided to experiment with something I have wanted to do for a while. I read ages ago about low Carb high calorie diets from people like gironda, alessi etc

For me this seems a fairly logical step before I move towards a precontest diet around end feb for competing in may or june as I tend to work well on lower carbs when leaning out.

The basic reasons I have chosen a full low carb diet over a slightly more fat favourable one is to give the theory a full chance, basically this are the benefits/theories I think will benefit this type of diet



better blood sugar control for my self personally which should avoid periods of catabolism if running high


increased natural testosterone levels due to higher fat diet.


Better lean gains (less fat) due to lower circulating insulin levels whilst still providing high calorie intake


Benefits which accompany high intakes of certain fats notably n3 and n6


I have spoke to one guy who works for savant and has dealings with udos oil and failry experienced in low carb diets and discussed a few issues and overall will be aiming for the following



200-220g of fat a day with a rough 30/30/30 split between SUFAs/MUFAs/PUFAs


250g of protein (roughly 3g/kg/d)


150g of carbs (60g from dried fruit post workout and the other 90g coming from veg etc the rest of the day)


Roughly 3500kcals/d


I will be getting my protein intake from meats, nuts, eggs, supps (MM5), cheese. My carb source will be dried fruit post workout (so high GI carbs but with added benefit of high ORAC, some fiber and other nutrients) as well as fibrous veg. my fat intake will come from the protein sources with some addition of oils (EVOO, ground nut, flax)

The only real supplementation I will use will be MM5 (low carb all in one with leucine, creatine, taurine, glutamine) and the flax oil (if you class this as a supp)

I aim to give this diet a run for around 6+ weeks and see how things go from there

Current stats are

Bodyweight - 85.4kg

Waist circumference- 33inches (84 CM)

Arm (flexed) - 17 inches (44 cm)

Hba1c - 6.7

Cholesterol - 4.8

HDL - 1.6


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## ParaManiac (Mar 20, 2007)

Best of luck Glen,i'll be watching


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## Wee G1436114539 (Oct 6, 2007)

Nice one Glen, feel fairly sure I know the outcome here   Enjoy it.


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## Galtonator (Jul 21, 2004)

Glen with you knowledge i'm sure it will work a dream


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## sizar (Nov 13, 2008)

sounds good i been doing a little bit experiement with this too .. i gained 6 LB over 6-8 weeks without any change in waist line body fat un changed either .. i just look and feel fuller


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

cheers folks

Ok first day of the diet went well yesterday, hit some PBs in the gym on legs so happy.

Overall the diet whilst providing the correct amount of calories (I measured) left me feeling that I had not eaten enough as it was a different feeling in my gut even though the volume of food was similar (due to eating a decent amount of veg), although satiety due to the high fats wasn't an issue so its just about getting used to not having that extra full stomach feeling from tons of starchy carbs.

To give an idea here is what my diet looked like

5am - 3 whole eggs, half serving of MM5, table spoon of oil (mix of ground nut and flax)

7am - (post workout) 100g dried fruit, serving of MM5

9am - 3 whole eggs, small apple

12pm - chicken (with skin on - yeah crispy chicken skin :thumb: ), mixed veg, table spoon oil

3pm - chicken, kidney beans, table spoon of oil

5pm - two homemade beef burgers, cheese, salad with mixed chopped nuts, table spoon of oil

9pm - 100g of nut and seed mix (peanuts, sesame seeds, almonds), 50g of cheese, half serving of MM5


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

after my 12pm meal today I am now worried that i am leaving some of my calories as a greasy smudge on the bottom of the plate from the oil

question - is it poor etiquete to lick your plate clean?


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## sizar (Nov 13, 2008)

glen danbury said:


> after my 12pm meal today I am now worried that i am leaving some of my calories as a greasy smudge on the bottom of the plate from the oil
> 
> question - is it poor etiquete to lick your plate clean?


good questions lol drink it i would say .. lol


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## ste247 (Mar 18, 2008)

good luck dave palumbo has a low carb bulk diet that works well ive done somit simaler my self too.....the carbs will provide the energy to train and you will just burn them off before storing them as glygogen and the fats and pro will build muscle......i think these kind of diets are the way forward again best of luck :thumb:


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

ste247 said:


> good luck dave palumbo has a low carb bulk diet that works well ive done somit simaler my self too.....the carbs will provide the energy to train and you will just burn them off before storing them as glygogen and the fats and pro will build muscle......i think these kind of diets are the way forward again best of luck :thumb:


cheers amte will look around for it, might get a few tips and such

diet going well (apart from the issue of people offering carb laden foods in front of me which I could have easily chosen to hoover up if on a normal higher carb bulk plan  )

however this mornigns session was crap

on monday i trained legs and during a timed set at the end i felt my right glute tighten up abit - I looked at doing some foam rolling on tuesday night

today i started back off with deadlifts and they felt great, warmed up and four plates a side flew up and I was feeling on fire - went to 210kg and was aiming for four or five reps (previosuly done three), done the first rep and exploded off the floor which is normally the area i have to grind out got to the point (around knee height) which is where i am normally strong and felt a spasm run from my hip up my lower back and had to set the weight down :cursing:

peed off as had to modify the rest of the session - still hit PBs on chins and on biceps exercises but could really feel the glute when stabilising on alot of things and looked like a geriatric hobbling around


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## Ak_88 (Nov 9, 2008)

Interesting read Glen so far.

Any plans to have refeed days or will you be sticking it out on 150g of carbs per day?


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## tomass1342 (Nov 12, 2009)

ive just startedi similar diet, but was woundering if i could drink fat milk to add some calories? does milk have many carbs?


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## higgz123 (Jan 3, 2009)

hi glen very interesting read!

how many exercises and sets are you doing for each muscle group at mo?

thanks


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

Ak_88 said:


> Interesting read Glen so far.
> 
> Any plans to have refeed days or will you be sticking it out on 150g of carbs per day?


the original thinking was not to have any refeed days - I am/was expecting that it wouldnt be neccessary as after replacing glycogen lost during training with post workout feed after that i would be in a calorie surplus so wouldnt be depleted

refeed days would just shift my metabolism after getting it used to using fat as its source so will be trying to avoid this as much as possible really

milk has a high amount of carbs in it really - a pint of milk is around 18g protein, 25g of carbs along with the fat (dependent upon skimmed, semi full etc)


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

higgz123 said:


> hi glen very interesting read!
> 
> how many exercises and sets are you doing for each muscle group at mo?
> 
> thanks


varies

at present I am working up to a max 2-5RM (max effort style)

the after that I do some bodybuilder style stuff

typcially i do a superset/preexhuast of 12-15 reps such as pull overs and rows

the after that I am doing a timed set, so i choose a RM (i.e a 12rm weight) then see how many reps I can do with it in a set time period (3 mins etc) and just try to beat it the next time

so not really a clear answer for your really :whistling:


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## higgz123 (Jan 3, 2009)

glen danbury said:


> varies
> 
> at present I am working up to a max 2-5RM (max effort style)
> 
> ...


haha bit of everything then at the moment!

do u make sure the compound exercises are the main priority in each session?


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

always trying to beat previous PBs

thats the aim of the game really and try to do that on everything, when I cant I swap lifts


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## hilly (Jan 19, 2008)

i like the idea glen very intersted in following your progress. Altho i see your reasoning behind not having refeeds i think one even every 2 weeks would be useful to replenish glycogen stores fully and keep lepin/metabolism going etc. Just my opinon tho.

Also regarding leaving the oil in the bottom. i eat most of my meals if not all out of tubs even when home then tip on side i drink remaining oil out. Am i greedy yes but i no im getting all my cals haha.

What are you using for condiments??? cider vinger is good for blood sugar etc i believe. Are you taking a fiber supp?

Any cardio at the moment or just weights?


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

to be honest I think the refeed etc on leptin etc wouldnt have such a big effect considering I will be in calorie surplus and I am not keto level carbs (150g is still a fair amount) - but I think i will end up with days having higher carbs due to social reasons (i.e going and having family meals some where etc)

no fiber supplement as looking at my veg and fruit intake I am still taking in 30g roughly from the amount of veg, fruit, salad, nuts etc

i dont do much cardio unless in the final stages of cutting, but do tend to walk everywhere i can (forty minute round trip up and down hills to where i park my car from work) - although i am probably rationalising because deep down I am a lazy **** :lol:


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## hilly (Jan 19, 2008)

haha sounds gd mate keep at it


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## defdaz (Nov 11, 2007)

Will be following this keenly Glen as I've just discovered I've got reactive hypoglycaemia (no wonder I felt so good on a low carb diet I tried in the middle of last year!) and need to reduce carbs to practical keto levels on an ongoing basis, perhaps permanently. It will be interesting to see what happens I think so I'll keep a journal too and we can compare.


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## mm2009 (May 10, 2009)

Interesting stuff.Im Type I Diabetic and wanted to give Keto a go,but i know i will suffer Hypos going the Keto route ! I was thinking of giving a Higher Fat / Low(ish) carb a go......


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## Phez (Sep 2, 2009)

Currently on a very similar diet....loving it.....good luck to you mate


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## kawikid (Apr 28, 2008)

What bodyfat % would you say your sitting at just now before starting this?

This will be a good log. Subscribed


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

What a pile of **** - after pulling soemthign at the top of my glute last week on legs today I decided to do front squats today as that doesn't have the same stretch on the glues, everything was going fine and felt great, was on a warm up set with 120kg and went done for my second rep and because they felt good I went nice and deep and BAM my lowerback went into spasm

Had to dump the weight onto the pins and pretty much that was the end of my session as anything else I tried from then on wasn't worth it as I was struggling to deal with keeping my midsection tight to keep the pain away from the back

Currently hurts like hell even though I am seated on a swiss ball and have taken pain killers, I am wondering whether this is justb bad luck or it relates to the diet?

Whilst I don't feel in any way depleted I am wondering whether I am putting myself in a position where the workout and diet aren't going to well - personally I don't believe it is but the timing of these niggles doesn't help

I am wondering whether to continue or not with the diet as I know even though I will still train in a modified fashion its not full bore so will I be getting the most from this test run of the diet?


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

kawikid said:


> What bodyfat % would you say your sitting at just now before starting this?
> 
> This will be a good log. Subscribed


too high 

seriously havent tested it but would estimate high teens, currently have visible abs, serratus and slight quad seperation when doing an abs and thighs pose but considering I store all my fat at lowerback and suprailiac region i would still estimate it to be in a high teen region

this is one reason why i wanted to modify my gaining diet as i will start proper dieting in a few months but still wanted to gain some strength and size whilst limiting the chubb


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

Back isn't feeling too bad and to day was making progress on my pressing strength so all is still good

Did the incline dumbbells and hit a PB repping with the 52kg bells - with my back though getting them into position ment being a wuss and getting them passed to me rather than kicking them up into place

Need to look at upping a lot of the measurements though as bodyweight and circumferences aren't changing in any real way

Looking at the possibility of adding in some hemp protein powder I was given by my friend adam of the body exchange supplement shop in Camden - whilst there is some carbs in it theres a reasonable dose of fibre, and EFAs as well and this might make a nice addition to my eggs and apple mid morning to raise calories as I am already sick of taking oil in by the spoonful - the looks I get at the work staff room!

surpised that when I am repping I am still doing well as |i thought initially this would drop off due to lower glycogen levels, and the small period of readjusting to using fat as an energy source - must be the creatine in the MM5 still keeping my reps up or the dried fruit being enough to replace that lost during training


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

I have been sticking to the diet religiously and had some blood work done on Monday which I should get the results from soon via my GP.

Started to use both the hemp protein and some milled flax powder for protein, fiber and some EFAS

Used the flax powder to try my hand at baking it see how it went and mixed results

Made some flax muffins

With the following recipe (makes around five)

100g flax

25g mixed chopped nuts

Two teaspoons cocoa powder

Two teaspoons sweetner

½ teasponne baking powder

Two eggs

Enough water to make it moist and like a cake mix

Mix it all together, put in muffin cases and bake on gas mark 6 for ten mins and then gas mark 4 for a further ten mins

Each muffin has the following nutrient profile

Protein 9

Carbs 1.5

Fat 11

Fiber 5

Kcals 141

The look and the texture of them was pretty good, HOWEVER the flax had a distinct earthy after taste that wasn't to my liking (very earthy) as such it didn't act as a good low carb flour substitute quite how I wanted to go along with a nice mid morning cuppa or my serving of MM5 before bed

I think I am going to try again and cut the flax with almond meal which should reduce the flax taste and add another flavour in their

Tranings going well and back felt fine after doing legs on Monday

To give and example this is what I did

Bulgarian split squats one set 5 reps either leg using two 50kg dumbbells (balance was really hard on this)

Leg extensions 15 reps compound set with leg press fifteen reps

Two sets leg curls 5-8 reps

Leg curls 15 reps compound set with glute ham raise 15 reps

Squats 80kg 49 reps in three minutes (timed for three mins as many reps as possible) - this was three better than my best before hip and lowerback played up so happy


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

Haven't been keeping up with this journal much but everything is going pretty well apart from the constant struggle to get kcals in which I think has blunted the results somewhat. I am finding unless I am chugging down oils I often don't get enough kcals in

Training is going well and the lower back seems fine now as Monday I did some high rep back squatting with 140kg and whilst I was probably about an inch off parallel (I didn't want to chance any rounding of the back or any real forward lean to reduce stress on this bodypart) - next Monday I am going to do it again and video it and embed it here as I think public showing would force me to stay honest with my depth

Find a new comfort high kcal food combo that works perfect on my diet though (the whole time making them I could think of nothing but southpark)

MM5 chocolate nutty balls

100g of peanut butter

15g flax meal

Spoonful pure cocoa

Serving MM5

Simple prep - stick the lot in a bowl and mix with a fork/spoon until the peanut butter has absorbed all the powder and you are left with a dough type mixture, separate out and roll in your hand into little balls

Sit back in front of the goggle box and enjoy

100g provides

Protein 54g

Carbs 7g

Fat 57g

757 Kcals

Started to add some lemon juice to my oils which aids it going down better (doesn't leave my mouth with that slick coating feeling after)

Also beginning to get sick of peeling boiled eggs - anyway enough moaning from me

In the next week or so I will take some pics of my flabby body to use as a reference starting point for my diet so I can compare as my precontest diet progresses


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

everything going well

did my measurements again today

bodyweight 85kg (so lost a pound!!!)

bicep measurement 17.25 (so gone up)

waist circumference 32 (so gone down)

still struggling to get the kcals in but my strength is still going up as i am hitting some PBs (below) so not too worried but will have to make a concerted effort to get more kcals down my neck

currently looking at some new lines to add to EQ nutrition brand along with the MM5 so will be adding these in if they fit the diet plan

incline dumbell press 55kg's x 5, 50kg's x10

dumbell shoulder press 40kg's x 5

will be posting up a video of me squatting soon and i am really happy that the problems with my hip and lowerback appear to nothing more than a temporary muscular problem


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## Wee G1436114539 (Oct 6, 2007)

Glad you missed the injury train Glen 

Good to see definite gains and look forward to seeing your squats.


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## kawikid (Apr 28, 2008)

Quiet in here eh........


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## glen danbury (May 23, 2006)

pure laziness on my part

did the diet for around six weeks and then went on holiday

as stated above pretty much found that with a low carb diet getting the kcals in was a real struggle

ended up with roughly the same bodyweight - give or take a pound in daily fluctuations but my strength was still up and my body measurements where slightly improved but considering it was for only six weeks cant look for massive gains but it has definately made my mind up on higher fat intake

come my next offseason I think my diet will be alot higher fat but with a much bigger intake of carbs circa workout time (pre,intra and post) so i the end the way my diet will look will be pretty isocaloric but with carbs all virtually coming in around workout time and the rest of the day being protein and fats

this monday i started dieting for competitions this year so my diet has gone back to what i used last time around - was thinking of making a journal for that but considering how lazy i was with this one i am still undecided


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## hilly (Jan 19, 2008)

get it up mate, i personally would be very interested in following ure journey if you do get the time


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## Joshua (Aug 21, 2008)

If you get chance, I would certainly be interested.

Diabetes throws an additional complication in for many people, especially newbies and such a log would be both informative and inspiring for many.

All the best,

J


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