...lots to choose from. Where should I start?

[Yo Daddy]

I am finally back from being away a few months. I posted a long while back about a ckd-ish diet I was on which produced very little results. I have had a terribly hard time losing fat and was wondering if there was some direction or particular diet that I should use. I am completely open to anything, but I caviat that with the fact I want to be natural. Any help or direction would be great. Just to address the usual question of posting my diet/training schedule, I haven't been really been committed to either for the past 8 weeks or so partly from schedule craziness and partly from a 3 month diet/training regime with a trainer which yielded nada. Thanks for the help.

[StrappingYoungLad]

The carnivore diet works very well for natural trainers as it optimizes the hormonal environment,by increaing endogenous GH production,as well as increasing insulin sensitivity.

[Yo Daddy]

I have heard a lot, and read a bit, about insulin sensitivity/resistance. What is the story on that? Is it a common occurance/cause of obesity/weight-loss resistance in people? I've wondered if this is a possible reason of why it is very hard, and by very hard I mean nothing has worked yet. If you could help explaina little more about how this diet specifically works that would be great. I"ve read the thread and would love to know more. Tnx.

[StrappingYoungLad]

Human beings were never meant to eat carbs 27/7/365 the way they do nowadays.They just weren't available.During the growing season you'd eat carbs,put on a little fat for the winter.During the winter you'd eat mostly whatever game you could catch and burn the fat you'd stored.The Plains Indians followed the buffalo and basicaslly lived on that.They weren't farmers.And before the Europeans brought horses,they'd chase them for days on foot.The point is that nowadays,winter never comes...The overload of carbs causes a chronically high level of insulin,which the body adapts to by becoming less sensitive.The pancreas responds by pumping out more insulin.This eventually results in one of the two types of diabetes where you secrete more than "normal" insulin but your cells are resistant,or your pancreas gives up altogether.I gotta go to work right now,but I'll talk about the diet this afternoon.

[StrappingYoungLad]

One of the ideas behind the diet is to attempt to naturally affect hormone levels in the body to create an anabolic environment.The first step is to control insulin.High insulin levels interfere with both testosterone production and GH release,as well as causing the insulin not to work as well,due to insensitivity.
Testosterone levels are increased not only by decreasing insulin,but also by consuming "cholesterol" as this is the building block for testosterone.One of the reasons I advocate substantial amounts of red meat,although this is not mandatory.
If you follow the recommendation of training first thing after the "fast",this will cause increased GH response to exercise.By going to bed with low blood sugar levels,you also optimize night time GH release.The 15 hr a day "fast "is very central to all this.
Then on the weekend,you put the anabolic qualities of insulin to use,by eating as much as possible,for only a limited time.This enables you to push glycogen and protein into muscle more efficiently due to the increased insulin sensitivity acheived by restricting carbs.Then,before you have time to start laying down fat,you're right back to your low carb regimen.
This will all work better for someone in their twenties,who is still putting out relatively high levels of these hormones.The diet will still cause fat loss with a minimum of muscle loss in an older person,but the anabolic effect will be lessened.

[chipvideo]

another reason for me to eat 1/2 dozen eggs a day.

[Yo Daddy]

SYL... if I am having trouble dropping weight and it never seems like I'm ever dropping "too fast" as some put it. What kind of training should I do? I saw the split you posted with the diet, but about cardio? You had that great post about the sprints... should I integrate like 20-30 mins of low intensity and then do a sprint worker for 5-10 mins? What do you think would be the most effective combo? Also, what about supplements... natural is what I would like to focus on. Again, thanks for your insight.

[StrappingYoungLad]

Work your way up to 12 min.,3 x a week,as I suggested.NO OTHER CARDIO IS NECESSARY.It's a waste of time and energy.You only have a limited amount of time and energy,which is already being consumed by your daily routines.That's why people can't stick to their new resolutions.You have to pull time and energy away from things that are not efficient and/or beneficial and direct them to your warrior's purpose.
As for supplements the only thing I found to make a noticeable difference is creatine.A good multi is minimum,and I've posted on potassium,which is vital,IMO....You might also want to do a liver flush as a properly functioning gall bladder is essential for proper fat metabolism.If that's not working efficiently.it doesn't really matter what you do,cause it aint gonna be happenin'.

[hermiti]

Just a note about the Carnivore diet, while doing the diet I had the most insane pumps that I have ever experienced. While following the diet I thought that I would be lucky if I retained my strength because I was using significantly lighter weight (intensity was through the roof though). Recently I tested my chest strength and I destroyed all of my previous personal bests.

[Yo Daddy]

Hermiti... schweet. Congrats and I hope the same for me as well!

SYL, you mean only doing sprints for cardio? I was trying to see if you meant 12 mins for sprints or for low impact cardio... I assume sprints. Could you post a link to the gall bladder/liver flush? That would be sweet. Also, would you throw out maybe a typical day or two that you would use on this diet. It would help to get me started. Thanks a lot bro.